Challenge
Axpo is the largest energy company in Switzerland. As such, Axpo is constantly confronted with political and legal issues that can have a significant impact on the company. This, combined with the tendency towards greater legislative cadence, makes it essential for Axpo to anticipate regulations as early as possible. And not only at the federal level, but also in the cantons, where often federal requirements have to be implemented.
In this context, the previous system of Axpo’s team reached its limits. Thomas Porchet, Head of Energy Policy Switzerland, remembers: “I was working with a huge Excel spreadsheet and a 90-page Word document that I updated by hand once a month. I had to go through all the federal and cantonal websites one by one and update the changes – without knowing whether anything had changed at all.” He could hardly delegate this work because not all cantonal sources are structured in the same way and they really aren’t self-explanatory.
Axpo was therefore looking for a way to simplify this process. The main aim was to relieve the public affairs employees of routine tasks in favour of more complex activities.