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Following the success of the think tank TRANSIT in Zurich, the Swiss Federation for Adult Learning (SVEB/FSEA) and digitalswitzerland organised TRANSIT Romandie. It complements the recently launched lifelong learning campaign. Well attended by a diverse lifelong learning community from all over the French-speaking part of Switzerland, TRANSIT was a chance to brainstorm adult education priorities for the next ten years.
Flipped classrooms, distance learning, integration of new learning technologies, instant feedback: These practices in continuing education are revolutionising the field of lifelong learning. TRANSIT participants wondered whether they could also negatively impact course pace – and reduce the depth of learning. How can we ensure that pedagogical innovations bring added value to the learner?
The personal significance of learning emerged as a key point in the discussion on learning and how to learn. Regardless of the pedagogy used, is it more motivating when learning is a must in order to keep a position or when it’s driven by the desire to acquire new skills? Whether or not participants are active in the workforce, the lifelong learning community must accommodate all learners and provide both meaning and objectives.
The private sector is the main financial contributor to lifelong learning, distributing some 1.6 billion francs each year. For Switzerland to pursue its ambitions as a leader in innovation and productivity, what are the political dimensions to be addressed? And what needs to be put in place to ensure opportunities for everyone to enjoy lifelong learning? What levers can be used to improve the overall continuing education policy in Switzerland?
Ideas included ways to better inform companies on how to access state funding and simplify routes to financial support. Indeed, while there are many funding opportunities for lifelong learning, the pathways to this money are many and mysterious. Federal, cantonal and communal authorities need to work to make access simpler and more transparent.
Digitalisation and ‘Industry 4.0’ are accelerating change in the world of employment and society, already weakened by the impact of an ageing population and international competition. How can lifelong learning be improved in light of these changes while at the same time safeguarding high quality? What elements of change should be considered, and what aspects are irrelevant?
There was consensus on the fact that everyone needs to be learning for life. As complexity takes on new dimensions, an interdisciplinary, intersectoral group focused on lifelong learning was suggested as way to address the many issues in the sector. Other issues raised included a lack of transparency, trainings that are no longer fit for purpose, trainers who lack the right technology know-how, and the challenge of motivating the least qualified workers to train.
TRANSIT participants pondered on whether adult trainers themselves should be asked to upskill and requalify regularly. This would protect the quality of teaching and ensure lessons reflect our changing world, in which skill sets are complementing or even replacing specific professional expertise.
The group felt that more work was needed to develop a vision of lifelong learning for everyone – one that encompasses the most impactful use of resources, time and money.
The aspiration to lead long and healthy lives was given a boost with the recent completion of a $100M funding round by Juvenescence – a UK biotech company focused on extending longevity.
We are already living longer than our grandparents and children born in rich countries today have a 50-50 chance of living beyond 105 years old. But, while life expectancy continues to increase, there is a general consensus that we, as individuals and as a society, are ill prepared for century-plus living.
Academics such as Gratton and Scott in their 2016 book The 100 Year Life believe that we must fundamentally rethink how we approach work and education. They argue that the current three-stage life of education, work, retirement no longer applies. Instead, they propose a multi-stage life where transitions will become the norm, with repeated changes of direction and many different careers.
Interpose century-plus living against a backdrop of faster, smarter and cheaper technology, and we will see a significant churn in the labor market as traditional jobs disappear and new ones appear. As digitization hits industries, those losing jobs might not be able to retrain fast enough to qualify for new jobs that are being created. In shorter lives with relatively stable labor markets, the knowledge and skills that a person mastered in youth could last an entire career. In a longer life with a rapidly changing job market, one must continually re-learn and re-skill.
Unfortunately, few people are equipped to make multiple transitions. It requires flexibility and the ability to acquire new knowledge, explore new ways of thinking, and proactively build new networks. Transitions also require time. Individuals could take a sequential approach by interspersing income-earning stages with learning and self-reflection. Or, they could take a parallel approach by using their leisure and recreational time during one career stage to reinvent themselves in preparation for the next, as described by Gratton and Scott. The advent of online learning and digital coaching platforms helps facilitate the process of self-improvement and re-skilling for those who choose a parallel approach.
In this digital age, there is much discussion about the need for digital skills. But given the rate of technological development, what stocks of skills and knowledge will remain valuable and how can they be developed?
While there is a tendency to focus on technical expertise, research on leadership in the digital age by IMD’s Global Center for Digital Business Transformation reveals the need for a much broader and richer set of core portable skills and attitudes. We recommend that agile workers embrace the HAVE mindset:
H: Humble
An ability to accept feedback and acknowledge that others know more than you.
A: Adaptable
An acceptance that change is constant and that changing your mind based on new information is a strength rather than a weakness.
V: Visionary
A clear sense of long-term direction, even in the face of short-term uncertainty.
E: Engaged
A willingness to listen, interact, and communicate with a strong sense of interest and curiosity in emerging trends.
Preparing for century-plus living in the digital age requires making different choices that open up opportunities in exciting ways, as long as we are prepared to embrace it.
Tomoko Yokoi is a researcher and writer at the Global Center for Digital Business Transformation, an initiative by IMD business school and Cisco.
Digital transformation is here to stay. We must therefore constantly foster dialogue to increase awareness for all that is and will become digital. Digitalisation brings not only opportunities, but also risks that need to be addressed and taken seriously. In my series “Dialogue Interviews” I discuss these topics with leaders in Switzerland, from our member organisations to digital shapers and the brightest minds in the fields of technology and innovation.
In this edition, I talked to Dr Urs Christoph Hofmeier, CEO of Schweizer Salinen AG.
Nicolas: You are the CEO of Schweizer Salinen AG, the only salt manufacturer in Switzerland. I find it very interesting that your company is also affected by digital transformation. Can you give me some concrete examples of digital projects currently under way at your organisation?
Urs: One of the most obvious digitalisation projects stems from client demand for an integrated order to cash process, including transfer of product data during delivery. But there is much more to come. With more sensors delivering data from decentralised and client salt storage, weather forecasts and AI analysis of historic salt use patterns, we are already thinking about predictive delivery. It means we can prepare before our clients even know they will have a shortage. This will allow us to increase the efficiency of our logistics quite dramatically.
Nicolas: One of the threats of digital transformation is that it lowers the bar for new competitors to enter the market, especially tech companies. Do you anticipate disruption for your company in the next 5-10 years and why?
Urs: I was told to concentrate on the possible disruption not on the disruptor. I see threats mainly as coming from logistics platforms which can leverage customer and distributor data to gain cost efficiency and customer experience advantages.
Nicolas: Which digital technologies do you think will be the most important for your company in the next 3-5 years? Will you be exploring data analytics, IoT, blockchain for supply chain, etc.?
Urs: I see two areas. One is the salt production with energy-intensive technology. Using IoT based sensors, we will be able to optimise our plants based on simulations with related digital twins. Process optimisation as well as predictive maintenance will be supported by AI using operational data tested against the digital twins. The other area concerns new possibilities in terms of client services. We will see much more salt being ordered directly online by the related equipment, e.g. the water softening installation in private homes. This development will allow us to grow with new services.
Nicolas: Last question, how do you see the impact of digital technologies on the Swiss manufacturing industry in general and how good are we in comparison to others, like our neighbouring countries?
Urs: The impact will be overwhelming, but Switzerland is well positioned. Beside the natural resource salt, Switzerland has access to a wealth of well trained and highly educated young people. In addition, our universities generate a large number of start-ups developing new technology, including in the growing area of sustainability.
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Urs: Nicolas, let me ask you a few questions. My biggest operational concern is how to mobilise valuable senior staff with vital knowledge but severe resistance to digital transformation. Is there any best practice?
Nicolas: Excellent question. This is a pattern we’re observing at many organisations and we often get asked how to deal with the need for digital skills combined with an attitude of severe resistance.
First of all, there is talent in the labour market around us. They seek organisations that are themselves “state-of-the-art”. To attract them, you need to offer modern and exciting conditions like flexibility, ownership, a flat hierarchy, etc. If the organisation itself can transform, it will be able to recruit experienced and talented people.
Second of all, no one should stop learning. As Einstein said, the day you stop learning, you start dying. It means that all experienced workers need to keep learning, every day – about digital skills, but also resilience, soft and cognitive skills. These will be more important in the next few years.
Urs: Current data and experience shows, that the competitive advantage of large platforms is unbeatable. Do you see a solution to the dilemma between open and free markets and the cry for regulation?
Nicolas: Indeed, in a global and liberal market and with strong scaling effect, the giant tech companies seem unbeatable. During previous important transformations, the majority of big companies were in trouble and new companies took their place. Is there going to be a fifth revolution where new companies take the lead over the GAFA and other giants? I think so. But nobody knows when. Will it be in 20 or 100 years? Now, in the short term, I’m not sure we need strong market regulation but I think some geographical tax adjustments should be undertaken as a next step (for example as in Europe currently).
Urs: A key technology for the digital transformation will be 5G. There is a significant risk of a broad emotional movement against 5G. How can we mobilise an even broader alliance to support the fast 5G coverage?
Nicolas: There is currently a mobilisation against 5G in Switzerland indeed. There is no study proving that 5G may impact health. But the opposite has not been proven as of today either. It’s important to stay rational, rely on facts and avoid becoming emotional. 5G is a huge opportunity for Switzerland, as we are one of only two countries in the world currently implementing 5G, beside South Korea. I hope we will be able to build an alliance in the next few months and bring back the discussion to a rational level, showing the advantages for our economy and society, while also discussing the impact on health, privacy and data protection of people.
On 2 September, a big initiative with even bigger ambitions was launched in Geneva: At the first Swiss Global Digital Summit top representatives from globally active companies, from science and renowned international organisations kicked off the Swiss Digital Initiative (SDI). The initiative is aimed at a long-term and sustainable process with the objective of ensuring ethical standards in the digital world.
With the debate around “Cambridge Analytica”, the 2016 US elections and the fake news controversies, governments, societies and the business community urgently need to reflect on how to ensure trustworthy technologies and set ethical boundaries. Despite the best intentions, data-driven applications and algorithmic processes have the capacity to cause unintentional harm and may affect human rights, individual autonomy, competitive market order, financial stability, democratic processes, and national sovereignty. In addition, they can increase inequality and shift control away from humans to algorithms.
The deep transformation of our society triggered by these applications has the potential to undermine trust between citizens, companies, and governments. That is why digitalswitzerland initiated the Swiss Digital Initiative (SDI) under the patronage of Federal President Ueli Maurer and with Doris Leuthard, former Swiss federal councillor, as chairwoman of the SDI Foundation.
Prior to the Swiss Global Digital Summit, a policy paper was drafted upon advice from an autonomous and high-ranking group of experts from Swiss universities. General tenor: Digitization must always serve people and place their needs at the centre. The joint statement sets the basis for a common understanding. Based on this statement, the objectives of the initiative can be summarized as follows:
The starting point of the Swiss Digital Initiative consisted of the Swiss Global Digital Summit on 2 September 2019. The aim was to gather national and international decision-makers to address and discuss ethical implications of new technologies.
The Swiss Global Digital Summit was opened by digitalswitzerland founder Marc Walder. He highlighted the growing international consensus on five leading ethical principles for today’s digital world: transparency, justice, fairness, responsibility and privacy. The SDI builds upon this international consensus. Walder’s introduction was followed by a welcome speech from Federal President Ueli Maurer and three short keynotes. The main part of the summit consisted of an interactive discussion between participants.
All disruptive technologies and legislation fall short if trust is not guaranteed. People choose services and providers because they trust them. If businesses want to be successful in the long run, they must live up to their societal responsibility. Politics need to set framework conditions to make sure that trust can grow.
Every minute, huge amounts of data are collected and processed. This raises questions about the right and legitimate way to use this data, ownership and access to data, and the relationship between business, government and citizens. The potential of big data is huge, for example in the research or health care sectors. Therefore, transparency is needed on how data is collected and processed. Data privacy and ownership are key.
Discussions revolved around questions such as how to ensure inclusive artificial intelligence, how to augment, not replace, human intelligence or how to fight hate speech. Common international guidelines and governance do not exist yet, but are urgently needed.
Selecting Geneva as a headquarter for the SDI is not a coincidence. The city is home to more than 37 international organisations, 1’400 members of international bodies, 2’700 members of non-governmental organisations, 4’000 members of permanent missions. It is at the heart of multilateral diplomacy and international cooperation. Geneva is poised to become the center of digital ethics and Switzerland, a role model on how to tackle challenges and questions around digitalisation. The ambition of the Swiss Digital Initiative should be nothing less than becoming the international reference initiative for ethics and digitalisation.
In the fields of ethics and digitalisation, many words have already been said and written. Policy-papers and recommendations, declarations, guidelines, studies etc. exist. Existing initiatives such as the Paris Call, the Tech Accord or the WEF Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution tackle similar issues. So why another initiative?
We are convinced – and the feedback and reactions at the launch of the initiative have only strengthened this conviction – that the SDI comes at exactly the right time and place. We do not want to launch just another initiative or reinvent the wheel. Rather, the SDI builds on the numerous initiatives and statements released by states, international organisations, as well as the private sector. The SDI seeks to amplify their impact by contributing to the operationalization of the principles put forth in these documents (e.g. the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel report on digital cooperation entitled “The Age of Global Interdependence”, the EU Guidelines for Trustworthy AI, the recent OECD Recommendation on Artificial Intelligence), but also the many recent Swiss documents commissioned by the Federal Government and non-state actors.
The SDI intends to work together with existing initiatives and institutions, to make use of synergies by closing gaps and adding missing dots.
In the next phase, concrete projects will be created in a collaborative process. These could include projects like the development of a transparency label. Further, the foundation as the sponsor of the Swiss Digital Initiative, will officially be established. The next milestone will be at the 2020 WEF Annual Meeting. The aim is that key actors officially commit to the implementation of concrete projects, which tangibly operationalize ethical standards. The approach is based on the conviction that the ethical challenges of digitalisation must be met by joining forces with diverse stakeholders and initiatives from private, public-private or fully public sectors.
As Federal President Ueli Maurer stated at the beginning of the Swiss Global Digital Summit: «We are coming together to think about ethics and fairness – big words that we want to fill with action.» Going from theory to practice, from words to concrete action will be a challenge. Yet, we are convinced this is the right direction to take and we look forward to present the first fruits in Davos at WEF 2020.
For more information, you can find the official press release here.
Digital transformation is here to stay. We must therefore constantly foster dialogue to increase awareness for all that is and will become digital. Digitalization brings not only opportunities, but also risks that need to be addressed and taken seriously. In my series “Dialogue Interviews” I discuss these topics with leaders in Switzerland, from our member organisations to digital shapers and the brightest minds in the fields of technology and innovation.
In this edition, I talked to Michael Hilb, an entrepreneur who serves on various boards and teaches strategy, entrepreneurship and corporate governance at universities in Europe and Asia. The conversation focuses on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and what challenges they face in times of digital transformation.
Nicolas Bürer: Michael, you are an expert in digital transformation and especially dedicated to defining and evaluating skill sets for board members. How would you rate the average digital skills of Swiss SME board members?
Michael Hilb: As digital transformation is an overused term these days, let’s try to briefly define its meaning. To me, it is all about two key developments that will eventually affect most companies and industries: platformization, i.e. the redrawing of industrial boundaries, and datafication, i.e. the emergence of data as the key asset of economic value creation. In respect to these phenomena, I observe a growing interest and a determination to better understand these underlying trends. While, at the same time, maintaining a healthy level of skepticism toward digital fads.
Nicolas Bürer: How can SME board members improve their digital skills and better understand the importance of the current digital transformation for their companies?
Michael Hilb: First, I observe the emergence of an increasing number of training programmes focused on digital transformation specifically tailored to board members. Second, I see tremendous potential to learn from each other. There are a number of very impressive digital pioneers among Swiss SMEs who can teach a lot to the rest of world – and not just to other SMEs. And finally, and most importantly: practice, practice, practice. Successful digital transformation has a lot to do with having the courage to think and act outside the box.
Nicolas Bürer: There are certain pessimistic forecasts with regards to the current digital transformation and its potentially disruptive influence on SMEs. What is your stance on this?
Michael Hilb: A majority of SMEs, the backbone of the Swiss economy, have always shown a strong determination and ability to adapt to change. Just think back to the “Frankenschock” four years ago. They have proved to be highly resilient not out of desire but out of necessity. Let’s not forget, many Swiss SMEs compete in global markets and therefore have to be able to constantly think one or two steps ahead to survive. I am confident that most Swiss SMEs see and realise the opportunities of digitalisation to become stronger and more competitive. SMEs often have a strong advantage over bigger companies: Agility and entrepreneurship are embedded in their DNA.
Nicolas Bürer: What do you consider be the most important nationwide measures to execute in order to sensitise a majority of Swiss SME board members about the digital transformation they face?
Michael Hilb: Apart from the critical measures, such as world-class infrastructure, future-proof education and smart regulation, I see a fourth set of actions that can help empower Swiss SMEs but also requires the involvement of all parties: to establish a common understanding and a strategic position of Switzerland in light of the two dominant digital superpowers, the USA and China. A smart and unique positioning of Switzerland as a global digital hub will ensure that Swiss-based SMEs can enjoy a competitive advantage in a global race.
Michael Hilb: To foster dialogue, digitalswitzerland has done a fabulous job in bringing together leading companies, start-ups, civic organisations and public institutions all committed to one mission: Digitalisation. How could SMEs best tap into this highly valuable network?
Nicolas Bürer: I want to state two things to answer this question: first, about 30 SMEs are members at digitalswitzerland and can benefit from all activities and connections within our initiatives. Of course, we hope to welcome many more SMEs in the coming years. Secondly, we are also thinking about launching projects specifically tailored to Swiss SMEs. We do not offer consulting or transformation services, but rather act as enablers: by addressing topics and sensitizing SMEs. One example is our project “Atelier adapt” that launched pilot projects in Romandie this year. More project will follow, hopefully.
Michael Hilb: You are meeting many colleagues from all over the globe at international conferences: What role do SMEs play in other digital ecosystems? What could Swiss SMEs learn from their peers?
Nicolas Bürer: Leading hubs like Israel, the Silicon Valley and the Shenzhen Area are focused on enabling start-ups to globally scale. They are trying to influence political frameworks to make this possible, acquire venture capital volume, crown unicorns and realise IPOs. Those are fine initiatives, and also to a lesser degree true for Switzerland: our start-up ecosystem is growing well. But the country also has a strong SME tradition. I am talking about businesses with a high innovation level, owned by their founders or managers and without Venture Capital Investments. For this reason, we cannot just focus on enhancing the start-up ecosystem, because we have too much to lose if our SMEs struggle. Every initiative supporting Swiss SMEs in digital transformation is therefore welcome. Because it can affect about 500’000 companies all over the country and 70% of our jobs! I know there are many such initiatives in the country, which is encouraging, but the journey is still long.
Prof. Dr. Michael Hilb is entrepreneur, serves on various boards and teaches strategy, entrepreneurship and corporate governance at universities in Europe and Asia. He is also on the faculty of the Swiss Board School and teaches in the new Executive MBA program focused on digital transformation at the University of Zurich starting this Fall.
http://linkedin.com/in/michaelhilb | hilb.com
Further reading: Michael Hilb’s NZZ article on the role of SMEs in digital transformation.
September 2019 marks the launch of a joint national campaign by digitalswitzerland and the Union Patronale Suisse on lifelong learning. The initiative aims to raise awareness in Switzerland about the need to learn for life to be skilled for life. The International Labour Organization (ILO), in its 100th year, states that “Lifelong learning encompasses formal and informal learning from early childhood and basic education through to adult learning. Governments, workers and employers, as well as educational institutions, have complementary responsibilities in building an effective and appropriately financed lifelong learning ecosystem.”
Switzerland prides itself on high value-added products and services– made possible thanks to the country’s highly educated population. Switzerland’s public expenditure on education was some CHF 37 billion in 2018, a billion more than in 2014. Switzerland is the sixth most literate country in the world, just after the Nordic countries. Swiss people benefit from a uniquely flexible education system that allows participants to move between different educational levels or structures.
For Swiss people participating in further training, no expenses were incurred by participants for 60% of continuing training (without on-the-job training), either because the course was free of charge or because costs were borne by someone else (e. g. employer, government, etc.). 6% of training courses cost less than or equal to CHF 100, 16% between CHF 101 and 500, 8% between CHF 501 and 1000, and 9% of the training courses cost more than 1,000 francs per participant.
Lifelong learning and learning to learn is instilled even before school, and reinforced during each child’s school education and afterwards during academic studies or apprenticeships. Maintaining school and university systems that are forward-looking and adapt to the times, while keeping standards high, is a role shared by government, local authorities and teaching professionals.
In 2016, 62% of the permanent resident population of Switzerland aged 15 to 75 years reported having carried out at least one continuous training activity during the last twelve months (non-formal training). The range of topics varied widely, but popular areas were “economy, labour” (24%), “science, technology” (18%) and “health” (14%).
But what happens once formal education is completed? Embracing learning a lifetime long only works with all stakeholders on board.
As a 2018 Mercer study stated, “As organisations rethink their business models- redesigning work to harness the power of technology and adjust to a fast-changing world- it’s clear they can’t succeed without making people a priority.” At a global level, the company identified two major trends: upskilling digital competence and increasing access to online learning. The recommendation is therefore to “embrace exponential learning by creating a virtuous cycle between skill needs, learning access and hands-on development experiences”. As the world of work changes, businesses must adapt to increasing demands by employees for meaning, flexibility, adaptability and incentives that go beyond simple salary hikes or promotions.
In order to upskill and reskill the population, or simply to keep citizens abreast of technological developments, all teaching institutions, whether public or private, need to pull towards the common goal of lifelong learning. Organisations such as the University of the Third Age (U3 Suisse), the SVEB/FSEA for working adults, and private evening schools like Klubschule Migros or IFAGE all have a role to play in offering relevant courses that empower people to learn for life.
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. This much-quoted Chinese proverb still holds true today. It is up to each player in the economy to take up the challenge and learn to fish!
Get inspired by the 100 people who contributed their own stories to #LifelongLearning : German, French & Italian
For a hundred years, tools in aircraft maintenance were mostly limited to handheld devices used by mechanics to keep up and repair aeroplanes. When thinking of tools, a screwdriver or torque wrench would come to mind, stored inside a red metal container – the toolbox. While these elements are still critical to a mechanic’s daily work, they are complemented by a digital toolbox – an array of software applications providing technical information and communication possibilities. Today, both physical and digital tools are essential to perform aircraft maintenance.
Our team, Application Management, is part of SWISS Technics and we support various digital solutions revolving around aircraft maintenance. We work closely with end users, for example mechanics, to understand their needs and support them on-site. All our solutions are developed externally and we collaborate with our suppliers to troubleshoot issues and provide development ideas based on user feedback and latest technological advances. Additionally, we coordinate and perform system upgrades and implement new digital solutions.
AMOS is our central application – it is a software suite covering different areas revolving around aircraft maintenance such as engineering, material management, logistics and planning. We resolve technical issues, manage user access rights and write functional specifications for new developments, for example. Additionally, we are overall responsible for a high system availability and data quality. For example, if AMOS were unavailable for several hours, this could quickly lead to flight delays or even cancellations.
Another application we support is CROSSMOS – an electronic logbook installed on each SWISS aircraft. In 2015, every SWISS aircraft still had physical logbooks aboard where the crews and mechanics would enter technical issues with a pen on paper. Carbon copies were hand-delivered to the different departments to ensure the information was available where it was needed. All this changed in 2016 when the physical logbooks were replaced by a digital solution – two tablets (one in the cockpit and one in the cabin) running CROSSMOS, a software application that digitises the technical logbook. Currently, we are in the process of rolling out the next-generation electronic logbook, which includes over 400 new and faster tablets as well as various software improvements, for example more detailed cabin layout visualisations.
Back in the day, all aircraft maintenance manuals were in paper form, which resulted in a manual containing thousands of pages just for one aircraft type. Microfilms offered an improvement, but the significant efficiency gain came with the possibility of viewing manuals on a personal computer. Initially, this required CD-ROMs, meanwhile we have solutions that allow aircraft mechanics to view maintenance manuals online on their laptops. This year we are rolling out a new solution optimised for viewing manuals on a tablet. This will allow mechanics to access maintenance instructions and diagrams faster and more intuitively.
Our team is in charge of keeping the tablets fully functional and up to date. While we use a device management software to remotely monitor the tablets, we regularly work with the mechanics at the aircraft to troubleshoot and resolve issues on-site.
At SWISS’s main hub ZRH, there are around 500 aircraft mechanics who maintain and repair the fleet. In 2017, we implemented GroundStar, a resource allocation tool that allows one person to optimally distribute maintenance tasks to all the mechanics on duty depending on qualification, availability and location. Each mechanic is equipped with a smartphone and receives information about which task to perform on which aircraft.
Digital tools are already utilized in many areas of SWISS Technics – nevertheless, we are only at the beginning of our digitalization journey. Our first goal is to completely remove paper from our maintenance processes. Not only does this make sense from a sustainability standpoint, it also increases overall data quality and speed at which information is available. Additionally, paperless processes lay the foundation for implementing new technologies such as augmented reality and artificial intelligence – and we are excited to be part of this journey.
Even as a non-profit association, digitalswitzerland has clear objectives to accomplish and continuously measures its activities. It is imperative to pursue our mission of making Switzerland a leading hub for digital innovation while evaluating our impact.
Our allies include our members as well as ecosystem stakeholders from the economy, science, politics and the general public. All of our members are committed to our initiatives, contribute to the realisation of our mission, and thereby gain new insights to bring within their own organisations.
In addition to the quantifiable measures, we also bring tremendous value to initiatives that are not so easily measured. Over the past six months, we have worked diligently on becoming a platform to enable dialogue and exchange within ecosystems and stakeholders, but also create momentum and raise awareness on specific topics. We strive to bring together the right people, at the right time and in the right place. Here are some key highlights below.
We are pleased to have welcomed 35 new members since the beginning of 2019. This is an increase from 127 in January 2019 to 162 members to date. We are thrilled by the diversity of organisations supporting our mission, willing to play an active role in the digital transformation of our country and who are open to seize the new opportunities this collaboration brings.
Within the Digital Action Plan we focused on three main topics: Use of Data, Artificial Intelligence and Smart Cities. These subjects were discussed in 6 multi-stakeholder workshops. This collaboration between relevant stakeholders from science, business, the cantonal and federal administrations resulted in concrete projects, which were considered at the meetings of the Advisory Council on Digital Transformation.
Our “nextgeneration” initiative that promotes digital educational opportunities, especially for children and adolescents, expanded from 4 to 14 cantons (BE, ZH, LU, AR, ZUG, VD, FR, NE, TI, GE, BSL Stadt and Land, SZ, VS). With our Computational Thinking Initiative (CTI) we currently reach 5 classes in Switzerland. This enabled us to establish a solid governance structure in the first semester. LifeLong Learning will be a key topic in the coming months to raise awareness on the need to prepare the workforce for the jobs of today and tomorrow, so stay tuned.
We established the Swiss Accelerator Network and already have over 11 accelerators participating. The Market Entry Bootcamp matched 41 scale-ups from 16 countries with 22 corporate members from digitalswitzerland, 3 of which made it to the Startup Days finals. This event took place on 28 May in Bern with over 1,000 participants from the Swiss startup ecosystem and we invited 100 corporate representatives to participate. digitalswitzerland also has contributed to the creation of the Startup Manifesto, which recommends ten measures to improve the framework conditions for Swiss start-ups. Within just a few weeks, over 700 signatures were gathered.
In January, we organized a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos on the subject of “Opportunities and Challenges of Digitalisation of money”. 130 top-level participants attended. At the Innovation Challenge in April, ICRC and MontagnePro were chosen as winners and 11 new Bets were launched with approximately 40 partners.
These past six months, members have had the opportunity to join “Inspirational Sessions” which are knowledge exchange events including site tours, topical deep-dive workshops and panel discussions across Switzerland, from Geneva to Zurich. We enriched these exchanges by including stakeholders from the regional innovation ecosystems.
Final preparations for Digital Day on 3 September are in full swing. We have 3 federal councils attending, more than 85 partners organising activities in over 12 locations throughout Switzerland. This is an invitation to the Swiss population to experience digitalisation and join the dialogue on how it is impacting our society. We are proud that this event has already inspired 2 other countries to follow in our footsteps (Sweden & Poland).
In January, we represented #SwissTech at the world’s biggest consumer electronics show CES in Las Vegas, in cooperation with 4 other partners (Presence Switzerland, Switzerland Global Enterprise, innosuisse and swissnex). 75,000 visitors stopped by our stand and for the first time, 30 Swiss startups joined to showcase the best of Swiss-made innovation. Swiss and international media coverage exceeded our expectations. This event was followed by the technology conference VivaTech in Paris, where we again joined forces with our partners at the SWISS Pavilion. 23 exhibition partners comprising of startups and corporates took part. In the past 6 months, we have also had the opportunity to present our activities and promote the Swiss innovation ecosystem to different international delegations from France, Calgary (Canada), Germany, Austria, Shenzhen (China), Singapore and Abu Dhabi who wished to learn more about Switzerland and digitalswitzerland.
12 projects have emerged from our new industry-focused work streams. More than 50 members are directly involved. We have also invited 23 non-member organisations to participate in our workshops. Over 25 meetings and workshops have been conducted in the past six months.
I would like to use the outlook for the second half of the year to draw attention to the upcoming Digital Day on 3 September! The dialogue with the public will be transformed to provide input for further activities and concrete demands for the economy and government. The world café format event called “tell” allows participants to take an active role in framing the dialogue on digitalisation and is an opportunity to speak up and foster collaborative dialogue. I would like to invite everyone across the country to discover the diverse digital worlds presented in their region. Be part of the digital movement! (Digital Day programme)
And finally, I would like to thank once again all of our members. Their engagement in our activities is impressive. I also want to express my gratitude to all ecosystem partners who contribute to our common mission to foster and promote Swiss-made innovation; Parldigi, VentureLab, Startup Invest, SICTIC, Kickstart Accelerator, Presence Suisse, Switzerland Global Enterprise, innosuisse and swissnex to name a few. Together we are very strong!
“How should we integrate digital solutions in our corporate training?”, the HR director of a bank once asked me. I replied with a question: «What are the main problems in your bank?»
«We don’t have any problems», the director proudly replied.
«Then don’t invest in digital training» was my conclusion.
When I meet managers of corporate training, I am often surprised that the process to identify training needs remains so “unscientific”. Business analytics provide strategic knowledge to the head of sales. Help desk statistics provide critical information to the customer relationship manager. Sensors along the production chain enable engineers to optimize design and production. But the decision to create a new training programme generally emerges from informal discussions or is inspired by looking at the courses offering of external providers. Chief learning officers have to actively lead and conceptualize a programme, but they are expected to drive a vehicle without seeing the road.
Why is there no process to develop corporate training by analyzing a company’s existing data? I am afraid you will not like the answer: because often training is seen as an unavoidable expense, instead of an investment that can improve products and processes or enhance customer and employee satisfaction. Too often, corporate training is seen like paying taxes: they must be paid but the aim is to pay the legal minimum. The solution is rather simple: companies do not have to commit to grand statements, but develop problem analytics, i.e. statistics that synthesize the company’s problems which trainings should then address.
At the end of a training session, the quality of the course is usually assessed by a questionnaire handed out to participants. Several trainers reported that the most frequent comments from participants regard the quality of coffee or food during the seminar. Unfortunately, answers like “I really enjoyed the beauty of the location” won’t help a CEO to see training as a worthwhile investment. Instead, the identified problem that triggered the need for training should be tested after the training. If it is rated as less important or resolved it can be used as a KPI that can be understood by all managers.
Of course, problem analytics, i.e. implementing a data flow from operational problems to training programmes is complex. The main difficulty we encountered in our partnership with companies is the quality of their data. As things stand, chances are high that data such as help desk records do not contain enough insights that could be automatically extracted using artificial intelligence to define training needs. It is therefore critical to collaborate upstream with department leaders (sales, production, marketing, …) who generate the data to ensure the collected data will contain useful information.
When it comes to finding answers to questions or problems, we often feel challenged and overwhelmed – as individuals, as businesses and as a society. I believe computational thinking is a methodology that can not only help us now, but also prepare the next generations to meet future challenges.
The complexity of certain problems can result in a difficulty to address them in a solution-oriented way. What’s more, the rate of change in the environment and customer requirements is constantly accelerating. At Swisscom, we meet this challenge head-on with new thinking and work models; we are increasingly implementing agile collaboration methods and exploring computational thinking.
The objective of computational thinking is to formulate problems and solutions in a way that both humans and machines can understand them. A problem is broken down into smaller parts, so patterns can be identified and rules formulated to enable an efficient solution. Individual stages of the solution process are simplified to the extent that they can be implemented fully or in part by a computer. We are convinced that this methodology can create effective collaboration between humans and machines.
As Switzerland’s leading ICT company, we need employees who tackle problem-solving by thinking innovatively, that is why we provide training in computational thinking. In the first half of 2019, about 120 colleagues attended a training course offered in collaboration with the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). We plan to run this professional development course again this year. Wherever feasible, we try to apply computational thinking to our everyday operations.
Future generations will be far more affected by the increasing complexity of our world than today’s workforce. Digitalisation is changing every aspect of our lives and businesses – fundamentally, in some cases. But what do children need to learn now to prepare for the challenges of tomorrow?
Various studies have tried to come up with precise skills for the jobs of tomorrow. But assumptions about future job requirements obviously involve a lot of guessing. It is therefore crucial for children and young people to acquire skills and abilities that will enable them to adapt easily to different types of workplaces and manage a variety of work conditions. I believe that computational thinking introduced through play can make a real contribution.
The new school curriculum in German-speaking Switzerland, Lehrplan 21, includes – possibly unintentionally – important elements from computational thinking. Schools are required to provide more informational education, with a subject matter like “Media and Informatics” spanning holistically throughout different grade levels. But where do you start? And how? Understandably, many schools find it difficult to embrace new approaches and tackle subjects such as programming, robotics and computational thinking.
This is why we, together with digitalswitzerland and other partners, have launched the Computational Thinking Initiative. The Swiss schools project ‘Thymio geht in die Berge’ is part of this initiative. It supports and inspires Swiss school children to truly embrace digitalisation rather than approach it in a haphazard way. By making learning fun, the project sparks children’s curiosity about the key skills required for the future. The project complements current curricula in a useful and future-oriented way, while both harnessing and encouraging children’s creativity.
I believe that the ‘Thymio geht in die Berge’-project and learning the ropes of computational thinking is an investments in the future that will benefit everyone. We also endeavour to ensure and encourage skills training, preserve jobs and increase the appeal of Switzerland as a place to do business. But it’s not just about robots, programming and promoting IT courses. More importantly, it’s about ensuring that for our children, the future is bright – both for them as individuals and all of us as a society.
Roger Wüthrich-Hasenböhler, Chief Digital Officer, Swisscom
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