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2024 has been a year of transformation for digitalswitzerland. The merger of the Foundation and Association will enable us to further strengthen our impact and enhance collaboration across sectors. With new leadership at the helm, namely CEO Franziska Barmettler and President Andreas Meyer, digitalswitzerland is entering its next phase of strategic development.
As Switzerland continues its journey toward becoming a leading digital nation, it has solidified its position as one of the world’s most competitive digital economies. The IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2024 placed Switzerland in 2nd place globally, reinforcing the country’s strength in innovation, knowledge transfer, and technological advancement.
Through collaboration with business, academia, government, and civil society, we have worked to establish a robust foundation for digital trust, responsible governance, and technological excellence, ensuring that the digital future benefits everyone.
Responsible Digital Infrastructure and Regulation
The past year has seen critical developments in Switzerland’s digital infrastructure. The successful passage of the E-ID legislation marked a milestone in establishing a trusted digital identity ecosystem. digitalswitzerland played an active role in shaping discussions, contributing amendments, and advocating for a user-centric, secure approach to digital identity.
We have also deepened engagement in AI regulation and digital trust frameworks. Our AI working groups and engagement at the WEF and national forums have helped frame essential discussions around AI governance, ethics, and transparency. A policy paper on AI regulation is in development for 2025. The launch of our AI training platform further underscores our commitment to fostering AI literacy and responsible deployment.
At the intersection of data governance and digital sovereignty, we co-launched the Swiss Data Space Forum together with the Swiss Data Alliance, creating a platform for dialogue on how Switzerland can leverage data responsibly while ensuring self-determination in an interconnected digital world.
Cybersecurity and Digital Resilience
Cybersecurity remains a fundamental pillar of digital trust. In 2024, our national cybersecurity committee expanded to include 40+ leading experts, working on strengthening Switzerland’s cyber resilience. Our Cyber Study 2024, widely cited in the media, reinforced the urgency of proactive security measures for businesses and public institutions.
Through national and international collaboration, including our presence at the Global Cyber Conference, we continue to advocate for forward-looking cybersecurity policies that safeguard Switzerland’s digital landscape.
Digital Health: Building a Trustworthy Ecosystem
The integration of digital solutions in healthcare requires a high level of trust and coordination. This year, digitalswitzerland deepened its work on the Electronic Patient Record (EPR), advocating for improved adoption and usability. Our Digital Health Academy supported AI-driven health scaleups, ensuring that innovation aligns with ethical considerations and patient rights.
Additionally, we released The Swiss Healthcare System: Entering a New Digital Era, a study highlighting the evolving role of digitalisation in healthcare.
Through continued engagement with policymakers and healthcare stakeholders, we have helped strengthen Switzerland’s position as a leader in digital health governance and responsible data use.
Multi-Stakeholder Engagement
One of our core strengths remains our ability to bring diverse stakeholders together. In 2024, we facilitated key cross-sector collaborations, including:
Expanding Regional Engagement
Recognising the importance of regional collaboration, we reinforced our engagement across Switzerland. Events such as AI in Action at the Locarno Film Festival and the Digital Competitiveness Forum in Lausanne showcased Switzerland’s role as a hub for digital innovation.
At the digitalswitzerland Village in Davos, we brought together thought leaders, policymakers, and industry experts to discuss the role of digitalisation in shaping Switzerland’s global competitiveness.
On the international stage, digitalswitzerland was invited to high-level discussions, including a WEF-facilitated capacity-building workshop on Digital Talent Mobility and industry panels on AI, sustainability, and governance.
Digital Literacy and Workforce Upskilling
Ensuring that Switzerland is prepared for an AI-driven economy is one of our key priorities. In 2024, we launched multiple initiatives to foster AI literacy, workforce upskilling, and digital competence:
eSustainability and Digital Solutions for Climate Action
Technology plays a crucial role in sustainability. Our study Smart & Green – Digital Pathways to Net Zero identified how digitalisation can contribute to reducing 1.2 to 3.2 million tonnes of CO2 in Switzerland.
Additionally, the WISER Project has continued its work in standardising greenhouse gas reporting, reinforcing Switzerland’s leadership in digital sustainability solutions.
Our focus will be on reinforcing trust in digital ecosystems, enhancing digital literacy, and fostering responsible innovation. Key priorities include:
Together with our diverse member base, our team will continue to shape a digital future that is innovative, inclusive, and built on trust. Thank you for your continued support.
The article series “Better health monitoring for patient empowerment” puts the spotlight on the Digital Health Academy 2024 cohort, highlighting their innovative solutions and their ongoing collaborations with digitalswitzerland members. Each article features one of the scaleups chosen to participate in the second edition of the academy.
Healthcare systems are grappling with rising costs, inefficiencies, unequal access to care, and an aging population with an increasing prevalence of chronic diseases. Digital solutions can enhance the accessibility, affordability, and quality of care for patients. However, the lack of comprehensive reimbursement frameworks for such innovations is a significant barrier to the widespread adoption of digital health solutions in Switzerland.
Many promising digital health tools, despite their proven efficacy, face slow uptake due to financial and regulatory hurdles. This challenge discourages healthcare providers and patients from fully integrating these solutions into everyday care.
mobile Health specialises in digital solutions that integrate seamlessly into existing healthcare systems, empowering patients to take control of their health while providing healthcare professionals with actionable insights for better decision-making. They are actively engaging with policymakers, insurers, and other stakeholders to advocate for updated reimbursement models.
One of the company’s flagship solutions is Medidux, a remote monitoring platform designed to support chronic disease management with a current focus on cancer patients. This platform enables real-time tracking of patient health data, early detection of complications, and personalised interventions, resulting in better patient outcomes and reduced healthcare costs.
The impact of mobile Health’s solutions on patients has been profound. Many patients highlight the effectiveness of the remote monitoring platform.
“I feel more in control of my health than ever before. The alerts and personalised insights keep me on track, and I no longer feel alone in managing my condition.”
– Maria, a patient with breast cancer
Behind mobile Health is a dynamic team of healthcare professionals, technologists, and innovators committed to redefining patient care. The team brings together diverse expertise in clinical care, software development, data science, and business strategy, ensuring that solutions are clinically effective and user centric.
The partnership with digitalswitzerland’s Digital Health programme has been valuable in amplifying the reach and impact of mobile Health’s solutions. It paves the way for strategic partnerships with stakeholders such as health insurance providers and pharmaceutical companies.
Insurers have shown interest in mobile Health’s tools to enhance patient outcomes, reduce costs, and improve efficiency within the healthcare system. Collaborations in other countries such as Germany have already demonstrated the potential of integrating mobile Health’s platforms into reimbursement structures, making these tools more accessible to patients.
Pharmaceutical companies also play a critical role in this ecosystem. mobile Health is exploring synergies with pharma partners to incorporate digital tools that complement therapeutic interventions, such as patient engagement platforms for medication adherence and remote monitoring systems for clinical trials.
These partnerships will contribute to a more integrated and efficient healthcare ecosystem that benefits patients, providers, and payers.
mobile Health envisions a future where healthcare is proactive, personalised, and equitable. Through continuous innovation and collaboration, the company aims to expand its portfolio of solutions to address emerging healthcare needs and ensure that every patient, regardless of their location or socioeconomic status, has access to high-quality care.
The goal of the collaboration with Salesforce was to explore how mobile Health could enhance the commercial success of Medidux by refining their go-to-market strategy. This included discussing structured partner onboarding and customer relationship processes, identifying key personas involved in market engagement, and conceptualising partner and client journeys mapped to supporting technologies. The intent was to create a framework that could guide Medidux toward scalable and efficient market entry, particularly in the US and German healthcare sectors.
Through discussions with Salesforce, mobile Health was able to fine-tune initial ideas and explore potential strategies to strengthen their go-to-market approach. These meetings provided a valuable opportunity to reflect on current processes and align them with industry best practices. While much of the collaboration remained theoretical due to pressing regulatory and resource challenges, the insights gained have offered a useful perspective for future planning and decision-making.
The collaboration roadmap included key milestones such as defining personas, scoping the go-to-market efforts, and drafting journeys for partners and clients. While these discussions provided a solid conceptual foundation, the unforeseen regulatory challenges Medidux has faced—such as the transition to European MDR and compliance as a Class IIa medical device—have limited mobile Health’s capacity to execute these ideas. As a result, the achievements of this collaboration have primarily been in clarifying strategic concepts and identifying potential tools for implementation when operational conditions allow.
The groundwork laid through the discussions will serve as a valuable resource as Medidux addresses its immediate challenges and moves toward a more structured market entry.
mobile Health: https://www.mobilehealth.ch/
Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/eu/products/health-cloud/overview/
In collaboration with Swiss Healthcare Startups, digitalswitzerland launched the second edition of the Digital Health Academy, a 6-month cohort based programme for AI-driven digital health scaleups that enable patients to better understand and monitor their health. AllesHealth, CNS Therapy, Exploris Health, mobile health and Pathmate were part of the 2024 cohort and, through this academy, were positioned as thought leaders in the digital health space. As part of the programme, they joined a collaborative workshop with the programme’s partners, were mentored by experts, benefited from in-depth workshops and took part in a panel discussion on health monitoring at our partner Swiss Healthcare Startups’s ecosystem event, Digital Health Day in Zurich.
Want to know more? Check out last year’s publication “The Swiss healthcare system: entering a new digital era”, on the state of innovation in digital health in Switzerland.
The article series “Better health monitoring for patient empowerment” puts the spotlight on the Digital Health Academy 2024 cohort, highlighting their innovative solutions and their ongoing collaborations with digitalswitzerland members. Each article features one of the scaleups chosen to participate in the second edition of the academy.
Managing healthcare for a family can be a daunting task. A typical household of four (two adults and two children) often relies on a network of specialists, including a family doctor, paediatrician, gynaecologist, ophthalmologist and dentist. Coordinating appointments, tracking treatments, and ensuring smooth communication between providers is challenging. In addition, it is difficult to share medical data across such specialists for personalised care. The complexity becomes overwhelming.
While there are some digital solutions available, they often function in isolation, requiring patients to manage multiple apps for scheduling, medical records, and communication. This lack of integration across platforms creates additional barriers rather than solving the problem, leading to fragmented care and missed opportunities for proactive, holistic treatments for families.
AllesHealth simplifies this process with a comprehensive digital platform that seamlessly integrates patient and clinician interactions. Designed for patients and their families, AllesHealth enables users to manage their entire healthcare journey, from booking appointments, dosage management, accessing telemedicine to securely sharing health records. By fostering collaboration across providers, AllesHealth ensures a more connected and efficient healthcare experience.
What sets AllesHealth apart is its integration with existing HIS1 (Hospital information systems), as well as an established connection with the EPR (electronic patient record). This seamless compatibility makes AllesHealth particularly well-suited for the Swiss healthcare system, which prioritises interoperability and data security and follows FHIR-HL7 and OpenEHR standards. With AllesHealth, patients, providers, and institutions can exchange information effortlessly, ensuring care is both comprehensive and coordinated.
AllesHealth analyses health data to outline risk profiles and enable early diagnosis. By identifying patterns across family members, such as a parent’s chronic condition influencing a child’s health risks, AllesHealth promotes preventive care and personalised treatment plans. This proactive approach turns fragmented healthcare into a unified, patient-centred experience.
“I sense much more power than before. I feel so awake. My muscles are more flexible thus I can take the stairs much easier than before and faster.”
– Dr. Eugene Durenard, CEO, ReYou Group Clinics Lugano
AllesHealth is powered by a dynamic team of professionals dedicated to revolutionising healthcare accessibility and efficiency. AllesHealth’s visionary founder comes with extensive experience working in global corporations like Roche, where he successfully spearheaded large-scale initiatives. This wealth of expertise drives AllesHealth’s mission to transform healthcare delivery and accessibility. Focused on empowering patients across Switzerland, the team combines deep industry knowledge with innovative solutions to simplify healthcare journeys and ensure that individuals receive the support they need in managing their well-being.
AllesHealth recognises that meaningful collaboration is key to transforming healthcare. The platform actively seeks partnerships with hospitals, clinics, and organisations like the FOPH2 (Federal Office of Public Health), eHealth Suisse3, and Post Sanela, as well as other institutions dedicated to improving patient engagement and advancing digital healthcare across Switzerland.
By building a network of like-minded partners, AllesHealth will ensure that its vision of a connected, efficient, and patient-focus healthcare system becomes a reality, creating better healthcare experiences for families across Switzerland.
Through digitalswitzerland’s Digital Health Academy, AllesHealth had the privilege of collaborating with ELCA, a leading technology provider, as their mentor. This partnership was instrumental in shaping the technical foundations and strategic direction of AllesHealth as they prepared to scale within the Swiss healthcare system.
The primary goal of the collaboration was to leverage ELCA’s expertise to ensure that AllesHealth’s platform met the technical and regulatory requirements of the Swiss healthcare ecosystem. The partnership also aimed to refine AllesHealth’s go-to-market strategy by aligning our platform with the needs of hospitals, clinics, and patents across Switzerland.
For AllesHealth, this partnership accelerated their readiness to launch in Switzerland significantly reducing potential roadblocks. The technical mentorship from ELCA allowed them to refine their platform, ensuring interoperability and compliance, while also enhancing its scalability for future growth.
For ELCA, the collaboration offered a unique opportunity to mentor an innovative healthcare scale-up, further solidifying their role as leader in digital transformation in Switzerland.
Over the six-month engagement, AllesHealth gained invaluable insights into the technical architecture and infrastructure necessary to succeed in Switzerland’s highly regulated and data-sensitive healthcare market. Key achievements included:
The collaboration was structured in three key phases:
““This collaboration has been invaluable in helping us align our platform with the needs of the Swiss healthcare system. ELCA’s mentorship has given us the technical and strategic clarity to confidently move forward. We would like to thank both Christophe and Simone for their collaboration.”
– Amritpal Singh, CTO, AllesHealth
The partnership has laid the foundation for continued collaboration between AllesHealth and ELCA. Potential future opportunities include co-developing advanced features for the platform, exploring partnerships with Swiss hospitals, and scaling solutions to other European markets.
This collaboration exemplifies the power of mentorship in fostering innovation, creating mutual value for startups and established corporations alike, and advancing the shared mission of improving digital healthcare.
AllesHealth: https://www.alleshealth.com/
ELCA: https://www.elca.ch/en/our-group-industry/health/elca-health
In collaboration with Swiss Healthcare Startups, digitalswitzerland launched the second edition of the Digital Health Academy, a 6-month cohort based programme for AI-driven digital health scaleups that enable patients to better understand and monitor their health. AllesHealth, CNS Therapy, Exploris Health, mobile health and Pathmate were part of the 2024 cohort and, through this academy, were positioned as thought leaders in the digital health space. As part of the programme, they joined a collaborative workshop with the programme’s partners, were mentored by experts, benefited from in-depth workshops and took part in a panel discussion on health monitoring at our partner Swiss Healthcare Startups’s ecosystem event, Digital Health Day in Zurich.
Want to know more? Check out last year’s publication “The Swiss healthcare system: entering a new digital era”, on the state of innovation in digital health in Switzerland.
1 HIS stands for Hospital Information System (Krankenhausinformationssystem in German). It serves as the digital centrepiece in providing care for patients, encompassing the digital documentation and control of processes in all clinical areas. Additionally, it serves as the central data source to enable and ensure the billing of medical services.
2 FOPH: Federal Office of Public Health. https://www.bag.admin.ch/bag/en/home/das-bag/auftrag-ziele.html
3 eHealth Suisse is the Swiss Competence and Coordination Centre of the Confederation and the Cantons. It is primarily responsible for implementation of the Swiss eHealth Strategy 2.0, coordination and information for the Electronic Patient Record (EPR) project and standardisation of technical and semantic interoperability. https://www.e-health-suisse.ch/en/about-us/ehealth-suisse
The article series “Better health monitoring for patient empowerment” puts the spotlight on the Digital Health Academy 2024 cohort, highlighting their innovative solutions and their ongoing collaborations with digitalswitzerland members. Each article features one of the scaleups chosen to participate in the second edition of the academy.
Chronic pain impacts millions of people worldwide, with existing treatments often providing limited relief. This unmet need significantly affects patients’ quality of life, contributes to mental health challenges, and places substantial financial and staffing pressures on healthcare systems. The chronic pain market is vast, with annual expenditures exceeding CHF 400 billion each in Europe and the US. The market continues to expand, driven by the growing prevalence of long COVID and increasing mental health problems.
CNS Therapy AG (“CNS”) is dedicated to helping people live pain-free lives through an innovative neuromodulation technology called Systolic Extinction Training (SET). Unlike pharmaceuticals or invasive surgical treatments, SET offers a novel, non-pharmacological approach aimed at eliminating pain while promoting holistic well-being. This method addresses one of the key challenges in pain management–the need for behavioral change in patients. Unlike traditional Digital Therapeutics (DTx), which often fail to achieve lasting behavioral changes, CNS leverages the combination of stimulation hardware and behavioral therapists to drive the necessary transformation.
At its core, CNS’s approach involves a medical device that noninvasively stimulates the patient’s right hand in sync with the cardiac cycle. This stimulation targets and retains the autonomic nervous system, which is often impaired in chronic patients. The device’s effects are further enhanced through a psychosocial-specific therapy program designed to shift pain-related behaviors, cognitions, and fears toward healthier patterns. The therapy is delivered under the guidance of a trained behavioral therapist and supported by a patient eLearning platform. The standard treatment protocol requires just 20 hours over 5 weeks to achieve significant pain relief.
CNS’s unique approach is backed by patented technology and robust clinical validation. Results from a randomised controlled trial (RCT)1 show high percentage of patients remaining pain-free after 12 months2, underscoring the long-term impact and efficacy of the solution.
This solution has already shown significant potential to improve patients’ overall quality of life. By addressing both the physical and psychological aspects of chronic pain, SET helps patients regain control over their daily activities and emotional well-being. This holistic approach fosters a sense of empowerment and resilience, enabling individuals to shift their focus from managing pain to enjoying a fuller, more active life. These outcomes reinforce our commitment to placing patients at the center of healthcare and tailoring treatments to their unique needs.
“I sense much more power than before. I feel so awake. My muscles are more flexible thus I can take the stairs much easier than before and faster.”
“I run three times a week for 6 miles and do not have any pain anymore.”
CNS’s multidisciplinary team combines expertise in medical device innovation, neuroscience, and clinical psychology. With backgrounds in research and development, their team members are passionate about creating effective, science-backed solutions that meet real-world needs. This diverse skill set enables them to maintain a comprehensive vision of projects, ensuring seamless integration of technology and therapy.
To realise their vision, CNS is actively building partnerships with university hospitals, pain clinics, and health insurance providers across Switzerland. These collaborations are crucial for validating CNS’s approach, reaching
more patients, and demonstrating cost-effectiveness to healthcare stakeholders. By working together, CNS aims to not only improve patient outcomes but also reduce the economic burden of chronic pain treatments on the healthcare system. They strive to have patients go back to work and take care of their families.
CNS believes the future of healthcare lies in prioritising patients and results over procedures. More specifically, both the mind and the body need to be changed to influence chronic disease. Their long-term goal is to redefine the standard of care for chronic pain management, making personalised, holistic treatment accessible to all. By shifting the focus from treating symptoms to inducing long-term behavioural change, CNS both empowers patients to take an active role in their health and teach them how.
As part of the journey with the Digital Health Academy, CNS had the privilege of working with Ergon Informatik as their mentor.
This collaboration aimed to enhance the usability and digital components of the solution, focusing specifically on improving the mobile application that controls the electrical stimulation aspect of their device.
Ergon Informatik provided invaluable insights into optimising the app’s functionality and usability, guiding CNS on best practices for digital development. While the current stage of development limited the scope of technical advancements, their mentorship helped CNS establish a clear roadmap for future progress.
In the future, when CNS will transition into more advanced development stages, the potential for deeper collaboration with Ergon may expand. They look forward to leveraging Ergon’s expertise further to refine their digital platform and ensure it meets the highest standards of usability and efficiency for their patients.
CNS Therapy: https://www.cnstherapy.com/
Ergon Informatik: https://www.ergon.ch/
In collaboration with Swiss Healthcare Startups, digitalswitzerland launched the second edition of the Digital Health Academy, a 6-month cohort based programme for AI-driven digital health scaleups that enable patients to better understand and monitor their health. AllesHealth, CNS Therapy, Exploris Health, mobile health and Pathmate were part of the 2024 cohort and, through this academy, were positioned as thought leaders in the digital health space. As part of the programme, they joined a collaborative workshop with the programme’s partners, were mentored by experts, benefited from in-depth workshops and took part in a panel discussion on health monitoring at our partner Swiss Healthcare Startups’s ecosystem event, Digital Health Day in Zurich.
Want to know more? Check out last year’s publication “The Swiss healthcare system: entering a new digital era”, on the state of innovation in digital health in Switzerland.
1 RCT: random controlled trial, a scientific experiment used to control factors that are not under direct experimental control.
2 82% of females with fibromyalgia patients remained pain-free at the 12-month follow-up.
On January 21, 2025, digitalswitzerland hosted a series of high-profile events on occasion of the World Economic Forum in Davos. From a morning discussion on trustworthy digital infrastructure, to a lunch session on AI for digital characters, and concluding with an evening focused on trust in the age of AI, the day highlighted Switzerland’s opportunities in shaping the future of digital innovation.
The agenda featured a series of keynotes and discussions:
Cybersecurity: A Global Imperative
Maya Bundt, a seasoned board member and expert in cybersecurity, set the stage with an overview of the evolving threat landscape. She highlighted the significance of the national cyber strategy and emphasised the need for international cooperation in setting cyber norms. Her insights underscored that cybersecurity is a prerequisite for trust in digital infrastructure.
Humane Technology: Designing for Humanity
Tristan Harris, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, challenged the audience to rethink how we build and deploy technology. Drawing on themes from his speech “The AI Dilemma”, he argued for systems designed to serve humanity rather than exploit it—a call to action for ethical innovation.
Privacy and Ethics in Action
Meredith Whittaker, President of Signal, shared how ethical principles can drive the design of digital tools. Signal’s approach to privacy and user control serves as a blueprint for creating infrastructure that prioritises trust without compromising functionality.
The Role of Standards in a Connected World
Seth Dobbs, CEO of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), underlined the importance of international standards in order to foster accessibility, security, and privacy, and to ensure a balanced approach to global digital challenges. His emphasis on multi-stakeholder collaboration resonated with Switzerland’s commitment to neutrality and open governance.
Panel Discussion: Building Switzerland’s Digital Legacy
Moderated by digitalswitzerland CEO Franziska Barmettler, the panel brought together these thought leaders to discuss Switzerland’s role in the global digital ecosystem. Key takeaways included:
The digitalswitzerland VIP Lunch shifted the focus to the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence for so-called digital characters: software entities that look and act like real or imaginary creatures in a computer-generated environment. Held at the UBS Pavilion, the event welcomed around 60 participants from business, academia, and government to explore how AI is transforming human-computer interaction.
Digital Einstein: A Case Study in AI and Human Interaction
Markus Gross, Chief Digital Officer at Disney Research Zurich and a key contributor to ETH’s Digital Einstein Platform, shared the story of how AI technologies bring the Swiss physicist and most famous ETH alumnus back to life. Through natural language processing, speech synthesis, and animation, Digital Einstein offers interactive and lifelike dialogue experiences. Gross emphasised how these advancements are shaping industries from education to entertainment, offering a glimpse into the potential of digital immortality.
Switzerland as a Hub for Responsible AI
ETH Zürich President Joël Mesot built on this theme, calling for Switzerland to leverage its strengths—such as robust privacy laws and interdisciplinary collaboration—to lead in AI innovation. Highlighting the supercomputer ALPS in Lugano as a practical example, Mesot argued that Switzerland must move beyond theoretical research to create tangible, scalable solutions.
The Human Factor in AI Development
Catrin Hinkel, CEO of Microsoft Switzerland, underscored that AI must be shaped by human values, with governance and security forming the foundation of responsible AI. She is convinced that collaboration is the key to a meaningful design of these foundations.
Panel Discussion: Advancing AI in Switzerland
Moderated by Chris Luebkeman, Head of Strategic Foresight at ETH Zurich, the panel featured a spirited discussion on Switzerland’s AI potential. Some key insights:
As CEO Franziska Barmettler shared in her closing remarks, the discussions at the VIP Lunch are just the beginning of digitalswitzerland’s work in the field of AI. Future initiatives include:
With the spotlight on digital trust and artificial intelligence (AI), the digitalswitzerland VIP evening event provided a platform to explore the evolving relationship between trust and technology, and to celebrate a significant milestone for the Swiss Digital Initiative’s (SDI) Digital Trust Label.
The Intersection of AI and Digital Trust
As digitalswitzerland President Andreas Meyer highlighted in his opening remarks, trust is no longer just an ethical consideration—it is a cornerstone for AI adoption. With the rapid integration of AI into digital services, the stakes for ensuring transparency, accountability, and user confidence have never been higher.
Manoj Mehta, President of Cognizant EMEA, underlined this point, sharing how trust forms the backbone of successful digital transformation. Mehta emphasised that building trustworthy AI requires more than just technology; it demands a focus on people, processes, and governance.
Panel Discussion: Implementing Trustworthy AI
Moderated by Nicolas Zahn, Director of the Swiss Digital Initiative, the panel brought together various experts from the field:
Key takeaways from the panel included:
The Digital Trust Label: Start of a new chapter
The event also marked the launch of the next chapter for the Digital Trust Label, a project launched by the Swiss Digital Initiative. The handover of the label to SGS, a global leader in testing, inspection, and certification, was celebrated as a natural evolution of the project. Doris Leuthard, SDI President, and Jan Meemken of SGS shared the label’s journey from an innovative concept to a verifiable standard.
Meemken emphasised SGS’s commitment to maintaining the label’s high standards while scaling its impact internationally. By incorporating AI-specific criteria, the label now provides actionable tools for organisations to ensure trustworthiness in the intelligence age. The partnership with SGS signals the initiative’s readiness to meet the growing global demand for trusted digital services.
Thank you and see you next year!
The team at digitalswitzerland would like to thank all the members, partners, and speakers who contributed their time and expertise to these events. Your participation was instrumental in fostering thoughtful discussions on trust, AI, and Switzerland’s role in digital innovation. Looking ahead, we are keen to build on these conversations and work towards turning ideas into practical initiatives over the coming year. We look forward to continuing this journey together and to welcoming you back to Davos next year for further discussions and collaboration.
The article series “Better health monitoring for patient empowerment” puts the spotlight on the Digital Health Academy 2024 cohort, highlighting their innovative solutions and their ongoing collaborations with digitalswitzerland members. Each article features one of the scaleups chosen to participate in the second edition of the academy.
In healthcare, self-management and patient empowerment need to gain importance. With the rising costs of lifestyle-related diseases, there are significant opportunities in prevention, improving adjustable behaviours and therapy adherence. However, currently, there is still a huge gap between what is possible through effective preventive and therapeutic measures and what is actually done, especially in vulnerable patient populations. This is also due to the significant know-how and resources needed in developing and maintaining effective patient-centred health support programs.
Pathmate Technologies has created a Digital Coaching Platform that enables the efficient development and evaluation of digital coaching solutions. Their aim is to provide automated and personalised one-to-one health coaching by informing, motivating, and guiding health or therapy-specific actions in everyday life. The technology combines medical knowledge, behavioural psychology, and usage to create chatbot-driven health support programs that foster engagement, retention, and therapy adherence.
Using the platform, Pathmate built Manoa, a digital coach that empowers individuals to better manage their blood pressure and reduce cardiovascular risks. This solution is certified as a medical device and is reimbursed by 12 health insurances in Switzerland and Germany. It is the first app ever to be certified by the German Hypertension League.
Digital coach Manoa prevents and treats cardiovascular risks. It has a track record of over 30,000 satisfied users. Clinical studies show that blood pressure control significantly improves with the use of Manoa being compared to standard medical care.
“Manoa offers a simple, effective and scientifically proven method to perform important blood pressure self-monitoring at home correctly and regularly and also to share it with the doctor.”
– Prof. Dr. med. Florian P. Limbourg
“The app is a good support in everyday life: it reminds me to measure and record my blood pressure and to change my “unhealthy habits”. Although I work in the health sector, I still get a lot of new information. I think that’s great. And last but not least, with the help of the app, I now feel like I can actively influence my blood pressure levels.”
– Patient review
Pathmate has its roots in the Center for Digital Health Interventions of ETH Zurich and University of St. Gallen. It is a team of health psychologists, computer scientists, and data scientists with the mission to empower companies to create patient-centric digital health programs in record time.
The Digital Coaching Platform is provided to health platforms, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, MedTech firms, public health organisations, and research institutions to create digital coach-driven health journeys. Using the platform as a base, more than 20 coaches have been developed for use in areas such as chronic diseases, mental health, diet, chronic pain, diabetes, and asthma. Pathmate seeks opportunities and partners to further integrate Manoa into a robust ecosystem of relevant players such as health insurers, doctors, and pharmacies.
Pathmate’s future vision for healthcare is to help people take their health into their own hands, enabling them to live long and healthy lives. Once patients have control over their data along with the motivation, information, and tools to act, healthcare will be more about proactive and preventative action rather than reactive and therapy-based ones.
The goal of the collaboration between Pathmate and IBM Switzerland was to integrate generative AI into Pathmate’s Digital Coaching Platform to enable more personalised patient support using the power of watsonx, IBMs Large Language Model (LLM) platform.
The collaboration provides value to Pathmate’s offering in two dimensions:
During the 6-month collaboration of Pathmate Technologies and the Client Engineering Team of IBM Switzerland, they discussed and evaluated several opportunities regarding the use of LLMs. Based on these discussions, they drafted detailed concepts for the Manoa CoachAI+ use case, which was ultimately implemented and refined over several development sprints.
The module was successfully implemented and evaluated with several test users. In addition, Pathmate gained significant knowledge about integrating and optimising LLMs for patient coaching which will be an asset to further develop their minimum viable product.
This project was made possible with the support of digitalswitzerland and the IBM Client Engineering Team, who provided Pathmate with unique knowledge, guidance, and development support.
Pathmate Technologies: https://www.pathmate.tech/
IBM Client Engineering: https://www.ibm.com/client-engineering
In collaboration with Swiss Healthcare Startups, digitalswitzerland launched the second edition of the Digital Health Academy, a 6-month cohort based programme for AI-driven digital health scaleups that enable patients to better understand and monitor their health. AllesHealth, CNS Therapy, Exploris Health, mobile health and Pathmate were part of the 2024 cohort and, through this academy, were positioned as thought leaders in the digital health space. As part of the programme, they joined a collaborative workshop with the programme’s partners, were mentored by experts, benefited from in-depth workshops and took part in a panel discussion on health monitoring at our partner Swiss Healthcare Startups’s ecosystem event, Digital Health Day in Zurich.
Want to know more? Check out last year’s publication “The Swiss healthcare system: entering a new digital era”, on the state of innovation in digital health in Switzerland.
Curious about to learn more about the first article, read all about Exploris Health and their collaboration with Swiss Post and Post Sanela in “Better health monitoring for patient empowerment | Part 1: AI-based coronary artery disease risk test”.
This article series puts the spotlight on the Digital Health Academy 2024 cohort, highlighting their innovative solutions and their ongoing collaborations with digitalswitzerland members. Each article features one of the scaleups chosen to participate in the second edition of the academy.
Heart attacks and the underlying coronary artery disease (i.e. blockage of arteries with plaque 1, limiting and ultimately stopping the blood flow to the heart) are the number one cause of death–not only in Switzerland, but worldwide. This is a treatable disease, which is why it is important to identify affected people and save others from unnecessary examinations. Today, the most reliable diagnostic solutions are a CT 2 scans, MRI 3 scans, or an invasive catheter examination 4.
But how is it decided if a patient should undergo either of these procedures or if they can be sent back home without further investigation? To make this decision, there are currently no reliable preselection tools in place. This often leads to informed guessing, resulting in either significant amounts of unnecessary imaging and invasive tests–burdening both patients and payers–or missed cases due to incorrect risk assessment.
Exploris Health developed an AI-based test called Cardio Explorer®, which can reliably rule out and diagnose the presence of coronary artery disease at the same time. Both decision processes are enabled with similar accuracy as CT or MRI scans. This test, however, is purely software-based. It is CE-marked and has been clinically validated in over 4’500 patients. Only requiring blood test results, blood pressure, and information about the patient, it is easy to use and positioned as a first line test for healthcare professionals to efficiently identify patients that are at risk and recommend the appropriate next steps as suggested by the latest medical guidelines.
Patients with an acute coronary artery disease are identified more quickly. And for the others, unnecessary further examinations are avoided, saving them from waiting times, radiation, and unpleasant invasive interventions.
“Thanks to artificial intelligence, we finally have a tool that can meet the high demands in primary diagnostics.”
– E. Schönmann, MD, Primary Care Physician, Aarau
“We believe Cardio Explorer, Exploris Health’s innovative cardiac test, will significantly improve care for patients with suspected coronary artery disease.”
– Dr. med. Thomas Helms, Chairman of the Board of the German Foundation for the Chronically Ill.
Serial entrepreneurs, experts from pharma, diagnostics, AI, and Professors from university hospitals in Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and the US.
Exploris Health works with a diverse range of collaborators and partners to advance its mission. The company collaborates with university hospitals to access data, identify unmet medical needs, develop innovative solutions, and conduct clinical validation. It has established distribution partnerships with electronic medical record providers, as well as key players in diagnostics and the pharmaceutical industry, to facilitate the adoption of its solutions by general practitioners, resident cardiologists, and emergency departments in hospitals. Additionally, health insurance providers collaborate with Exploris Health to support the reimbursement of its tests. Occupational health physicians and service providers also partner with the company to integrate its tests into employee heart health check-up campaigns.
Leverage AI to decode human biology and identify personalised diagnostic and therapy solutions in order to improve patient outcomes and substantially save costs for healthcare systems by enabling decisions at the right time and place.
The aim from this collaboration with Exploris Health was to identify focus areas and establish contacts across Swiss Post and Sanela, creating a short- and longer term win-win scenario. Three such potential focus areas were identified:
The collaboration ensured to quickly identify the appropriate stakeholders within such a large organisation as Swiss Post and identify areas for joint value.
Occupational Health:
EPR / Digital Health
Ecosystem
“Things take time to materialise, but the seed is planted. We feel very comfortable that we will further collaborate for the benefit of Exploris but also Post and Sanela.”
– Dr. Manuel Roemer, Chief Strategy & Business Development, Exploris Health AG
“As someone with a public health background and a deep passion for cardiovascular health, mentoring Exploris Health has opened my eyes to the innovative possibilities for early detection. By fostering connections and building bridges between tools for the early detection of chronic diseases and the EPR ecosystem, we can lay the groundwork to advance preventive healthcare and improve public health outcomes across Switzerland.”
– Dr. Theresa Reiker, Business Development Specialist, Head of Compliance, Post Sanela Health AG
Exploris Health: https://en.explorishealth.com/
Swiss Post Digital Health: https://digital-solutions.post.ch/en/digital-health
Post Sanela Health: https://www.post-sanela.ch/en/
In collaboration with Swiss Healthcare Startups, digitalswitzerland launched the second edition of the Digital Health Academy, a 6-month cohort based programme for AI-driven digital health scaleups that enable patients to better understand and monitor their health. AllesHealth, CNS Therapy, Exploris Health, mobile health and Pathmate were part of the 2024 cohort and, through this academy, were positioned as thought leaders in the digital health space. As part of the programme, they joined a collaborative workshop with the programme’s partners, were mentored by experts, benefited from in-depth workshops and took part in a panel discussion on health monitoring at our partner Swiss Healthcare Startups’s ecosystem event, Digital Health Day in Zurich.
Want to know more? Check out last year’s publication “The Swiss healthcare system: entering a new digital era”, on the state of innovation in digital health in Switzerland.
Footnotes
1Plaque: Buildup of fats, cholesterol and other substances in and on the artery walls
2Computed tomography (CT): A diagnostic imaging procedure that uses a combination of X-rays and computer technology to produce images of the inside of the body.
3Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): A medical imaging technique that uses strong magnetic fields and radio waves to produce detailed images of the inside of the body (incl. organs, bones, muscles and blood vessels)
4Invasive catheter examination: An invasive procedure in which a thin tube called a catheter is inserted through an artery and guided to your heart to identify important information about the structure and function of the heart.
In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, disinformation presents one of the greatest threats to our democratic societies, according to the Global Risks Report 2024 published by WEF. Disinformation, often spread via social media and digital platforms, has the potential to distort public discourse and erode institutional credibility.
This issue has recently become even more pressing with Meta announcing the end of their third-party factchecking program for both Facebook and Instagram. With this decision, the company is following in the footsteps of Elon Musk’s X, which ditched their fact-checking program in favour of a feature called “Community Notes”.
In our recently published research paper “Countering Disinformation With a Focus on Fact-Checking and AI”, we explored how Switzerland can leverage its digital ecosystem to combat disinformation, particularly through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automated fact-checking.
In Switzerland, as in many other countries, there is a growing reliance on digital platforms for news consumption, especially among the younger population. Social media and online channels are becoming the primary sources of information. However, anyone can create and disseminate content online without verification or editorial oversight.
This issue amplifies the challenges associated with distinguishing between authentic/legitimate news and fake news. This shift away from traditional news outlets has increased the need for effective mechanisms to manage and mitigate the risks of false information, ensuring the public has access to reliable and accurate data.
Disinformation involves the deliberate dissemination of false information intended to deceive the public. While disinformation poses global risks, Switzerland’s decentralised governance and reliance on public participation make it particularly vulnerable.
AI offers significant potential to detect and combat disinformation, but it is not without its limitations. Public scepticism regarding AI’s transparency, combined with a lack of AI-powered fact-checking tools, highlights the need for a holistic and multi-faceted approach.
AI has the potential to revolutionise fact-checking through Natural Language Processing (NLP), Machine Learning (ML), and even blockchain technology. These tools can process vast amounts of data, identify false information, and assist human fact-checkers in verifying claims faster and more accurately.
Such AI-driven systems are already proving effective in identifying harmful content that could otherwise spread unchecked. However, human oversight remains critical. While AI systems are good at sifting through large datasets, they struggle with nuanced content, including cultural differences, where human judgement is essential.
Without a human touch, automated fact-checking could risk false positives or fail to catch subtler forms of misinformation and disinformation.
One of the key recommendations outlined in our research paper is the adoption of Explainable AI (XAI)—a framework that ensures AI systems provide transparent, understandable explanations for their conclusions. This transparency is vital in building trust among users and the broader public.
As seen in the German DeFakts project, combining AI detection with human expertise helps explain why certain content is flagged as disinformation, increasing accuracy and fostering greater public trust.
The fight against disinformation requires more than technological solutions; broad collaboration across sectors is important. The paper emphasises the importance of involving academia, media organisations, private companies, and government institutions to create comprehensive strategies.
Public awareness and education also play a central role in Switzerland’s efforts to build resilience against disinformation. By improving digital and media literacy, Switzerland can empower its population to critically evaluate the information they consume.
The paper recommends integrating digital literacy programs into school curricula and organising public workshops to raise awareness about disinformation.
A proactive approach known as prebunking—educating the public about common disinformation tactics before they encounter false information—can significantly reduce the impact of misleading content.
Programs like SSR SRG ’s “Newstest” and campaigns such as #UseTheNews are prime examples of initiatives that aim to enhance media literacy and help the public distinguish fact from fiction.
To effectively counter disinformation, Switzerland must adopt a unified approach that combines AI-driven fact-checking, human oversight, public education, and cross-sector collaboration. As AI technologies continue to evolve, it is crucial to establish ethical guidelines and regulatory frameworks that safeguard transparency and prevent misuse.
One of the major concerns surrounding AI is its potential misuse, including biases in algorithmic decision-making and the risk of over-reliance on opaque systems.
To address these concerns, regulations should be put in place to ensure algorithmic transparency, data privacy, and accountability. For example, AI systems should be required to provide clear and understandable explanations for their decisions—such as those found in Explainable AI—so that users and regulators alike can scrutinise how conclusions were reached.
This is particularly important in disinformation detection, where false positives—wrongly labelling truthful content as disinformation—could have serious consequences for freedom of speech and the credibility of media outlets. Regulatory frameworks should also create safeguards for AI systems to prevent these risks.
Countries are moving toward more accountable digital spaces. In Switzerland, the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) is preparing a consultation on a draft legislation for early 2025: the New Federal Law on Communication Platforms and Search Engines (KomPG/LPCom).
The law seeks to give the Swiss population more rights vis-à-vis the significant communication platforms and enable them to demand transparency. Similarly, the EU Digital Services Act provides a model for holding platforms responsible for preventing the spread of disinformation through transparent and robust content moderation.
To build resilience and safeguard democratic values in the face of evolving disinformation threats, Switzerland can enhance digital literacy among its population as well as multi-stakeholder collaboration among economy, academia, civil society, and government.
AI, when combined with human oversight and transparent regulatory measures, will be an essential part of this unified approach.
Disinformation poses a growing threat to public trust and democracy in today’s digital age. Our latest study, “Countering Disinformation With a Focus on Fact-Checking and AI” explores innovative strategies to tackle this challenge, highlighting Switzerland’s potential to lead with its digital expertise and commitment to collaboration.
This comprehensive research examines different uses of artificial intelligence in detecting and debunking false information, while emphasising the vital role of human oversight, transparent AI, and public education. It also features actionable recommendations for governments, academia, and private sectors to unite efforts against disinformation.
Whether you’re interested in the ethical implications, regulatory frameworks, or the latest AI-powered solutions, the study “Countering Disinformation With a Focus on Fact-Checking and AI” provides a roadmap to strengthen digital resilience and restore trust in public discourse. Check out the full report to uncover how Switzerland—and the world—can effectively combat the spread of falsehoods.
Quantum computing is a rapidly developing field that uses the fascinating, often counterintuitive principles of quantum mechanics to process information. Unlike the computers we use every day, which rely on bits that represent either a 0 or a 1, quantum computers use so called qubits that can represent multiple states at once. This lets them handle a huge amount of information simultaneously, potentially solving problems that would take traditional computers millions of years to crack.
Why Quantum Computing Matters
Quantum computing isn’t just a technological curiosity. It has the potential to reshape industries and improve our daily lives. Some of its most promising applications include:
In Switzerland, academic institutions and companies are already exploring the potential of quantum technologies. Universities like ETH Zurich and EPFL in Lausanne are at the forefront of quantum research, and Swiss startups are working on quantum-safe communication solutions. This means that, as quantum computers mature, Switzerland is well-placed to both contribute to and benefit from these innovations.
The Cybersecurity “Record-Now, Decrypt-Later” Threat
With great power, however, comes great responsibility. Quantum computing not only promises breakthroughs but also poses cybersecurity risks. Current encryption methods that secure your online banking, health records, and government communications, rely on mathematical problems that are difficult for classical computers to solve. But future quantum computers could crack these codes much more easily and quickly, potentially exposing sensitive data.
Even though there is not yet a quantum computer powerful enough to break today’s encryptions, the looming threat is clear. Attackers could intercept and store encrypted data today and simply wait. Once a sufficiently advanced quantum computer emerges, that previously secure data could become readable. Sensitive information like long-term government secrets, critical infrastructure designs, or personal financial records, could be at risk in the future, even if they are safe now. This challenge has caught the attention of governments and organisations worldwide as protecting such data against future quantum attacks becomes increasingly a high-stakes priority.
Post-quantum cryptography (PQC)
The solution to looming quantum threats lies in post-quantum cryptography (PQC). PQC algorithms are designed to withstand both classical and quantum attacks. They rely on entirely different mathematical foundations than current encryption methods, making them much harder for quantum computers to solve.
The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is playing a central role in developing these PQC standards, running an international competition since 2016 to identify and evaluate potential algorithms. This international perspective is key: The U.S., Europe and other global players including Switzerland are all committed to ensuring that PQC standards work seamlessly across borders.
Preparing for the Transition
Shifting from today’s encryption to quantum-safe methods is a massive undertaking that will not happen overnight and demands cooperation among government, industry, and academia:
Quantum computing holds transformative promise in fields like medicine, finance and AI. Yet, cybersecurity implications must be faced head-on. The good news is, that momentum is building: PQC standards are on their way, and the transition has already begun. By embracing PQC and contributing to international efforts, Swiss researchers, government agencies, and companies are helping shape a future where the power of quantum computing is matched by equally powerful safeguards. With these steps, Switzerland is well-positioned to be a leader in the quantum era.
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