Emily Livingston, Author at digitalswitzerland

Six new Executive Committee members were elected at today’s General Assembly in Bern.

Philomena Colatrella (CEO CSS); Anna Takihara (Google) & Jill Kümin (Google) in job-sharing tandem; Rainer Baumann (COO Migros Genossenschafts Bund); Adrian Müller (Swico) and Sabine Magri (COO UBS Switzerland) are newly appointed to the Executive Committee by the digitalswitzerland General Assembly. With Sascha Zahnd, who was named president a year ago, the digitalswitzerland Executive Committee comprises 23 members.

Since the founding of this Switzerland-wide, cross-industry initiative in 2015, more than 240 association members and politically neutral foundation partners now support Switzerland on its way to becoming a leading digital nation.

Read the press release in German, French and Italian.

Browse annual reports that document our activities and finances from previous financial years.

digitalswitzerland is a Swiss-wide, cross-industry initiative that aims to transform Switzerland into a leading digital nation. Along with our network of 200+ members and non-political partners, including more than 1,000 top executives, we’re engaged in over 25 projects to inspire, initiate, co-create and lead digital change in Switzerland.

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The Swiss Digital Initiative presents the world’s first label for digital responsibility. As of now, trustworthy digital services can be identified more easily.

Those offering digital services can declare their digital commitment in a credible manner. Both Swisscom and Swiss Re became the first to receive the Digital Trust Label for their digital services. Credit Suisse is in the midst of the labelling process. Others have committed to following suit.

The Swiss Digital Initiative, a Foundation initiated by digitalswitzerland in 2020, has created over the past two years, the first Digital Trust Label. The Label is a clear commitment to digital responsibility and empowers users of digital services to make better decisions and gives companies a tool to set them apart from their competition and commit to digital responsibility.

Digital services are increasingly part of every aspect of our lives. On a daily basis, we use them from checking the weather in the morning, to interacting with our bank, filing an insurance claim to grocery shopping. In all these interactions, we need to blindly trust that providers’ digital services are working reliably and protect our data. With almost daily news about scandals, data breaches and successful cyberattacks, trust is eroding.

On the other hand, providers investing significant resources and effort into providing safe and trustworthy digital services face difficulties credibly signalling those efforts to customers. Why should one service be considered by customers and regulators as more trustworthy than another?

The Digital Trust Label initiated by the Swiss Digital Initiative addresses both the problems of digital trust and accountability. It is a clear and easily understandable Label that denotes the trustworthiness of a digital service. It shows a clear commitment to digital responsibility, which not only provides customers with much needed transparency and additional information but also gives companies a tool to navigate a rapidly changing regulatory environment and set themselves apart from the competition.

The Label is issued on the basis of an in-depth audit conducted by an independent auditor. The auditor in turn bases his work on the Label criteria catalogue that was developed with the Swiss Digital Initiative’s main partner, EPFL, and experts from diverse backgrounds such as cybersecurity and consumer organisations. The feasibility of such criteria was then tested with the co-development organisations such as SwissRe, Booking.com and Swisscom. The Label criteria catalogue is the result of two years of expert work, user studies and public consultations and ensures practicality as well as leading expertise. To keep up with technological developments and market demand, the Label criteria catalogue will also be continuously updated.

The Digital Trust Label takes into account existing standards and regulatory frameworks such as GDPR and combines the dimensions of security, data protection, reliability and fair user interaction. This combination sets it apart from other Labels that might go into more detail in one dimension but cannot make a comprehensive assessment of trustworthiness. As such, the Label is particularly interesting for digital services where the question of digital trust is of importance, e.g. due to the handling of sensitive data or automated decision-making and other applications of artificial intelligence. For our overarching vision of digital trust, be sure to check out our Digital Trust Whitepaper.

The trend for growing importance of digital responsibility and digital trust is evident, not just by regulatory discussions and actions around the world but also by the fact that the Swiss Digital Initiative has identified around 50 like-minded initiatives globally. Labelling can act as a first step towards a trustworthy digital transformation by showing a clear commitment to digital responsibility.

How can you get the Digital Trust Label for your digital service? Once a company has identified a relevant digital service, the complexity, cost and duration of the audit is discussed in a scoping call with SDI and the auditor. With a price range of CHF 22’000 – 45’000, the Label is primarily designed for business-to-consumer (B2C) and business to business to consumer (B2B2C) digital services with a high user exposure.

After the audit is conducted, SDI experts will perform an additional check and decide on the label award. Once the Label has been granted, the service provider may use it for the audited service. The Label is granted for three years with two quality checks in between. Given technological progress, a repetition of the audit after the initial three-year Label validity period is highly recommended to show continued commitment to trustworthy digital services.

Learn more about the Digital Trust Label here. You can also reach out to Sarah Gaedig, DTL project manager: sarah@sdi-foundation.org

The most inspiring digital innovators and trailblazers were celebrated at The Digital Economy Award at the Hallenstadion in Zurich on 11 November.

In an inspiring opening speech, Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter declared, “Digitalisation must serve people – and not the other way around.” This is also the declared goal of the Federal Council’s ‘Digital Switzerland Strategy’. The first principle of this strategy is: “Putting people at the forefront.’

The winners of the Digital Economy Award 2021 were selected by a 40-member expert jury. Adding to the celebratory atmosphere, 1,000 guests from the digital industry, research, business and politics gathered to watch winners take to the stage as the most inspiring digital innovators of 2021. The audience also honoured two young people who were crowned this year’s NextGen Heroes. These inspirational digital leaders are changing the world with innovative digital solutions.

Labster offers virtual labs to support the increasingly complex science curriculum through game-based learning, engaging stories, and 3D visualizations. Their aim is to engage students’ interest in learning at a deeper level. Jury President Pascal Kaufmann, founder of Starmind, paid tribute to the winners: “Labster has impressive growth figures and millions of users worldwide. Science and knowledge transfer are accessible to the whole world via state-of-the-art virtual reality, mobile, and desktop technology. With over CHF 100 million in fundraising to date, this has also inspired investors from all over the world.”

Firmenich is a 125-year-old privately-owned Swiss company and one of the world’s largest developers and manufacturers of perfumes and flavours. Jury President Lukas Bär: “Together with EPFL Lausanne, Firmenich developed a digital lab where the world’s first AI flavour was developed in Switzerland. The combination of people and technology (augmented perfumer) in an emotional area – the sense of smell – is daring, courageous and innovative. This co-creation makes digital work a highly emotional one. Firmenich has reinvented itself! And this in a traditional luxury sector: anyone who wants to reinvent the profession of perfumer must have a phenomenal amount of courage.

Belimed supports the smart hospital, which relies on optimised and automated processes. Jury President Samy Liechti: “In a challenging, highly regulated and international environment, Belimed has enabled a transformation from a hardware provider to a service provider. The company presents a convincing vision with a clear strategy, including a roadmap and satisfies an effective customer need. This is reflected in a clear data strategy, in which data is seen as the basis for further innovation. Belimed is working on the hospital of the future with a lot of courage and innovative spirit – and we are proud that a Swiss company is shining out into the world as a beacon with its work. They call themselves “Engineers of Confidence.”

Digitalization in the canton of Zug does not just mean tools and technology, but a different mindset and the courage to embrace cultural change. Jury President Anke Bridge Haux: “The Canton of Zug has achieved far-reaching digital development with “Digital Zug” – for the entire cantonal administration and inhabitants. A broad portfolio of diverse, concrete projects has been implemented, based on the Zug ID. The jury was impressed by the large scale of implementation and the courage of the canton to play a pioneering role. The inclusion of cultural elements, such as the “Customer Chair”, which represents the perspective of the inhabitants was highly regarded by the jury. The canton drives the development in the municipalities and offices of the canton with a holistic view.

Mobiliar invested in IT and digitalisation early: since 2018 alone, CHF 300 million has been invested in related projects, and 150 additional specialists have been recruited. The insurance company relies entirely on the public cloud and builds its solutions. Jury President Bramwell Kaltenrieder: “Mobiliar is strategically investing in ecosystems that will ensure customer access along the customer journey in the future. Mobilar is set up according to the most modern principles and skilfully combines digital and traditional sales channels cleverly with each other.”

With the sale of cryptonow vouchers in retail outlets in Switzerland, Värdex Suisse SA enables easy access to cryptocurrencies even for non-experts. Jury president Marcus Dauck: “CryptoNow creates a simple bridge between digital and analogue with a voucher for Bitcoins. Highest quality and security in a regulated environment, combined with Swissness (Designed, Hosted, Engineered in Switzerland), good branding, high market market penetration through existing distribution channels (kiosks, retailers, etc.) provide a very strong overall package. The strategic focus on a business case offers the possibility to fully integrate the customer journey completely into one’s own hands.”

The NextGen Hero category was created to showcase the extraordinary potential of young people who are helping to actively shape the digital future of Switzerland. The audience chose two young personalities under 25 years of age via live voting. In a public vote on 10 November during digitalswitzerland’s Digital Day, a broader public already participated by means of telephone voting.

Alessandra Capurro and Alexander Corin emerged as NextGen Heroes 2021.

Alessandra Capurro is working on the development of Ecolens, a database-linked rating system that allows restaurateurs to calculate the carbon footprint of dishes on their menus. In its other commitments, it is committed to sustainability in the space industry.

Alexander Corin works with Mindfuel to implement digital innovations in international companies. The start-up is focused on innovative approaches in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and business intelligence.

During the gala awards, additional Highest Digital Quality certificates were awarded to the following companies and organisations:

● Innovation Management:

o Gold: Värdex Suisse, Greenliff, HeyPatient

o Bronze: Neosis Solutions, Vaud cantonal compensation fund AHV

● Customer Experience:

o Gold: Zeix

o Bronze: Värdex Suisse, Greenliff, Xappido, Zurich Airport, SVA Aargau,

● Process Automation:

o Bronze: Neosis Solutions, Vaud Cantonal Compensation Fund AHV

For high resolution images of the awards, visit our Flickr.

Study on digitalisation and cybersecurity in SMEs 2021

The current study on digitalisation and cybersecurity in SMEs 2021 has revealed that home office has established itself as a place of work for SMEs. Small businesses in Switzerland are demonstrating flexibility. Home office uptake doubled since the start of the Corona crisis. The downside: while a quarter of the companies surveyed were affected by cyberattacks in 2020, more than a third were affected in the current survey. The implementation of technical measures against cyberattacks is at a high level. However, there is much potential in the implementation of organisational measures such as conducting security audits and employee training.

The survey was carried out on behalf of the Swiss Mobiliar Insurance Company Ltd, digitalswitzerland, Allianz Digitale Sicherheit Schweiz, the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland FHNW – Digital Transformation Competence Centre and the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences SATW.

Read the study in German.

Read the press release is available in German, French and Italian.

Read the press conference presentation in German and French.

The winners of the Digital Economy Award 2021 were announced this evening by a 40-strong jury: Labster, Belimed, Mobiliar, the Finance Department of the Canton of Zug, Firmenich and Värdex Suisse.

With the NextGen Hero Award, the audience also honoured two young personalities who know how to change the world at a young age. At the Award Night, 1000 guests from the digital industry, research, business and politics celebrated the year’s digital feats. The ceremony took place at the Hallenstadion Zurich in the presence of Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter.

Read the press release in German and French.

For high resolution images visit our Flickr.

At today’s Swiss Digital Day and during the six-week run-up, more than 100,000 people were interested in 700 events that took place both online and at more than 30 venues across Switzerland. Digital Day also offered viewers a varied 18-hour livestream programme on two channels. There was something for all ages and interests.

Highlights included the #herHACK Women’s Hackathon, the European Digital Days series and the numerous opportunities to strengthen digital skills. The grand finale is the Digital Economy Award, which takes place tomorrow evening in Zurich.

The press release is available in German, French and Italian.

For high resolution images – visit our Flickr.

Over the weekend, #herHACK Switzerland’s largest female hackathon with over 200 participants took place in Zurich as part of Digital Day.

During 36 hours, women worked in teams to solve social problems that contribute to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN Agenda 2030. The event aims to encourage women to pursue careers in the technology industry. digitalswitzerland organized the event together with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cognizant and other sponsors.

The Iconics team took first place and convinced the jury with a digital solution for sustainable and healthy eating. To kick off the Hackathon weekend, Federal Chancellor Walter Thurnherr visited the hackers on site in Zurich.

Download press release in German, French and Italian.

Download high resolution images here.