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digitalswitzerland is a Swiss-wide, cross-industry initiative that aims to strengthen and anchor Switzerland as a global leader in digital innovation. Under the umbrella of digitalswitzerland, Association members and politically neutral Foundation partners work together transversally to achieve this goal. The appointment of new Managing Director Stefan Metzger in January 2022 highlights a transition to a stronger focus on impact, with 6 priority activities to make Switzerland one of the leading digital nations in the world.
Are you interested in a membership or partnership? We are happy to have a conversation with you about our offerings, answer any questions you might have and to discuss the next steps. Please contact us at info@digitalswitzerland.com.
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The winter session will deal with a smaller number of political issues with a clear digital connection (about 15) than the previous autumn session (more than 30).
The focus of the winter session will undoubtedly be on the election of the two Federal Councillors. In addition, the “hot topic” of energy and the implementation of the OECD tax bill will dominate both chambers.
A central concern for the digitalisation of Switzerland is the Federal Act on the Use of Electronic Means for the Performance of Official Duties (EMBAG). This is currently in the process of being amended. If the law is adopted, which we assume it will be, the following principles will be realised in the public sector, more specifically in the area of e-government: open government data, open standards and open source. Furthermore, the EMBAG enables the start-up financing of public-private digitalisation projects of public interest. digitalswitzerland has campaigned for the EMBAG and is we hope that this milestone towards the principle of “digital first” will be reached.
Master students from ZHAW created a great concept with suitable tools to create a smart and digital food guide for home usage called “kitsch”, serving as a food assistant for the consumers. WWF and digitalswitzerland support this project idea and would like to invite any player in the ecosystem to further develop this solution and start designing an MVP for the food waste reduction application. digitalswitzerland will continue with a supporting role to connect you with the relevant stakeholders, communicating the milestones to a wider audience and giving feedback along the innovation process.
Are you willing to take ownership of this project? digitalswitzerland and WWF would be very pleased to see this project developing further, please let Jade Sternberg know and she’s happy to coordinate with you. This is a project close to our hearts and we wish to follow the development from a far angle. The ideal scenario for the future would be for all retailers to offer this application to their consumers through their loyalty cards. It is only through a behavioural society mindset shift that Switzerland will be able to reduce food waste and meet its sustainable goals.
Interested to learn more about how it all started? Read through the article:
In summer 2021, at digitalswitzerland we already discussed the challenge of fighting food waste with WWF, Swiss Food Nutrition Valley and Accenture. We were later approached by ZHAW professor Yann Blumer looking for corporate partners to work with the students on multi-stakeholder projects, tackling pressing systemic challenges. Our upcoming workshop centred around food waste was the perfect opportunity to involve the students. We started working with them to conduct a system analysis based on existing networks and projects with the purpose of developing a prototype of a digital artefact.
Switzerland has set clear goals of reducing its food waste by the mid-2030s (bafu.admin). Each person in Switzerland generates 330kg of avoidable food waste per year. Considering this rather high number, it became clear that a holistic approach is crucial to enable a behavioural change of the consumer to avoid throwing away edible food.
Based on their research, the students created a complete overview of the consumer journey to identify the pain points where food was wasted the most (See image below).
To get different insights, the students interviewed key experts from WWF, ZHAW, Coop and Swiss Food Nutrition Valley to understand perspectives and expectations regarding the reduction of food waste on the consumer side. Based on this evaluation, they defined common ground for the multi-stakeholder workshop, which was summarised in a one-pager briefing and shared with all participants prior to the workshop.
On 18 November, multiple stakeholders such as BAFU, fenanco, WWF, Accenture, Eatable and more, met at Impact Hub in Bern to brainstorm together on the potential digital solutions to tackle the food waste challenge together. It is only through a transversal approach that we can identify the best-suited solution for this systematic challenge.
The workshop was structured according to the double diamond process (See image below), meaning that the stakeholders could ideate and expand their ideas first to finally prioritise and select the most promising ideas. The conceiving solutions would be further elaborated on by the students.
The following four key ideas came out of the workshop:
The students aimed to create a convenient, integrated solution combining multiple ideas in an easy-to-use artefact. They validated their concept through expert interviews with WWF, BAFU, Coop, Migros, Accenture and Kitro.
What came out of their hard work is a smart and digital food guide at home called “kitsch”, serving as a food assistant for the consumers. The vision is defined on this landing page and serves to identify if consumers share a similar vision. This group of innovative students put in place this platform to look for stakeholders who are willing to co-create the solution. For the project to be successful, it is key to create a community of early adopters which support the idea.
In this video, the students show the advantages of the application through the full consumer journey. To outline how to best continue the development of the concept, the students also provide a clear handover document for the ecosystem.
The comprehensive documentation of the students’ digital artefact will be used as a baseline to build an MVP fitting the market’s demand. To start the development of “kitsch”, the students recommend starting with the implementation of the expiration date feature, alerting the consumers of the food which will soon not be edible.
We are pursuing this partnership with ZHAW and are currently working with a new group of students on sustainability topics in Switzerland.
As part of its Digital Xchange project, the digitalswitzerland Foundation organised in collaboration with some of its partners, a series of Swiss-wide public focus groups. The aim was to offer an open forum for the population to raise questions and discuss the opportunities and challenges of a rapidly advancing digital future. As a result, key fears and hopes were captured.
In different parts of Switzerland and in collaboration with partners such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Kanton Aargau, Ville de Martigny, and Haute Ecole Spécialisée de Suisse occidentale (HES-SO), diverse groups of participants expressed their views, shared their experiences, their hopes and fears, as well as their ideas on how to foster an inclusive digital transformation. The content of these interactions fed into the discussion between decision-makers about our digital future on 5 September in Bern at the Digital Xchange Forum. The exciting event to place on the same day as the launch of Swiss Digital Days in Bern.
Overall, people’s mindset is adapting to the evolving digital environment. Generally, many people have a positive view of the new digital technologies and see them as a tool that has the potential to generate value for business and unlock benefits for society.
However, deep fears remain.
Many of the participants realise that mastering digital tools is becoming a prerequisite for economic, social and cultural integration, and worry that digitalisation can amplify pre-existing socio-economic inequalities. In particular, older generations fear being left behind by failing to use new digital tools.
On this point, everyone agrees that the key answer to “keep up with” and “benefit from” digital technologies is training. There’s an urgent need to develop skills and competences by setting up adequate training for various types of users (i.e., children, teenagers, adult workers, retirees…). Nevertheless, the question remained as to what are the skills needed? How can we train people who are professionally active and/or retired? Who is responsible for providing such training? Many participants raised the importance of having regular support, for example, by providing a space where people can go to get the digital support they need.
Furthermore, the majority of people were concerned about the grey areas of digital governance: fear of the consequences of a lack of limits, framework, and regulations with regard to fundamental aspects of our lives, such as use of private data, security, mass surveillance, individual freedoms or polarisation of opinions.
A strong consensus arose that the discourse surrounding digitalisation can be too complex and technical, which can generate mistrust and even self-exclusion. As a result, there is a clear aspiration to put the human back at the centre and to strengthen the debate on the human and social aspects of digital transformation. This will enable each of us to benefit from more information and to be better integrated in the associated decision-making processes.
Would you also like to be part of these discussions, collaborate with different stakeholders and become a partner of the digitalswitzerland Foundation ?
Please, email Sébastien Kulling, sebastien@digitalswitzerland-foundation.org
Or Sandrine Denti, sandrine@digitalswitzerland-foundation.org
In the autumn session from 12 to 30 September 2022, more than 30 items on digital policy are on the agenda – one of the main focuses in the Council of States are on the area of Digital Health.
The complete outlook is available in the national languages German and French.
In a letter dated 18 May 2022, the consultation on the Maturity Recognition Ordinance and the Administrative Agreement on the Recognition of Maturity Certificates was launched. digitalswitzerland thanks economiesuisse for this opportunity and is happy to comment from the perspective of the digital economy. We would like to state that we fully support economiesuisse’s statement.
Be part of something big
During the sixth edition of the Swiss Digital Days, which will run under the theme „Together we create the digital future!“, we will explore the technologies of AI-based art creation and the associated minting of NFTs. These two technologies will be combined in a touchscreen art generator, which will tour throughout Switzerland on a large-scale roadshow with 19 locations from 5 September 2022 until 27 October.
You have a chance to help create the largest digital artwork in Switzerland
We invite the public to participate in an attempt to create one of the world’s largest collaboratively created digital artworks. Here’s how it works: participants can choose two terms related to digitization and Switzerland. A state-of-the-art artificial intelligence then transforms them into a digital piece of art. We expect about 8,000 – 10,000 unique artworks to be created by the Swiss population during the Swiss Digital Days.
In the end, participants can download the corresponding artwork created with AI (for personal, non-commercial use) and become part of the next Swiss Crypto Stamps edition, issued by the Swiss Post.
Get involved
Simply register via e-mail address in order to be informed by the Swiss Post of what is happening with the artwork and the project itself further along the road.
These artworks will be brought together in a large mosaic as the largest participatory NFT in Switzerland attempt, which will then be auctioned off for a good cause at the closing event of the Swiss Digital Days on 27 October.
Take a look to see when this exciting project is coming to your city.
Today, 5 September marks the launch of the Swiss Digital Days 2022, which includes more than 200 free events for the population. This is a unique opportunity to exchange, discuss and access numerous events on the topic of digitalisation. For seven weeks, from 5 September to 23 October, digitalswitzerland and its partners will be touring across Switzerland with a series of events in seven regions and 19 locations. You too can experience the digital future in our bubbles, a unique setting in a city near you, or visit one of the online events. The opening takes place on the Bundesplatz in Bern. We look forward to seeing you there!
You can find a series of pictures here.
You can find the accompanying press release here in German, French and Italian.
Every initiative, whether domestic or pan-european, exists primarily to solve a problem. GAIA-X is no exception. What makes the European initiative unique is the diversity of interrelated problems that it aims to solve all at once. This makes it ambitious and daring, while simultaneously raising expectations and pressure. As such, it is even more important to know concretely what it is and what it is not. And above all: what problems it actually aims to solve. So let’s start there.
The modern world runs on that data, which opens up a world of possibility for government, academia, organisations and SMEs. This is no secret. However, there are a number of obstacles to accessing their innovation value. Most importantly: stakeholders today cannot make entirely self-determined decisions. Why is that, and what really stands in the way?
Let’s take a look at six concrete barriers that exist today.
The unfortunate fact remains that all these barriers continue to persist. They are preventing stakeholders from unlocking the full value of their data. GAIA-X promises to address these obstacles in a manner that is true to European values and standards, and paves the way for a future-ready data infrastructure.
At its core, GAIA-X is a European governance project aimed at building the foundation for a data-driven economy. Therein, it can be interpreted as a ‘proposal’ for the next generation of a federated data infrastructure based on the latest thinking that is in line with European values, namely openness, transparency, and trust.
How exactly is GAIA-X accomplishing this task? Short Answer: Through guidelines, policies and software frameworks. Indeed, the key deliverables of the initiative are documentation, notably the GAIA-X Policy Rules Document, GAIA-X Architecture Document, and Data Space Principles, which collectively form the de-facto ‘GAIA-X Standard’. The architecture of GAIA-X is based on the principle of decentralisation. GAIA-X is the result of many individual data owners (users) and technology players (providers) – all adopting a common standard of rules and control mechanisms – the GAIA-X standard.
This GAIA-X Standards has a ‘harmonising’ effect. In this envisioned infrastructure, stakeholders would always be given the “option but not the obligation”. Once adopted, the de-facto standard would allow for self-determined decision making when it comes to data and cloud. The end result is aimed to obtain transparency, controllability, portability and interoperability across data and services, which allows for self-determined decision making and raises the competitiveness of Europe in the digital age.
Fortunately for us, it’s in the name. ‘Gaia’ is the Greek goddess of Earth, symbolising a nurturing growing ecosystem, whereas the ‘X’ hints at the framework that is followed to achieve it.
In essence, the intended set of rules and regulations (i.e. the GAIA-X Standard) and the implementation of GAIA-X provide for the linking of data ecosystems and infrastructure ecosystems. As such, in its most abstract form, GAIA-X has three distinct components:
These three components in aggregate constitute the “GAIA-X Standard” in its most abstract form. It needs to be noted that the initiative aims to build this standard, and significant adoption thereof, within five years. The initiative further envisions the EU becoming a significant player in the global economy of data by the end of 2025.
While it is important to understand what GAIA-X is, it is equally critical to comprehend what the initiative does not do. At minimum, there are two elements that are frequently misunderstood or misinterpreted:
First, some people suggest that GAIA-X builds infrastructure that stands in competition to existing cloud providers. This is not true. The initiative does not build any infrastructure itself. It fundamentally aims to connect and harmonise (i.e. through guidelines, policies and software frameworks) based on the principles of decentralisation. As such, GAIA-X is not an infrastructure itself but more a multitude of individual platforms that all follow a common standard – the GAIA-X standard.
Second, other critics may suggest that GAIA-X intends to form a new digital oligopoly with exclusive access. This is also not true. The initiative is open to all organisations (from small Swiss SME to international cloud providers). Further, the GAIA-X European Association for Data and Cloud AISBL is a non-profit association that ensures the equal contribution possibility of all members. This, coupled with its ‘harmonising effect’, paves the way for fairer competition instead of a novel oligopoly.
Let’s start at the problem: despite its potential, effective cross-organisational data collaboration doesn’t happen. But what exactly is the root cause of that?
First, there are technological barriers that impede data collaboration. At present there are multiple technology stacks, unclear and inconsistent standards, a lack of APIs and limited interoperability. This, in aggregate, results in additional coordination efforts on both technical teams, and a prominent reason why you could not engage in cross-organisational data collaboration. Secondly, there are governance considerations that need to be taken into account which, even if you could, cast doubt on whether you should. There has been limited transparency on how the data exactly behaves once it is shared.
Specifically, who gets which data under what conditions. The inability to make self-determined decisions regarding shared data further hinders effective cross-organisational data collaboration.
It is precisely here, where GAIA-X, and specifically the de-facto standard, provides one part of the solution. The common governance specifically helps companies that intend to create data rooms in their respective sector/industry. This has three concrete benefits:
This has a very concrete impact as it paves the way for national and international data spaces for trustworthy and autonomous collaboration between organisations.
According to a survey by Bitkom, the digital industry association in Germany, one in seven companies wants to build its core business on data in the foreseeable future while 75 percent of companies lag behind in the development of data-driven business models. Many organisations see part of the solution in GAIA-X. Indeed, 46 percent of German companies are interested in European cloud and data infrastructure according to a survey in June 2022. Some organisations are actively investing in GAIA-X initiatives. Consider, for instance, the Catena-X Consortium, focusing on the automotive industry in Germany.
Through an open data ecosystem, governed by the GAIA-X Standard, it connects all players to end-to-end value chains. This allows for radically different business models, specifically traceability of CO2 footprint across the supply chain. Its ecosystem approach, alongside the ability to make self-determined decisions about data, has incentivised even long-standing competitors to come together. In the case of Catena-X, several staunch automotive competitors are collaborating including BMW, Mercedes, and Volkswagen. As this example indicates, GAIA-X remains part of the solutions (via the GAIA-X Standard), while the implementation of such consortia are usually led within the industry itself.
More interestingly still: countries seem to be focusing on their nationally relevant industries: automotive in Germany, finance in Luxembourg, tourism in Italy. The reason for this is simple: Data ecosystems have an economic gravitas and are forming an inimitable competitive advantage. Such ecosystems aim to become local focal points for digital value creation via data collaborations. They further safeguard and expand the industrial competitiveness of many European economies.
The question becomes, where does Switzerland want to focus? At present, there are several important national initiatives underway:
Further, there are two GAIA-X use cases that have been put forward by Roche. Namely, the “Framework of medical records in Europe” and the “Patient Empowered, Privacy Secured”. More will likely follow across different industries.
There are multiple ways to connect to the Gaia-X Initiative. It is possible to connect existing organisations directly to the data-spaces which are currently forming abroad via the local coordinators (see summary of European data spaces above).
Another possible avenue is the creation of a local GAIA-X Hub, specifically targeted to the needs of Switzerland and its organisations. GAIA-X Hubs are the central contact points for companies, stakeholders, initiatives, associations, and public sector bodies in each country contributing to the GAIA-X and its standard. Internationally, the role of the hub is to nurture a dynamic, grassroots ecosystem that will help to conceptualise use cases that can be joined or replicated, and to shape the “GAIA-X Standard” at a European level. Domestically, the focus is to bundle national initiatives in alignment with the GAIA-X Standard, while creating use cases as part of working groups to shape an innovation-friendly data ecosystem. GAIA-X Germany, for instance, features the following domain working groups: Agriculture, Energy, Finance, Geoinformation, Health. Industry 4.0/SME. Mobility, Public Sector, Smart City/Smart Region. Smart Living.
As of June 2022, there are 15 GAIA-X Hubs either established in Europe, while others are in the process of setting up their local Hub. Japan and South Korea, despite not being in Europe, have also set up their Hubs. This underscores the critical point that GAIA-X builds a future-ready infrastructure on European principles, which resonate far beyond Europe.
In the fall of 2021, several digitalswitzerland members raised the importance of GAIA-X for Switzerland. Ever since, digitalswitzerland has worked towards establishing a connection between the European initiative and Switzerland and representing the view of the private sector in the dialogue. We connected with the GAIA-X CEO Francesco Bonfiglio, and with representatives of the German GAIA-X Hub. In parallel, Swico surveyed its members, which revealed that 77 % of organisations believe that a connection to the Gaia-X initiative can bring advantages to the industry.
Based on these findings, digitalswitzerland launched broad outreach to 10 European hubs in order to learn from their experience about the formation and operation of the Hubs. The purpose was to understand what we, as Switzerland, could learn from our European neighbours. The table below summarises the most important statements given by representatives of the associations that are leading the GAIA-X Hubs. The statements have been anonymised.
Armed with a better understanding of the exact nature of GAIA-X Hubs, digitalswitzerland prepared a workshop with representatives from governance, academic and industry associations to jointly develop an understanding of the scope/role of a potential Swiss GAIA-X Hub. On December 1st 2021, the workshop took place in Bern with the following participants: FDFA, Federal Chancellery, Swico, Swiss Data Science Centre (ETH, EPFL), SATW, and Swiss Data Alliance. The workshop included a Q&A session with representatives from GAIA-X Germany.
The workshop came to two conclusions: First, there is consensus about the importance of advancing data spaces in Switzerland among all participants. This means that the existing data spaces need to be examined and that GAIA-X, as an enabler, should be closely monitored. Second, there seems to be interest to further explore a vehicle (called a “Swiss Data Hub”) that has the task of empowering and connecting the currently fragmented national data spaces. Here GAIA-X could be “one tool in the toolbox”.
In January and February, representatives from digitalswitzerland and the FDFA, jointly refined the concept of a so-called Swiss Data Hub, including its vision and underlying objectives. In March, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and the Federal Office of Communications published the “Report: Promotion of trustworthy data spaces and digital self-determination”, which includes various measures to promote trustworthy data spaces and digital self-determination in Switzerland and abroad. Therein, an official recommendation for action is the investigation of a possible “Swiss Data Hub”. This hub should act as a central point of contact for data rooms and empower them. The report further calls for the development of a voluntary “Code of Conduct” for Swiss data rooms.
The Digital Self-Determination Network, which has been designated as the vehicle for further developments. The next concrete steps will be the development of a voluntary national code of conduct for the operation of trusted data rooms. This should happen by June 2023 with the involvement of all relevant actors. Interested parties can become a member of the network here.
digitalswitzerland is a Swiss-wide, cross-sector initiative that aims to strengthen and anchor Switzerland as a leading digital research and innovation location. Herein, supranational efforts are relevant in positioning Switzerland as a leading digital nation. In addition, digitalswitzerland shares the underlying value of the GAIA-X initiative, namely openness, transparency, and trust.
digitalswitzerland welcomes this development and wants to continue the discussion. In principle, we are prepared to support such a data hub in cooperation with other associations, provided that the Swiss government ‘matches’ the joint investments from the private sector (i.e. 50/50 split). We see this as the most sensible option given that the GAIA-X has advantages for both the Swiss private sectors (via data rooms) and for all of Switzerland (via digital sovereignty). In the interim, digitalswitzerland will continue to advocate for maintaining a connection to the GAIA-X initiative, support national data rooms and liaise between international data rooms and national organisations.
We are delighted to once again launch into the exciting quest to find and celebrate this year’s 100 Digital Shapers. This would not be possible without our strong partnership with Bilanz, Handelszeitung and PME. The 2022 edition of 100 Digital Shapers will be published in late August. In the meantime, our jury members have been busy assessing more than 270 applications.
2022 is a particularly interesting year for our 12-strong jury to assess and narrow down hopeful nominations. Innovative minds, deep thinkers and action-oriented digital enthusiasts have been busy pushing boundaries. These are the people that our jury will take pleasure in identifying. Without their thoughts and actions, Switzerland would not stay on course for digital success Since these individual powerhouses make rapid advancements possible. We look forward to shining a light on the many digital strides and achievements that have taken place over the last 12 months.
And now it’s time to meet our esteemed jury members, who with their unique skills, extensive knowledge and finger on the pulse of digital change, can appoint our winners.
Marc Kowalsky has been Deputy Editor-in-Chief at BILANZ, Switzerland’s biggest business magazine, for 14 years. His journalistic focus includes digitalisation, IT and telecoms as well as the start-up scene. He has interviewed personalities such as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Eric Schmidt. In the course of his career, he has written for Fortune Magazine, SPIEGEL and SPIEGEL Online, BILANZ Deutschland, Die Welt, Facts and Weltwoche, among others.
Stefan Metzger is the Managing Director of digitalswitzerland. Until 2021, Stefan was the Country Managing Director of Cognizant Technology Solutions, responsible for the company’s business in Switzerland as well as the Market Leader for the Insurance Vertical across Continental Europe. Stefan has worked in the ICT Industry for more than 30 years, with focused experience in Insurance, Technology and Consulting. Prior to his current position, Stefan held various sales management and consulting roles at IBM Corporation across different countries, including Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Central Europe.
Thierry Vial has been editor-in-chief of the French-language business magazine PME for seven years. He studied political sciences at the University of Lausanne before working in asset management (BCV), then as an economic journalist for Bilan. He then managed Inédit Publications SA, an SME active in custom publishing, which belonged to the Gassmann group before joining PME.
Caroline Widmer is the Director of -Pulse Incubateur HES, an incubator for talents coming from the six Universities of Applied Sciences of HES-SO Geneva. She previously held strategic positions in the public administration, in the areas of Security and Economic Development. She has conducted major digital transitions while also participating in the elaboration of the State of Geneva’s digital and innovation Policy.
Andri Silberschmidt is an FDP National Councillor, Vice-President of the FDP.Die Liberalen Schweiz and gastro-entrepreneur from Zurich. Today, Andri Silberschmidt works as an assistant to the management of Planzer Transport AG. Furthermore, Andri is co-founder and chairman of the board of kaisin. – a catering company with branches in the cities of Zurich, Basel and Zug, a member of the board of directors of Jucker Farm AG and president of FH SCHWEIZ, the umbrella organisation for graduates of universities of applied sciences.
Luciana Vaccaro is an Italian-Swiss physicist and Rector of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland (HES-SO) since 1 October 2013. The HES-SO comprises 28 institutions of higher education spread across seven cantons, with more than 22,000 students. She is also vice-president of Innosuisse and president of the chamber of HES of swissuniversities.
As the founder and managing partner of DART Labs | Ventures, Arijana accelerates and invests in early-stage startup founders using deep-tech solutions with a positive impact on people and planet. In addition, she is the Director of Studies at Zurich’s HWZ, leading the Disruptive Technology program and is engaged as a Board Member at the Swiss Startup Association and at Somniacs AG.
Eric Saracchi is the Chief Digital & Information Officer at Firmenich, the largest privately owned Perfumes & Flavors house globally. With an innovative and strategic mindset, Eric transforms businesses by converging purpose, people and technologies together. Eric was awarded “Swiss CIO of the Year (2018)”, “Digital Shapers of Switzerland (2020)”, and received the “Digital Innovation of the Year (Digital Economy Award 2021)”.
Domenico Scala has served as President of Basel Area Business & Innovation since 1 January 2016. He has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of Basilea Pharmaceutica AG since April 2016, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BAK Economics AG since May 2014, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Oettinger Davidoff AG since August 2017. He is also a member of the Bank Council of the Basler Kantonalbank. In addition, Domenico Scala is a member of the Healthcare Advisory Board of an equity investment and M&A company and a board member of two private US biotech companies.
Roland Siegwart is professor for autonomous mobile robots at ETH Zurich, founding co-director of the Wyss Zurich and board member of multiple high-tech companies. He was professor at EPFL and Vice President of ETH Zurich. He is among the most cited scientist in robots worldwide, co-founder of more than half a dozen spin-off companies and a strong promoter of innovation and entrepreneurship in Switzerland.
Aleksandra Laska started her career on the Goldman Sachs trading floor in London. She went on to co-found a mobile payments platform, followed by a stint in VC and as an angel investor. She has built the enterprise division for Improbable, supporting the business in its $600m fundraise and hyper growth from 20 to 400 employees. Before joining Redalpine, Aleksandra set up US operations for a Swiss multi-million dollar robotics software company. She sits on the boards of Razor Group, Portify, Beams and 9fin.
Jelena Tasic Pizzolato is Managing Director at the LifestyleTech Competence Center. Jelena is a digital leader, specialised in corporate and science-based innovation. Actively collaborating with corporates, start-ups and researchers internationally, her sectors of expertise include digital & e-commerce, ICT, fashion, retail, lifestyle and finance. She has 15+ years of international business experience across several European markets, including UK, Italy, and Switzerland.
In 2022, we again have 10 categories that Digital Shapers can be nominated for. As digitalisation continues to evolve and change the way we live, so do our categories. This year we have six new categories including; The Connectors, The Unicorn Breeders, The Digital Manufacturers, The Avatars, The AI Masters and The Foodies. Along with our partners, we sent out a public call on social media for those who identify themselves as Digital Shapers. The big question is: Which digital leaders will make it into the top 100? Only time will tell…
1. The Infrastructure Builders
People who contribute to a solid digital infrastructure in order to allow digital change. Includes politicians & administration.
2. The Connectors
People who build ecosystems, connect actors and bridge regional gaps for collaborative projects in the digital sphere.
3. The Unicorn Breeders
People who are about to build or are of critical importance to build a startup company, which is now valued at over US$1 billion.
4. The Digital Manufacturers
Leaders of digital manufacturing companies or technology solution providers and subject-matter experts who are an inspiration for the future of Swiss digital manufacturing.
5. The Avatars
People who create or make use of new realities (Augmented, Virtual, Mixed) to enable great things.
6. The AI Masters
Masterminds who are revolutionising Artificial Intelligence.
7. The eMedics
People who use digital transformation to enhance different aspects of wellbeing, health and medicine.
8. The Foodies
People who use digital transformation to reshape our current nutrition towards healthier and more sustainable solutions.
9. The Nature Techies
People who use digital transformation for the sake of protecting, monitoring or enhancing nature.
10. The Cybersecurity Guards
People who, with protective solutions, regulations, awareness-raising and innovations in cyber space, enable us to move safely and not be victims of cyberattacks.
The deserving winners will be celebrated in a dedicated Bilanz publication on 26 August, in PME on 31 August and Handelszeitung on 1 September.
Take a look at past winners and in-depth interviews from 2021 and 2020.
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