In collaboration with BILANZ, Handelszeitung, Le Temps and 11 top-class jury members, digitalswitzerland has selected the 100 Swiss citizens playing the most important role in digitalisation for the third time. This year, 27 of the 100 Digital Shapers are women and 28 come from Romandy and Ticino. 

As a small country without natural resources, Switzerland has always been dependent on innovation. It is in the national interest to keep pace with current technology and the speed of new developments. Our country’s digital makers, pioneers and visionaries possess great potential. The 2018 edition of 100 Digital Shapers aims to highlight and inspire this potential.

61 new Shapers, 3 new categories 

The 100 Digital Shapers are divided into ten categories: the expats, the unicorn breeders, the sponsors, the researchers, the corporates, the repeat offenders, the enablers, the creatives, the do-gooders and the tech avant garde.

They are showcased online under www.bilanz.ch/digital-shapers and www.letemps.ch/digital-shapers  and in a special magazine produced by BILANZ, Handelszeitung and Le Temps.

digitalswitzerland pursues the same goal as the Digital Shapers: ensuring that Switzerland takes advantage of the opportunities offered by digitalisation. The latest generation of Digital Shapers also wants to involve digitalswitzerland in its activities and organise collaborative projects to move Switzerland forward together. Nicolas Bürer, Managing Director of digitalswitzerland: ‘We look forward to working more closely with this new generation of Digital Shapers and to putting all this innovative capacity, entrepreneurial spirit and digital expertise to work in Switzerland’s interests.’

The following jury members selected the Digital Shapers 2018:

  • Edouard Bugnion, Vice President for Information Systems at EPFL Lausanne, Digital Shaper 2016 and 2017
  • Nicolas Bürer, Managing Director of digitalswitzerland
  • Taïssa Thierry Chaves, founder of Women in Digital Switzerland, founder and Managing Director of Y Coaching & Consulting
  • Alisée de Tonnac, CEO and cofounder of Seedstars World
  • Hannes Gassert, Lip/WeMakeIt/OpenData.ch, Digital Shaper 2016 and 2017
  • Bruno Giussani, Global Curator at TED, curator of TEDGlobal and TEDSummit conferences and of special TED events
  • Marc Kowalsky, Deputy Editor-in-Chief at BILANZ
  • Stefan Klauser, Lead Strategist Digital Society at ETH Zurich
  • Alain Nicod, Managing Partner at VI Partners
  • Lesley Spiegel, Managing Director at the Institute for Design Research, Zurich University of the Arts
  • Marc Walder, founder of digitalswitzerland and CEO of Ringier

Overview of the 100 Digital Shapers 2018

  • Number of new Digital Shapers: 61
  • Number of women: 27 (2017: 13)
  • Number of Digital Shapers from Suisse Romand and Ticino: 28 (2017: 17)
  • Number of Digital Shapers from German-speaking Switzerland: 57
  • Number of Digital Shapers based abroad: 15

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