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Call to the ecosystem to develop a digital artefact
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:
The start of a collaborative journey
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.
A holistic approach is needed: From research to expert interviews
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.
Multi-stakeholder 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:
Measurability in households: a combination of a fridge camera to visualise your food ingredients and a smart bin to track food waste to support the consumer in having updated data on their daily food routine
Food waste awareness app: a food waste guide to improving your daily life with key inputs on where to find easy local and healthy food items in your surroundings as well as how to easily access it through delivery
National campaign: the implementation of a food waste awareness week in organisations and institutions contributing to a food day or week (e.g. posters, actions, podcasts, actions)
Support for expiry dates: an application that would alert the consumer about any items from their household that would soon expire. It would be directly linked to the consumers’ food shop loyalty card
“Kitsch” is born: Creation of the prototype
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.
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.
A changing digital landscape
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Arijana Walcott
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Nomination Categories
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.
On 24 March, 70 C-levels and DLT-experts gathered at Kraftwerk in Zurich to exchange on decentralised financial markets and standardisation. Capital Market Technology (CMTA) and digitalswitzerland 4T-DLT co-organised an insightful event where players from the industry came together, got inspired by the presentations and networked with their peers at the aperitif.
What were the goals of this event?
Event aims:
strengthen the collaboration between the technology and financial industry to position Switzerland as one of the leading nations in the field of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)
introduce and celebrate CMTA’s new protocols and certification
grow the 4T-DLT community and enable DLT-enthusiasts to collaborate on the digital infrastructure
An evening packed with learnings presented by DLT-experts
Stephanie Tauber Gomez, Senior Innovation Manager at digitalswitzerland and our moderator for the event, led through this inspiring night. She welcomed many different experts on stage who all shared insightful news from the field of distributed ledger technology. Two of these experts were Jacques Iffland, Chairman of CMTA and Partner at Lenz & Staehelin, and Patrick Oltramare, 4T-DLT Shaper and CEO of SwissCaution, who outlined the necessity of collaboration between their two organisations to best push the limits of DLT. They emphasised the fact that it is only together that we can have an impact on the future.
Stephanie Tauber Gomez moderating on stage.
Marc Bürki, CEO and founder of Swissquote, presented the creation of decentralised capital markets infrastructures and the importance of DLT as a new technology for these markets. Jean-Philippe Aumasson, Chair of CMTA’S Tech Committee, CSO and founder of Taurus, explained the new CMTA token, now available for all Swiss businesses. This token is a tool for open source solutions for decentralised market infrastructures.
Presentation of Marc Bürki, CEO and founder of Swissquote.
Patrick Oltramare then introduced the recent highlights of 4T-DLT, the initiative which creates an open repository for technical and legal standards for an interoperable Swiss DLT infrastructure. We celebrated the two key milestones from 2021:
the publication of the videos around the four elements of trust: 1) Configuration, 2) Consensus, 3) Custody and 4) Transaction and
the release of the whitepaper about these elements of trust.
The presentation was kept dynamic as three 4T-DLT Shapers, Johannes Hoehener – Board Member of TI&M – Mattia Rattaggi – Managing Partner at METI Advisory AG – and Fedor Poskriakov – Partner at Lenz & Staehelin – gave three-minute pitches each on the different trust pillars.
Audience of CMTA and 4T-DLT distributed ledger technology (DLT) event
To wrap up the presentations, Guillaume Gabus, Head of Portfolio and Regions at digitalswitzerland, shared with the audience a sneak peek into the future 4T-DLT website. This website will serve as a neutral platform for DLT-enthusiasts to exchange with one another collaboratively. Please bear with us until the website goes live soon!
Networking and Exchanging
During the aperitif, the stakeholders had a chance to exchange opinions and ideas on the different DLT topics and identify potential synergies. As the event was coming to an end, it was powerful to see that all the attendees seemed to share one thought: Collaboration across different industries is crucial if we want to push the limits of the DLT ecosystem.
Guests at networking aperitif of CMTA and 4T-DLT distributed ledger technology (DLT) event.Diana Engetschwiler, Deputy Managing Director digitalswitzerland, at networking aperitif with guests of the event.Guests at networking aperitif of CMTA and 4T-DLT distributed ledger technology (DLT) event.
An independent association formed by leading actors from Switzerland’s financial, technological and legal sectors to create common standards around issuing, distributing and trading securities in the form of tokens using the distributed ledger technology.
An initiative that follows a federated and collaborative approach to create an open repository for the technical and legal information, definition and standards for a secure, interoperable and reliable Swiss Distributed Ledger Technology infrastructure. This initiative was launched by Swisscom, Switzerland’s leading telecoms & IT company, and MME, a leading Swiss consultancy firm for law, tax and compliance, under the umbrella of digitalswitzerland.
Please find our archive of press releases.
If you represent a magazine, newspaper or another kind of media entity, or have other media related inquiries, please get in touch.
30.05.2024 – Franziska Barmettler becomes the new CEO of digitalswitzerland. Read the press release in German, French and Italian.
07.05.2024 – 6th Digital Gipfel Schweiz: 100 personalities from business, education and politics discuss artificial intelligence. Read the press release in German and French.
2023
October2023
12.10.2023 – Cybersecurity affects everyone – because the focus is always on people. Read the press release in German.
06.10.2023 – Digital sovereignty and critical infrastructure – where are the limits? Read the press release in German.
05.10.2023 – The electronic patient dossier is at a crossroads. Read the press release in German.
May2023
26.05.2023 – digitalswitzerland: Strengthen regions, increase impact. Read the press release in German, French and Italian.
2022
December2022
14.12.2022 – The Swiss population is ready for a digital healthcare system. Read the press release in German, French and Italian.
October2022
27.10.2022 – Those were the Swiss Digital Days 2022. Find the press release in German, French and Italian.
04.10.2022 – Study on digitalisation in Switzerland: Great willingness – little movement. Read the press release in German, French and Italian.
03.10.2022 – Swiss Digital Days 2022 are coming to Eastern Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Read the press release in German.
September2022
28.09.2022 – IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking: Switzerland once again among the top 5 worldwide. Read the press release in German and French.
27.09.2022 – Swiss Digital Days 2022 are coming to Ticino. Read the press release in Italian.
20.09.2022 – Digital sustainability and secure browsing: Swiss Digital Days are coming to the Romandie. Read the press release in French.
13.09.2022 – Augmented reality glasses and e-scooters: Swiss Digital Days are coming to Zurich. Read the press release in German.
06.09.2022 – Digital topics for young and old: there’s something for everyone at Swiss Digital Days in Northwestern Switzerland. Read the press release in German.
05.09.2022 – Switzerland’s largest NFT project unveiled at the start of Swiss Digital Days 2022. Read the press release in German, French and Italian.
August 2022
30.08.2022- 4. Digital Gipfel Schweiz: International business leaders, academics and digital thought leaders meet to exchange views on the digital future. Read the press release in German and French.
29.08.2022 – Startup battle, hackathon and big bubbles: Swiss Digital Days are coming to Bern. Read the press release in German.
July 2022
21.07.2022 – From A as in Aarau to Z as in Zurich: Swiss Digital Days 2022 are going on a Switzerland-wide tour. Read the press release in German, French and Italian.
June 2022
28.06.2022 – No improvement in cybersecurity among SMEs despite digitalisation boost from Corona crisis. Read the press release in German, French and Italian.
March 2022
18.03.2022 – An important step towards increasing Switzerland’s cyber resilience: statement on Amendment of the Ordinance on Telecommunications Services (OTS) to protect telecommunications infrastructures and services. Read the press release in German and French.
January 2022
26.01.2022 – Statement on the amendment of the Federal Act on Foreign Nationals and Integration. Read the press release in German and French.
18.01.2022 – The Swiss Digital Initiative presents the world’s first label for digital responsibility. Read the press release in English, German, French and Italian.
2021
December
23.12.2021 – Stefan Metzger appointed new Managing Director of digitalswitzerland. Read the press release in German, English, Italian and French.
November
18.11.2021 – Home office is establishing itself as a place of work for SMEs. Read the press release in German, French and Italian.
11.11.2021 – Digital Economy Award: Recognition for digital excellence. The digital pioneers of the year have been selected. Read the Press Release in German and French.
7.11.2021 – Programming with purpose: #herHACK Switzerland’s largest female hackathon sets an example for gender diversity. The Press Release is available in German, French and Italian.
3.11.2021 – The Swiss Digital Initiative unveils the Digital Trust Label Seal. The Press Release is available in English.
October 2021
28.10.2021 – Digital Day 2021: 12 hours of livestream and over 150 events, online and across Switzerland. The Press Release is available in German, French and Italian.
14.10.2021 – A Swiss Pavilion at GITEX Technology Week, one of the largest technology fairs in the Middle East. The Press Release is available in German and French.
13.10.2021 – The E-ID is inevitable – let’s move forward. The Press Release is available in German and French. Read the statement in German.
7.10.2021 – Wake-up call from pandemic: The Swiss want to improve digital skills. Press Release is available in German, French and Italian. Data is available in German.
September 2021
30.09.2021 – Finalists of the Digital Economy Award: Fintech industry booming, healthcare more digital as never before. The Press Release is available in German and French.
29.09.2021 – Kick Off for Digital Day 2021 – 6 weeks of inspiration start now! Press Release available in German, French and Italian.
15.09.2021 – Unacceptable solution for the Labour Law – flexible working for the ICT sector continues to be out of reach. digitalswitzerland calls for key points to be added to the insufficient proposal. The Press Release is available in German and French.
7.07.2021 – Possible approach for the creation of a trustworthy Distributed Ledger Technology ecosystem in Switzerland. The Press Release is available in German, French and English.
August 2021
31.08.2021 – Swiss Digital Day 2021: Digital skills for a digital future. The Press Release is available in German, French and Italian.
24.08.2021 – 3rd Digital Gipfel Switzerland: International digital experts and Swiss business representatives exchange ideas on digitalisation. The Press Release is available in German and French.
18.08.2021 – Security above speed: Yes to the e-voting proposal with a sense of moderation. The Press Release is available in German and French.
July 2021
13.07.2021 – Swiss Digital Day 2021: This is how the population is shaping Switzerland’s digital future. The Press Release is available in German, French and Italian.
June 2021
24.06.2021 – Untapped potential for skilled workers among older employees. The Press Release is available in German and French. Survey available in German.
17.06.2021 – Digital Economy Award: Honouring Switzerland’s digital Switzerland’s top digital achievements takes place. The Press Release is available in German and French.
2.06.2021 – digitalswitzerland confirms new president. The Press Release is available in German, French and Italian.
May 2021
27.05.2021 – digitalswitzerland confirms new president. The Press Release is available in German, French and Italian.
11.05.2021 – Switzerland-wide initiative strengthens digital skills of employees. The Press Release is available in German, French and Italian.
6.05.2021 – SDI Report: Labels and Certifications for the Digital World – Mapping the International Landscape. The Press Release is available in German, French & English.
April 2021
21.04.2021 – Switzerland provides new impulses for innovation: Privacy Icons wins award for the most impressive digitalisation project. The Press Release is available in German and French.
16.04.2021 – Sascha Zahnd becomes new president of digitalswitzerland. The Press Release is available in German, French and Italian.
12.04.2021 – Cutting-edge Swiss technologies showcased at the digital HANNOVER MESSE 2021. The Press Release is available in German and French.
March 2021
7.03.2021 – The e-ID law is rejected. The Press Release is available in German, French and Italian.
February 2021
17.02.2021 – Digital Economy Award enters 3rd round: Nomination phase started. The Press Release is available in German, French and Italian.
January 2021
14.01.2021 – The E-ID law stands for a modern Switzerland. The Press Release is available in German.
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