Hans-Peter Trachsler took over as the new managing director of Dachser Spedition AG at the beginning of March 2022. He succeeds Urs Häner, who will retire after an accompanying business handover. In addition to his role as Managing Director European Logistics, Hans-Peter Trachsler will head the branch office in Regensdorf (ZH), which is also the Regional Office European Logistics Switzerland. Dachser Spedition AG (Dachser Switzerland) is a subsidiary of the transport and
logistics provider Dachser, headquartered in Kempten, Germany.

Trachsler started his career in 1994 and has held various management positions within the transportation and logistics industry for over 20 years. Before joining
of Dachser Spedition AG, he was CEO of Schenker Schweiz AG in Zurich. Today, Dachser Switzerland is present at eight locations, employs 286 staff, and generated net revenue of 99.05 million Swiss francs in 2020. In 2020, Dachser Switzerland transported 555,900 consignments weighing 243,000 tonnes.

More information: www.dachser.ch

The provider of business software Infoniqa expands after its past acquisitions the top management level: Christopher Brezlan joined the management team as Chief Technical Officer (CTO). Andrew Barton will in future hold the position of Chief Organization Officer (COO) and Hans-Jürgen Wels will be responsible for the entire product development as Chief Product Officer (CPO).

The new CTO Christopher Bezlan is responsible for the entire technical area at Infoniqa since November 1, 2021. He has already been acting in various IT leadership positions for 15 years. For the past four years, he served as Head of Global Engineering for a Silicon Valley multinational, where he was in charge of the AIOps cloud strategy at Broadcom. "I am looking forward to accompanying Infoniqa on its way from hidden champion to big player. The comprehensive cloud alignment of all solutions is just the beginning. Infoniqa has what it takes to be a technological pioneer in the entire DACH market," says Christopher Brezlan about his new challenge at Infoniqa.

Increase service excellence

Andrew Barton, in turn, has been managing and optimizing operations, including all operational processes at Infoniqa, as Chief Operations Officer (COO) since January 1, 2022. Born in Ireland, Barton can look back on more than 15 years of management experience at Hewlett-Packard, Tricentis and Wrike. Here, Andrew Barton was responsible for Customer Success, Consulting and Services Transformation, among other areas. "With Andrew Barton at the organizational helm, we will demonstrate unparalleled service excellence across countries and continue to put the customer at the center of everything we do," Infoniqa CEO Léon Vergnes said of the new hire. "From the very first moment, we will transparently and quickly support our customers in their goals, accompanied by world-class consulting, support and delivery teams."

Andrew Barton has concrete plans for establishing service excellence at Infoniqa: "The customer experience and customer journey must be facilitated and standardized in the rapidly changing HR technology and services sector. To do this, we are investing in three main areas: First, we are expanding our highly competent service teams and launching a Certified Service Delivery Partner program. Second, we are ensuring that our processes are efficient and our customer journey is first-class. And third, we are introducing relevant platforms and technologies to ensure that we always offer our customers the highest level of service, quality and transparency."

Top management with newly created position of CPO

Finally, as the new Chief Product Officer (CPO), Hans-Jürgen Wels has occupied a newly created position in Infoniqa's management since February 14, 2022. Hans-Jürgen Wels has more than 20 years of experience in product management. After holding positions at proAlpha and Raiffeisen, he focused on the "Customer" area, among other things, as Co-Founder of Unycom and was ultimately responsible for the company's business success and growth as CEO. "In the future, Infoniqa wants to offer exclusively cloud-based solutions in SaaS operation or directly as an outsourcing service. Hans-Jürgen Wels as Chief Product Officer and his expertise in this growth market will give Infoniqa the necessary push to achieve this," says Léon Vergnes. The future strategy includes, among other things, the integration of the Swiss business of the Sage Group acquired in March 2021.

Source and further information: www.infoniqa.com

According to an AXA study on mental health conducted in the fall of 2021, 22 percent of employees in Switzerland suffer from stress due to too much pressure to perform. This not only causes suffering for those affected, but also high costs: work-related stress costs employers more than seven billion francs a year (Health Promotion Switzerland, 2020). Because healthy and motivated employees are an essential factor for success, AXA, which claims to be the largest provider of personal insurance in Switzerland, has developed WeCare, a holistic solution for health promotion in companies. All companies insured with AXA for occupational benefits, daily sickness benefits or accidents can benefit from it. According to Martin Schmid, Head of Operations Accident and Daily Sickness Benefits, the aim of this new offering is to create sustainable added value.

Comprehensive package of measures for health promotion at companies

Insured companies have access to numerous free or discounted offers in the area of preventive health care. These include solutions for reducing absences, dealing with mental illnesses or increasing motivation. The package of measures, in which AXA works with various partners and is constantly expanding, ranges from leadership coaching to webinars and digital health services. At the heart of this is the individual consultation, in which the WeCare team analyzes with the companies in a personal conversation which measures come into question. For a well-founded analysis, AXA, as a pioneer in Switzerland, works with the Work Climate Compass, which is based on the platform of the experienced partner DearEmployee. The Work Climate Compass includes continuous employee surveys, the results of which as well as recommendations for action can be viewed in the customer's own digital portal. In addition, health and HR measures can be planned, booked, and evaluated both in person and digitally. "By offering simple, digital and effective services, we help SMEs to focus on their core business," says Martin Schmid. If, despite prevention, a claim occurs, AXA's care and case managers professionally accompany the companies and the affected employees in their reintegration.

Own business unit established

The fact that AXA takes the topic very seriously is also reflected in the fact that a new business unit was created specifically for WeCare, headed by Martin Schmid: "With over 60 employees, we are committed to employee health in Switzerland. The expertise here comes from the areas of customer care, prevention consulting, and care and case management."

More information: www.axa.ch/wecare

An elementary law of evolution states that organisms significantly increase their resilience and ability to survive by continuously adapting to changing environmental conditions. This universal principle can be transferred identically to our working world. During industrialization, for example, numerous manual trades evolved into automated operations, marking the birth of mass production.

Analog process digitized: Easier said than done

Today, digitization is advancing rapidly and encompasses a large part of our living and working environments. Disruptive technologies enable quantum leaps; what was unthinkable 10 years ago is suddenly possible. For companies, this represents a major challenge. Digitization is massively changing customer needs and their aspirational behavior; in addition, it is becoming increasingly challenging for companies to grasp the complexity of the globalized economy and to satisfy customer needs. However, the key to success lies not only in the innovative strength of companies, but is also based on the underlying process architecture. The task is to transform analog processes into digital ones. Easier said than done, because: Processes have to be conceived and built digitally from scratch. However, the in-house know-how and the necessary resources are often lacking for this. A process is not digital just because a PDF replaces the fax. It is also essential to know what the goal of a process is. Only those who have the goal in mind will find a way to achieve it.

Digital solutions without media discontinuity as a competitive advantage

The fast-growing Ironforge Consulting AG, headquartered in the municipality of Muri near Bern, has been offering its customers services in the ICT fields of engineering, business analysis and project management since 2009 and also specializes in transforming its customers' analog business processes into digital ones. The company operates with a high level of expertise and offers individual as well as complete packages for public administrations, government-related companies and customers from the private sector. The highly qualified employees know that digital processes without media discontinuity and standardized represent a competitive advantage; companies that have digitized their processes work more efficiently and focus more on their customers.

The right employees for the right job

In order to better anticipate the needs of its customers, Ironforge Consulting AG, in cooperation with the company Vertec, purposefully expanded a CRM and ERP system and added two new topics: "Skills Management System" and "Project References". With the help of the "Skills Management System" Ironforge now has the possibility to define the best qualified employees for specific customer orders, to participate efficiently in tenders and to save valuable time in the end. The Skills Management System offers many possibilities: It shows the overall skills situation across the company and opens up new opportunities in personnel development and personnel requirement planning. For example, education and training (HF, BSc, Uni as well as CAS, DAS, MBA, etc.) or subject-specific certificates in the areas of project management, business analysis, requirements engineering, IT architecture and service management can be recorded. In addition, the expertise in the individual areas is also recorded in years, language levels can be called up and specialist areas in the fields of agility, cloud, security, procurement and GEVER. This gives the possibility to make various evaluations at the push of a button. "With the new ability to automatically map project references, we also save time by being able to systematically file previous customer projects and quickly pull them out of the drawer when needed" says Gianni Lepore, CEO of Ironforge. "Now we are ready to offer such solutions to our customers as well and implement them in their everyday work."

High time savings and more satisfied customers

A classic win-win situation for all involved, says Gianni Lepore: "We experience significant time savings and a high level of satisfaction among our customers. The latter also benefit significantly, because with Ironforge they have a business partner who understands their needs and implements them unerringly". With its results-rich implementation, Ironforge Consulting AG can efficiently review customer inquiries and requirements and quickly bring customized offers to the market. Another notable advantage is the massively reduced effort. "Thanks to our new features in Vertec ERP, we can now offer our customers tailor-made solutions and are thus much more efficient on the road. Thanks to our skills management system, we always have an overview of the skills of our employees in our rapidly growing company" says Gianni Lepore "Thanks to the systematic mapping of our project references, we experience the acquisition of new mandates as much more efficient".

Not only digitized, but also trained

But what should never be forgotten, despite all the euphoria, is that the transition from analog to digital processes depends to a large extent on how employees can use the new possibilities. It is therefore essential that the workforce attends training courses in order to be able to take full advantage of the applications' scope of services.

Source: Ironforge Consulting AG

Vertec
Since 1996, Vertec has successfully continued to develop as a software and company and offers an integrated CRM and ERP system as a powerful core product in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The central unique selling point is the flexible adaptability of the software to individual business processes.
www.vertec.com

Since 2017, the swissVR Monitor has been published, jointly authored by SwissVR, the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, and the auditing firm Deloitte. In its eleventh edition, the focus topic is innovation. Swiss boards of directors of listed companies but also of SMEs from all relevant industries were surveyed on this topic between December 1, 2021 and January 10, 2022. A total of 413 people took part in the survey.

If you want to play in the Champions League of the global economy, you have to be innovative - whether at the level of products and services or in terms of business models and processes. This is well known. Swiss companies have also recognized the importance of innovation, according to the swissVR Monitor. Accordingly, it attests that the Swiss economy has the necessary "will to innovate.

Pandemic was not a brake on innovation

The swissVR Monitor finds that the pandemic has spurred innovation activities: 19 percent of the companies surveyed have expanded their activities in the course of the Corona crisis, according to the report. 32 percent have also realigned their innovation focus and implemented digitization projects, for example. Only just 2 percent of respondents have scaled back their innovation activities, while 7 percent have temporarily frozen them. As in the previous year, digitization and related topics such as robotics and automation were the top agenda item on boards of directors in 2021. However, this is likely to change this year. The shortage of skilled workers is taking center stage, as the survey shows. According to the 413 board members surveyed, the topic of talent will set the tone over the next 12 months. That's why the majority would like to focus even more on attracting innovative and well-trained employees: 57 percent of BoD members see potential for improvement in recruiting and training qualified personnel.

Swiss board members are dissatisfied with politics

When it comes to recruitment, companies are also heavily dependent on the economic and political framework conditions. 69 percent of the Swiss board members surveyed hope that politicians will find solutions to limit the shortage of skilled workers. If this does not succeed, the economic upswing could be slowed down. Board members are currently 9 percentage points less optimistic about the business outlook than in the last survey six months ago (66% versus 75% positive expectations).

"Attracting and retaining qualified employees is the top priority for companies, because they are crucial for their innovative strength. Tax incentives or public subsidies can be helpful, but they are not a sufficient lever for innovation. To alleviate the shortage of skilled workers, companies, policymakers and educational institutions must pull together," Reto Savoia, CEO of Deloitte Switzerland, sums it up.

Boards of directors must initiate innovation

Qualified employees, an open corporate culture, and support from management - these are the three most important success factors for innovation from the board's point of view. Financial resources are a problem for only a few. However, there is a need for action in internal processes: 45 percent of board members see silo thinking as a major obstacle to the development of new products and innovative services.

But the board of directors itself must also become active: There is room for improvement in the board's innovation competence as well as in the exchange with the development departments. 30 percent of board members have little or no contact with the relevant people in their company. Around a quarter of boards have no board members with innovation expertise, and for just as many this is not a selection criterion when appointing new members to the executive board. "More innovation competence is needed on boards of directors. The board of directors must bring appropriately qualified members on board and act as a catalyst for innovation projects," says Christoph Lengwiler, lecturer at the Institute of Financial Services Zug IFZ at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.

Half of Swiss board members believe cooperation is essential for innovation

The swissVR Monitor also shows that cooperation with external organizations is at least as important as the company's own research department. A considerable proportion of respondents rely on collaboration with other companies (51%), universities and research institutes (40%) and investments in start-ups (18%). The external view of innovation topics is also becoming increasingly important. "Open innovation" is on the rise: 38 percent collaborate with external stakeholders such as customers. External consultants (41%) are also increasingly involved in innovation processes. "The future of innovation lies in collaboration. Companies need to join forces with other players from business and science. Even within companies, collaboration across different departments and silos is necessary, because innovation often arises at interfaces. Going it alone is no longer an option," says Cornelia Ritz Bossicard, President of swissVR.

Source and further information: swissVR / Deloitte AG / Lucerne University

In front of around 900 guests, the Prix SVC Ostschweiz was awarded on March 10, 2022 in St.Gallen. It was an anniversary, because the award ceremony took place for the tenth time. OC President Christoph Zeller could see the joy and relaxation, the event could be held largely without pandemic-related restrictions. "It was not easy to always have a plan B or plan C ready," said Zeller in his opening speech.

Multi-stage jury process

The six finalists presented at the event - Appenzeller Alpenbitter AG, Ifolor AG, Högg Group, La Conditoria, Mosmatic AG and Wild & Küpfer AG - were previously selected from a longlist of initially over 200 companies in a multi-stage jury process. The 13-member jury of experts visited the candidates during a jury tour in order to form a differentiated picture of them on site. The winner was then selected from all the nominees according to clearly defined criteria. Overall, the six companies conveyed a multifaceted impression of the economic region of eastern Switzerland, which stretches from Lake Constance to Graubünden.

Wild & Küpfer: It all started in a pigsty...

Wild & Küpfer AG, represented by CEO Tobias Wild, was the final winner. "The management is as competent and qualified as the plastics experts," said jury president Andrea Fanzun in his laudation, praising the successful concept of Wild & Küpfer AG. The technology market leader in plastic injection molding in Switzerland and Europe is a second-generation family-run SME with around 200 employees. Despite all its internationality, the company has not forgotten its roots in eastern Switzerland, as the jury president notes: "Despite its international orientation, the company, whose history began in a pigsty, is also strongly anchored locally. Values are not just part of the image brochure here, they are exemplified."

From the "rearmost crash" into the wide world

Second place went to Mosmatic AG from Necker, which won over the jury with its convincing growth strategy, clear commitment to the innovation and production location in Switzerland and an outstanding training program. Its status as the undisputed number one for swivels - 97 percent of its products are exported - has been hard-earned: You are guaranteed to always find a part from Mosmatic at every carwash worldwide. Third place went to the traditional company Appenzeller Alpenbitter AG, whose success story has continued for over 120 years and is still in family hands. And the recipe for the herbal schnapps, which was also prescribed as medicine in earlier times, remains a secret to this day.

The diploma ranks of the Prix SVC Ostschweiz 2022

The other winners of the Prix SVC Ostschweiz 2022 were the Högg Group from Lichtensteig (manufacturer of lift systems), Ifolor AG from Kreuzlingen (market leader in personalized photo products) and La Conditoria Sedrun-Switzerland (manufacturer of what are probably the world's smallest Bündner nut cakes). All companies received valuable prizes donated by the main sponsors. What will also remain is the lasting effect of this business award, as Thomas Köberl, who won the first Prix SVC Ostschweiz with Abacus in 2004, also mentioned. And Andreas Wälti, winner of the Prix SVC Ostschweiz 2020, also emphasized that SMEs, which are otherwise not so much in the public eye, can noticeably increase their level of awareness in this way. The date of the next award ceremony has also already been set: It will take place on Wednesday, March 7, 2024.

More information: Swiss Venture Club

The development of the Swiss FinTech sector has only known one direction in recent years: upwards. After the size of the sector, measured by the number of active Swiss FinTech companies, increased year after year in the past, a decline is now being recorded for the first time for the year 2021. As of the end of 2021, Switzerland was home to 384 FinTech companies, which corresponds to a decrease of 21 companies compared to the previous year, or a minus of around five percent from a relative perspective. Despite this negative development at first glance, positive trends are also apparent with regard to the companies' business models. For example, the median number of employees as well as that of total financing at Swiss FinTech companies increased last year. This is after these key figures stagnated or even declined last year. In addition, venture capital activity in the Swiss FinTech sector reached a record level in 2021, both in terms of the number of financing rounds and the volume.

Analytics, artificial intelligence and big data are more than buzzwords

Over the years, more and more Swiss FinTech companies have focused on technological innovations such as analytics, artificial intelligence or Big Data. This is in contrast to other technologies, where the number of FinTech companies declined last year. The importance of analytics activities is likely to increase in the future, partly because the potential of using data in the financial sector is increasingly recognized but not yet fully exploited. "Traditional institutions sometimes lack the corresponding resources and skills," says Thomas Ankenbrand, a lecturer at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and project manager of the study. FinTech companies are therefore likely to continue to act as suppliers of corresponding services in the future.

An international strategy pays off in the FinTech sector

The tendency of FinTech companies to focus on B2B business models has continued to increase over the past year. In addition to the increased focus on business customers, such as banks or other financial service providers, Swiss FinTech companies are predominantly internationally oriented. "The low-growth Swiss home market is often too small for growth-hungry FinTech companies," the HSLU expert points out. The success of an international focus is also reflected in the share price performance of listed FinTech companies worldwide. Since 2015, their performance has been better compared to nationally oriented FinTech companies. The same applies to companies that focus on business customers compared to companies that (also) serve private customers.

Sustainability becomes the new normal

The consideration of environmental, social and governance criteria in financial decisions is becoming the new normal. In the Swiss FinTech sector, relatively few companies currently have a dedicated strategic sustainability focus. Most of these companies focus on the area of asset management and target all three sustainability dimensions (ESG: Environmental, Social, Governance).

In the Swiss financial center, there is also a trend toward open financial ecosystems (keyword "Open Finance"). "Especially in the area of wealth management, open finance offers good opportunities for success," says Ankenbrand. According to the study authors, the reasons for this are the global market size and the Swiss market share. In addition, according to the survey conducted in the study, Swiss banks have confirmed the potential of financial ecosystems as a future business model. "Realizing this potential, however, requires broad adoption of common standards, which banks and FinTech companies are currently struggling with, even though corresponding initiatives and scalable platforms already exist and are in operation in Switzerland," says Ankenbrand

Will the Metaverse help blockchain technology make a breakthrough?

The metaverse, which, simply put, can be described as the further development of the Internet into a three-dimensional virtual world, is being driven by the games industry as well as by BigTech and blockchain companies. Even if the motives and goals are different, a strengthening of ownership and disposition rights to data through decentralized structures is emerging. Thomas Ankenbrand: "Blockchain technology can play a central role in this. The hype around non-fungible tokens (NFTs) observed last year could provide a first foretaste of this."

Source and further information: Lucerne University

Renewable electricity and gas products continue to be a strong trend. Energy suppliers are also exerting their influence on electricity and gas consumption by offering renewable, ecological and climate-friendly forms of energy - such as naturemade certified energy - as a standard product or at attractive conditions. In 2020, Switzerland covered 76% of its total electricity consumption with electricity from renewable sources. This is the result of the market survey conducted by VUE naturmade among Swiss energy supply companies. This survey was commissioned by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy.

Consciously selected renewable electricity and gas products

Just under one-fifth (17%) of renewable electricity is thus sold via so-called green default products with no opting-out option. This means that locked-in electricity purchasers receive a renewable electricity product from their electricity supplier by default, and cannot switch to another (partially) non-renewable product. For 38% of renewable electricity sales (or 29 % of total final electricity consumption), electricity purchasers make a conscious choice, or receive it through a standard renewable product, even though they would have a cheaper, non-100% renewable electricity product to choose from. According to projections, this means that between 33 % and 44 % of all Swiss households have consciously ordered renewable electricity products.

Slightly more than half of the electricity suppliers surveyed offered their customers naturemade star certified green electricity products. These not only originate from renewable sources, but were also produced in a particularly nature- and environmentally-friendly manner. In 2020, naturemade star certified electricity products accounted for 5% of renewable electricity sales.

Biogas sales rising at a low level

In 2020, Switzerland covered 3.6% of its total gas consumption with biogas. This low share has continuously increased in recent years: in 2019, the share of biogas was still 2.6%, in 2016 it was 1.1%. About one third of biogas consumption is covered with domestic production. Of the biogas sales, 3% were supplied via naturemade star certified products.

The majority of biogas (89%) is sold through natural gas products with biogas content. Such mixed products account for almost a quarter of total gas sales and have a biogas share between 5-75%. Just over half of all gas orders with biogas content (53%)
were for products with a biogas content of 16-25% in 2020, followed by products with 5% of biogas (40%). In 2019, gas orders with a biogas content of 16-25% still accounted for one-fifth of all orders.

Source and further information: VUE Association for Environmentally Sound Energy

The post Renewable power and gas products increasingly in demand appeared first on Organizer.

Three new members of the Executive Board strengthen the management of the globally active family-owned company Victorinox AG. Patrik Hauert started as Chief Sales Officer at the beginning of February 2022 and heads the global sales organization. A native of Switzerland, he holds a degree in Business Administration and an Executive MBA. Hauert began his career at KPMG and subsequently gained global leadership experience at Swarovski. Most recently, he was Chief Sales Officer and member of the Executive Board at Stöckli Swiss Sports AG. In his role as Chief Sales Officer at Victorinox, he is now responsible for global sales and manages the sales subsidiaries abroad. The Victorinox product range is available at points of sale in more than 120 countries worldwide. The Victorinox brand world can be experienced in shop-in-shops and more than 50 company-owned retail stores in attractive locations such as Zurich, Berlin, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Since 2019, the presence has also been continuously expanded in parallel by means of a franchise concept. The focus continues to be on digitization and the expansion of digital channels.

Succession in the Supply Chain division settled

Michela Argirò has taken over the Supply Chain division as a member of the Executive Board in mid-November 2021 as part of a succession plan. Michela Argirò was previously Head of Supply Chain Europe at the American group Sherwin Williams for ten years. She has extensive international experience and proven expertise in supply chain management. During her career, she has acquired extensive knowledge in the areas of strategic business planning, logistics and distribution, and customer service in the B2C sector. Her profile is rounded off with experience in complex transformation projects to optimize customer satisfaction and operational costs. The supply chain area includes the operational business of the Victorinox distribution center in Seewen (Canton of Schwyz), which will start operations in the fall of 2020 and from where more than 40 million products can be shipped annually at good capacity utilization.

Newly created "Transformation & Technology" unit

Finally, Kilian Eyholzer has headed the newly created Transformation & Technology unit since the beginning of the year, which covers the topics of innovation management, business services & applications, project and process management, data and BI, and IT. Kilian Eyholzer joined Victorinox in 2014 after working in management consulting, the travel industry and e-commerce. As Global Head of E-Commerce, he and his team successfully built up the digital channels and online business at Victorinox. From September 2020, Kilian Eyholzer headed the then newly established Digital Business Transformation department, which was merged with Global IT and Data Management as of January 1, 2022. Eyholzer holds an MBA in Business Administration and a PhD in Business Informatics from the University of Bern as well as broad practical knowledge in the areas of eCommerce, digitalization, business development and project management.

New Executive Board members: "Successfully shaping the future".

Carl Elsener, CEO of Victorinox AG, is looking forward to working with the new members of the Executive Board. "I am convinced that they will be able to bring their extensive know-how to Victorinox in a profitable way. With their broad experience, they will help to actively and successfully shape the future of the company."

Source: Victorinox AG

For once, Swiss airspace on International Women's Day will be predominantly led by female air traffic controllers. This means that pilots landing and taking off at one of the 14 airports or airfields in Switzerland on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, will for the most part be led by female voices. This is because on International Women's Day, the majority of those working in airspace surveillance, in the towers of the international airports in Zurich and Geneva, and in the control towers of the regional airports will be women. On International Women's Day on March 8, 2022, 50 female air traffic controllers will be on duty throughout the day.

Growing proportion of women at Skyguide

On International Women's Day, Skyguide is thus demonstrating that even in "male" industries such as aviation, female employees are playing an increasingly important role. The proportion of women employed by skyguide has risen steadily over the past few years. Almost one in four positions is currently held by a woman. In addition, there are two women on the Executive Management Board and three on the Board of Directors. These figures show that equal opportunities are practiced, promoted and increased at skyguide, for example through part-time work, home office and job sharing.

Setting an example for International Women's Day 2022

"We find that discussions in mixed teams are more dynamic and balanced. This results in more coordinated discussions and these ultimately lead to better decisions. The greater the diversity, the more likely a company is to succeed," says Alex Bristol, CEO of Skyguide. The air navigation service provider, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, has been promoting diversity for almost ten years. This now forms an important part of the company's strategy, according to the company.

Source: Skyguide

As announced in December 2021, Doris Russi Schurter will not stand for re-election as Chairman of the Board of Directors at the next Shareholders' Meeting of Helvetia Holding AG for personal reasons. Her designated successor, Dr. Axel Lehmann, is also no longer available to Helvetia following his election as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Credit Suisse Group. Following a re-evaluation, the Board of Directors of Helvetia Holding AG has now decided to plan for the long term with Dr. Thomas Schmuckli as Chairman of the Board of Directors and to propose him for election at the 2022 Shareholders' Meeting as the ordinary successor to Doris Russi Schurter.

Dr. Thomas Schmuckli has been a member and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Helvetia Holding AG since 2018. He is currently a member of the Strategy and Governance Committee and a member of the Investment and Risk Committee. In addition, he has led the Board of Directors of Helvetia's anchor shareholder, Patria Genossenschaft, since 2019. He will relinquish this mandate as of May 13, 2022.

As a trained lawyer, he had worked in various management functions in the General Counsel area of Credit Suisse Group from 1993 to 2013. He has also headed the Board of Directors of Credit Suisse Funds AG since 2012. He will relinquish this office as of April 13, 2022. In 2000, Dr. Thomas Schmuckli was elected to the board of directors of Bossard Holding AG; he has chaired this board since 2007.

The Annual General Meeting of Helvetia Holding AG will take place on April 29, 2022 at the Olma trade fairs in St.Gallen. For the first time since 2019, shareholders will again be able to attend the Shareholders' Meeting in person.

Source: Helvetia Group

How can information technology contribute to sustainable development? This question is the focus of the new Master "IT, Digitization & Sustainability" (ITDS) at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. The master's program is based at the Department of Computer Science and will start in the fall semester of 2022. "Sustainable development and digital transformation are terms that are rarely thought of together in public perception, even though they are closely linked," says program director Peter Wullschleger. The new master's program, which is unique in Switzerland, takes this development into account. The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts is also responding to the growing demand in the economy for IT professionals in the field of sustainable digitization.

Information technologies for more sustainability

The term sustainability goes beyond the ecological dimension, as Peter Wullschleger explains. "We base our curriculum on the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals. They form our thematic guard rails." This means that in addition to an intact environment, aspects such as social justice and economic development are also considered.

The program director provides some examples of how information technologies can be used to pursue the UN Sustainable Development Goals:

• Corruption is a major obstacle to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of "Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions". Artificial intelligence is to help detect illegal payments and thus combat corruption.
• Coffee farmers in the South often profit little from the product that is sold at a high price in the North. Digital certificates based on NFT technology could ensure that ecological and social standards are met during cultivation (goals "No poverty" and "Living on land").
• Less food waste thanks to apps: The programs inform users about surplus food in restaurants or markets in the area that is being given away free of charge - and thus contribute to achieving the "No Hunger" and "Responsible Consumption and Production" goals.

Internationally oriented Master's program

The first half of the two-year master's program is divided into five areas: Intercultural Collaboration, Project Management & Leadership, Digital Transformation, Natural Language Processing & Information Systems, and Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning. All areas are linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the curriculum.

The Master ITDS is internationally oriented. The language of instruction is English. "Finding solutions to the complex issues surrounding sustainability often requires cross-border cooperation," says Peter Wullschleger. This requires knowledge of intercultural competence, project management and leadership. These therefore play just as central a role in the course as the development of the students' technical skills.

More information: hslu.ch/master-itds