Finally, the first own apartment! And even a small budget for the furnishings. But how do you find exactly the chair that suits your personal taste in the huge selection in the online store? This is exactly the situation that inspired Luca Indermühle and Ramon Herzig, two prospective diploma students at the iCompetence study program at the University of Applied Sciences FHNWat the end of 2017 for the topic of her bachelor's thesis. The ambitious goal: to develop a machine learning algorithm that sorts a web store according to one's own tastes - and to do so without collecting historical data about the users.

"It was important to us not to simply invest the time and energy we put into our final thesis in an external project that might then disappear in a drawer," says Indermühle, explaining the motivation behind their self-initiated project, which ultimately aims to ensure a better shopping experience. The two budding computer scientists first developed a survey tool to obtain as much data as possible. This was crucial to the success of the project.

From thesis...

In just six months and countless hours of work, the first prototype was finally created: an algorithm that independently learns which optical features are relevant for an object. Their supervisor Martin Melchior, Professor of Data Science at the FHNW, was impressed by their work ethic: "The two of them delivered an excellent bachelor's thesis, showed above-average motivation and heart and soul - in a field that was still new to them."

The positive feedback encouraged Indermühle and Herzig to continue pursuing the project after graduation - initially mainly in their spare time, alongside their 80% jobs. "At first, we mainly developed the solution ourselves without looking for customers - that wasn't ideal," says Indermühle. "Actually, we learned exactly the opposite in our studies: not to work on a finished product in the basement, but to go out to customers early on to validate the solution," Herzig adds.

...to your own company

But at the beginning of 2021, the duo took the big step: they found their first customer, set up a limited liability company and finally quit their jobs to focus entirely on InnoFind to concentrate. Today, they are successful on the road. "Our studies at the FHNW University of Applied Sciences have given us a big head start here," says Indermühle. "The iCompetence degree program combines computer science with design and business topics. Setting up our own company was not completely new territory for us as a result." They received support in this step from their former lecturer for Internet and Management at the FHNW, Louis-Paul Wicki. As a startup mentor, he brings a lot of valuable experience to building a young company and is happy to share his knowledge and experience with his former students. "It always pleases me to see how our graduates successfully take off in practice," says Wicki.

"The algorithm learns by itself"

Today, InnoFind already has six customers. Meanwhile, their algorithm can assess much more than just chairs. At one of its customers, the home accessories specialist Trenddeko.ch for example, it helps users find exactly the right poster for their own wall out of 25,000. It's simple for users: If they like a poster, they get a good rating; if they don't like one at all, they get a negative rating. The more ratings someone distributes, the easier it is for the algorithm to make suitable suggestions. But no one has to laboriously assign keywords to the posters, such as "owl," "hand drawing" or "blue.

"The algorithm learns on its own which visual features are relevant for a categorization," explains Indermühle. Even if, for example, a new poster trend emerges - flying elephants, for example - the artificial intelligence recognizes and trains itself to recognize and group the appropriate features. This not only makes the shopping experience more pleasant and faster for customers, but also pays off for the store operators. This significantly increases the number of successful sales.

For a better shopping experience: tests also on the street

The next goal is to further develop the software in such a way that users do not have to actively evaluate products - but rather that the product selection continuously adapts without them noticing anything. Instead, their behavior will be evaluated live. What do users click on? What do they look at for longer? In this way, the selection in the online store will almost magically adapt to their own tastes - and thus ensure an even better shopping experience.

But this further development no longer happens in the quiet chamber. The two young entrepreneurs from Thun are networked in their city's startup scene and work closely with their customers. But they also rely on personal contact to perfect their product. You can regularly meet Ramon Herzig and Luca Indermühle at the Thun train station, where they show random passersby the current status of their software with a tablet and ask for honest feedback. They also learned this process at the FHNW. "It's fun - and people cooperate well. In the process, we learn a lot about how users behave, and we can optimize our solution so that it's well received by both customers and their users." And that is the best prerequisite for success.

Source: University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland - School of Engineering

The majority of entrepreneurs are still men. But female entrepreneurs are gaining ground in the start-up scene. This is shown by the study "Female Entrepreneurship: Unternehmensgründungen von Frauen im Fokus" conducted by the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland FHNW for the third time after 1999 and 2009. The results show that the proportion of female company founders has doubled to 31.6 percent in the last 20 years. This means that almost every third company is now founded by a woman.

Women business founders are different...

However, women differ from men in some respects when it comes to starting a business. For example, female entrepreneurs are less likely to be aged 50+. They are also less likely to have university degrees. However, this should even out due to today's female majority at universities, according to the study's assessment. The data also show that women are more cautious when starting a business. They prepare better and more intensively when it comes to the various issues involved in starting a business, have more side jobs and start smaller and less innovative companies.

So everything's hunky-dory? Not quite, according to the study authors. There is still room for improvement. More female role models are needed in the startup scene and in the media. These could contribute to raising awareness of female entrepreneurship. "It needs the involvement of a wide variety of female and male actors in the entrepreneurial ecosystem," the study notes. It is still necessary to break through traditional role models and gender-specific stereotypes so that a natural affinity for both self-employment and professions in start-up-intensive industries can develop. The opportunities that digitization offers for female entrepreneurs, for example, were also highlighted about a year ago by the a study of another university of applied sciences examined.

Reduce inhibition thresholds

In addition to raising awareness, measures are needed to relieve women of family work. After all, starting a business requires resources that are not always easy to combine with family life. More offers for childcare and the inclusion of the life partner are therefore obvious. It would also be desirable to provide more support for programs for female entrepreneurs. Last but not least, women themselves need to make better use of their own entrepreneurial potential: according to the study, networking, finding co-founders or outsourcing work could help overcome knowledge deficits or uncertainties and compensate for fluctuations in orders. This could reduce further barriers to self-employment.

Source: University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland FHNW - School of Management

The Swiss Climate Foundation will focus its funding on climate innovations in the future. From 2022, its funding will flow exclusively into innovation projects by Swiss and Liechtenstein SMEs that benefit the climate. "If Switzerland and Liechtenstein want to achieve their climate targets, the entire industry must be decarbonized. To make this possible, new solutions are needed, especially in the building sector, mobility and agriculture. We are doing our part by providing even greater support for innovative technologies and projects in these areas," says Vincent Eckert, Managing Director of the Swiss Climate Foundation.

Decarbonization of the economy as a major goal

Programs such as the promotion of energy efficiency measures or contributions to the federal government's Voluntary Energy Efficiency Agreement, on the other hand, will not be extended. They expired as planned at the end of 2021. Since new programs have also been created by SwissEnergy and the cantons in the meantime, the Swiss Climate Foundation is withdrawing from further support programs. According to Vincent Eckert, the focus will now be exclusively on promoting scalable climate protection innovations by SMEs. This will enable the necessary climate transformation to be driven forward in a concrete way.

Since its establishment in 2008, the Swiss Climate Foundation has already supported over 150 innovation projects with around 16 million Swiss francs, benefiting not only SMEs but also the competitiveness of Switzerland and Liechtenstein as a business location.

Achieving climate targets - with new partnerships

The promotion of climate innovations is only possible thanks to partner companies. This is how it works: Since January 2008, the federal government has levied a CO₂-tax on fossil fuels. A portion of these levies flows back to the economy. Service companies in particular usually receive more back than they have paid. The partner companies donate these funds out of conviction to the joint foundation, which in turn uses them to promote climate protection measures by SMEs.

In the meantime, almost 30 partner companies are contributing to the foundation. In recent weeks, the Zug Cantonal Bank, the furniture, Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) and LGT Capital Partners to the initiative, and as early as the summer of 2021, the Baloise Group entered into a cooperation with the foundation. "The joint appearance of the partner companies for the climate - across industry and association boundaries - is also a strong sign for the public of corporate responsibility that strengthens people's trust in the economy," says Thomas Hügli, Chairman of the Foundation Board, underlining the importance of the Swiss Climate Foundation.

Source and further information: Climate Foundation Switzerland

Almost every day we read in the media about cyberattacks by criminals that cause considerable damage and even lead to production losses. Companies are increasingly afraid of becoming victims of such attacks themselves. This is also shown by the Allianz Risk Barometer, for which around 2,700 experts in 89 countries and territories worldwide were surveyed on top risks. The respondents included CEOs, risk managers, brokers and insurance experts. For example, cyber incidents are the top risk for companies (44 % of responses), business interruption ranks second globally (42 %), while natural catastrophes have advanced to third place (25%, up from 6th last year).

Resilience is becoming a competitive factor

Naturally, the risks are weighted somewhat differently depending on the sector. However, it is noticeable that business interruptions were named as the No. 1 risk globally in more than half of the industries surveyed (in 11 out of 20 sectors), while cyber ranked at the top in "only" five out of twenty industries. "Business disruption is likely to remain the most important risk issue in 2022," said Christoph Müller, CEO of AGCS, summarizing this year's survey. "For most companies, the biggest fear is not being able to manufacture their products or provide their services. In 2021, disruptions occurred on an unprecedented scale, caused by a variety of triggers: Crippling cyberattacks, the impact of numerous climate change-related weather events on the supply chain, and pandemic-related production problems and transportation bottlenecks wreaked havoc. This year promises only a gradual easing of the situation, although further problems related to Covid-19 cannot be ruled out. Building resilience to the many causes of business disruption is increasingly becoming a competitive advantage for companies." According to the Euler Hermes Global Trade Report, further disruptions in the global supply chain are expected to continue into the second half of 2022.

Top risks in Switzerland: cyber in first place

In Switzerland, the ranking is also dominated by cyber incidents (1st place with 61%) and business interruption (2nd place with 57%). Market changes, for example caused by volatility, increased competition/new competitors, stagnating markets or market fluctuations (25%), follow in third place. According to Allianz, uncertainty at the political level is also likely to play a role here: The lack of a framework agreement with the EU, unresolved problems in connection with Brexit or even monetary policy would lead to a kind of "feeling of powerlessness" in companies, as Christoph Müller explains.

In the context of cyber risk, Christoph Müller sees "double extortion tactics" as particularly worrying: Increasingly, cybercriminals not only limit themselves to extorting ransom after data has been encrypted, but also subsequently threaten to publish sensitive data if payment is not made again. "Ransomware has become big business for cybercriminals, who are refining their tactics and lowering the barriers to entry - it hardly takes any technical knowledge to carry out an attack, and the relevant tools can be conveniently booked on the web. The commercialization of cybercrime makes it easier to exploit vulnerabilities on a large scale. We will see more attacks on supply chains and critical infrastructure," explains Ivo Heeb, Underwriting Expert Financial Lines at AGCS in Switzerland.

New among the top risks: Skills shortage

The biggest climber among the top risks, alongside market changes, is climate change (5th place with 17 %). New in the top ten are the risk of a shortage of skilled workers, which ranks 7th (12%), as well as concerns about the failure of critical infrastructure (9th place with 11 %) and loss of reputation (9th place with 11 %). Worries about Covid-19 or another pandemic are of significantly less concern to companies than they were in 2021 (6th place with 15%).

According to the latest Allianz Risk Barometer, attracting and retaining workers has rarely been as difficult as it is today. Respondents ranked this as one of the top five risks in engineering, construction, real estate, public services and healthcare, and the biggest risk in transportation. The pandemic in particular has led to a change in thinking among many employees and also employers, says Ivo Heeb. The loss of orders and closures, but also an increased workload, have led to an exodus of workers in some sectors. Many have reoriented themselves professionally or are looking for jobs with a better work-life balance. As a result, where there is economic recovery after the pandemic, there is now a short-term shortage of skilled workers.

Business interruption remains top risk

But business interruption also remains a dominant issue for companies. In a year marked by widespread disruption, the extent of vulnerabilities in modern supply chains and production networks is more apparent than ever. In addition to cyber incidents, the impact of companies' increasing reliance on digitalization and the shift of work to remote locations are also important causes. Natural disasters and pandemics are the other two important triggers for business interruption, according to respondents. "The pandemic highlighted the extent of interconnectedness in modern supply chains and how inherently unrelated events can come together to cause widespread outages. For the first time, the resilience of supply chains has been severely tested on a global scale," says Christoph Müller, CEO of AGCS in Switzerland.

Source and further information: www.agcs.allianz.com

With the 2022 anniversary edition of the "Annual Global CEO Survey", the auditing and consulting firm PwC is getting to the bottom of the current and future challenges facing CEOs worldwide for the 25th time. A total of almost 4,500 CEOs were surveyed worldwide, with just over 100 in Switzerland. Of these, 35 percent represent the manufacturing industry, 27% the retail and consumer goods market, 15% the financial services sector, 10% the healthcare industry, 9% the chemicals/metals/energy sector and 4% the telco and tech sector. 50% of the participating companies employ fewer than 500 people.

Pandemic has pent-up demand

81% of Swiss CEOs are extremely optimistic that the global economy will grow over the next twelve months, despite the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic. This figure is up 14% on the previous year and 4% above the global level.

Optimism also dominates the assessment of sales development. 64% are very to highly confident that sales will grow over the next 12 months; 74% are so for sales growth over the next three years. Says Andreas Staubli, CEO of PwC Switzerland, "The growth optimism reflects strong demand, which has returned quickly in the pandemic second year of 2021. In addition, economic forecasts are positive."

China falls behind as a trading partner

In the 2022 study edition, the cards are redistributed for foreign trade markets. When asked about the relevance of countries impacting sales growth over the next twelve months, 52% of study participants name Germany (2020: 39%), 50% name the U.S. (2020: 45%) and 27% name China (2020: 39%). Swiss CEOs apparently assume that it will become increasingly difficult for foreign companies to make money in and with China due to the People's Republic's new five-year plan.

Cyber risks as No. 1 concern among Swiss CEOs

Cyber risks lead the concern barometer again this year with 100% mentions (global: 96%). On the one hand, cyberattacks are omnipresent in the media. On the other hand, a heightened understanding of cyberattacks and their consequences has recently emerged. Many executives know affected individuals from their professional network. 82% believe a cyberattack could make it impossible to sell products or services (global: 59%). Ultimately, the highly professionalized attackers target IT-based, business-critical processes such as sales, marketing, distribution, or public relations - for example, through extortion (ransomware).

Sustainability yes, but how?

With 85% mentions, the threat barometer is the fifth highest for climate change. Accordingly, the CEOs rate the urgency of operating sustainably as high - for example with a net-zero promise, via CO2 neutrality or reporting according to ESG criteria (environmental, social, governance).

However, Swiss CEOs are cautious in implementing such strategies: 45% have not yet made a CO2 neutrality commitment (global: 41%) and 55% have not defined a net zero target (global: 44%). 65% are pessimistic about being able to achieve CO2 neutrality or net zero at all (global: 55%). Commenting on this hesitation, Andreas Staubli, CEO of PwC Switzerland, says: "Most industries have moved from crisis mode directly to a sustainability focus. But apparently the desire for more ESG (environment, social, governance) is not compatible with the price elasticity of the markets everywhere."

Restraint is also evident in the definition and measurability of ESG targets. 88% of the CEOs surveyed assume that their companies do not emit any significant amounts of greenhouse gases. Only 44% integrate quantitative greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets into their long-term strategy. And 91% state that their company cannot currently measure greenhouse gas emissions.

The full study can be found at www.pwc.ch/ceo-survey-de download

The global hydrogen economy is growing rapidly. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), this may bring about significant geoeconomic and geopolitical changes. These could lead to a number of new interactions. The analysis, titled "Geopolitics of the Energy Transformation: The Hydrogen Factor" assumes that hydrogen will change energy trade, for example by regionalizing energy relations. New geopolitical centers of influence will emerge based on the production and use of hydrogen, while conventional oil and gas trade will decline.

Hydrogen economy will continue to grow until 2050

Based on the urgency of climate action and countries' commitments to the net zero target, IRENA estimates that hydrogen will account for up to 12 % of global energy consumption by 2050. Growing trade and targeted investment in a market dominated by fossil fuels, currently valued at $174 billion, is expected to increase economic competitiveness and influence the foreign policy landscape, with bilateral agreements markedly different from 20th century hydrocarbon relations.

Hydrogen is not the new oil

"Hydrogen could prove to be a missing link on the road to a climate-friendly energy future," said Francesco La Camera, IRENA's director general. "Hydrogen is clearly being driven by the renewable energy revolution, and green hydrogen can set the course toward climate neutrality without compromising industrial growth and social development. But hydrogen is not the new oil. And the energy transition is not a replacement for fossil fuels, but a shift to a new system with new political, technical, environmental and economic rules of the game." Green hydrogen will bring new and different players to the market, Francesco La Camera further explains. Transport routes and supply will become increasingly diversified, he adds. International cooperation could contribute to a democratization of the hydrogen economy with equal opportunities for both developed and developing countries.

Cross-border hydrogen trade

IRENA estimates that over 30 % of hydrogen could be traded across borders by 2050 - a higher share than natural gas today. Countries that have not traditionally traded energy are building bilateral energy relationships around hydrogen. As more players and new classes of net importers and exporters emerge on the international stage, hydrogen trade is unlikely to be used as a weapon and lead to cartelization - unlike the geopolitical influence of oil and gas.

Already, more than 30 countries and regions are planning active trade. Some countries that see themselves as future importers are already engaging in targeted hydrogen diplomacy, such as Japan and Germany. Fossil fuel exporters increasingly view clean hydrogen as an attractive way to diversify their economies, such as Australia, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. However, broader economic transition strategies are needed, as hydrogen cannot compensate for losses in oil and gas revenues, IRENA notes.

Hydrogen economy brings out new players

The technical potential for hydrogen production far exceeds the estimated global demand. The countries most capable of producing cheap electricity from renewables will also be the most capable of producing competitive green hydrogen. Countries like Chile, Morocco, and Namibia, which are net energy importers today, are on the path to becoming green hydrogen exporters. Realizing the potential of regions such as Africa, North and South America, the Middle East, and Oceania could limit the risk of export concentration, but many countries will need technology transfers, infrastructure, and investment on a significant scale. However, demand for green hydrogen is not expected to pick up until the mid-2030s, according to IRENA estimates. By then, green hydrogen will be able to compete globally with hydrogen from fossil fuels in terms of cost - in countries such as China, Brazil and India, this is likely to be the case even earlier. Green hydrogen was already affordable in Europe during the rise in natural gas prices in 2021. The modernization of natural gas pipelines should further boost demand and facilitate hydrogen trade.

New sites for green industrialization

Countries with large renewable energy potential could become sites of green industrialization by attracting energy-intensive industries. In addition, participation in the hydrogen value chain can increase economic competitiveness. In particular, the production of electrolyzers and fuel cells could prove to be an economic driver. China, Japan and Europe have already established a lead in production, but innovations will continue to shape the current production landscape.

Some problems still need to be solved

While green hydrogen could make energy supplies more independent, secure, and robust by reducing dependence on imports and price volatility, and by increasing the flexibility of the energy system. However, the feedstocks required for hydrogen and renewable technologies could shift the focus to feedstock security. Shortages and price volatility could impact the entire hydrogen supply chain, negatively affecting costs and revenues.

Shaping the rules, standards, and governance of hydrogen could lead to geopolitical competition or usher in a new era of increased international cooperation. Helping developing countries in particular to adopt green hydrogen technologies and promote hydrogen industries could prevent the global decarbonization gap from widening. There is an opportunity to create local value chains, green industries and jobs in countries rich in renewable energy sources.

Source: IRENA

Companies that want to install IoT solutions want to do it the easy way. This is shown by a survey conducted by Oracle together with market researcher Transforma Insights, in which 800 IoT decision-makers from Australia, France, Germany, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the USA were questioned. Nearly two-thirds (64 %) of respondents would choose a standard IoT solution over a custom offering. This indicates a market shift in the purchase of IoT offerings by enterprises. 75 % of respondents also want connectivity to be included or bundled by the solution provider, and 70 % want providers to include data and analytics tools as part of a comprehensive solution. Together, the results show a growing need for a simple route to IoT capabilities that bypasses customization and offers a faster payback time.

Pan-ready IoT solutions are in demand

The survey results suggest that IoT platform providers have established themselves as the go-to companies for deploying IoT. In this regard, 56 % of respondents said they would rather turn to one of these vendors than to systems integrators (42 %). "Custom solutions in deploying IoT solutions add cost and complexity. Enterprises are now looking for one of the fastest ways to generate value in the form of readymade IoT solutions with integrated connectivity and analytics capabilities," commented Andrew Morawski, senior vice president and general manager, Oracle Communications, Networks, on these findings. "5G is critical to deploying this next generation of IoT, especially when it is deployed as a true cloud-native application and takes full advantage of cloud technology."

Internet of Things with strong market growth

According to Transforma Insights market research, by 2030 the total number of IoT connections will reach 28 billion, and the GSMA Mobile Economy report predicts that the IoT market will exceed 1 trillion $ by 2025.

Key survey findings also include:

• Commercial off-the-shelf products accelerate deployment: Deployment times for commercial solutions average 8.5 months, compared with an industry average of around 11 months. This indicates that the increasing use of standardized solutions is accelerating go-live times. Public Safety/Government (51 %) and Utilities (45 %) have the fastest accelerating timelines with a goal of deploying IoT within six months.
• IoT projects are moving from internal and non-core to critical and customer-facing: Nearly 90 % of projects were described by respondents as "fundamental" or "very important" to their core business, and only slightly more than half of all projects are visible to their customers. This is reflected in cost, which was ranked as the most important aspect of management. Solution delivery was most important for utilities (61 %) and public safety and government (60 %). For other industries, such as healthcare (58 %) and enterprise IT (59 %), the cost of running the solution was the biggest priority.
• Buyers are looking for complete solutions: Three-quarters (75 %) of respondents want connectivity to be integrated in the bundle by the IoT solution provider. 25 % are happy that it is not a visible component for them. This trend is even more pronounced for projects in the planning phase, which means that bundled IoT offerings are likely to become more common in the near future.
• Industry standards drive solution design: Almost all (85 %) of the respondents have specific requirements (either regulatory or based on a desire to follow standard operating procedures) for compliance with standard data formats. This is especially critical for industries such as healthcare (71 %) and utilities (61 %), which reported strict regulatory compliance requirements. Even for projects where standards are less rigid, such as enterprise IT, 45 % still anticipate strict regulatory compliance requirements.
• Increased need for analytics integrated with IoT platforms: IoT use cases based on simple data collection are becoming obsolete faster. Survey respondents indicated that over 80 % of their projects involve bidirectional data flows, rather than simple device-to-application data collection. This leads to a higher requirement for an analytics-driven control loop within the IoT solution.

IoT solutions are becoming increasingly business-critical

"It's clear from this survey that IoT adopters have moved from so-called "low-hanging fruit" to mission-critical systems," said Matt Hatton, founding partner Transforma Insights. "As maturation filters into the mass market, we will increasingly see widespread transformative impact from enterprise IoT."

Source: Oracle. Those interested in learning best practices from leading IoT adopters can here download a report (in English).

Innovative Swiss companies and universities are already successfully and courageously putting the energy future into practice. In their honor, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy created the Watt d'Or, the seal of approval for energy excellence. Now in its 15th year, this award was presented in three categories on January 6, 2022. The non-endowed prize recognizes exceptional achievements in the energy sector. The trophy - a snow globe - was presented on a smaller scale this year due to the pandemic situation. The jury for the Watt d'Or 2022 was chaired by St.Gallen National Councilor Susanne Vincenz-Stauffacher.

Winner of the Watt d'Or 2022

A total of 31 organizations submitted projects that were evaluated by a team of experts. Finally, 11 entries were nominated for the final round. From these, the jury has now selected the winning projects in the four Watt d'Or categories, although: this year there was no winner in the mobility category. This year, SBB won the prize in the "Energy Technologies" category, Verora AG from Edlibach ZG in the "Renewable Energies" category and schaerraum AG from Horw LU in the "Buildings and Space" category.

Intelligent load control against power consumption peaks

SBB received an award for its intelligent load control against power consumption peaks in the interval timetable. You have to imagine: When trains accelerate simultaneously throughout Switzerland, this causes huge power consumption. After all, one locomotive alone sucks up to 8 megawatts (MW) of power from the rail power grid. With 800 to 1,000 trains running at the same time, this leads to sometimes extreme - and expensive - fluctuations in consumption. Within just a quarter of an hour, consumption can rise or fall by 300 MW. After all, that's 50 percent of the maximum load in the traction power network. To solve this problem, SBB has developed its own load management software. During load peaks, this software switches off the train car and switch heaters for a short time - usually only for a few seconds to a minute, until the load peak has passed. In this way, SBB makes consumption more flexible and, as a "prosumer," optimizes the interaction with electricity production. By 2023, SBB will be able to flexibly control 70 megawatts in this way. In this way, it is also taking on a model role for Switzerland's general power grid, according to one of the jury's conclusions.

Vegetable carbon stores CO2

The moraine region of Menzingen/Neuheim (Canton Zug) is home to a nucleus for the still young negative emission technologies (NET). Since 2012, Verora AG, a group of farmers from the Zug mountain region, has been producing plant charcoal from natural tree and shrub cuttings here. Over the past 10 years, the Verora AG team has developed the pyrolysis plant required for this from a prototype from the German university spinoff Pyreg GmbH to a reliably functioning production plant. The plant charcoal obtained in it has a very large surface area and a porous structure. Thus, it acts like a sponge. As a feed additive, it reduces the formation of greenhouse gases during cow digestion, it reduces the smell of ammonia in the barn, increases the nutrient content of fertilizer and compost, makes agricultural soils more robust and fertile, and binds CO2 in them for centuries. The Verora AG production plant has an annual output of 600 m3 of vegetable carbon, which can store around 460 tons of CO2 in the long term. Verora AG does little advertising for the vegetable carbon and has nevertheless arrived in the profit zone.

Also awarded the Watt d'Or 2022: Climate-neutral commercial and residential building

Wooden buildings are increasingly becoming an economically attractive alternative to conventional construction methods. schaerraum AG from Horw in Lucerne has built a climate-neutral commercial and residential building based on the modular planning principle "RaumRaster". The principle is based on a wooden skeleton that stands on a concrete base and bears the entire load of the building. Thanks to flexibly combinable modules, the construction time was significantly reduced: The building was constructed in just eight months. The building technology also conserves resources and costs: the smart coupling of the air-conditioning technology with the energy piles, the heat pump, the solar systems on the roof and carport, and a battery storage system means that the building produces around 50% more energy than it consumes. By coupling the entire air conditioning technology, the energy piles and the heat pump, the latter achieves the very good annual performance factor of 7 to 8, which means that it produces 7 to 8 kWh of heat with 1 kilowatt hour of electricity. And finally
the energy flow is monitored, optimized and billed using smart meter technology.

In the eyes of the jury, the planning principle "RaumRaster" by schaerraum AG for the construction of multi-family houses made of wood is a promising approach to building in a climate-friendly, resource-saving and cost-effective way. The building mentioned has been occupied since January 2021 and the tenants are very satisfied, according to the report.

Source: Federal Office of Energy

In March 2020, the first Corona Lockdown led to a drastic slump in the job market. Almost two years later, we are seeing a rapid economic recovery, as various evaluations consistently show. For example, according to the Adecco Group Swiss Job Market Index, companies are posting 39% more jobs in Q4 2021 than in the same quarter last year. Most occupational groups can look forward to a significant increase in demand. All of Switzerland's major regions are also benefiting from a broad-based recovery in the labor markets. In the Espace Mittelland, technology professionals (+50%) (e.g. engineering and comparable professionals) and in Central Switzerland, STEM and health professions (+48%) (e.g. natural scientists, mathematicians and engineers) are the main beneficiaries. In northwestern Switzerland, service and sales professionals (+54%) (e.g. sales professionals) and business and social professions (+45%) (e.g. social scientists and cultural professionals) in particular are enjoying strong job growth.

Where the shortage of skilled workers is most acute

The labor market barometer of the outplacement service provider von Rundstedt also states a good recovery of the labor markets. After a clear break in 2020, some sectors are again looking intensively for personnel. According to the Adecco Group Swiss Job Market Index, skilled trades and support workers (+23%), which include professions such as polymechanics, precision craftsmen (e.g. watchmakers and micromechanics) and food processing professions (e.g. bakers and meat specialists), are experiencing a recovery. The largest percentage increase was seen in office and administrative professionals (+21%) (e.g. general office and secretarial professionals) and service and sales professionals (+17%) (e.g. sales and support professionals).

Fewer terminations due to downsizing measures

On the other hand, in 2021 far fewer dismissals were due to downsizing measures, namely only 23 percent, according to von Rundstedt. However, another figure is worth noting: at 25 percent, a relatively large number of individual terminations were due to performance deviations in 2021. But the good news is that those who have been made redundant are once again finding a new job much more quickly than a year ago. The average search period has fallen from 6.9 to 5.3 months. The situation has improved particularly among the over-50s, where the search period has fallen from 8.3 to 6.9 months. This value is even lower than that of 2019. However, the fundamentally pleasing development should not hide the fact that there is still a large difference between the marketable and the difficult profiles in all age groups, according to the report. The search duration varies from 3.2 months (marketable easy profiles) to 9.2 months (difficult profiles). This shows that it is still difficult for some people to find a new job despite the shortage of skilled workers. This polarization between the winners and losers on the labor market is increasing more and more in the course of the digital transformation. Even the shortage of skilled workers is not changing this.

More industry mobility

Thanks to the shortage of skilled workers, however, companies are more willing to consider applicants from outside the industry, according to another of von Rundstedt's findings. Industry mobility has reached a record level of 52 percent in 2021, he said. This is good news, because it is precisely this flexibility that a labor market needs in a major structural change such as the digital transformation, von Rundstedt writes in this regard. These figures would prove that there is a causal link between a shortage of skilled workers, selection flexibility and mobility opportunities for applicants. The difficult situation in some industries as a result of COVID-19 has certainly also contributed to this, because many people have had to change careers and reposition themselves.

Not only labor markets, but the world of work as a whole is changing

The Corona pandemic has changed the labor market and the world of work as a whole. According to a joint study by the OECD and the jobs site Indeed, the acceptance and spread of home offices in companies has also increased sharply worldwide. According to this study, the proportion of home office users in most countries of the international community (with exceptions) has skyrocketed. Especially where the measures to contain the pandemic were particularly strict. But even after they were relaxed, a much predicted decline hardly became reality - on the contrary. Overall, the average home office share in the 20 OECD countries studied has more than tripled since the start of the pandemic, according to the study. While just under 2.5 percent of job ads listed this option in January 2020, by April 2021 it was 7.9 percent. That increase was due in large part to pandemic-related restrictions that led to high adoption of home offices - in jobs that can be done well from home. Despite easing measures, the average percentage of home office ads remained near its peak, at 7.5 percent in September 2021. In Switzerland, it was 7.08 percent at that time and currently stands at 7.2 percent.

Sources: von Rundstedt, Adecco Group, Indeed

The last two years have not only given the digital transformation of companies a considerable boost, but have also advanced internal communications in many places. In order to connect decentralized teams and mobile workers quickly and securely, new communication channels need to be adopted. Business messengers are clearly on the rise here. We have identified and worked out six trends in business messaging for 2022.

Trend 1: Push-to-Talk - from voice message to walkie-talkie in the business messenger

Direct voice communication via push-to-talk, which was previously only possible via digital radio, can now be realized with the help of a business messenger. Additional devices such as walkie-talkies are supplemented by on-duty smartphones. Push-to-talk allows direct voice exchange, which not only makes communication more efficient, but also makes it immensely easier to interpret. At the same time, this new ease of use simplifies receiving and sending audio messages. Mission-oriented teams in particular - for example in the areas of BOS, rescue services, construction, logistics, delivery services and tourism - benefit from a push-to-talk function in Messenger. In addition to audio recordings, images and documents can also be transmitted in the same communication channel, such as an operation chat about an observation. The entire communication on an incident can be stored in the organization's archive and retrieved at any time, which significantly simplifies the creation of reports and evaluations, among other things.

Trend 2: Implementing the social intranet idea in business messaging

Messenger as a social intranet not only promotes the vision of including all employees in internal communications, but also accelerates information distribution and takes feedback cycles to a new level. Status messages are used to share company news, both for 1:1 and group chats as well as broadcasts. Color-coded messages are visible to all users of a chat. An additional overview allows chat histories to be filtered by message type, and thus also by status messages, and to quickly find the information they are looking for. At the same time, employees can interact with the content by "commenting" on it using emoticons. The goal of this is to activate and drive team collaboration across the entire workforce - from mobile workers to desk employees, but also from trainees to C-level managers - and guarantee optimal exchange.

Trend 3: New user interfaces and smart devices for messengers

Not only the messengers themselves are becoming more and more sophisticated, but also the end devices. In addition to smartphones, tablets and the like, which have long since established themselves as the standard for messaging apps, smart devices with new user interfaces will conquer the market. Smartwatches, for example, have undergone rapid technical development in recent years and are in widespread use. They are lightweight, robust and particularly well-suited for mobile forces, such as police officers and rescue workers. But data glasses, so-called smartglasses, are also already in the starting blocks. In combination with messenger apps, they can offer remarkable advantages. For example, they enable doctors to easily view patient records with colleagues during an examination and communicate at the same time - while keeping both hands free. Smartglasses also help logistics staff locate stored goods and exchange information about transport. It is conceivable that the position of the goods to be loaded - including directions in the case of a larger warehouse - can be called up and colleagues called in for support while the employee is on the move with the forklift truck. In this way, new smart devices make it easier and faster to implement use cases.

Trend 4: Even more sophisticated Messenger functions for more productivity

Sending documents, photos and videos, sharing locations and making VoIP and video calls - all this is part of the standard repertoire of a good business messenger. Yet the pinnacle in terms of innovative features is far from reached. Messaging apps are integrating more and more functionality to cover all use cases across industries and make information sharing even easier:

• Alertsto ensure direct emergency communication and coordination using acknowledgement options and alarm reports;
• Surveysto create uncomplicated surveys and simplify scheduling;
• Image editingto anonymize data and make faces unrecognizable.

In 2022, the range of functions will increase even further and individual functions will be refined - and this will be individually tailored to industries such as blue-light organizations, healthcare, logistics, retail, production and construction.

Trend 5: Georeferencing in Messenger - live location functions reach new level

Sharing locations in messengers is a popular feature - especially among mobile workers. It is ideal for sharing current whereabouts, providing directions, and arranging meeting points. However, in everyday business, there are often use cases where users' locations change dynamically and knowing real-time or live locations can be of great importance to colleagues and business partners. Typical scenarios include operations by law enforcement agencies, police and emergency services, production workers, and transportation and delivery service rides. Here, there will be next levels of innovation to further improve geo-referenced coordination. Advanced map applications through to the provision of mission-relevant location information by artificial intelligence are conceivable.

Trend 6: Messenger with maximum data sovereignty and simultaneous networking

Data sovereignty and security are two topics that are becoming increasingly important for companies. As messenger functionality and technical capabilities continue to evolve, so does the threat of cyberattacks. Federated servers increase resilience to hacker attacks - after all, in the worst case, only the attacked server fails. Federation is also a significant step into the future to improve data sovereignty. In addition to secure containers on the end device, functions for holistic data and access management are becoming increasingly relevant for security. Further strengthening encryption algorithms for communications and establishing additional security functions are also among the key developments in business messaging. Compliance and audit-proof archiving will become a significant issue for all companies and industries in 2022. This is because it is now clear that messaging is part of business communication and, as such, falls under the documentation requirements of commercial, professional and data protection law. Companies can easily implement their compliance and data protection requirements with leading business messengers - a key advantage over American cloud solutions.

The future can come

Professional communication will continue to change. New technologies are accompanying this change and driving it forward. Today, business messengers already enable device-, time-, and location-independent collaboration within teams and between multiple teams - even from other organizations. But their potential is far from exhausted, as the expected trends make clear. Business messaging is ready for the future.

Author:
Tobias Stepan is founder and managing director of Teamwire GmbH (teamwire.eu), which specializes in secure and confident instant messaging for business, government and healthcare. 

The acquisition of Credit Suisse Life & Pensions AG by Octium Group, announced in December 2021, has now been completed following the granting of regulatory approvals. This transaction by the Luxembourg-based insurance group follows the acquisition of the insurance business of UBS. Octium says it now has life insurance assets of over EUR 10 billion, a growing presence in Europe with offices in Luxembourg, Dublin, Vaduz, Zurich and Milan, and a specialized team of over 75 employees. With a solvency ratio of its two insurance carriers of more than 170% (as of Sept. 30, 2021), Octium is a highly capitalized group in the cross-border life insurance industry.

"Trusted partner"

The acquisition is complementary to the existing business from a customer, product and sales perspective, while being strategically important for future development plans, according to the statement. In particular, the presence in Liechtenstein guarantees access to additional markets and the development of new products and solutions, Octium says. The transfer of the internal units of the two largest Swiss banks to Octium is clear evidence of the group's reputation within the industry as a trusted partner that enhances its clients' life insurance solutions, it said.

Further strategic step of the Octium Group

The acquisition represents an expansion of Octium's organization, which previously also consisted of Octium Life DAC, an insurance company based in Ireland, and its insurance intermediary, Octium International Insurance Agent AG, based in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Octium's insurance solutions and services are generally focused on estate planning. Thanks to its long experience in the insurance and wealth management sector, the Group is able to offer optimal solutions to meet its clients' needs. The group is led by Jean-François Willems, Chairman and Dara Hurley, CEO. "This new acquisition represents the next stage in the implementation of our long-term strategy to become a leader in the international PPLI market," Willems is quoted as saying.

Source and further information

As with the Acquisition of Sage's Swiss business announced, the new owner company Infoniqa is actively investing in the further development of local software products and services. A number of new functions and basic work will be implemented for the new versions of the Swiss products Sage 50 Extra and Sage 200 Extra. The brand presence will be gradually adapted. "With these investments, we are expanding our customers' long-term options for running their businesses in an even leaner and simpler way. We are now paving the way for innovative further developments that mean more transparency, more automation and less administration," says Thomas Hersche, Managing Director of Infoniqa Switzerland Software and Services AG.

First step towards HCM integration

An initial integration has now been developed for Sage 200 Extra and Infoniqa ONE HCM. This makes HR master data, payrolls and wage statements from Sage 200 Extra available in Infoniqa ONE HCM. Further expansion steps towards a fully-fledged integration are being developed together with pilot customers and will be included in the next updates. Infoniqa ONE HCM is a modular, cloud-based solution for Human Capital Management (HCM) and provides companies with a 360° view of their workforce and digitizes all areas of HR work from recruiting to e-learning.

Expanding connectivity with REST API

Sage 50 Extra launches new web services for accounting. Via the Web REST API interface, all financial data from general ledgers and sub-ledgers can be exchanged bidirectionally with third-party solutions, mobile apps and web applications. This innovation forms the basis for further expansion steps together with Run my Accounts for fiduciaries.

Simplified expense handling

Furthermore, a new function for expense recording will be delivered for Sage 200 Extra and will enable the payment of expenses directly via accounts payable. A mobile expenses app is already in the works and is expected to be available in February. This will allow employees to easily photograph their receipts, add data and submit them to their supervisor. The manager can validate the expense receipts online via the web front end and forward them to accounts payable. For Sage 50 Extra customers, this extension is on the roadmap for the coming year.

Microsoft Power BI for more informed decisions 

The analysis tool 'Power BI' is a standard tool from Microsoft, which is integrated in Office 365. For Sage 200 Extra, a standard financial model is delivered with its own tables and scripts. This allows users to create their own financial reports based on company data - provided that Power BI is licensed. Infoniqa also delivers initial predefined financial and cost center reports in the data model itself.

Rebranding from Sage to Infoniqa completed in April 2022

The completed purchase marked the start of a transition phase for the new brand identity from Sage to Infoniqa. This transition will be complete by the end of April 2022. The solutions will be rebranded. Sage Start will become Infoniqa ONE Start, Sage 50 Extra will become Infoniqa ONE 50 and Sage 200 Extra will become Infoniqa ONE 200.

Source and further information