Concentration in the ICT and online industry: Simsa and Swico want to merge

The ICT and online industries are moving ever closer together, and value chains and business models are overlapping. This convergence should also be reflected in the representation of interests in politics and business as well as in the services for companies in the industry. Against this background, the management bodies of the two relevant ICT and digital industry associations have decided to merge their activities: The boards of Simsa and Swico have signed a merger agreement, which is to be ratified by the members at extraordinary general meetings on June 18, 2018.

Synergies used for a long time

Simsa and Swico have been in close contact for several years, coordinate their political positions and exploit synergies in their range of services. In an assessment of the situation, the two boards came to the conclusion that a unified and powerful presence for the Internet and digital economy is becoming increasingly important. For this reason, the forces are to be bundled under one roof. The goal is to achieve greater member benefit as well as stronger influence in politics and business. Both organizations are financially well positioned, so synergies on the cost side are not a priority.

The name Simsa disappears

The new organization, legally still constituted as an association, will operate under the name Swico. It will take over and continue all activities of Simsa and Swico. On the Simsa side, the Code of Conduct Hosting and the Collaboration Framework in particular will be integrated, as well as the training courses such as the federally certified Web Project Manager. Swico will contribute, among other things, its comprehensive issue management, its start-up program and the industry solution for occupational health and safety.

A new specialist committee is to be created for the hosting sector under the leadership of Hostpoint CEO Claudius Röllin and one for the web agencies under the leadership of Imre Sinka, CEO of Dotpulse. Both expert committees will work on projects and issues of these two member segments independently and with their own budgets within the framework of Swico, as well as develop their own activities, as other Swico expert committees are already doing, according to the statement. The new Swico board will include the current president of Simsa, Andrej Vckovski, CEO of Netcetera, and another person from the web agency sector.

A strong voice for the ICT and online industry

With this step, Swico is becoming even more of a business association for the Swiss ICT and online industry. The boundaries between providers and users, as well as those between the ICT and creative industries, will continue to merge - bringing the various parties even closer together. For Andrej Vckovski, President of Simsa, it is clear: "With the planned merger, we are strengthening the industry quite decisively and ensuring that the online industry can participate more intensively in the political opinion-forming process and gain even more political weight." Says Swico President Andreas Knöpfli: "Today, the two associations have high-quality and complementary offerings. With the planned merger, all members will benefit from a broader range of cost-effective services."

Provided the approximately 100 Simsa and the 500 Swico members ratify the merger on June 18, the merger will be formally completed on June 30, 2018. Growing together on a day-to-day basis is expected to take until the end of 2018. The boards of Simsa and Swico are convinced that this merger will be an important step towards a more compact association landscape in the ICT and online sector and will thus equip the industry well for the future.

More information: www.swico.ch