The hydrogen filling station in Lenzburg has been approved by the authorities and is ready for the market. It is characterized by its noise- and vibration-free operation, which also allows it to be used in residential areas. A compressor with waste heat recovery developed by GRZ Technologies, a spin-off from EPFL, makes refueling particularly efficient and resource-saving, without additional electricity consumption, which has a positive effect on the price of hydrogen. Particularly flexible in its choice of location, the plant does not require its own building or additional noise protection.

"Our globally unique facility marks a significant step in the development of environmentally friendly and sustainable mobility and underlines the pioneering role of the canton of Aargau in the field of hydrogen technologies," explains Dr. Hans M. Kellner, CEO of Messer Schweiz AG. The presentation of this hydrogen filling station not only decisively strengthens the infrastructure for hydrogen mobility in Switzerland, but also promotes the acceptance and spread of hydrogen vehicles. This actively supports Switzerland in achieving its ambitious climate targets.

The event was attended by entrepreneurs who have already expressed an interest in using this innovative filling station technology. Among them was the operator of the post buses in the Brugg region. Representatives from the government, the National Council, the municipality and research were also present to underline the importance of this innovation for Switzerland's energy transition.

Source: www.messer.ch

With the annual Global Cyber Conference in Zurich with the Swiss CISO Awards and the numerous courses offered by the Swiss Cyber Institute for professionals and companies in the field of cybersecurity, the Institute is also an interesting and valuable partner for the ITU.

Samir Aliyev, founder and CEO of Swiss Cyber Institute (SCI) founded the Swiss Cyber Institute in Zurich in 2019 and today it is a cybersecurity education provider registered by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI. The aim is to create an open community in which knowledge and innovation in the field of cybersecurity are not only promoted but also proactively driven forward. The partnership with ITU significantly expands the institute's network and further contributes to raising awareness of the importance of cybersecurity.

For example, the Swiss Cyber Institute is dedicated to promoting personalized learning experiences with the goal of training 10,000 individuals by 2027 by offering SETA programs for security education, training and awareness. The Swiss Cyber Institute has also expanded its professional certification training by becoming the preferred global partner of leading cybersecurity certification organizations such as ISC2 and ISACA. By effectively building the capacity of cyber specialists in Switzerland and internationally, the Institute contributes to a more secure world.

With the Swiss Cyber Institute's two-day Global Cyber Conference in November 2024 with the Swiss CISO Awards and pre-conference networking events throughout the year, the focus will be on key topics such as cloud security, cyber security, its impact on companies and the associated corporate strategies. The Global Cyber Conference is a platform where cyber security experts from all over the world can exchange ideas and network.

"By partnering with ITU, we want to underline our commitment to improving global cyber resilience through cybersecurity education and training as well as professional support for the cybersecurity industry. We are proud that we are now a Sector Member of ITU. We also want to offer ITU added value for its members by providing them with a competent partner in the comprehensive field of cybersecurity and enabling their members to benefit from our course offerings, the Global Cyber Conference and our broad network," says Samir Aliyev, founder and CEO of Swiss Cyber Institute.

"I am delighted to welcome the Swiss Cyber Institute as a new ITU-D Private Sector Member. The Institute's deep expertise in cybersecurity skills development and empowerment is perfectly aligned with our mission to drive meaningful connectivity and sustainable digital transformation through positive impact and change globally," said Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau.

The ITU is a hub for technology and innovation. It has 193 member states and over 1,000 companies, universities, research institutes and international and regional organizations. It enables international connectivity in communication networks. To spread access to technology around the world, the ITU works to provide digital connectivity for all and offers a trusted, multilateral platform to negotiate international agreements and standards, share knowledge, build capacity and collaborate with members and partners such as the Swiss Cyber Institute.

Source: www.swisscyberinstitute.com

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/swiss-cyber-institute-wird-neues-sektormitglied-der-international-telecommunication-union-itu/

The seven most important steps in administrative transformation are:

1. Breaking down organizational silos: Very narrow responsibilities and structures that have evolved over decades have led to public authorities and specialist departments often working in isolation from one another. A first step towards breaking down these organizational silos is to hold workshops with representatives from all departments, including IT, in order to develop a common vision and goals for a modern public administration. On this basis, interdisciplinary teams can then be set up to implement individual initiatives or services across departments.

1. Creating technical standards: The organizational silos have also resulted in highly fragmented IT landscapes with unconnected or even incompatible systems and specialist applications. This makes it difficult to digitalize processes across the board. This is why public authorities urgently need uniform digital infrastructures and platforms that rely on open standards and interfaces. Only in this way can data flow smoothly between the agencies involved in an administrative process. 

3. Modernize operating models for IT: Modern systems and platforms enable service-oriented IT that scales seamlessly and can quickly provide services such as storage, a virtual machine or a container - just as we know it from the cloud. Where these services run then depends on requirements such as latency, costs and data protection; the cloud is ultimately just an operating model and not a location. However, it makes sense not to host everything yourself, but to use municipal data centers, regional data centers or the data centers of local IT service providers. Ultimately, such multicloud approaches relieve the burden on IT teams and are generally more cost-effective and sustainable, as large infrastructures can be operated much more efficiently than small infrastructures.

4. Putting processes to the test: The high digitalization pressure on public authorities is resulting in new portals that citizens and authorities can use to submit their applications and inquiries online. Behind the digital front ends, however, there are often still the same analog processes as before - in some cases, applications are still printed out or data is manually transferred from one system to another. In order to shorten processing times and make work easier for employees, authorities need to take a holistic view of their processes and optimize them first before tackling their digitalization.

5. Exploiting the opportunities of AI: AI has enormous potential to make public administration more citizen-friendly. Chat and voice bots, for example, are available around the clock and can answer questions or assist with filling out applications, and in different languages. Text recognition helps with the digitization of paper documents, and in specialist applications, bots can, among other things, prepare data clearly, forward documents to the right places and recommend options for action so that decisions about services are made more quickly and fairly.

6. Strengthen resilience against cyberattacks: The attack surface is growing with new digital services, and ransomware attacks repeatedly show that authorities and municipal institutions are poorly prepared for them. One reason for this is the focus on traditional threat defense. Once attackers have overcome these, there is a lack of tools and processes to prevent major damage and quickly restore systems and data. A greater focus on cyber resilience, as prescribed by the EU's NIS2 Directive, is urgently needed to minimize risks, protect the data of citizens and companies and increase the availability of administrative services. In addition to the implementation of zero-trust principles and tried-and-tested emergency plans, modern data protection solutions with immutable storage and data vaults also strengthen resilience. They ensure that data is available for recovery after an attack. Conventional backup solutions cannot guarantee this, as attackers often try to render data backups unusable.

7. Involve employees right from the start: New processes and digital applications are also changing the tasks of employees in public administration. To ensure that the new tools are optimally suited to their requirements in their day-to-day work and are accepted after their introduction, it is necessary to involve employees in digitization projects from the outset. They also need training to find their way around the tools and to be able to handle applications and data in a security and data protection-conscious manner.

"To put it simply, the first step is to have standardized systems and platforms that can be managed with little effort and enable smooth data flows in end-to-end processes. Artificial intelligence can then become the basis for new services, the automation of administrative processes and support for complex decisions. The result is more efficient administration with a citizen-friendly offering," says Frank Thonüs, Managing Director at Dell Technologies Switzerland. "Not all systems and applications should necessarily be operated in-house. In view of the shortage of IT specialists, tight budgets and increasing security requirements, this does not make sense."

Source: www.delltechnologies.com

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/in-sieben-schritten-zu-einer-modernen-oeffentlichen-verwaltung/

The number of new start-ups in the first half of 2024 is positive. With 27,109 new companies founded, growth of +2.1% was recorded compared to the previous year. This corresponds to an average of 149 companies per day. The trend towards self-employment is still very much in evidence. And for good reasons: As a business location, Switzerland is attractive to start-ups thanks to its good infrastructure, government support programs and low corporate taxes, among other things. Innovation is encouraged, as the Global Innovation Index confirms. In 2023, Switzerland took first place for the 13th time. Switzerland has a high-quality technology start-up scene and the national development is positive. "A new Swiss start-up record in 2024 can therefore not be ruled out," confirms Simon May, Co-Managing Director of the IFJ.

Switzerland in international comparison with its neighboring countries

If you look across the border to neighboring countries, you will see an astonishing and as yet unknown picture for many. Switzerland lags behind in terms of the number of companies founded per 1,000 inhabitants and, at 5.8, ranks third to last among the countries surveyed, ahead of Austria and Italy. Liechtenstein emerges as the winner with 28.73 companies per 1,000 inhabitants. The reasons for this ranking are manifold: from structural differences, financial incentives, registration requirements and bureaucracy to government support programs. Another challenge for the number of start-ups in Switzerland is the high level of national and international competition. The Swiss market is comparatively small, multilingual and fiercely contested by established companies with strong positions. It should also be noted that the statistics focus on new registrations and do not include an assessment of the sustainability of companies; the survival rate of companies in Switzerland is relatively high, which is often not known.

International comparison in detail

The following overview lists the exact figures used as a basis for calculation. The research refers to national institutions, media and statistical offices of the respective countries.

New start-ups in Switzerland at a record high

In an international comparison, the current start-up figures in Switzerland are positive and reflect the current positive economic developments (e.g. low inflation, low unemployment figures, positive economic situation). The 10-year trend in Swiss company start-ups is clearly pointing upwards.

The IFJ's national analysis shows how company start-ups in the Swiss cantons and sectors have changed in the first half of 2024:

Start-up growth in almost all regions

In the first half of 2024, Southwestern Switzerland (+5.4%), Eastern Switzerland (+2.8%), Central Switzerland (+2.7%) and Northwestern Switzerland (+1.4%) are the major regions with the strongest growth. Only slight growth was recorded in the Zurich region (+1.1%). There was a slight decline in the Espace Mittelland region (-0.4%) and in Ticino (-1.6%).

Cantons at start-up peak

In 16 cantons, the number of new start-ups increased in the first six months of 2024 compared to the same period of the previous year. These are currently the cantons with the highest growth in Swiss company start-ups: Appenzell Ausserrhoden (+17.4%), Appenzell Innerrhoden (+14.8%), Vaud (+12.8%), Uri (+10.4%), Valais (+8.6%), Glarus (+6.4%), Zug (+6.2%), Thurgau (+4.8%), St. Gallen (+4.1%), Aargau (+2.9%), Schwyz (+1.1%), Zurich (+1.1%), Obwalden (+1.0%), Neuchâtel (+0.9%), Fribourg (+0.7%) and Basel-Stadt (+0.3%).

Fewer start-ups are currently being founded in these cantons

The cantons with only slight percentage decreases are Lucerne (-0.5%), Jura (-0.5%), Bern (-0.6%), Nidwalden (-1.2%), Graubünden (-1.3%), Basel-Landschaft (-1.3%), Ticino (-1.6%), Solothurn (-2.1%) and Geneva (-5.1%). The largest percentage decline in company formations was recorded in the Commercial Register Office of the Canton of Schaffhausen (-15.1%).

Legal forms in comparison

In Switzerland, the limited liability company (GmbH) is the most popular legal form when it comes to founding a new company. A total of 10,673 (+2.7%) new limited liability companies were registered in the first half of 2024. The increase in newly founded sole proprietorships is surprisingly high, with 9,489 new entries, a growth of 3.2% compared to the first half of 2023. A decrease of -2.5% was recorded for general partnerships.

Comparison of the last 10 half-years

The first half of 2024 shows an increase again and sets a positive trend for the current year. On average, 23,142 new companies were registered per first half of the year in the last 10 years. The 1st half of 2024 records the highest level with 27,109 new start-ups and, at +17.1%, is significantly higher than the average of the last 10 first half-years.

Start-ups by industry

The top growth sectors in the current year include high-tech (+61.1%), architecture & engineering (+33.9%) and marketing & communication (+30.9%). The highest percentage declines were recorded in the Wholesale (-19.4%), Healthcare (-19.5%) and Printing & Publishing (-36.0%) sectors. Most companies were founded in the trades, consulting, real estate and retail sectors.

Switzerland is and remains attractive for start-ups

Despite global challenges and economic uncertainties, Switzerland recorded a positive trend in the number of new start-ups in the first half of 2024. And thus continues to confirm its attractiveness as a business location for founders and start-ups. The international comparison shows that the topic of self-employment has become more important and is now widely recognized. With the upward trend in new start-ups, Switzerland is on the right track.

Simon May, Co-Managing Director of the IFJ, comments: "The first-time comparison with the countries bordering Switzerland shows that there is still potential in terms of the number of company start-ups. Coupled with the positive economic developments, the globally leading innovation location, our open economy, the good infrastructure, a strong education system, attractive taxes and our stable political system, Switzerland is more than ever an attractive location to realize your entrepreneurial ideas and dreams with your own company.

Cooperation between the public sector and economic players is extremely important in order to continue to support entrepreneurship and promote the growth of the start-up scene in the long term. After all, start-ups play an important role in creating new jobs and contribute to economic diversity and resilience. By promoting entrepreneurship, Switzerland will continue to be a driving force for economic growth and technological progress in the future."

Source: www.ifj.ch

Even small animals such as bees, which have fewer than one million neurons, can easily find their way around complex environments. They use visual signals to estimate their own movement and track their position in relation to important locations. This ability is called visual odometry. In terms of compactness and energy efficiency, the solution that animals use is unmatched by the best current technical solutions for robots. However, for new applications such as small autonomous drones or lightweight augmented reality glasses to become possible, energy efficiency must be massively improved. 

Built according to the example of natural neural networks

In the work published in Nature Machine Intelligence, an international team of authors propose a new neuromorphic solution, modeled on natural neural networks, which can also be efficiently implemented in neuromorphic hardware. The results presented represent an important step towards the use of neuromorphic computer hardware for fast and energy-efficient visual odometry and the associated task of simultaneous localization and mapping. The researchers have experimentally validated this approach in a simple robotic task and were able to show with an event-based dataset that the performance is state of the art.

More transparency in AI

The big difference to today's AI, such as that used by ChatGTP, is that the method described can put together or take apart various components of a visual scene to create a composition. The components include information such as "Which objects are in it?" or "Where are they located?" and many more. In conventional neural networks, these components are mixed together and cannot be disentangled. The new method can. This is crucial for developing modular and, above all, transparent AI systems. 

Source: ZHAW - LSFM  

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/so-koennen-sich-roboter-energieeffizient-orientieren/

Schillig, an entrepreneur and passionate sailor, had already set the IFJ Institute for Young Entrepreneurs on course when he was offered the opportunity to set up a Swiss-wide training program for high-tech entrepreneurship for the Swiss Confederation in 2004. His team won the Innosuisse tender for this program of national importance. Schillig was fascinated by Alinghi's success and said to himself: "If we can beat Silicon Valley in sailing, then we can do the same with start-ups!"

Since its launch 20 years ago, Venturelab has inspired and trained more than 100,000 academics at Swiss universities and research institutes and helped thousands of innovative start-ups to build successful global high-tech companies. Jordi Montserrat, the founding partner of Schillig, sums up Venturelab's recipe for success: "The young must learn from the best!". Accordingly, Venturelab has promoted global dialog between founders and successful start-up companies, investors and leading industry representatives from the very beginning.

Every year since 2006, Venture Leaders teams or "Swiss Startup National Teams" in biotech, cleantech, fintech, medtech, mobile or technology have traveled to the leading startup hubs around the globe to meet investors and learn.

In 2007, the Venturelab team launched the Venture Kick program on behalf of the Gebert Rüf Foundation and the Ernst Göhner Foundation. Today, founders from Swiss universities can win more than CHF 1 million in seed capital in a competitive process. To date, a total of 1,084 start-up projects have been financed, creating over 13,000 jobs.

In 2011, the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award was launched by Venturelab to celebrate the best Swiss startups every year. The TOP 100 magazine is now published in five different languages (German, French, English, Chinese and Japanese) and enjoys a growing global fan base.

Today, Venturelab can look back on world-class start-ups such as Climeworks, GetYourGuide, InSphero and Scandit, among many others, which were able to rely on its navigation aid in the start-up phase. The economic significance of these start-ups is considerable: Venturelab estimates an investment volume of around CHF 15 billion and 25,000 jobs created. The Swiss ecosystem has also gained international recognition and respect.

"The race is far from over. We feel a strong tailwind, but we still see an incredible amount of potential in new technologies relating to AI, quantum computing and our sustainable supply of energy, food and medicine. Our team is continuing to trim its sails and wants to make up further ground in the global competition," says Co-Managing Director Stefan Steiner from Venturelab.

Source: www.venturelab.swiss                     

In addition to its core business, the automation of production plants and the implementation of control systems for plant and machine manufacturers, Autexis also has a software development division. Since June 2023, the software manufacturer mesoneer, based in Wallisellen and two other locations in Vietnam, has been supporting Autexis in the development of the new Digital Factory Suite, a complete solution for process digitalization in the food, pharmaceutical, mechanical and plant engineering industries. The Manufacturing Execution System (MES) is a growth driver for Autexis.

The majority shareholder of mesoneer is entrepreneur Matthias Keller. Together with his family office KK Invest, he is now acquiring a majority stake in Autexis. mesoneer CEO Patrick Brazzale will become the new CEO, which will strengthen the strategic partnership between the two companies. The previous majority shareholder Philippe Ramseier will drive forward the sale and market development of Autexis at a strategic level as a shareholder and member of the Board of Directors. He founded the company following a management buyout in 2010, while Hansjörg Schmidle will remain a shareholder and continue in his role as Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

Matthias Keller is convinced: "With Autexis and mesoneer, we are helping our customers to further increase efficiency and quality in processes with smart software solutions and thus drive digitalization forward. The intensified strategic collaboration will result in enormous benefits for both companies and therefore also for all our customers."

Entrepreneur Philippe Ramseier is also looking forward to the joint future: "My top priority is to consolidate Autexis' position as a leading international provider of both automation and digitalization solutions in the industry. With mesoneer as a sister company, we will achieve this goal even faster."

Source: www.autexis.com                

A further 58.8 % of job seekers consider employers to be "somewhat credible", while 15.5 % consider them to be "untrustworthy" or "somewhat untrustworthy". 4,312 people who are currently applying for a job took part in the online survey. 80.9 % of job seekers consider the credibility of the target employer to be "very important" during the application phase.

Recommendations very credible

Recommendations from friends and acquaintances are far ahead in terms of their credibility as a source of information: 48.2 % of respondents consider them to be fully credible. Job advertisements (17.6 %), career sites (20.1 %) and employer reviews (18.4 %) are well behind.

Social media brings up the rear

If we include the proportion of votes from those who consider the respective medium to be at least "somewhat credible", recommendations, job advertisements and career pages as well as evaluations are all over 70 %. Employers' social media presences bring up the rear here with a combined share of 57.1 % "credible" and "somewhat credible" votes. 42.9 % find them "(rather) untrustworthy".

Incredible image films, credible texts

With regard to the formats used in employer communication, image films do not have a good image among job seekers: 51.4 % consider them to be "untrustworthy" or "rather untrustworthy". Texts are much more credible - for example on career pages or in job advertisements. Here, the proportion of skeptical people is only 35.4 %. In contrast, 64.6 % consider them to be "credible" or "rather credible".

Employer check-up

Around 86.3 % of job seekers carry out a check-up with employers who are shortlisted before they apply. The most important medium for this is the Google search engine with 80.8 %. However, company careers pages (65.1 %) and employer reviews (59.0 %) also play a major role in checking out potential employers.

Knockout criteria

The most important knock-out criteria in the check-up are negative reports about the employer from friends or acquaintances (60.4 %), an untrustworthy self-presentation on the careers page or in job advertisements (52.0 %) and significantly below-average employer ratings below three stars (48.6 %).

Source: www.softgarden.com          

The Best Managed Companies Award is presented annually by Deloitte with the support of the Swiss stock exchange operator SIX and Bank Julius Baer in collaboration with an independent jury.

The "Best Managed Companies Award" competition is organized by Deloitte Private in 48 countries. Companies are compared with Deloitte's globally recognized benchmark in a comprehensive assessment. This has been continuously developed over the 30 years since the program was launched. Participating companies receive an independent and substantive assessment of their governance methods and overall performance. This assessment shows them where their company currently stands in four core business areas compared to a global community of over 1,400 exemplary companies.

Four central pillars for the evaluation process

The award is preceded by an intensive, multi-stage coaching and assessment process that all participating companies must undergo. The focus is on assessing performance in the four core areas of Strategy, Productivity & Innovation, Culture & Commitment and Governance & Finance. Companies that perform above average in all four categories have a chance of winning the award.

"The last twelve months have continued to be challenging for companies. Geopolitical instability, labor shortages and persistent inflation in many countries posed extremely challenging business risks to which companies had to respond and subsequently realign themselves. The four award-winning companies mastered these and other challenges superbly. They responded effectively to change, demonstrated agility and resilience in difficult times and positioned themselves stably in a volatile market," says Andreas Bodenmann, Program Manager and Head of Deloitte Private.

 Exemplary corporate governance: the 2024 award-winning companies

Four privately or family-owned companies were recognized as "Best Managed Companies":

• dss+ Consulting is a leader in consulting services in the field of operations management. The company is committed to a sustainable future for customers, employees and society. The company supports organizations in improving the way they manufacture their products and deliver their services, making them safer, more efficient and more sustainable.

• The Ospelt Group has decades of experience in the development, production and marketing of national and international private labels in the food and pet food sectors. The Group is also successful in the Swiss market with the Malbuner and Le Parfait brands. The family-owned company produces in seven plants at five locations. It has its headquarters in Bendern, Liechtenstein.

• Revizto offers innovative software solutions for the architecture, engineering, construction and operations industries, providing a user-friendly platform for seamless collaboration on 3D and 2D projects. With quick access to project information, decision-making is streamlined, resulting in less rework.

• The Sowind Group SA is a merger of the two luxury watch brands Ulysse Nardin and Girard Perregaux. The two brands are among the oldest independent high-end watch manufacturers and have contributed to the progress of the watch industry in terms of both technology and design.

Eleven requalifiers and first Gold Standard award

The competition does not end after one year. All companies can regularly undergo the same audit, take part in workshops and qualify for the award again. In 2024, eleven companies that had previously received the Best Managed Companies Award succeeded in doing so:

• Groupe Acrotec SA
• ATP adhesive systems AG
• ECSA Group
• Läderach Switzerland AG
• Precipart SA
• Suhner Group
• Teoxane Laboratories SA
• Variosystems AG
• Vista Group
• Wipf Group
• Capri Sun Group

The Capri Sun Group deserves special mention at this point, as it was able to qualify for the Best Managed Companies Award for the fourth time in a row. The company was therefore awarded the Gold Standard of the program this year. This is the first time in the history of the program in Switzerland that a company has been honoured with this award.

The prizes were awarded at a festive awards gala in The Hall in Zurich, which was attended by numerous representatives from the business world.

Deloitte is committed to Switzerland as a business location

"The companies honored with the Best Managed Companies Award have every right to be proud. They have undergone an intensive evaluation process and impressively demonstrated that they manage their company in an exemplary manner. As a result, they are at the forefront of their industries and have demonstrated an impressive level of creativity and innovative ability while managing to remain true to their core values," emphasizes Andreas Bodenmann. "As a driving force for innovation, privately managed companies are important for Switzerland as a versatile and strong location."

As an audit and advisory firm, Deloitte Private supports such companies with their challenges in the areas of growth, compliance, reporting and auditing. Deloitte Private tailors the versatile services from the entire Deloitte universe to the specific needs of the companies so that they can assert themselves and position themselves successfully for the future.

Jury with leading personalities from business and science

This year's jury consisted of Jens Breu, CEO of the SFS Group, Tanja Vainio, Country President of Schneider Electric Switzerland, Thorsten Hartmann, Branch Manager of Bank Julius Bär & Co. AG in Basel, and Prof. Dr. Thomas Straub, Professor of International Management at the University of Geneva, evaluated the participating companies.

Source: www.deloitte.com                

76 percent state that they qualified for cover as a result. 67 percent received more favorable prices and 30 percent improved their contract conditions.

Restoration costs exceed cover values

The report also reveals that the recovery costs following a cyberattack exceed the insurance cover. Only 1 percent of those who reported a claim had their insurer pay 100 percent of the costs incurred in recovering from the incident. The most common reason for not being fully reimbursed is that the final bill exceeds the insurance limit. According to this year's ransomware report from Sophos, the recovery costs following a ransomware attack increased by 50 percent compared to the previous year. You can expect to pay around 2.55 million euros.

Companies lack basic safety best practices

"The Sophos Active Adversary Report has repeatedly shown that many cyber insurance providers find themselves in a situation where basic cyber security best practices have not been implemented. For example, timely application of patches. In our recent report, compromised credentials ranked number one when it comes to causes of an attack, yet 43% of organizations have not implemented multi-factor authentication," said Chester Wisniewski, CTO Sophos.

"The fact that 76 percent of businesses have invested in their cyber defenses to qualify for cyber insurance shows that insurers are forcing companies to adopt some of these essential security measures. This makes a difference, and has a broader, more positive impact on businesses overall. While cyber insurance brings many benefits to businesses, it is only one part of an effective risk mitigation strategy. Companies must continue to upgrade their defenses. After all, a cyberattack can have a profound impact on an organization, both in terms of operations and reputation. And a cyber policy alone will not change that".

Investments in cyber defense have positive side effects

Of the 5,000 IT and cybersecurity executives surveyed, 99 percent of those who improve their defenses for a policy say they also gain broader security benefits beyond insurance coverage. An effect of their investment, including increased protection, freed up IT resources and fewer alerts.

"Investing in cyber defense seems to have positive side effects, as it frees up insurance savings that companies can invest in other protective measures to improve their security posture. As cyber insurance becomes more widespread, companies' security will - hopefully - also improve. A policy won't make ransomware attacks go away, but it could well be part of the solution," says Wisniewski.

Source: www.sophos.de

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/76-prozent-der-unternehmen-boostern-ihre-cyberabwehr/

Swiss companies occupy a leading position in Northern Europe with 68.8% punctual payments. German companies follow with 64%, also positioning themselves in the upper segment of the European market. These are the findings of the Payment Study 2024 by Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) and CRIBIS, which examines the payment behavior of companies in over 30 countries. Data up to December 31, 2023 was taken into account for the study.

In a European comparison, companies in Denmark (94.2 percent), Poland (82.7 percent) and the Netherlands (76.1 percent) pay more punctually than in Switzerland. By contrast, companies in southern European countries such as Spain (46.7%), Italy (41.1%) and Portugal (19.2%) rank behind Switzerland.

A comparison of sectors in Switzerland shows a varied picture: companies in the construction industry (75.2%) and finance (73.5%) continue to pay very reliably. Wholesale (63.3%) and retail (62.9%) show average payment behavior. The significant decline in punctual payments in the forwarding and logistics, communication services and local and long-distance transport sectors is particularly striking.

Asian companies have lower payment practices on average. Companies in China (56.3%) and Singapore (41.1%) stand out with a positive development. In North America, companies in the USA (59.5 percent), Mexico (44.9 percent) and Canada (33.8 percent) are less likely to pay on time than in Switzerland. There is a continuing trend worldwide: smaller companies often pay more punctually than large corporations.

"Overall, it is clear that many economies have been able to cushion the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine," says Arun Singh, Global Chief Economist at Dun & Bradstreet. "Nevertheless, political uncertainties will continue to influence payment behavior in the future."

Source: www.dnb.com

Virtually all of the companies and authorities surveyed (96.6%) use open source software in at least one of the 27 areas examined. Open source software is particularly widespread in software development and on servers (or in the cloud), somewhat less so on desktop computers (clients). Surprisingly, around 40% of respondents already use open source AI tools and AI models. This is a trend that is likely to increase, as there are already over 730,000 open source AI models for any application (speech recognition, image generation, music composition, etc.) on Hugging Face, for example.

Using existing open source software is one way of exploiting its potential; releasing open source components is another. Daniel Markwalder, Federal Council Delegate for Digital Transformation and ICT Steering (DTI), points out the current challenges facing federal IT in the foreword to the study: "We have an interest in ensuring that our software is as secure as possible, that it can be reused and that unwanted dependencies are reduced." The Federal Administration is also particularly interested in a deeper understanding of open source trends due to the new "Federal Act on the Use of Electronic Means for the Performance of Official Duties" (EMBAG), as it has had to publish all software developed in-house or externally under open source licenses since January 2024.

The release of open source software on platforms such as GitHub has long been common practice in the Swiss IT sector and in the private sector in general. More than 65% of the managers surveyed responded that they release open source software or have at least thought about it. One important player is SBB, which founded the "OpenRail Association" at the beginning of 2024 together with the German railroad company Deutsche Bahn, the French state railroad SNCF and other railroad organizations. Through this cooperation, all participating railroad companies benefit from joint software developments, as described in detail in one of the specialist articles in the open source study.

The Open Source Study Switzerland 2024 is published by the associations CH Open and swissICT. The Public Sector Transformation Institute at the Department of Economics at Bern University of Applied Sciences is responsible for conducting the study.

Source: www.ch-open.ch / www.swissict.ch / www.bfh.ch

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/open-source-software-ist-allgegenwaertig-neu-auch-in-der-kuenstlichen-intelligenz/