In a competitive environment where artificial intelligence, digitization and automation are causing significant upheaval, not only are workflows continuously changing, but so is who is doing the work. Executives predict an upward trend for the gig economy in particular: 79 percent worldwide expect contingent workers and freelancers to largely replace full-time employees in the coming years. That's one of the key findings of Mercer's new 2019 Global Talent Trends Study. The study provides insights into the views of more than 7,300 executives, HR professionals and employees across nine industries and 16 regions worldwide. Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of executives worldwide predict significant disruption for their companies over the next three years. In 2018, only 26 percent predicted disruptive developments. In response to the upcoming upheavals, transformation processes are being initiated, but these entail significant HR risks. However, only one in three executives globally believes that their company is in a position to minimize such risks - and, for example, effectively reduce skills shortages or permanently overcome employee change fatigue.

Search for stability

In today's climate of uncertainty, employees are looking for stability. The study concludes that job security is one of the most important reasons worldwide why employees joined their company and the main reason why they stay. However, one in three fear that artificial intelligence and automation will replace their own jobs. One approach to giving workers a sense of security is to foster social relationships. This is also underlined by the study: employees who are healthy, financially well off and satisfied with their careers describe their role in the company as "focused on social relationships" and their work environment as "collaborative" - twice as often as employees who do not characterize themselves accordingly.

"The future of work lies in the ability to build relationships and networks and to create a work environment that appeals to today's employees. For this, it is necessary that employees have the feeling that they are not replaceable. It should also enable data-based individualization of offerings to employees. For example, corporate communications, benefits or training opportunities can be tailored to the needs and desires of employees," explains Kate Bravery, Global Leader of Career at Mercer.

Four top trends

Across all topics, the study identifies four top global trends that leading companies are pursuing in 2019:

• Align work with future value creation: Globally, 60 percent of companies plan to automate more and more workflows within the next twelve months. In terms of talent investment, executives believe job redesign has the highest potential for return on investment. This redesign also engages employees, 65 percent of whom want more clearly defined responsibilities. The challenge for HR management is to develop an integrated people strategy (an approach four times more likely to be adopted by high-growth companies) and conduct the right talent analyses to make informed decisions about the future size and structure of the organization. However, only one-third of organizations worldwide analyze the effectiveness of their talent strategies and understand the impact of building talent in-house, recruiting externally, hiring temporarily, or instead automating processes to save jobs.
• Build brand impact: For employees and job seekers, how a company conducts business and upholds its brand values matters. In a transparent world where social media is becoming increasingly relevant, the lines between a company's consumer brand and its employee value proposition (EVP) are blurring. To better reflect the contribution that temporary employees and freelancers, for example, make, many companies have evolved their EVP toward a Talent Value Proposition (TVP).The reason: successful companies want to ensure that their brand appeals to all employment groups. 68 percent of high-growth companies worldwide adjust their TVP for different groups (e.g., temporary employees), while among moderate-growth companies, only 47 percent make such adjustments. A company's total rewards philosophy is one area where brand values can shine: Successful employees are four times more likely to work for a company that provides equal treatment in pay and promotion decisions (78 percent vs. 18 percent).
• Making sense of everyday working life: A workday characterized by effectiveness and relevance is essential for retaining top talent. Successful employees are three times more likely to work for a company that enables fast decision-making (81 percent vs. 26 percent) and provides tools and resources to get work done efficiently (82 percent vs. 30 percent). Personalized and simple training plans are high on employees' minds - more than half (56 percent) of workers globally want curated training to help them develop their skills and prepare for future jobs. The concept of curated learning is nothing new. What is new, however, are its goals: The study shows that for employees worldwide, creative thinking and continuing education in technology are the most important skills to stay competitive.
• Initiate employee-based change: To ensure that employees are at the center of change, HR should have a say in business transformation. The study found that 61 percent of HR leaders worldwide are involved in planning major change projects and 54 percent are involved in implementing those plans. But only two in five HR leaders were involved during the ideation phase of transformation initiatives. HR departments see a lack of openness and commitment on the part of employees as major obstacles to the solidification of change: "Employee turnover" and a "decline in employee trust" are two of the biggest challenges worldwide in the coming months.

Source and further information: www.mercer.ch

Companies want to be more competitive in the digital economy, but are already failing to manage their data effectively. They are losing productivity and missing important opportunities, according to the results of a new study by Veritas Technologies a leading provider of enterprise data protection and software-defined storage. By contrast, if employees can access data quickly and efficiently to gain more insight, they make better, more informed decisions. Veritas commissioned a survey of IT decision-makers and data managers from 15 countries. 100 people from Switzerland also took part. The results show that weaknesses in data management have a massive impact on the efficiency of employees, their productivity and ultimately the profitability of companies. On average, employees in Switzerland lose one hour per day searching for data. As a result, their efficiency drops by an average of 14 percent.

Costs reduced thanks to smart data management

According to the study, companies that have already implemented smart data management on a day-to-day basis have been able to reduce costs and increase productivity. As many as 43 percent of respondents said they achieved savings, and as many as 61 percent said their employees have been more productive since then. "The exponential growth of data presents many opportunities for companies - but only if they can analyze their data intelligently. Unfortunately, most companies waste time and money searching for useful and crucial information in their fragmented data silos," said Thomas W. Luchetta, Country Manager Switzerland & Austria at Veritas. "Companies that put the necessary effort into maintaining their most important digital asset - their data - will have an advantage over the competition because their employees will draw more knowledge from the data and make better decisions."

Missed opportunities and lost sales

Apart from decreasing productivity, poor data management can have even more far-reaching consequences. Most Swiss respondents (88 percent) believe they have already missed valuable opportunities due to ineffective data management. In fact, 31 percent admit that their company is not taking advantage of new revenue opportunities, and as many as two in five (41 percent) say that data management challenges have caused an increase in operating costs for their companies. The following finding is particularly alarming: companies are losing more than one million Swiss francs per year due to their data management challenges.

Longer term disadvantages

Companies that do not solve their data management problems also risk longer-term disadvantages. For example, respondents say their ability to make strategic decisions will be limited (37 percent), they will be less agile (33 percent) and they will not be able to compete successfully in the marketplace (23 percent). A full 30 percent of IT decision-makers fear that their data security will be more vulnerable to threats, and another 26 percent have already found that their customers will be more dissatisfied.

"The questions of where data is and whether it is even secure are on companies' minds every day. If they can't answer these questions clearly, they will face several consequences. An organization will be less agile, face higher security risk and lower productivity, and make decisions more slowly - from the lowest to the highest levels," Luchetta continued. "To succeed in the dynamic digital economy, employees must maintain complete visibility and control over all of their data assets. Strategic data management lays the groundwork so employees will recognize opportunities and risks and unlock the value of their data."

Source and further information: www.veritas.com

In recent years, globalization and digitization have fundamentally changed the environment of many organizations. This is true not only for multinational, publicly traded corporations, but also for family businesses and other privately held companies. Like multinationals, private companies have an increasingly global presence and face increasingly complex cross-border regulatory requirements. As the study Private company global considerations for 2019 by Deloitte shows, increasing business connectivity for private companies today is both the cause of 'disruption' and an opportunity to be 'disruptive' themselves. To meet the new needs, Deloitte has now established Deloitte Private in Switzerland, alongside other offices such as in Belgium, Luxembourg and the UK.

Rising demand for advice from family offices

"We are seeing an increasing demand from private companies for more support to address their biggest challenges: they are looking for new growth opportunities, they want to benefit from digitalization, they want to ensure compliance with ever-changing complex cross-border regulations, and they want to protect themselves against risks such as cyber-attacks. Now more than ever, private companies need experienced advisors they can trust to play out globally integrated solutions locally across all disciplines," explains Karine Szegedi. She leads Deloitte Private in Switzerland and, in this capacity, has also joined the Executive Board of Deloitte Switzerland.

Instead of 20 consultants, just one point of contact

On average, family offices in Switzerland work with around 20 different advisors, including banks, tax advisors as well as those for succession planning. Deloitte Private now becomes the single point of contact, just as decision-makers of family-owned or privately held companies would like. In addition, private companies will benefit from Deloitte's local expertise in tax, mergers and acquisitions, business transformation, assurance and risk management, combined with the broad reach of its global network. According to the consultancy, it already acts for a number of private companies in the Swiss market.

Source: Deloitte

In 2018, 1,132 Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) or Security Token Offerings (STOs) were successfully completed, twice as many as in 2017 (552 in total). This is revealed in the fourth ICO/STO report by PwC Strategy& in collaboration with the Crypto Valley Association (CVA). After crypto-crowdfunding continued its growth trajectory at the beginning of 2018 and already reached the total volume of the previous year in March 2018, the number and volume declined sharply in the second half of the year. Two startups, EOS and Telegram, generated a combined 5.8 billion as so-called "unicorns." Daniel Diemers, Head of Blockchain EMEA at PwC Strategy&: "The development shows that ICOs or STOs remain attractive from an investment strategy perspective for venture capital financing by investors. However, it also shows that a shift in thinking has taken place and investors are demanding more security and transparency."

New token models take off

With the persistent fall in the price of digital currencies towards the end of the year, the word "crypto winter" has become established in the blockchain scene. However, the declining investment volumes are not solely due to the latter. STOs are gaining popularity in the industry around cryptocurrencies. As token offerings for securities and rights in rem, STOs are not fundamentally different from ICOs; rather, they are a regulated form of them. As such, they combine several features of ICOs, for example, low barriers to entry for investors and traditional venture capital or private equity fundraising characteristics. Further, the underlying tokens bring additional financial rights such as dividends or shares and are bound by local laws and regulations such as KYC and AML.

In addition to securities, there is a discernible trend towards the tokenization of commodities such as gold, oil, etc., through to the tokenization of intangible goods (e.g. music rights). Daniel Diemers: "ICOs have often been designed as highly speculative vehicles and have attracted the attention of various regulators. Improved regulation through tokenization and recognition as securities is another step towards maturity. It is interesting to see how an industry has transformed in such a short time. In the future, it will be exciting to see which new business models will result or which will finally prevail."

Regulatory environment and infrastructure must keep pace with change

FINMA started to address the token issue early on and distinguishes between payment, usage and investment tokens. "Switzerland's progressive regulatory model together with the closer alignment of STOs with common securities laws provide a good basis for next developments in the blockchain space. We are glad to see that Switzerland continues to play a major role in a dynamic market that is shifting towards asset tokens and stablecoins," explains Daniel Haudenschild, President of the Crypto Valley Association.

In addition to increased protection, market participants are demanding new services such as flexible custody solutions, market data services, reliable rating services and research. With the rising expectations and increased regulatory requirements of STOs, the existing infrastructure, for example for trading and custody, must also evolve. Recognizing this opportunity, established exchanges and financial institutions are expanding their services in the crypto space. For example, Swiss exchange operator SIX announced in summer 2018 a platform for issuance, trading, settlement and custody of digital assets. Another Swiss bank has been approved to operate as the first global crypto custodian since January 2019.

Source: www.pwc.ch

The proportion of women on the Board of Directors breaks the 20 % mark for the first time, rising from 19 % to 21 %. 38 % (2018 25 %) of vacant seats were filled by a woman - a peak value that is nevertheless not enough if 30 % is to be achieved by 2022. These two concise results are shown in the schillingreport 2019 of the headhunting service provider Guido Schilling AG. In addition, the 2019 report shows other aspects of the composition of the top management bodies of business and public administration. The schillingreport 2019 covers the 117 largest employers in Switzerland as well as the federal government and all 26 cantons. Accordingly, 875 executive directors, 820 board members, and 1034 public sector executives (heads of offices, secretaries general, secretaries general, and secretaries of state) were included in the survey. For the gender diversity pipeline, 126 of the 250 most important Swiss companies as well as 14 cantons and the federal government provided their data in 2019.

Only just under half of companies with women on the management board

After declining to 7 % in 2018, the share of women on executive boards rises to 9 %. Companies appointed women to 18 % (2018 8 %) of open executive board positions. Only 49 % (2018 41 %) of companies have women on their executive boards. "As before, a balanced gender mix on executive boards remains a generational project. We cannot pay enough attention to this topic in times of a shortage of skilled workers and flattening migration," says editor Guido Schilling.

Peak value for internal promotions

68 % (2018 64 %) of the open Executive Board positions were filled internally. 64 % (2018 22 %) of new female executive team members were promoted internally. "2018 was an outlier; never before have so few women been appointed internally to executive management positions. In return, this year we are seeing a peak in both women and men," Schilling says. "An external executive board member always has to clear two hurdles: He or she must find his or her place on the board as well as connect with the company. That's why internal developments are to be welcomed."

Women's quota on the board of directors - business still called upon

The proportion of women on the boards of directors increases from 19 % to 21 %. "In my day-to-day professional life, I experience a greatly increased awareness with regard to gender diversity. Companies are increasingly giving themselves clear guidelines in this regard," says Schilling, noting that 88 % of companies employ at least one female board member, with 38 % (2018 25 %; previous high 2015 33 %) of vacant seats going to women. "Never before have so many vacant BoD seats been filled by women as this year," Schilling notes, "however, a growth of 2 percentage points per year is not enough to crack the magic mark of 30 % female board members by 2022. BoD chairmen and nomination committees are challenged to make an even greater effort to achieve this ambitious goal without regulation."

Proportions of foreigners have leveled off

The proportion of foreigners on the executive boards has leveled off at 45 % and on the boards of directors at just under 40 %. More than two-thirds of the foreign members of the Executive Board had already worked in Switzerland or in a Swiss company before taking up their current position; these "nationals" account for 31 %, which means that currently only 14 % of the Executive Board members came to their position directly from abroad. Among the newcomers, there are 39 % "nationals" and 16 % foreigners. "What concerns me is that we continue to rely on immigration from abroad. In addition to women, "nationals" are central to continued economic growth," Schilling explains.

Women in the public sector continue to gain ground

The public sector is performing well year on year with currently 18 % (2018 16 %) female top cadres. 38 % (2018 27 %) of vacant top positions were filled by women. "The public sector has long recognized that work-life balance is key to gender diversity," Schilling elaborates, "which is why the public sector has an above-average success in attracting qualified female top cadres."

Gender diversity pipeline - indicator for the development of the proportion of women at the top

The gender diversity pipeline is an important indicator for anticipating future developments in the proportion of women at management level. This year, up-to-date data is now available. In the Private Sector sample, there are 10 % (2017 9 %) women in executive management, 16 % (2017 14 %) in top management and 24 % (2017 21 %) in middle management. "This broadening of the gender diversity pipeline lays the foundation for a positive development of the executive boards in the future," Schilling says. The Public Sector has a much broader gender diversity pipeline than the Private Sector, with 22 % (same as 2017) women in top management and 28 % (2017 24 %) in middle management.

Source and further information

Since March 8, 1911, International Women's Day has called on people to campaign for equal rights for women and to take a critical look at the status of equality. Of course, Europe cannot be compared with countries where women still have to fight for their right to vote or educational opportunities. Nevertheless, even in this country, studies such as those on salary comparisons or the proportion of women in management positions show that equality is still a long way off. Many companies therefore use International Women's Day as an opportunity to review the status in their own company and initiate measures for equality. In November, National Future Day also calls for girls to be informed early on about professions and career opportunities in which women are underrepresented. This topic is also of great interest to HR and personnel managers. After all, especially in times of a shortage of skilled workers, companies do not want to lose female experts due to dissatisfaction, nor do they want to halve their talent pool for the future by having young women not even consider certain occupational fields as a career.

International Women's Day Reminds of Status Quo

Even though gender equality has long been anchored in many countries, inequalities still exist, for example in wages. In 33 OECD countries, women earn on average 16 percent less than men, according to the latest "Women-in-Work" Index 2018 by PwC revealed. Progress in the proportion of women in leadership positions has been similarly limited: From reports by the European Commission shows that women in Europe are more highly qualified than men overall. In 2016, for example, 44 percent of women aged 30 to 34 had a university degree. For men, the figure was 34 percent. The proportion of female managers was nevertheless 16 percent lower on average in the EU. In Switzerland, on the other hand, the proportion of women in management positions is rising, as shown by the latest "shillingreport" by human resources consultant Guido Schilling AG, shows. The proportion of women on the boards of the 100 largest Swiss employers cracks the 20 % mark for the first time, rising from 19 % to 21 %.

Measures for more gender diversity

But in many other companies, there is still little sign of gender diversity. Has the law failed? Are the legal requirements being ignored by companies? Or are women themselves ultimately to blame for their situation? "Legal requirements and societal pressure are important for closing the gender pay gap. But it's also up to the companies and the women themselves," explains Doris Niederwieser, Customer Sales Director DACH at SumTotal, a solution provider for human capital and talent management. "For example, women need to negotiate better in salary matters. They often tend to simply accept job and salary offers, while men tend to negotiate salary and other benefits more aggressively." SumTotal sees five measures to counteract this:

1. Gender Pay Gap - Analysis and Transparency: Companies that actively work to increase transparency in the pay structures within their organization have much to gain. By analyzing and quantifying gender pay gaps, they gain a comprehensive understanding of the causes that have contributed to the pay gap. On this basis, they can specifically counter unconscious biases or even consciously developed strategies that have led to unequal treatment and pay inequity. Managers should develop an awareness of diversity in their company. Furthermore, it should be ensured that wage increases are not only awarded to those who negotiate them briskly - usually far more men.
2. Equality starts with hiring: Equality already starts when women join companies. On average, women are offered less salary than men for the same position, even though this is illegal by law. Employees' salaries should be calculated solely on the basis of their professional skills, social competence and experience, and not on the basis of gender or other socio-demographic characteristics. Applicants' previous salaries may also result from inequities at previous employers.
3. Planning succession with female executives: According to a recent Whitepaper of the corporate learning specialist Skillsoft, 92 percent of working women complain about the lack of female managers, and 71 percent also complain about inadequate corporate strategies for developing female managers. Companies that discover from their GPG analysis that management positions are held by a majority of men and that the pay gap is large should definitely develop a consistent succession planning strategy in order to achieve a better balance in the staffing of their management ranks in the future.
4. Adapt best practices: Numerous initiatives, such as the international Paradigm for Parity movement, have been initiated by companies that are leading the way in terms of gender equality in the workplace. These movements highlight the productivity benefits that companies can achieve with a diverse workforce and a balanced proportion of women in leadership positions. They also provide impetus, recommended actions and best practices on how to curb the gender pay gap and create true equality within a company.
5. Activating talent for the future: The National Future Day, which will take place on November 14 in 2019, is a day of action aimed at motivating the younger generation to also take up technical and scientific professions. These are still often seen as the domain of men. As part of this Future Day, girls are also to be inspired to choose careers in traditionally "male" fields.

Martin Dubs, previously Managing Director and owner at Thurnherr Vertretungen, was looking for a suitable partner as part of a succession plan and found it in Jamei AG. "The strong logistics, e-commerce expertise and customer orientation convinced me that Jamei has the potential to further expand the business with our top brands and continue to provide comprehensive support to our customers." Existing Thurnherr customers, who have all already been informed about the change, will retain their contact person: Dubs will move to the new company as Key Account Manager as of May 1. The takeover of the customer base and product range is part of Jamei's growth strategy. "We are very pleased that Martin Dubs has chosen us as a partner. The new brands complement our product range perfectly - and our team gains an experienced specialist in household goods who will provide our specialist retail partners with the best possible support," says Patrick Strumpf, Managing Director of Jamei AG.

Thurnherr Vertretungen GmbH takes over from Jamei brands such as Bialetti, Simplehuman, Asobu, ADE or Handpresso, which the company has built up and made known in the Swiss trade since its foundation in 1994. After the integration of these brands, all customers will benefit from access to a total of 10,000 products from 40 top international brands. All products are in stock at the Willisau logistics center. Orders placed before 5 p.m. are delivered on the next working day. Thanks to the B2B online store, retailers can check inventories online and place orders around the clock. This leads to a considerable reduction in storage costs on the part of retailers - with better availability of goods at the same time. In addition, there is no minimum order value at Jamei.

More information and online store

Language travel is constantly adapting to customer demand. New course locations come up trumps with tourist highlights as well as special features of the educational institution. This is certainly true for Linguista's partner school in Dubai. "With our program in Dubai, we serve the desire of our customers to receive qualified language training in a top modern environment and at the same time enjoy the benefits of a high-gloss tourist destination - and gladly in the European winter," says Thomas Althaus, Managing Director of Linguista Language Travel.

School not far from Jumeirah Palm

With the trendy destination of Dubai, Linguista Sprachaufenthalte has a mid-range destination known for its amenities on offer, which is particularly popular in the Swiss market. The school is housed in the Jumeirah Lake Towers and has a stylish student residence with all amenities. The language school is located not far from the beautiful sandy beaches of Jumeirah Palm, which are perfect for swimming. Adventure seekers can slide under the shark pool at the famous water park or cool off on the "free fall" slide. Opposite the school is the Dubai Marina, where many restaurants and nightlife options can be found.

For demanding customers

The course program is aimed at a demanding clientele. "Dubai particularly attracts students who are looking for intensive language training and don't have too much time on their hands. In addition, the average age and the travel budget are often higher. The shopping world with its countless malls and the sheer endless range of entertainment certainly play a role in the choice of this destination," explains Althaus.

Dubai is not the only "exotic" among language travel destinations. The trend is toward diversity. Those who want to learn English are increasingly turning to destinations such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jamaica or even Cyprus, which appeal to participants looking for something different. According to Linguista, the teaching quality at these schools is excellent and the mix of nationalities is often even better.

www.linguista.ch

As the younger generations take over the companies, the expectations of the leaders are also changing. Millennials, for example, demand closeness, strong values and visionary thinking from their bosses - and demand personal guidance and encouragement. According to the study, the gap between the generations is greater than the difference between the sexes: "Women and men of the younger generation have almost the same demands on the leadership qualities of their superiors and on diversity in their companies," says Simone Stebler, consultant and head of the Diversity & Inclusion Practice at Egon Zehnder.

The most important results of the study

Almost two-thirds of Millennials who entered the workforce at the turn of the millennium said diversity was the most important feature of their company. Among baby boomers leaving the workforce, the figure was only 51 percent.

• A diverse workplace is of paramount importance to younger generations: Millennials (65 percent) and members of "Gen X" born roughly between 1965 and 1980 (61 percent) cited diversity as particularly important. Among baby boomers, the figure was 51 percent. 62 percent of Millennials also said a diverse work environment was very important to the success of their organization.
• More than half of all respondents agreed with the statement that equal opportunities exist in their company. However, only 57 percent of female Gen Xers agreed, but 63 percent of female Millennials.

Expectations of managers

• When asked to name the most important characteristic of leaders, those under 35 most often cited "approachability." This preference was even more pronounced among younger men: 55 percent of male Millennials agreed with this statement, but only 32 percent of male Baby Boomers.
• Baby Boomers value resilience in leaders - 35 percent cited this as an important trait, but only 21 percent of Millennials.
• Millennials were also more likely to agree that their managers embodied the qualities they wanted (38 percent). By contrast, only 22 percent of Baby Boomers and 26 percent of Gen Xers agreed.

Career development

• An overwhelming majority of all respondents (86 percent) reported encountering resistance along their career path. However, one-third of baby boomers said they had not encountered barriers in their career development.
• When asked about factors limiting their professional development, more than twice as many Millennials (35 percent) than Baby Boomers (17 percent) cited a lack of mentors and sponsors.
• The career aspirations of women and men have almost converged: 27 percent of women and 31 percent of men said they wanted to reach the strategic management level of their organization. For women, however, the path to the top is infinitely more difficult: According to the 2018 Egon Zehnder Global Board Diversity Tracker, women make up only 3.7 percent of CEOs and 12.2 percent of CFOs worldwide.

Motivation

• Millennials (86 percent) are more likely to agree that their work-life balance is right. Among Gen Xers, this is 80 percent, and among Baby Boomers, 78 percent.
• Men and women gave almost identical answers to the question about their personal and professional priorities. For 27 percent, their job comes first, 17 percent named their private life and 56 the balance between the two.

Expectations of the boardroom are changing noticeably. "In order to respond appropriately to the needs of younger generations, leaders today need to demonstrate above all visionary thinking, a strong set of values and humility," says Simone Stebler. "The study impressively demonstrates how important diversity and equal opportunities are, especially for younger leaders."

The study was prepared in the context of the Leaders & Daughters initiative launched by Egon Zehnder in 2016 and can be found on www.egonzehnder.com     

The first national platform for cyber security in Switzerland came to an end with the Swiss Cyber Security Days (SCSD) on February 28 at the Forum Fribourg. With over 2200 national and international participants over two days, attendance exceeded the organizers' expectations. The Swiss Cyber Security Days focused on the growing threats posed by cyberattacks with an exhibition and presentations featuring some 60 well-known international and national figures from politics, business and research.

Information platform for experts and users

The two-day event was initiated by Daniel Berger, former personal advisor to the Head of the DDPS and Chairman of the Board of Securserv Technologies AG. Together with experts and opinion leaders in the field of IT security, he began developing a concept in 2017. It was intended to serve as an information platform for decision-makers - especially representatives of authorities - as well as experts and, above all, users. Because in the wake of almost total networking, dealing with cyber risks is a necessity. "You have to put pressure from below so that something happens at the top," said Daniel Berger on the occasion of a media roundtable. The cyber situation in Switzerland, the development of blockchains, the risks of smart cities and the influence of the dark web were just some of the many topics discussed in Fribourg.

Top national and international specialists

The organizers succeeded in bringing renowned experts from all over the world to Fribourg as speakers and keynote speakers. Hackers such as Charlie Miller, who pointed out a number of security gaps in vehicle electronics - which, by the way, was impressively demonstrated by the Argentine security researcher Sheila A. Berta - or IT specialists such as Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of the IT security service provider Kaspersky Lab, used numerous examples to show the audience where cyber security must play a role. Shockingly, the realization: almost everywhere. "Today, we capture 380,000 new malware codes per day. In 1998, it was just 50, in 2008 already 14,500 malicious codes," said Eugene Kaspersky. And with Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things, we are only at the beginning of potential cyberthreats, he added. "We need to protect everything," is the Russian specialist's call. Traditional IT security solutions are no longer enough. Much more, he said, it has to be about "cyber immunity." "The effort required to cause damage must be greater than the damage caused," says Kaspersky.

If the VBS also has its security gaps...

Cybersecurity affects everyone, but not to the same extent. The security needs are different and are also perceived differently. The consensus across the two days was that cybersecurity needs to be massively improved in many respects. In Switzerland alone, there are thousands of known vulnerable systems - and among them are, for example, remotely maintained machines with open interfaces to financial service providers that have not equipped their operating systems with the latest security upgrades, as explained, for example, by Nicolas Mayencourt of Dreamlab AG, a globally active company for consulting on critical IT security issues. And even security agencies are not immune to employee names and email addresses being leaked and circulating freely on the dark web.

"The state must raise awareness"

Everyone has a duty to improve cybersecurity: the state, the economy, but also individual citizens. This was also the quintessence of a panel discussion between experts and exponents from politics. The panel included Monique Morrow, President of The Humanized Internet, Damir Bogdan, Digital Transformation Advisory at Actvide, Council of States member Josef Dittli, President of SIK-S, Damian Müller, youngest member of the Council of States, and Marc Furrer, Senior Partner of Monti Stampa Furrer & Partners AG and former Bakom Director. Josef Dittli appealed to the self-responsibility of citizens, saying that the main task of the state is to raise awareness. However, he said that it is more strongly called upon than before in the protection of critical infrastructure and also in cyber national defense. Raising awareness of the issue, education and closer cooperation between organizations are key factors in curbing cybercrime, was another conclusion of the meeting.

Raise user awareness

Raising awareness is therefore the top priority in order to minimize the risks. For example, Mikko Hyppönen of Finland, a renowned researcher in the field of cybercrime, explained that for him, user awareness of the dangers is the most important way to ensure that cybercrime does not gain the upper hand. And cybercrime is not just a threat that affects states or businesses. The Internet can also literally put one's health at risk. Via genetic tests offered online, even personal DNA is no longer private today. The protection of health data is therefore an area that must be approached with particular sensitivity. But here, too, there are often double standards when it comes to risk awareness, as Prof. Dr. Jean-Pierre Hubaux from EPFL explained. On the one hand, the highest security standards are required for electronic patient files, while on the other hand, health data is uploaded to the Internet via wearables or fitness apps that would otherwise only be shared privately with a small circle of people...

Swiss Cyber Security Days much discussed

On social networks, cyber security has been the most discussed topic in recent days. On Twitter, #scsd2019 was the most frequently used hashtag in Switzerland on February 27. The topic is interesting, but is it being adequately addressed - for example in SMEs? Perhaps the first answers will be found next year on February 12 and 13, 2020, at the second Cyber Security Days.

More information

According to a global study by consulting firm Accenture, only slightly more than one in three of the decision-makers surveyed (37 percent) expect 5G technology to bring about a "revolutionary" change in terms of the speed and capacity of network solutions. More than half (53 percent) currently see only "very few" new deployment scenarios that 5G will enable compared to 4G technology. Six in 10 of the executives surveyed believe 5G will cover nearly the entire population by 2022. "5G will bring a big wave of connectivity, opening up opportunities for innovation, commercial and economic developments," said Thomas D. Meyer, Country Managing Director of Accenture Switzerland. "Our everyday lives will be transformed by autonomous driving, smart city infrastructures, three-dimensional videos and immersive TV. The question is not if they will, but when. Companies need to prepare for this now."

Hurdles still outweigh potential at present

In terms of potential customer benefits, corporate decision-makers see great potential in the new network standard. 70 percent of respondents believe that 5G applications can give them a competitive edge in their dealings with customers. However, perceived obstacles are clouding the spirit of optimism in companies: CEOs and IT decision-makers primarily fear high upfront investments (36 percent) and express security concerns (32 percent) when introducing 5G technology. In addition, 29 percent of respondents expect a continuing shortage of qualified specialists.

5G technology needs partners

Collaboration with suitable partners is seen by 72 percent of the executives surveyed as an important component on the path to successful implementation of 5G technology. However, more than half (60 percent) of the executives state that partners from the telecommunications sector in particular often lack knowledge about the challenges and potential of 5G technology for their own company's respective industry.

"In the end, it is the incredible added value of this technology for companies and people that will be decisive, despite all the reservations that are currently being discussed in connection with 5G," emphasizes Meyer. "I advise companies to focus on the benefits and potential of this technology and to put aside their reservations as quickly as possible."

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According to the study published by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts at the end of February, this year again confirms that the FinTech sector in Switzerland enjoys good framework conditions. In the global FinTech hub ranking, the cities of Zurich and Geneva remain in second and third place.

FinTech is important for Switzerland

The FinTech sector grew strongly in 2018. At the end of the year, Switzerland had 356 FinTech companies, representing a year-on-year growth rate of 62 percent. As shown by the increasing number of employees and the capitalization of the companies, the sector has also become more mature and stable. In contrast, the development in the traditional financial sector is contrasting, where the number of institutions and employees is declining.

FinTech evolution: Fin is local, tech is global

Further, the 2019 FinTech Study shows that global innovation is driving FinTech companies. A certain pattern can be identified in the FinTech business areas: The tech-driven FinTech companies, namely in the areas of Distributed Ledger Technology (e.g. Blockchain) and Analytics, are mainly internationally oriented. In contrast, the finance-driven companies, for example in the areas of Deposit & Lending or Payment, are increasingly focused on the domestic market. This pattern can be seen not only among the local FinTech companies, but also among the international ones.

Innovation should solve a problem

The goals of technological innovation in the financial industry should be higher volumes, lower costs and/or lower risks for the company, and higher benefits and/or lower costs for customers. Well thought-out business models and sensible implementation are far more important than the use of extraordinary technologies. The financial industry needs solutions that are comprehensible and accurate for customers and companies. This is where opportunities arise for Switzerland as a center of innovation.

From hype to disillusionment to reality

The results of last year's study indicated the FinTech sector's journey from hype to reality. A further maturation of the sector and the larger venture capital transactions confirm the development. The cryptocurrency market, on the other hand, suffered a strong correction.

Traditional banks must position themselves or they will become irrelevant

The authors of the study do not expect banks to be displaced by FinTech companies. Rather, the new technologies will partially replace some of the services and processes of traditional banks. The winners of technological innovation will be companies that have the right teams and the right culture to implement new technologies faster and more consistently.

Source: Lucerne University