The 16th KMU SWISS Forum will take place on Thursday, March 22, 2018 at the Trafo Baden Congress Center. Once again, well-known personalities, including Tom Lüthi, will discuss as speakers and interview partners, this year on the topic of "Dynamics - Flexibility of Action". Around 450 guests are expected to attend. "We live in a time of change. It takes rapid and flexible action to keep up with change," says Armin Baumann, CEO KMU SWISS AG, explaining the choice of topic.

Changing the tried and true takes courage

Companies are challenged to adapt to the rapidly changing market. Managers must make decisions quickly and react flexibly to new market conditions. Only those who tackle challenges, try out new ideas and are innovative are competitive. It takes courage and a certain amount of dynamism to abandon the tried and true and strike out on new paths. Legal frameworks and regulatory requirements, the lack of skilled workers, economic setbacks and the fear of digitization are slowing down the innovative power of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Change is not just a matter for the boss

What strategies for success should an SME adopt in order to hold its own in today's changing business environment? What challenges are posed to management so that employees embrace new things and a culture of flexibility grows up? What are the prerequisites for the new corporate and working world? Personalities from different areas and industries present their strategies for success. They talk about their everyday lives and how they deal with the new challenges. This year's speakers are:

• Suzanne Grieger-Langer, Profiler
• Jürg Brand, President of Roll infratec (holding) ag
• Madeleine Stöckli, CEO B. Braun Medical AG
• Nils Planzer, CEO Planzer Transport AG
• Ruedi Matter, Director SRF
• Derek Brandt, CEO Sensile Medical AG
• Urs Kessler, CEO Jungfrau Railways

Motorcycle racer Tom Lüthi as "star guest

The KMU SWISS Forum will be moderated by Dr. Hugo Bigi, communications expert and journalist. He will also interview motorcycle racer Tom Lüthi, his manager Daniel M. Epp and one of his sponsors, Toni Lee, CEO of SITAG AG. There will also be time for networking and discussion. Afterwards, the city of Baden invites all forum guests to the "Baden Marketplace". This year, Barbara Lüthi, team leader and presenter of the SRF discussion program "Club", is invited as a talk guest.

Program and tickets: www.kmu-swiss.ch/forum

Flexible working models with individual work scheduling in the home office and mobile devices are on the rise. The choice of digital collaboration tools for exchanging information is also growing: Slack, a web-based instant messaging service from the U.S. company Slack Technologies for communication within work groups, Wrike (a project management software) or Honey, a kind of "social intranet" for companies, are just a few examples. At first glance, these offer ideal solutions for networking employees. However, the benefits of classic e-mail for communication between employees, with customers and interested parties should not be underestimated, as providers of e-mail programs state. Essentially, three reasons still speak for the good old electronic mailbox:

The e-mail lives

According to a report by the US market research institute Radicati Group on the worldwide use of e-mail around 3.7 billion people write and receive 269 billion e-mails every day. In this context, the researchers recognize a clear increase in e-mail communication: the number of e-mail accounts will climb by 22 percent from 6.32 billion in 2017 to 7.71 billion in 2021. The explanation is simple: email communication is not only intuitive, it is also the only solution that allows you to reach everyone - that means external contacts as well - be it business partners, public authorities or private contacts. E-mail also makes it much easier and more secure to send and distribute documents, especially those containing sensitive information. In addition, people need e-mail addresses to order things online, sign up for services or register to attend events.

Flood of emails through collaboration tools

One problem with chats and collaboration tools is that they are proprietary solutions that are incompatible with each other. For example, if a company switches its main communication to collaboration tools, it will have to use a myriad of solutions to stay in touch with all of its customers. In addition to this being impractical, there is a tendency for many of the major providers of these services to lock users into their own tools. A primary focus of collaboration tools is to simplify communication. However, using the services actually increases the number of emails in the inbox, as the tools usually generate additional emails. If we look at the area of marketing, this also thrives on communication via e-mail, since relevant people can be reached in a targeted manner.

Who is reading along? Communicate securely

As we all know, the new EU General Data Protection Regulation will come into force at the end of May 2018, which means that the rules for data storage will become stricter for companies. If we take the archiving of messages as an example, this too is more secure via the archive of an email inbox compared to message storage in collaboration tools, which often runs via US servers. It is therefore recommended to use a secure email client. For example, eM Client uses PGP encryption technology. This is also used for Google e-mails: all e-mails sent by the client are encrypted by the client itself, so that the Google server already receives them encrypted - the e-mails are also encrypted via the Internet provider.

Source and more information about the mentioned email solution: www.emclient.com

The classic labor market no longer exists, so to speak: demand is no longer primarily for work, but for manpower. The consequence of this is that employers must have enough properly qualified employees and keep their own junior staff in the company for the long term. Generation Y in particular, people born in the 1990s and 2000s, has different expectations of employers than previous generations.

HR services in demand

In this competition for the best employees, SMEs have to be on a par with large companies. However, the resources for HR management are limited in smaller companies. SMEs are therefore dependent on external HR services. In particular, they need support not only in recruiting employees, but also in developing them internally.

On the other hand, the topic of "demographic shifts in the labor market" is also driving HR specialists. Thus, the partner companies HR First Consulting GmbH (Münsingen), prisca meier consulting (Ittigen BE), GMP AG (Neuendorf), HRgenau GmbH (Wil) and Rindlisbacher HR-Consulting (Zug) recently joined forces to meet this challenge. One of the first results is the newly developed HR concept MAQuA. The participants focus this concept on the two areas of "system" (leadership and organizational development) and "people" (corporate culture and HR policy).

Implement HR concept in two phases

The MAQuA HR concept is being implemented in two concrete phases. In the short term, the first step is to initiate a turnaround. The first step is an "HR stress test" - a systematic basic analysis. This enables a differentiated evaluation of the parameters fluctuation, age structure, etc., taking into account the organizational structure and occupational groups of an organization. The focus is placed on the causes and core problems and then targeted measures are defined, which are then implemented. Together with the companies, quick wins are realized according to the Pareto principle (80/20 rule).

In the long term, the aim is to develop a value-based corporate and leadership culture. Potential analysis and development are used to create prospects for employees. Because only intrinsically motivated employees remain loyal to the company and bring sustainable profit.

More information about the concept and HR services: www.hr-first.ch

On February 15, 2017, the Federal Council adopted the dispatch on the total revision of the Federal Law on Public Procurement (BöB). One of the main objectives of the revision is to harmonize the procurement regulations of the Confederation and the cantons. In parallel, the Federal Council also adopted the dispatch on the revised WTO Agreement on Government Procurement of 2012 (GPA). The new agreement improves transparency and market access and replaces the original agreement of 1994. At the end of January 2018, the National Council's Committee on Economic Affairs (WAK-N) made some groundbreaking decisions in its detailed deliberations, particularly with regard to awarding contracts according to the lowest price.

Paradigm shift in procurement law

So will there be a paradigm shift in procurement law, whereby the lowest price will no longer be the sole deciding factor? The Economic Committee of the National Council wants to include a plausibility check for dumping bids in the revised Federal Law on Public Procurement. This was decided unanimously during the above-mentioned detailed discussions on the revision of procurement law (BöB). In future, unusually low bids are to be scrutinized more closely. "Today is a good day for the procurement of intellectual services," cheers Heinz Marti, president of the association of consulting engineering companies usic and co-president of the Alliance for Progressive Public Procurement (AföB). "Now this paradigm shift must also be implemented in practice." Stefan Cadosch, president of the SIA and AföB co-president, is also delighted, according to a media release: "Politicians have finally recognized that intellectual services cannot be procured like standardized goods."

Bid plausibility as award criterion

The WAK-N announced on January 31 that it intends to submit a proposal to the National Council against dumping bids. By 29 votes to 0 with 2 abstentions, the commission decided to include the request of AföB, a federation of associations and organizations whose members provide intellectual services to public clients, for the introduction of a bid plausibility check in the award criteria. This is an important step in combating nonsensical price bids and improving the quality of bids. The Commission adopted by 16 votes to 6 with 2 abstentions another AföB concern, namely that unusually low bids should be subject to stricter review. The review requirement, which previously applied only to public sector bidders, is now to apply to all bids submitted. This will give the awarding authorities a powerful instrument to take action against purely low-price bids.

Real price-performance competition draws closer

Furthermore, the Commission has clarified the term "most economically advantageous offer" to mean the offer with the best price-performance ratio. The AföB has indeed demanded that the wording should be replaced by the "most advantageous offer". However, the clarification is in the spirit of the Alliance, which calls for genuine price-performance competition in procurement law instead of pure price competition.

More information and arguments: http://www.afoeb.ch/argumente/

SMEs remain the most important driver of M&A activity in terms of numbers. In 2017, Deloitte recorded 201 M&A transactions involving Swiss SMEs, an increase of 5.2% compared to the previous year. The upward trend observed in 2016 is thus continuing, although the number of transactions is still relatively clear below the levels of 2013 and 2014, according to the study published on January 29. "Since the franc shock three years ago, many SMEs have increased their efficiency, invested in innovation and quality, and made their prices more competitive. They are also generally profitable and have little debt. Their focus on growth has stimulated the transaction market and will continue to fuel it," explains Jean-François Lagassé, Senior Partner Financial Advisory at Deloitte Switzerland.

North American companies love Swiss SMEs

Last year, 141 Swiss SMEs gave up their independence to competitors or investors, each of which took over the majority of the capital. This is an increase of eight percent, which is mainly attributable to domestic buyers (71 transactions, +16%). SME acquisitions by foreign companies increased minimally from 69 to 70 transactions. "Entrepreneurial families without successors like to sell to Switzerland. Many foreign investors acquire Swiss SMEs because they want to position themselves more internationally and benefit from the location and know-how in the long term," explains Jean-François Lagassé. Foreign buyers came mainly from North America (17 transactions, +89%) and Germany (15 transactions, +88%). French (8 transactions, -58%) and especially Chinese buyers (1 transaction, -66%), on the other hand, held back in 2017. "Chinese investors have never occupied a significant position in SME transactions in this country in recent years. Rather, they have invested in larger companies. After the Chinese government exhorted companies to be more cautious in their investments last year, the significance has decreased even further. Swiss SMEs are still a bit far away for Chinese investors," says Stephan Brücher, Partner and Head of Corporate Finance Advisory, assessing the situation.

Swiss tech companies go into foreign hands

Companies from the technology, media and telecommunications sectors gained strongly in attractiveness in the course of the M& activities, with 17 transactions (previous year: 9, +89%). "In many industries, digitalization promotes growth and increases productivity. Foreign SMEs want to actively exploit the potential of new technologies and invest in Swiss companies to develop further. We have a world-class research hub here, offer a top-class talent pool and still development-friendly framework conditions that are very attractive to foreign investors," says Stephan Brücher. Also, several Swiss fintech companies have grown strongly in the past year and were able to close large financing rounds. This puts them on the radar of international private equity firms or large financial services providers. "Some Swiss fintech companies could be bought back or attract new strategic investors in 2018," is Jean-François Lagassé's assessment.

Swiss SMEs are also increasingly buying companies abroad

Despite the significant increase in domestic transactions, local SMEs continue to cultivate M&A activities abroad as well. The number of foreign investments fell only minimally to 60 after last year's record of 61. Swiss SMEs buy what they know and what is close to them: 82% of acquisitions were made in Europe and 57% in Switzerland's neighboring countries. Germany remained the preferred destination with 25 acquisitions (42% of all transactions). "Despite the devaluation of the Swiss franc, the still brisk purchasing activity abroad proves that local companies are seizing external growth opportunities in Europe and beyond. The still high level of foreign investment reflects the robustness of Swiss SMEs and the encouraging growth prospects in the euro area. Swiss SMEs are thinking long-term and continuing to diversify into further regions and sectors," comments Stephan Brücher on these figures.

There seems to be no shortage of capital and liquid assets, and many investors are intensively looking for profitable investments: quite a few are buying Swiss SMEs in this situation; foreign funds in particular took hold in 2017: in 2017, 28 Swiss SMEs were the target of a majority capital takeover by private equity funds (+23%). Of the funds, 32% originate from Switzerland, 61% are based in the rest of Europe. American funds made only two acquisitions, Asian funds stayed away from the market as in the previous year.

Clear increase in M&A activity expected for 2018

Three years after the franc shock, the economy has recovered. The decline of the franc against the euro gives companies room for higher profits and boosts the confidence of export-oriented Swiss SMEs. "The year 2018 should develop promisingly for Swiss SMEs. The prospect of a stable currency at around CHF/EUR 1.20 is stimulating exports and encouraging a willingness to invest. In particular, many need to expand manufacturing facilities and modernize operations," Jean-François Lagassé elaborates.

Nevertheless, great caution is called for, as currency fluctuations can hardly be predicted. "The SNB could follow in the footsteps of the ECB and the US Federal Reserve to quickly normalize its monetary policy. That would abruptly end the depreciation of the franc. In addition, it is also important for Swiss SMEs that the reform of corporate taxation moves forward quickly and that the relationship with the EU is regulated in a forward-looking and business-friendly manner," says Lagassé.

www.deloitte.ch

Is one still young at 30? "Yes, but ..." says Beat Bussmann, CEO and founder of Opacc Software AG: "Still young, because we are agile and top-fit in the market. But we also enjoy a certain 'seniority', because in the IT industry 30 years of successful business mean a lot. Continuity and longevity are match-decisive, especially in enterprise software."

Founded 30 years ago

The Lucerne-based company was entered in the Lucerne Commercial Register 30 years ago, on January 22, 1988. A business idea has grown into an established and renowned software provider with currently 125 employees. Company founder and CEO Beat Bussmann remembers the first days and weeks: "Our credo at that time has remained the same to this day: Quality instead of quantity!" SMEs from all industries use the OpaccERP, OpaccEnterpriseShop and OpaccEnterpriseCRM applications - on a single platform: OpaccOXAS provides all data, functions and services to manage the flow of goods, money, services and information throughout the company.

Record year 2017

As Opacc reports, the past fiscal year was the most successful in the company's entire history, both in terms of new customer business and the expansion of existing customers. As in all previous years, it was also possible to increase value added. Opacc, headquartered in Kriens, is also fully self-financed and thus financially independent. This ensures the ongoing further development of Opacc Enterprise Software applications in the future as well, the company continues.

New OpaccCampus in Rothenburg

In fall 2018, the software manufacturer will leave its long-standing location in Kriens and move to Rothenburg. The new Opacc company building in the immediate vicinity of Rothenburg train station and the Rothenburg freeway exit will be designed for around 200 employees. This will be sufficient for many years, especially as there is potential for expansion to accommodate a total of 400 employees on the company's own premises. The company, which has won several awards for progressive working conditions and has maintained a work-life balance strategy for many years, is thus setting a further milestone in the development of its corporate culture. The new building in Rothenburg will make a major contribution to an innovative working environment and open up new perspectives for in-house training and development.

The celebration of the company's anniversary 30 years Opacc will take place on the weekend of November 15-17, 2018 in Rothenburg.

Company website

Banks are restricting their lending for regulatory reasons. This opens the doors for alternative financing options, such as via crowdlending platforms. In this environment, Vicenda and creditworld are now expanding their offering for SMEs to obtain debt capital "unbureaucratically and securely," as it says in a media release. Furthermore, the new investment product offers institutional investors an interesting alternative in the area of fixed-interest investments in the current low-interest environment.

Commitments already for more than CHF 40 million

According to their own statements, Vicenda and creditworld are aiming for an investment volume of CHF 100 million, which will be passed on in tranches of CHF 100,000 to CHF 10 million to Swiss companies from all industries with sales of CHF 0.5 to 30 million in the form of investment and working capital loans. Investors have already committed for more than CHF 40 million, the two companies said. A gross return of 5 percent is targeted for investors. The minimum investment is CHF 150,000.

Closing the credit gap with institutional debt financing

Daniel Franc, Head of Asset Management Solutions at Vicenda, can be quoted as follows: "Private debt investments are an interesting investment opportunity for institutional investors. Our product is particularly interesting for pension funds because of its attractive risk-return profile and its link to Switzerland. We offer a simple and safe way to invest in a diversified portfolio of Swiss SME loans." And Philipp Schneider, co-founder of creditworld AG, adds: "Banks are increasingly restricted in their lending to SMEs. We can close the emerging credit gap with private and institutional debt financing. In addition, as a fintech company, the lending process can be implemented quickly and efficiently thanks to digitalized processing."

International investment fund in the background

Vicenda is responsible for the lending decision and the structuring and monitoring of the portfolio. creditworld is responsible for the identification and, in cooperation with its rating partner Euler Hermes, also for the assessment of the loans. Vicenda's Luxembourg-based securitization platform, Thalos Investment Platform S.A. Luxembourg, with SME Credit Finance Compartment I, serves as the vehicle for issuing the corresponding securities. Back in December, Vicenda and partners launched the Daneo Private Debt Fund. The Daneo Private Debt Fund brings together credit-seeking companies in Switzerland, Germany and Austria and institutional investors through an investment fund.

www.vicenda.com / www.creditworld.ch

The fact that Donald Trump confirmed to President Alain Berset at the WEF that he wants to work more closely with Switzerland in the future is seen by economiesuisse as a "welcome signal". It is obvious that the decisions of the U.S. president will have a major impact on Swiss companies, write Jan Atteslander, head of foreign trade, and Marc Engelhard in a Article on the website of the umbrella trade association. Looking at figures from the export statistics of the Swiss Federal Customs Administration, the authors name five reasons why the USA is so important for Switzerland. After all, the USA ranks second behind Germany with a trade volume of 88 billion Swiss francs and 46 billion. The large trade surplus should also be noted: This amounts to 17 billion francs and is higher for no other trading partner.

Reason 1: "Made in Switzerland

The first reason why the USA is so important for Switzerland is the exported value added. After all, the customs statistics only provide information on the gross figures. All intermediate inputs and individual parts that are purchased by Swiss companies abroad are also included. The OECD regularly collects figures on the value added actually exported. For the USA, this amounts to 34 billion US dollars, i.e. 13 percent of Switzerland's total exported value added. Only to Germany is more Swiss quality sold. In the eyes of economiesuisse, therefore, "Made in Switzerland" continues to be a cash cow in the United States.

Reason 2: USA as top customer for services

It is a fact that the service sector is growing. However, economiesuisse fails to mention at whose expense this growth is taking place. After all, it should not be forgotten that the industrial sector in Switzerland is shrinking overall. Exports of services now account for one third. According to the Swiss National Bank, Swiss service providers generate around CHF 33 billion in sales in the United States with services (excluding tourism). The United States is thus the most important trading partner in this sector. By comparison, Swiss service companies generate sales of CHF 12 billion with Germany.

Reason 3: Desire for free trade

The largest share of importing and exporting companies are SMEs. Some of these are global market leaders in their fields. If you ask SMEs which country Switzerland should cultivate better trade relations with, they answer most frequently: the USA. According to a 2014 Credit Suisse survey, the franc shock is likely to have strengthened the desire for a free trade agreement with the USA. According to Swiss SMEs, it is a "major omission" that no such agreement exists between Switzerland and the USA, says economiesuisse.

Reason 4: USA as investor

Donald Trump should be pleased: Many Swiss companies are already investing in the US. According to the SNB, the capital stock in the United States amounts to CHF 234 billion. Conversely, the US also invests heavily in Switzerland: it is the third most important direct investor, behind Luxembourg and the Netherlands. It is therefore clear, says economiesuisse, that any measures Donald Trump takes on tax and investment issues will have a direct impact on Switzerland as a business location.

Reason 5: Still a lot of potential

According to economiesuisse, the U.S. offers the opportunity for enormously high trade profits for Swiss companies. In this respect, the American market is comparable to the EU. However, the current trade figures indicate that much more is possible. One prerequisite, however, is optimal trade access in the U.S. economiesuisse is therefore pleased that Donald Trump has confirmed to President Alain Berset that he wants to cooperate more closely with our country. According to economiesuisse, both sides would benefit from a free trade agreement, based on the figures cited here.

More information: Position paper from economiesuisse

Despite or perhaps because of the hype surrounding digital and agile organizations: Retaining employees is the top HR topic for 2018. Making work structures more flexible ranks second on the HR agenda in companies. Promoting the employability of employees is the third most important item among HR topics for the first time. This is shown by the results of the HR Report 2018, which Hays and the Institute for Employment and Employability (IBE) have now published. Over 1000 people from companies and organizations were surveyed.

Increase employee loyalty through more flexibility

"Due to the pressure sparked by demographic developments, digitalization and the shortage of skilled workers, the battle for employees is increasing significantly. As a result, employee retention is at the top of the agenda and employees need to be given more flexibility. Due to the increasing speed of change, it is also an imperative to keep employees employable," Prof. Dr. Jutta Rump, Director of the IBE, explains the ranking. Employees can be retained above all by a good working atmosphere (57 %). This is followed by flexible working hours (46 %) and remuneration in line with the market (44 %). The companies surveyed have made progress in implementing these topics. The difference between the importance and implementation of these instruments has narrowed significantly.

Rigid processes stand in the way of development

For half of the respondents (51 %), the topic of agile organization already plays a large or very large role today. The importance of an agile organization increases significantly with increasing position. The respondents consider overly rigid processes and workflows to be the biggest hurdle (36 %). For 31 percent, it is the employees' lack of willingness to change. "In the future, it will be more important than ever to set up networked and integrated processes. These start from the customer and not from internal process manuals. At the same time, they must offer a high degree of flexibility in order to be able to react quickly to new market conditions," says Marc Lutz, Managing Director at Hays Switzerland.

Professional competencies determine management careers

The study also asked about career opportunities. For leadership careers, professional skills (43 %) are disproportionately more important than social skills (29 %). When asked how leadership careers are made, respondents' opinions differ. Half of the respondents see a systematic approach (25 % each consider recommendations and strategic succession planning crucial). On the other hand, a quarter think they emerge via internal networks, and for 21 percent, chance plays a prominent role.

The annual HR Report analyzes key HR issues in organizations. It is based on an online survey in which 1036 employees from companies and organizations in German-speaking countries took part. The respondents were managing directors (17 %), HR executives (22 %), department heads (38 %) and employees without HR responsibility (24 %).

Source: www.hays.ch

Here is an important impulse for success at the beginning of the year so that you can achieve this: Take your foot off the brake! From my observation, there are 3 groups of behaviors in the new year (ask yourself which group you and your colleagues most likely belong to):

• Group 1: The Onward Makers. They simply carry on as before with the result that 2018 will be rather worse or only marginally better than last year. This is the largest group of people (note: also in your company or team!).
• Group 2: The ambitious. You set big goals, inspire yourself and others and take some actions. With a little luck and perseverance, you can increase your success a little in 2018. Maybe half of the leaders in business act like this.
• Group 3: Those in the fast lane. You do everything as in point 2, plus: you release the brakes that have so far kept you and your team from greater success. Very few people do that. What do I mean by that?

Braking mindsets

Your brakes consist of mindsets, habits and fears. In other words, it's your ingrained mindsets and habits, as well as your fears (yes: we all have them!) that are holding you and your peers back from doing something truly great.

You can put your foot down on the inspiration, goal and training side: If you and your people are on the brakes of mindsets (aka mindset), habits and fears, not only will nothing change, but you'll be frustrated and exhausted instead. Sound familiar?

Well, release your brakes! Here are three ideas on how to do that:

1. Mindset. Expect your team (and first and foremost the leadership team) to have a winning mindset. This can be trained and coached. More on this in another Success Impulse.
2. Habits. Examine your habits (and ask your colleagues to do the same): "What daily routines aren't helping us on the path to really greatness?" This could be unproductive meetings, handling emails, conversational skills, as well as things like eating habits, fitness routines, and more. Put everything to the test!
3. Fears. Ask yourself what is currently the biggest internal barrier to greater success. For salespeople, it's often calling unknown potential customers; for leaders, it's showing true enthusiasm; and for team members, it's asking uncomfortable questions. And so on. Important: Train to overcome these fears systematically. Yes, you can. Top teams do it all the time.

So then, take your foot off the brake and step on the gas in 2018. The world (at least your customers and your team) needs you and your business!

To the author:
Volkmar Völzke is a success maximizer. Book author. Consultant. Coach. Speaker. www.volkmarvoelzke.ch

A study by consulting firm Accenture predicts that artificial intelligence could increase enterprise revenues worldwide by an average of 38 percent as early as 2022. For the global study, Accenture surveyed Accenture Strategy 14,078 employees and self-employed persons as well as 1,201 managers in eleven countries (Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, United Kingdom, USA) on their attitudes toward and expectations of artificial intelligence. Business leaders attach great importance to this technology: More than two-thirds of them (72 percent) believe that the introduction of intelligent technologies is crucial to their organization's ability to differentiate itself in the market. In addition, 42 percent are convinced that all innovation in the future will be based on artificial intelligence. This is one of the reasons why more than half of companies (61 percent) plan to automate more tasks and processes on a large scale in the next three years. According to the study, automation is being pursued very systematically in the USA (92 percent) and the UK (84 percent) in particular, while in China only just over half of the companies surveyed (56 percent) are aiming to do so.

Artificial intelligence raises expectations among employees

Employees and freelancers view the transformation of the working world and the use of intelligent technologies with great confidence: Well over half (62 percent) of the employees and freelancers surveyed expect artificial intelligence to have a positive impact on their everyday working lives within the next three years. Respondents even highlight that smart technologies will create new opportunities for their work (62 percent). "Artificial intelligence has the potential to further boost growth and employment, especially in industrialized countries. However, companies will only benefit if they use the technology in such a way that their employees can take on new tasks," says Thomas D. Meyer, Country Managing Director of Accenture Switzerland. "In the working world of the future, humans and intelligent machines will work closely together. Many tasks can be done better as a result, because human skills will be supported by artificial intelligence. The decisive factor for the economic success of companies will be whether they succeed in qualifying employees and adapting previous job profiles to the new circumstances."

Nevertheless: reluctance to invest

According to the study, almost one in three companies (29 percent) has significantly redefined employees' areas of responsibility and role descriptions in order to cope with the technological changes in everyday working life. According to the executives, firmly defined role descriptions will soon be a thing of the past, as work will be much more project-based in the future and new technologies will require the constant acquisition of new skills. Under these conditions, firmly defined fields of activity and rigid work routines are an outdated model.

It is therefore all the more surprising that companies have so far shied away from major investments in preparing their employees for this new working world. Only three percent are planning significant additional spending on staff qualifications over the next three years. In contrast, 67 percent of the employees and self-employed people surveyed believe that they will need to acquire additional skills in order to be able to exploit the full potential of smart technologies in their day-to-day work. "In the working world of the future, the machine will not dominate the human. Rather, smart technologies are the key to more productive employees who can get rid of routine tasks and devote themselves to those with higher added value," says Thomas D. Meyer. "Companies must invest in the qualification of their workforce out of their own interest, for example by using the additional profits generated by higher efficiency for this purpose. In doing so, they will secure a competitive advantage in the long term, because only where humans and machines collaborate does productivity continue to rise and a basis for the business models of the future emerge."

www.accenture.ch

Christian Hunziker is the new managing director of SwissICT. In him, the association has gained a person with a wealth of experience: Hunziker was a long-standing member of the management boards of both foreign (including Sun Microsystems and Dell) and Swiss ICT companies (including ELCA). He currently joins the association from Comsoft direct AG, a subsidiary of Bechtle AG, and will succeed Thomas Flatt, who has held the position on an interim basis since March 2017.

Computer scientist, managing director and winner of the Swiss ICT Award

Hunziker, an ETH mathematician, has been active in the Swiss ICT industry for more than 25 years and has taken different perspectives on the industry through his experience with vendors as well as users and in the channel. As a former software developer, data warehouse expert, marketing and sales manager, and most recently managing director, he is very familiar with the issues facing the industry and swissICT, and has already come into contact with the association on several occasions. Among other things, with the software manufacturer ELCA as a finalist in the Swiss ICT Award 2008 and with the award of the then ELCA CEO Daniel Gorostidi as Champion People.

Christian Hunziker wants to drive digitization forward

Hunziker, a sales and marketing professional, intends to continue the association's chosen path and digitalization strategy with swissICT in order to make the association even more attractive to existing and future members. In doing so, he will push ahead with projects such as the renewal of the Swiss ICT Award, the online platform "Careers in ICT," the Life Long Learning initiative, our independent studies on salaries and fees, and also the relaunch of the swissICT website.

Hunziker himself sees a lot of potential at swissICT: "I was able to benefit from Switzerland's successful ICT workplace for many years myself. I am very pleased to be able to make an active contribution to its further development at swissICT. In doing so, I not only want to accompany our members on their way to a digital future, but also fully digitize our own products."

www.swissict.ch