Login via SwissID is moving to centre stage at Luzerner Kantonalbank. LUKB plans to use SwissID on its crowd platform "funders.ch" from the beginning of 2019.

Joint project

The founded in March 2018 SwissSign Group is a joint venture of SBB, Swiss Post, Swisscom and leading companies from the banking, insurance and health insurance sectors.

In addition to LUKB, the Cantonal Banks of Geneva and Zurich as well as Raiffeisen, CS and UBS are already involved. The SwissSign Group took over the activities of the former SwissSign AG, including mainly the promotion of SwissID.

LUKB does not provide any information on the scope of the business. 44 percent of the shares in SwissSign are held by state-affiliated companies, another 44 percent by the banks and 12 percent by the remaining shareholders.

If new banks join the group, they will divest their shareholdings among themselves, with the big banks generally retaining their existing stakes. (Source: sda)

www.swissid.ch

World Standards Day 2018 took place on 14 October. World Standards Day is celebrated annually on 14 October. This year's World Standards Day 2018 focused on the "Fourth Industrial Revolution". What great significance this "revolution" might have for our understanding of quality is largely uncertain. But a look in the rear-view mirror of history could provide a small insight:

With the transition from manual to machine manufacturing in the 18th century, the need for standards increased, for example to replace machine parts and enable the mass production of parts. The term "Fourth Industrial Revolution" refers to the new technologies whose use blurs the traditional boundaries between the physical, digital and biological worlds.

Being in a transitional phase

The increasing interconnectedness of people and things will affect the way we produce, trade and communicate, much as steam power affected the production methods and lifestyles of many societies during the first industrial revolution.

ISO experts are convinced: today, standards once again play a key role in the transition to a new era. The rapid change we are currently experiencing would not be possible without standards. Innovators rely on international standards, such as those produced by IEC, ISO and ITU, to ensure compatibility and interoperability.

In this way, new technologies can be adopted seamlessly. Standards are also an instrument for the worldwide dissemination of knowledge and innovations.

Challenges and safety standards 

However, the rapid pace of change brought about by the fourth industrial revolution presents us with challenges. Robots and artificial intelligence are taking over more and more tasks that were previously done by humans. Additive manufacturing (also known as 3D printing) will change the way we make goods. It will allow us to "print" items at home.

As all sorts of objects, from airplanes to baby monitors, are digitally networked, the sensitivity of data, potential privacy breaches and their consequences also increase exponentially. These are just a few selected examples of the problems of "smart" technologies of a new generation, which are characterized by big data, advanced integration, storage of data in the cloud and open communication of devices, among other things.

International standards are a powerful way to ensure security and minimize risks. For example, security standards can ensure that our data remains safe and hackers are deterred. Safety standards for robots will make it easier for them to interact with humans. The fourth industrial revolution has begun. But to fully realize its potential to improve society, standards are needed.

Voluntary and yet important honorary posts 

The members of the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission), ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and ITU (International Telecommunication Union) organizations rightly draw attention to important social and technical developments with World Standards Day. The day also recognizes the collective efforts of thousands of experts worldwide.

There are still many quality and standards experts who draw up technical agreements to be applied voluntarily, which are later published as international standards.

www.iso.org

The EU action plan aims to gear European finance more towards financing longer-term, sustainable growth. This requires far-reaching measures, including legislative ones, in terms of reporting, accounting, regulation and corporate governance.

The action plan presented at the beginning of March 2018 is based on the final report of a high-level expert group on sustainable finance (HLEG) presented in January, whose recommendations were largely adopted. For a few weeks now, there has been a significant increase in interest.

Proposals of the expert group

In order to implement the proposals, far-reaching measures, including legislative ones, are necessary, involving accounting, corporate governance, risk management and regulatory steps. In particular, the time horizon for accounting and the recognition of risks must be significantly extended in order to adequately reflect the effects of climate change and the energy transition, for example.

The action plan in a nutshell:

In the following, an attempt to describe the twenty-page outline of the Plan of the EU Commission in brief and with regard to its practical implications for the banking industry:

1. Classification of economic activities in terms of their contribution to sustainable development ("taxonomy")

In particular, the criteria of climate change, environmental impacts and social impacts will be applied. Initially, a technical expert group will focus on climate change and the energy transition.

2. Standards/labels for "green" financial products

Initially, the Commission aims to standardise "green" bonds, so-called greenbonds. Later, other products will be tested on the basis of the taxonomy

3. Promotion of investments in sustainable projects

Building advisory capacity for sustainable infrastructure projects in the EU and neighbouring countries

4. Inclusion of sustainability in financial advice

Modification of the distribution directives for banks (MiFID II) and insurance companies (IDD, Insurance Distribution Delegated Acts). Note: These points were not so clearly included in the expert recommendation

5. Quality standards for sustainability

Creating more transparency and comparability of sustainability criteria

6. Better integration of sustainability in ratings and market research

Relevance for credit rating and methodology of sustainability ratings

7. Clarification of the obligations of investors and asset managers

The expert report clearly called for a "fiduciary duty" of investors for future generations. However, this is hardly anchored in constitutional law, e.g. corresponding sustainability requirements are missing in the German Basic Law

8. Consideration of sustainability criteria in risk management and regulation

The first step will focus primarily on climate risks and the energy transition. Specifically, this is the implementation of the proposals of the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) set up by the Financial Stability Board.

Some supervisory authorities, such as the German Bundesbank, have explicitly called for this, and the Dutch central bank has already announced a stress test for climate risks at banks.

9. Extension of reporting and accounting obligations

Far-reaching adjustments are required here with regard to materiality in reporting and, above all, to the time horizon or reference to the future.

10. Strengthening sustainability aspects in corporate management and capital market communications

Company managements should be obliged to formulate and publish sustainability strategies. According to the ideas of the action plan, the pressure of the capital markets to act in the short term in companies could be reduced by, among other things, holding periods and turnover limits for asset managers.

General acceptance increases

At first, it was said that more far-reaching requirements for risk management and possibly lighter capital requirements for "green" financing should first be carefully examined. Financial experts also believe that for the time being, fund providers will weigh the actual benefits between energy polluters and energy savers.

In addition, there are also typical "federal" positions that regulatory and supervisory interventions should be limited to the minimum necessary.

As can now also be seen in newspapers such as the Tages Anzeiger, there are positive developments, for example, to combat faster global warming (see the IPCC report of 8 October 2018). For example, the Climate Alliance Switzerland, an alliance of more than 70 organizations, wants to establish a Climate Future Fund. The alliance is trying to focus on the polluter pays principle of CO2 emissions.

The Swiss Climate Alliance calculates that the polluters would have to pay costs of CHF 200 per tonne of CO2, for example when buying products or already during the production and import of goods, energy and food. The fund would be accumulated to the tune of approximately 189 billion francs by 2015, assuming that Switzerland emits "only" 945 million tonnes of CO2 between 2021 and 2015.

New EU Innovation Fund

There are also other funding instruments such as the EU Innovation Fund. From 2019, this will use auctioning proceeds from EU emissions trading to promote innovative, low-carbon climate protection technologies of a demonstration nature in industry and power generation across Europe.

In 2018, a study commissioned by the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) investigated which subsidies the fund can use to get the most out of climate protection. The report "The Innovation Fund: how can it support low-carbon industry in Europe" combines experiences from the predecessor fund ("NER300") with insights from expert interviews for three important industrial sectors:

Iron/Steel,

Cement,

Paper/pulp

One of the main results is that the innovation fund should concentrate on so-called "breakthrough" technologies, i.e. climate protection technologies that have a high potential for reducing emissions. It should deliberately promote technologies that are currently still far from being ready for the market. In doing so, it should help to close an existing gap and thus provide important impetus for decarbonisation.

Banking supervision: not "if?" but "how?"

European banking supervisors appear to be almost absolutely united on the question of whether sustainability is relevant to the banking industry and needs to become more relevant. Climate risks and the energy transition have been identified as risk drivers and need to be captured in reporting, accounting and regulation.

The proposals of the Task Force on climate-related financial disclosures (TCFD) set up by the Financial Stability Board were welcomed by the majority of banks.

For all investors and lenders, there is a risk of partial or complete devaluation of stranded assets. In the case of fossil-fuelled power plants, this idea is particularly obvious in view of the increased transition to renewable energies, which are now economically competitive.

However, these factors also affect small, only locally active credit institutions, as, for example, craft businesses are exposed to considerable operating and investment risks due to diesel driving bans and a transition to electric mobility. One thing is certain, there will still have to be some discussion about incentive mechanisms for "green" versus "brown" financing.

However, since 2018, the EU Commission has been showing with the Action Planor with the instruments for sustainable investment projects: The EU Commission's proposals are very far-reaching and require a wide range of interventions in legislation and economic practice, which is why the planned far-reaching implementation by autumn 2019 seems very ambitious.

Provided that the European Parliament follows the action plan, the measures may already take effect within a few months, e.g. through adjustments to MiFID II (banks) and IDD (insurance distribution). It was to be expected that the EU Commission would take action in this direction, but parts of the banking industry will probably be surprised at how quickly and far-reaching the interventions can be.

Even then, Swiss excellence was writ large. Out of a desire to professionalize hotel management, Jacques Tschumi, then a member of the Swiss Hotel Association, gathered 27 students at the Hôtel d'Angleterre in Lausanne on 15 October 1893. His ambitious project quickly proved to be a necessity.

Today, it extends to all five continents and inspires industries and professions far beyond the hotel industry. In the midst of a period marked by important developments and innovation projects, EHL is celebrating its 125th birthday: 125 years to the day since the school was founded by Jacques Tschumi, who once laid the foundation for the modern hotel industry with this step.

The ceremony, which focused on EHL's unique heritage and innovative spirit, was attended by Federal Councillor Johann Schneider-Ammann, Vaudois State Councillor Philippe Leuba, Lausanne City Councillors Natacha Litzistorf and Oscar Tosato, and numerous representatives of renowned companies and friends of EHL.

The official speeches were followed by the production "A dream for tomorrow". Anne Richard and Viviane Bonelli conceived the work especially for the occasion - with music by Hervé Klopfenstein and images by Romain Rossel.

Innovation centre in the making

"EHL has always been one step ahead of its time. From this small, first class, the school has developed into an institution with international appeal, offering a comprehensive range of educational solutions with two locations in Switzerland and soon a third in Asia. It relies on a worldwide alumni network that contributes to innovative research projects and partnerships. But EHL also stands for a state of mind, an attitude to life that is passed on from one generation to the next. It is an honor to continue the work of Jacques Tschumi at such an exciting time for us," said Michel Rochat, CEO of the EHL Group, at yesterday's anniversary celebration.

The campus in Passugg in Graubünden is growing, the first hospitality innovation centre in Europe is under construction and the future campus in Lausanne is already setting an example for many other schools. The anniversary is therefore not a celebration of the past. Rather, it marks the beginning of a whole series of successful developments for the EHL Group.

About the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL)

Since its foundation in 1893, EHL has been the symbol of Swiss hospitality. Today, it continues to pioneer pioneering education for the hotel and hospitality sector. The result is a unique global community of 25,000 hospitality leaders who all share EHL's traditional values.

www.ehl.edu

The Horváth CFO study underlines the clear tendency that 77 percent of CFOs see the biggest "construction site" in the digital transformation. In second place, at 64 percent, is the reorganization of the finance area to adapt to predominantly digitally driven new business models. This change is driven by new developments in basic technologies such as in-memory and in the area of advanced analytics, according to the findings of the Horváth CFO Study 2018.

The Horváth Resource Barometer measures, in addition to the above-mentioned study, the number of advertised vacancies (full and part-time) on Swiss corporate websites. It records more than 2,500 advertised vacancies in Switzerland every month in the selected functional areas of organisation, purchasing, finance and controlling using Webspider. The data provides indications of the areas in which Swiss companies of all sizes have a need for resources and thus currently set thematic priorities. Horváth sees a particular need for action in the area of finance, which needs to be digitized.

Incorrect, incomplete data

Today, more than one in two CFOs has to deal with incorrect or incomplete data (53 percent). The proportion has increased by 19 percent compared to the previous year. The main reasons for this are the use of different systems and the manual consolidation of different data sources. However, structured, standardized and, above all, valid data is a basic prerequisite for further analyses. According to Dr. Mario Stephan of Horváth & Partners, the number of CFOs who make decisions based on insufficient data is high.

This realisation is leading to an increasing demand for finance professionals with in-depth data handling and systems skills, such as those needed for data security, cyber security, business intelligence and advanced analytics respectively. This is the driving factor behind the increase in advertised finance jobs requiring explicit IT skills (YtD +7%).

The increased transformation to digitalization solutions is challenging the finance areas of companies and requires additional competencies in dealing with data and systems. An increase of seven percent in advertised finance jobs requiring explicit IT expertise was recorded by the Horváth Resource Barometer between January and September 2018.

"In the digital transformation, CFOs should nevertheless not lose sight of their classic topics. In order to achieve the actual efficiency goals, it is becoming increasingly necessary to make the best possible use of the opportunities offered by digitalization. This by CFOs pushing the issues such as automation, standardization and integration of systems. In the next few years, most companies will have to further develop their CFO organization with the help of optimized processes as well as strengthen it with new competencies and skills," advises Horváth expert Dr. Mario Stephan.

For the "CFO Study 2018: identifying opportunities for digitalization and mastering the digital transformation of the finance function" Horváth & Partners surveyed companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. A total of 200 CFOs and other finance executives provided insight into their agendas in the first quarter of 2018.

This time, the 2nd Logistics Forum Switzerland is about "Digital Value Chains", about the added value that digitalization could bring to logistics value chains. Countless experts from business and science will report on and discuss the opportunities and challenges of digital transformation in purchasing, logistics and supply chain management:

New innovative business models, last mile in city and country, technology for production and warehousing, solutions for retail, change in organization and new fields of competence are the fields of action and design for purchasing, logistics and supply chain management.

Logistics must prove its ability to change.

Among others, we managed to win Claudio Marconi, MD IKEA Supply AG, for a keynote on the topic "Integrated Supply Chain IKEA - the answer to digitalization in the business model". The forum is the ideal opportunity to network again and exchange ideas on one of the most important topics.

More details and registration at: https://logistikforumschweiz.com

Thurgauer Kantonalbank (TKB) has had its compliance management system certified in accordance with ISO standard 19600. The certificate confirms that the bank fully implements the recommendations of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for developing, implementing, evaluating and improving an effective compliance management system.

With the certification, TKB wants to ensure a permanently high quality in the area of compliance. TKB is the first bank in Switzerland to have its compliance management certified. In the course of the certification, the fulfilment of over 240 requirements in seven areas - organisation, management, planning, processes, operation, evaluation and improvement - was checked. The certification must be renewed every three years.

TKB already has two ISO certificates. Since 2004, the bank has been certified as an overall organisation according to the ISO 9001 standard. In 2009, the bank was certified according to the ISO 20000 standard, which certifies that TKB has a professional IT management system.

www.tkb.ch

The Malwarebytes Cybercrime Tactics and Techniques Q2 2018 report research, after a slight decrease in overall malware numbers within the second quarter of 2018, now shows a sharp increase in attacks in the third quarter of this year - especially in the enterprise sector.

In the third quarter, banking Trojans outperformed all other malware categories, increasing by a full 84 percent from last quarter. Trojans also ranked first in end-user detections, increasing 27 percent globally from last quarter. RiskwareTool, the name for a cryptomining malware type, dropped from its first place ranking last quarter to fourth place (down 26 percent).

In fact, cryptomining malware types also fell behind on the end user side, slipping to fourth place behind Trojans, adware and backdoors.

Theft and sale of data

As mentioned earlier, there is currently a shift, albeit a slow one, towards more complex and dangerous malware targeting enterprises. This assumption is supported by a 5 percent increase, or 1.7 million more detections, in the third quarter than in the second quarter.

It has been evident all year that end users are no longer the attractive target for cyber criminals that they once were for new types of malware. The last quarter saw only a slight 4 percent increase in consumer detections, as evidenced by the decline of popular malware categories of the past such as adware, backdoors, miners, and ransomware.

However, a 39 percent increase in spyware detections shows a return to stealing and selling data, a common trend in the late 2000s and early 2010s before the flood of ransomware detections.

Core findings of the Cybercrime Tactics and Techniques Report:

- Banking Trojans represent a popular malware type for attackers, as they can be a direct source of financial revenue. 2018 has seen a steady increase in banking Trojan activity, with several new variants entering the market in the third quarter, as well as various developments of other well-known varieties.

- This is mainly due to an active emote campaign that started in August 2018 and shows no signs of stopping at this point. In addition, a number of other generic detections (e.g., Trojan.FakeMS) galvanized the Trojan category. However, it is Emotet that is primarily responsible for a resurgence in the malware category designed to steal financial information.

- Cryptomining continues to be a problem for both businesses and consumers, with the lowest detection rate recorded at just under 2 million, at least on the consumer side.

- However, Malwarebytes statistics show that crypto miners are no longer quantitatively the most common threat. This could also be due to the minimal difference between the price of Bitcoins and the cost of the mining process itself, even though cybercriminals do not intend to use their ownresources for the mining process.

- It seems to be a continuing trend that businesses are the new main target of attacks, rather than the end user. Malwarebytes observed an 88 percent increase in ransomware for its business customers, most of which were affected with GandCrab.

- Since the beginning of last year, consumer-facing ransomware attacks have continued to decline as it becomes increasingly clear to cybercriminals that attacking businesses is more profitable than attacking home users.

Q3 was largely devoid of much ransomware activity, at least compared to what Malwarebytes had detected in previous quarters. Looking at ransomware detection trends over the last year and a half, we see an overall downward trend in ransomware.

You can download the complete report with all datails here download

In 2018, around 8,000 Swiss employees from academic and non-academic backgrounds with an average age of mid-30s once again took part in the country's largest study of the most attractive employers. Some long-term trends were confirmed, but new findings also emerged. What is clear, however, is that Swiss employees are moving in a clear direction and employers should be aware of this. Some, as "Universe's data" shows, already are.

Google remains the most attractive employer for IT and business professionals. However, the IT giant was ousted from first place among engineers, with SBB now in first place.

A good two-thirds of the companies in the top 20 are headquartered in Switzerland! After Google, 6 Swiss companies occupy the top positions among business economists, led by Nestlé, Migros, SWISS and the Swatch Group. Swiss companies are also very well represented in the IT sector. Swisscom is the second most attractive employer for IT and Logitech, SBB, SWISS, UBS and Migros are all in the top 10.

Now, these rankings are of course a valuable indicator that these companies invest heavily in their employer attractiveness year after year, but they say much more about the current (and future!) climate among Swiss employees.

Trends in the Swiss labour market

In addition to the general preference of which employer is the best to work for, Universe's results also provided clear trends on the "why".

Earning a lot of money as quickly as possible, come what may, that was once the case. Today's employees have much higher or lower expectations - it all depends on the perspective. The generational shift in values has clearly arrived in the workplace. For example, things like the demand for respect or being team-oriented have risen dramatically, especially in the technical professions. In engineering and IT by around 10% compared to the previous year.

For the former group, it is also significantly more important than in 2017 to be able to combine personal interests with the job. IT professionals place particular value on a creative and dynamic working environment as well as on innovation. Professionals in the field of business administration show a similar, albeit not quite as striking, picture. Here, too, significantly more value is placed on creativity and innovation in the workplace, although attractive fringe benefits and the prospect of a high future salary still play a more important role than among the "techies".

All these movements already indicate that professionals today are less concerned with prestige and more with well-being and job satisfaction. The following movements confirm this: Engineers are less interested in the financial security of their professional future. The need for a superior who concretely supports one's professional development has decreased not only among engineers, but also among IT'ers (by over 10%).

In addition, employees in technical fields are less receptive to exchanging ideas with international clients or colleagues in the work environment. All this can generally be interpreted as a declining interest in a steep career.

Clear direction in terms of career ideas

If the above trends aren't enough to show that the current workforce is moving in a different direction than it was 10 years ago, the following findings will certainly bring definitive clarity. All of the groups of professionals mentioned have a significantly stronger interest in working autonomously and independently this year. At the same time, the desire for a managerial position has decreased dramatically in all respects. First and foremost among IT professionals, where this desire has dropped by a full 11%. If one considers that especially IT'ers are financially well off even in non-managerial positions, this is quite understandable. Employees in the IT sector earn on average 12'000CHF more per year than engineers. The financial incentive to climb the career ladder is thus slowly but surely being buried. What counts is the right environment, pleasant conditions and exciting, attractive and innovative projects.

These results are only confirmation of an already existing and much larger movement. Workers do not want a strong hierarchy, do not want to feel restricted at work and the priority is to do meaningful work. It is also about transparency, respect and balance in life. The job should not move closer to life as digitalization progresses, but the other way around.

Contemporary employers

Employers such as AXA or the Federal Administration have understood this and are already very successful in implementing some of these movements. These two employers, for example, are perceived as having particularly flexible working conditions. Furthermore, according to the professionals interviewed, the City of Zurich, SRG SSR, IKEA and Mobiliar are particularly supportive of gender equality.

The Federal Administration and the City of Zurich are recognised for 'Respect in the Workplace'. Mobiliar and Postfinance are specifically recognised as organisations with managers who promote the development of their employees.

Now, it's no secret that Switzerland may be a small country, but in terms of corporate strength, it's in the mix with the big boys. So what do our domestic trends and movements look like on a global scale? Employees in technical professions clearly favour factors such as innovation and creativity in the workplace, even on a global level, and also tend to be more often involved in challenging or meaningful tasks.

Global orientation

There are also global parallels in the economic professions. Job security and work-life balance are extremely important worldwide. As a difference to Swiss employees in economic professions, it can be said on a global level that professionals here are even more interested in managerial positions and are more likely to desire an international career. "The conclusion to be drawn from this is that the Swiss quality of work and life is definitely appreciated and is therefore reflected in the wishes and expectations of the employer," adds Leo Marty, who is responsible for the study.

Especially for younger generations, looking at global trends, fear of lack of work-life balance (Gen Y 36%) and high stress levels (Gen Z 58%) are just two of the reasons why employees are less and less interested in leadership positions or a great career. These same generations are also the most fearful of being stuck in a job with no opportunities for advancement. Overall, the current workforce - in Switzerland and around the world - is struggling to bring the values that matter to them to work. For employers, this means it's time for a workplace realignment.

Here is more information about the universe Professional Ranking and to the Global Ranking

The responsible use of AI is becoming increasingly important in the business environment - this is also shown by a current study by Forbes Insights. One thing is becoming increasingly clear: AI has an impact on the everyday lives of all consumers. This makes it all the more important to have an ethical framework, as Rumman Chowdhury, who is responsible for AI at Accenture Applied Intelligence, demands:

"Companies have begun to address concerns and missteps related to AI. This is a positive development, but it is not enough. What is needed are forward-looking, specific and technical guidelines for the development of AI systems that are secure, transparent, traceable and clearly assigned in terms of responsibilities. After all, this is the only way to avoid unexpected consequences and compliance challenges that harm individuals, business, and society. Data Scientists desperately need such policies."

Leading AI companies also recognize the connection between the successful use of this technology and analytics. Seventy-nine percent of these "leaders" say that analytics plays a critical role for AI in their company; only 14 percent of the previously less successful AI adopters say this.

"Those who have implemented AI understand that success with AI and success with analytics are closely related," said Oliver Schabenberger, COO and CTO of SAS. "For these companies, analytics already plays a central role in AI."

Ethics, a big word

According to the study, 70 percent of companies worldwide that already use AI conduct ethical training for their IT employees. Sixty-three percent even have ethics committees to evaluate their use of AI. The AI Momentum, Maturity and Models for Success study, conducted by Forbes Insights with support from SAS, Accenture Applied Intelligence and Intel, surveyed 305 business leaders worldwide, more than half of whom are chief information officers, chief technology officers or chief analytics officers.

The results show a clear correlation between thought leadership and ethical awareness. Companies that describe their AI implementation as successful are also at the forefront when it comes to taking responsibility for AI: 92 percent of leading AI companies (so-called AI "leaders") train their technology experts in ethical issues, compared to just 48 percent of companies that are not yet ready when it comes to AI use.

Trust is good, control is ...

A common - and false - assumption is that AI works without human involvement. The study clearly shows that leading AI companies see technology oversight as essential. Nearly three-quarters (74 percent) report at least weekly reviews of their AI results, while only 33 percent of AI "laggards" conduct such regular checks. Forty-three percent of AI "leaders" have a process in place to revise questionable results (only 28 percent of others do).

Overall, the report brings to light that control processes still have a long way to go before they can keep up with the advances of artificial intelligence.

It stands to reason that companies want to take action on ethical AI and maintain control over AI because they are aware that poor outcomes can reflect negatively on them. Of the companies already using AI or planning to do so, 60 percent say they are concerned about the impact of AI on customer interactions-whether that their actions signal less empathy or that customers may trust them less.

The most important results of the study at a glance:

- 46 percent of AI companies have already implemented the technology extensively. Other companies are still in the experimentation or prototype phase.

- Overall, 72 percent of companies are using AI in one or more business areas.

- Fifty-one percent of respondents using AI point to easier decision making, higher customer acquisition close rates, and increased operational productivity.

- 64 percent confirm that AI allows their employees to focus more on strategic than operational tasks.

Despite these positive effects, nearly 20 percent still feel significant resistance from their employees due to job concerns. 57 percent of employers express specific concerns about the impact AI could have on their relationship with their employees (because employees may feel threatened or overwhelmed).

The complete study (in English version) is available at here ready for download.

Since the Microsoft Ignite conference at the latest, it has become clear that Adobe, Microsoft and SAP are working more closely together to support their joint customers with the Open Data Initiative. Their customers thus benefit from a common approach and a set of resources based on three guiding principles:

• Every company owns and maintains complete, immediate control over all of its data.
• Customers can use AI-driven business processes to derive key insights and information from unified behavioral and operational data.
• A broad partner ecosystem should be able to leverage an open and scalable data model to extend the solution.

Based on these principles, the Open Data Initiative focuses on eliminating data silos and enabling a single view of the customer. Companies are helped to better manage their data and drive privacy and security initiatives.

Together, they help companies gain meaningful insights from their data. With the ability to better connect data across the enterprise, companies can more easily leverage AI and advanced analytics for real-time insights.

Adobe also announced several new features in Adobe Experience Cloud. For more information and links, see below.

- Adobe Analytics introduces new virtual analyst:

Based on Adobe Sensei, AI and machine learning will allow companies to create great value from the mountains of data they sit on.

Critical insights hidden deep in the data automatically become visible without the user having to ask. The analyst gets smarter over time as it learns from user behavior and delivers more relevant insights (Read more here).

- Innovations within the Adobe Experience Platform:

Innovations in the Adobe Experience Platform, formerly the Adobe Cloud Platform, enable brands to perform advanced analytics on customer data sets, improve the mobile experience, create custom data models, and manage data more effectively.

Adobe also announced its open-source approach to Experience Data Models, which gives data scientists the speed and flexibility they need to deliver personalized experiences (Read more here).

- Simplified content management for IT: Focused on improving flexibility, scalability and speed for IT pros, Adobe announced its industry-first Single Page Application Editor and enhancements to Cloud Manager for DevOps within Adobe Experience Manager (Read more here).

Technology leaders from leading retail and consumer goods companies such as The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever and Walmart have expressed support and enthusiasm for the Open Data initiative.

The Swiss Management Association was founded in 1961 from the Swiss Institute of Business Administration (BWI) and the ETH Swiss Management Association (SMG). With 1200 leading decision-makers in the Swiss economy, it represents a significant association. Through its networking and platform function, the SMG serves as a source of inspiration for entrepreneurs, C-level executives and board members dealing with strategic and operational management issues as part of its event.

At the 55th Forum, not only courageous captains of industry but also illustrious guests from the worlds of fashion, religion and science had their say.

Ilaria Venturini Fendi: "Luxury with social responsibility."

The fashion entrepreneur, designer and organic farmer has made a break with fast fashion for more sustainability. Ilaria Venturini Fendi comes from the famous Fendi family. The fashion company was sold to the LVMH group in 2001, and she herself left in 2003. Looking back, she was bothered by the fact that everything was happening faster and faster:

"Today, collections are out of date as soon as they are launched. Globalization did its part - along with the financial world, which grew together with fashion." In 2006 she founded Carmina Campus and from then on still produced fashion, but new as sustainable products paired with social projects. She was able to take up her old craft again - but with a different perspective and purpose. So today the products are made from recycled materials in Africa or Italian prisons, among other places.

"High-quality luxury from sustainable products combined with social projects is not a contradiction." Ethical products are the result. This is "not charity, just work", emphasises the entrepreneur.

Kamila Markram: "We need to make science publicly accessible."

Kamila Markram is co-founder and CEO of Frontiers and a neuroscientist and autism researcher at EPF Lausanne. She is convinced that science saves lives. Science, she says, has positively impacted lives time and time again. For example, 1.1 billion lives have been saved through blood transfusions.

Today there are eight million researchers in the world. New discoveries are being made all the time. The bad news is that this cycle is blocked by the way research results are published: Of the 2.4 million research papers published each year, 80% to 90% are hidden behind paywalls. Researchers themselves do not get access to these scientific journals. They have an embargo of one year. This leads to 2.4 million years of delays caused by this.

To put an end to this, Frontiers was founded as an open science platform. Everyone has access to this data worldwide. Sponsors and the universities pay for the papers to be published publicly. These are also reviewed. Frontiers now employs 444 people in seven countries. Plus 90,000 scribes and reviewers who contribute as part-timers. According to Kamila Markram, the platform aims to solve the world's four challenges:

The 20,000 diseases that have not yet been cured, food for all people, enough energy for all people and a healthy planet. There is hope, says Kamila Markram: "Science has already saved the earth several times. The immense progress has been achieved despite severely limited access to data. What we need to do is make science publicly available. That should lead to an acceleration of innovation."

Richard Coles: "Values that lead people to resilience and sustainability should provide stability in dynamic change."

Reverend Richard Coles (pictured) is now a minister and BBC radio announcer. In his youth he was a member of the pop band "The Communards", which produced several top 10 hits - including "Don't Leave Me This Way", the best-selling single in the UK charts in 1986. It was an unusual career to become a minister in the Anglican Church. It was for him journey back to his own origins. At the age of 40 he entered a monastery. He wanted to learn about people's fears and needs. "This is the place to address the big questions of life." On the subject of "losing touch" with traditional values and whether money is the new religion, he said, "I don't think money is a new religion. Money is a tool that can be used positively or negatively."

The business model of the church is not wrong, he says, it is not a business model at all. He wants to change the church from within. "The church represents the traditional and conservative, but also has very important messages. Values that lead people to resilience and sustainability should give stability in dynamic change."

Risto Siilasmaa: "We talked about the behavior that creates the most successful environment possible."

Risto Siilasmaa has been Chairman of Nokia Corporation since 2012. He has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2008 and has therefore experienced the entire crisis of the Finnish company. "Connecting people" was the long-standing slogan of the technology company Nokia, until it lost its global market leadership. The company is already 150 years old. It also made televisions, PCs, tires and cleaning cloths. In 2008, Nokia had a 50 percent share of the global mobile phone market.

When Risto Siilasmaa became president of Nokia in 2012, the company was suffering a loss of two billion a year. People were already predicting the date of bankruptcy. Today Nokia is a different company. Throughout the transformation, an extremely large number of administrative meetings were held. Risto Siilasmaa:

"Through strong collaborative work, new trust emerged. We talked about the behaviors that would create the most successful environment possible." "Golden rules" were developed by the board, for example: "A board meeting where we don't laugh out loud is a miserable failure."

Risto Siilasmaa wrote a book so that all employees could see what mistakes had been made. Nokia now has an open space and open door policy.

Bernard "Bernie" Ecclestone: "Trusting people is easy when they do what they say."

Bernard "Bernie" Ecclestone was Formula 1 boss for 40 years. An entrepreneur "by instinct". After starting his career with a gas/petrol company, he later sold motorcycles and established the largest distribution network for motorcycle and car manufacturers in Kent. He diversified into real estate and began his involvement in motorcycle racing.

From the age of 16 he raced motorcycles, and later cars. Then he ran the Lotus F2 team and later bought the Connaught Formula One team and Brabham. In 1972 he virtually took over Formula One and in 1987 sold Brabham to devote himself entirely to the commercial development of the sport. He single-handedly transformed Formula One from an expensive hobby for wealthy racers into the global, multi-billion dollar business and most popular annual sporting event in the world that it is today.

Looking back, he experienced his life opportunistically, "I don't care what next week is. I deal with things when they're there and take the opportunities." Nor would he do anything differently: "I have no regrets. I always consider right from the start if it's worth it." He says you have to understand yourself, keep both feet on the ground and do the best you can: "That also means staying normal. Whatever I organized, I did myself."

He experienced resigning after so long as easy: "I was dismissed." He said it was easy for him to trust other people, "It's easy when they do what they say." As for the future, he explained, "As long as a sport entertains the audience, it will survive."

How to stay personally connected in the future

"Losing touch" was nothing new, it was just often suppressed, explains Wolfgang J. Pfund, Head of Human Resources and Logistics at Suva. Bosses had gathered employees around them and then thought they were in good contact and a relationship. Pfund: "There is a great opportunity to become more honest. The topic of being in a relationship is the topic of tomorrow."

This includes, for example, not losing the break culture. But arguing without hurting is also an important part of the relationship. - Allowing emotions, becoming tangible, standing by them when things are not going so well.

"Customers are increasingly flexible and always want new things. Then companies experience that employees have new needs and values for a variety of reasons," says Thomas Vollmoeller, CEO XING and Chairman of kununu GmbH. He advocates embracing change, seeing change in a positive light and actively shaping it yourself.

"Losing touch" has a lot to do with trust, says Antoinette Weibel, Professor of Human Resources Management at the University of St. Gallen. Companies tend to slide towards mistrust because management strongly believes in (success) figures. It is her task to show how much money can be lost if there is a lack of trust. She recommends humility and the ability to listen, to engage with others, to be pro-active and to get involved. Hire people who can and are allowed to disagree.

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