A project team at IFZ examined the potential for a Swiss FinTech centre in comparison to the international context. So-called hubs were created in a ranking for FinTech centres. This shows that the industry finds very good framework conditions in this country: Out of 27 cities surveyed, Zurich and Geneva are ranked second and third behind first-placed Singapore. Compared to Singapore, the two cities still have some catching up to do, particularly in the economic and technological dimensions.

Important drivers

The ranking is based on 68 indicators that show the framework conditions in terms of the political and legal, economic, social and technological environment. Among other things, political stability, the efficiency of the authorities, access to credit and venture capital, the number of science and technology graduates, and access to and use of information and communication technology were taken into account.

Zurich goes FinTech

The good framework conditions are paying off: "The Swiss FinTech scene continued to grow in 2016," says Thomas Ankenbrand, project manager of the "IFZ FinTech Study 2017". Last year, 190 companies were active in this country, as illustrated by the database specially compiled by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, which lists FinTech companies with business headquarters in Switzerland. Compared to 2015, this corresponds to an increase of 17 percent.

In terms of the number of domiciled companies, Zurich has strengthened its top position with now 84 (up 12) FinTech companies, followed by Zug with 29 (up 8) and Geneva with 19 (up 6). "Despite the increasing number of FinTech companies, industry associations and support programs, this growth has not yet been fully translated into new jobs or higher company valuations. The FinTech industry in Switzerland therefore still has a lot of growth potential," says Ankenbrand.

Orientation remains international

The Swiss market alone is too small for most FinTech business models. As a result, the global orientation and specialisation of Swiss FinTech companies increased further last year, as the study shows. Around 60 percent of the companies pursue an international business-to-business business model. This means they are often specialist global suppliers to established financial services companies. Incubators/accelerators and venture capitalists also operate internationally.

Therefore, it will be important for the further growth of the Swiss FinTech industry that, on the one hand, products and services can be exported globally and, on the other hand, global access to talented employees and venture capital is guaranteed. Furthermore, the regulatory environment must continue to be dynamically adapted to upcoming developments. "Otherwise, many companies will no longer be able to work the global market from Switzerland," says Ankenbrand.

FinTech companies not banks

Finally, the project team has examined the general assumption that FinTech companies would fundamentally compete with banks. The researchers conclude that in most cases, the companies cooperate with banks or are their suppliers. In addition, the revenue models of FinTech businesses have shifted in the past year towards licensing fees and SaaS (software-as-a-service), as is common for technology-driven business models.

The typical revenue models of the established financial companies have little significance for the FinTech companies (interest and trading transactions) or are losing relevance (commission transactions). "The companies are therefore supporting the banks in their digitisation efforts as an innovative spearhead, rather than directly competing with them," says Ankenbrand. (Source: HSLU)

You can find further results from the "IFZ FinTech Study 2017" in this Link

The entire 125-page study (in English) costs CHF 290 and can be ordered at ifz@hslu.ch.

They say happy employers perform better. (Image: depositphotos_minverva)

The ADP study times where the happiest employees work. Below are the top five European countries by worker satisfaction:

1. Netherlands (76%)
2. Poland (74%)
3. Switzerland (73%)
4. Spain (71%)
5. United Kingdom, France and Germany (68%)

Different criteria

Despite high job satisfaction, 86% of Polish employees would consider a career opportunity in another country - compared to 54% of respondents in France, who generally report lower satisfaction and optimism than Polish employees. These results are interesting in terms of employment figures. For example, unemployment is staggeringly high at 18.9% in Spain. High job satisfaction is likely to be a direct result of comparative job security.

German employees are the most confident about the future of work. 83% of them are optimistic. The UK recorded the largest decline compared to last year (76% vs. 81%). As the UK is one of the strongest economies in Europe with high employment levels, the EU referendum result is probably to blame for this fall.

Demographic change

Younger workers tend to display higher levels of optimism, with 85% of 16-24 year olds optimistic about the future of work, compared to an overall average of 78%. This falls to 72% in the 55+ age group - suggesting that optimism declines with age.

Satisfied areas

Meanwhile, the telecommunications and IT industry is emerging as the most satisfied industry of all. 79% of workers report being satisfied. In contrast, only 65% of workers in the retail, hospitality and leisure industries reported being satisfied.

Sebastien Moyon, Service Delivery Director at ADP Switzerland, comments, "It has long been recognised that employee satisfaction has a huge impact on production. Organisations need to make sure their employees are happy, engaged and satisfied in their roles."

For more information, please read the study "The Workers' View in Europe 2017" under this Link

www.adp.ch

The Wilken new building "Ulmerflieger" in Ulm. (Image: pressnrelations)

The certification of the Wilken data centre itself ran smoothly for the most part. Within the scope of the effectiveness audit, during which the auditor from TÜV Saarland e.V. closely examined all processes on site, no notable deficits were identified and only minor suggestions for improvement were made. "Such a precision landing is extremely rare, because there are usually discrepancies between the requirements and the lived processes. However, the Wilken computer centre has already internalised security thinking to a very large extent," is the verdict of Holger Heimann, Managing Director of the Ulm-based IT security specialist it.sec, which acted as consultant throughout the certification process.

Comprehensive testing

The certification process comprises two steps. In "Stage 1", the auditor checks whether the required documentation of all measures and processes is complete and sufficient. In Stage 2, the auditor then verifies on site whether the written descriptions correspond to the actual reality. This is then checked again in annual re-audits. While ISO/IEC 27001 primarily focuses on organizational measures, the TÜV Level 3 audit concentrates on the structural and technical measures required for the highest level of IT security.

As a participant in UP KRITIS (KRITIS Implementation Plan), the public-private cooperation for the protection of "critical infrastructures", Wilken is also involved in the implementation and further development of measures to improve cyber and IT security.

www.wilken.de/

Mobile data traffic is driven by explosive growth. This is being shaped by the transition from 4G to 5G. Cisco anticipates highly scaled deployments of 5G infrastructure starting in 2020. Mobile network operators need the high speeds, low latency, and dynamic provisioning capabilities of 5G networks to meet new mobile service trends and higher customer demands.

Cisco predicts that by 2021, 1.5 percent of all mobile data traffic will already be carried over 5G connections. In doing so, they will generate 4.7 times more traffic than average 4G connections and 10.7 times more than 3G. The Cisco study highlights:

Data traffic will increase sevenfold worldwide in the next five years, and sixfold in Western Europe.

"Traffic" milestones through 2021:

• 20 percent of all IP traffic is mobile - up from 8 percent in 2016.
• There will be 1.5 mobile devices per capita of the world's population, nearly 12 billion in total, including M2M modules - up from 8 billion / 1.1 per capita in 2016.
• The average speed of mobile networks will increase threefold from 6.8 to 20.4 Mb/s.
• M2M connections will represent 29 percent (3.3 billion) of all mobile networking - up from 5 percent in 2016.
• 4G accounts for 58 percent of all mobile connections (2016: 26 percent) and 79 percent of all mobile traffic.
• More than half of mobile devices will be smartphones (including "phablets", larger mobile devices) (6.2 billion, 2016: 3.6 billion).

Developments in Western Europe

In Western Europe, mobile data traffic will increase sixfold between 2016 and 2021. This means that mobile data volume will grow twice as fast as that of fixed wireline networks. Smartphones will be responsible for three quarters (75 percent) of mobile traffic in this region by the end of 2021.

Currently, about 371.1 million Western Europeans (89 percent) own a mobile device. The small increase to 380.7 million in five years clearly shows saturation. Today, each user generates 1.88 megabytes per month; in 2021, it will be 9.8 megabytes per month.

Various video applications

In Western Europe, an above-average increase is expected for videos: Their share of mobile data volume will increase from 61 percent in 2016 to 80 percent in 2021. M2M data traffic will increase 12-fold in Western Europe and will then account for one-tenth (11 percent) of mobile traffic. In five years, there will be around 160 million wearables in Western Europe, of which 10.5 million will be connected to a mobile phone.

Rising video penetration:

(live videos, virtual and augmented reality, wearables)

• Mobile video will increase 8.7-fold between 2016 and 2021 - with the highest rate of increase of any mobile app - and will represent 78 percent of all mobile traffic.
• Mobile live video is growing 39-fold and will represent 5 percent of all mobile video traffic by 2021.

Trend towards Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)

• The number of VR headsets is increasing fivefold from 18 million in 2016 to nearly 100 million in 2021.
• In the same period, global VR traffic increases 11-fold.
• AR traffic will grow sevenfold between 2016 and 2021.

Wearables drive M2M growth

• From 2016 to 2021, the number of wearables worldwide will increase from 325 to 929 million - almost three times.
• By then, 69 million wearables will have integrated cellular connectivity, up from 11 million in 2016.

Traffic offload to Wi-Fi networks

• Mobile data traffic offload on Wi-Fi networks will increase from 60 to 63 percent from 2016 to 2021.
• The number of public Wi-Fi hotspots (including homespots) worldwide increases sixfold from 94.0 to 541.6 million over the same period.

For more information on the "Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI)" (by country and region), see this Link

In the digital age, many things are changing - especially in business. This unsettles many managers. Because they are confronted with completely new challenges and questions in the networked world: What impact does the increasing complexity and networking have on leadership? What kind of leadership behavior will be required in the future? How can I inspire my employees - and especially the digital natives - for me, my ideas and my plans? And: Is leadership still in demand in the VUCA world?

VUCA - not a phrase

VUCA is an abbreviation for: Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. In a nutshell, these are exactly the conditions in which managers have to make decisions today. It is obvious that the demands on the executive have changed dramatically in recent years and that the staccato of change is drumming ever more extremely on executives.

Managers must be able to deal with the digital reality; unfortunately, justified fears of failure often find no place in everyday business life. Answers to fundamental questions are provided to executives and (project) managers, HR managers and consultants in the new book by management consultant Barbara Liebermeister "Digital ist egal: Mensch bleibt Mensch - Führung entscheidet". In it, the founder and director of the Institute for Leadership Culture in the Digital Age (IFIDZ), Frankfurt, provides readers with the certainty:

Orientation important

There is no need to panic. Because in the modern, digital world, many things change, but not everything: people remain people, and leadership must change, but is more in demand than ever. Because the more diffuse, unstable and change-ridden the corporate environment is, the more employees long for stability and orientation. And the more "soulless" the technologies used are, the more they want an emotional leader who is at the same time a role model, a source of impulses and ideas, and a motivator for them.

Successful leaders

The leader of tomorrow, according to Liebermeister's credo, is empathetic and an excellent networker. The author creates meaning and inspires people with her personality for ideas and visions. Because she is convinced: The relationships with and between people and not the technologies are the central success factor in the 21st century. In the digital age, people are finally taking center stage.

Further information about the book and the author can be found on Amazon and on the IFIDZ website. www.ifidz.de

Big Data and Data Mining are becoming increasingly important. In the face of fierce market competition, only companies that react quickly to current market events will survive. Companies that use big data as a source of information are particularly efficient.

Big Data comprises data from different sources, which are available in different formats and are constantly updated. However, they can hardly be processed into usable results with conventional means: relational databases fail due to the volume of data and ETL processes are too slow and have difficulties with the diverse data formats.

The complexity of the data can therefore only be managed efficiently with the use of special Big Data technologies. The entry into Big Data processing always begins with scenarios of how data can help improve business processes or change business models. Once the projects have been identified, it must be clarified whether all the necessary information is available. If this is not the case, it is important to tap into new data sources - such as newsletters, landing pages, social media, Google Analytics or online portals and databases.

Now the data can be prepared, analyzed and graphically displayed with tools. However, there is no single tool that covers all functions. Only the linking of different solutions allows the adjustment to the individual needs.

Five tips for Big Data projects

• Department heads and specialists define which results are to be achieved.
• Data experiments reveal interesting correlations, yielding new insights.
• The data can be prepared with metadata without adapting the data source.
• The traceability of data models should be guaranteed at all times.
• Use available Big Data technologies instead of developing your own solutions

According to the KPMG Forensic Fraud Barometer, 57 white-collar crime cases were handled in Swiss courts in 2016. These cases in the area of white-collar crime caused damage of CHF 1.4 billion. The Barometer, which analyzes court cases heard in public and published in the media every year, thus records an inglorious record. Compared with 2015, the extremely high volume of damage is striking:

This rose from CHF 280 million to CHF 1.4 billion. The all-time high is primarily due to a case with a claims volume of CHF 800 million and three cases with a volume of over CHF 125 million each.

The average loss amount for investors was CHF 165 m, for the state alone. CHF 13 m

The KPMG "Forensic Fraud Barometer" is based on white-collar crime cases with a loss amount of at least CHF 50,000 that were tried by a Swiss criminal court in the year under review and reported on in the most important Swiss daily and weekly newspapers.

economic crime rate

The total loss of over CHF 1.4 billion is the highest level since KPMG began collecting data, with the public sector being particularly affected, but investors (private and institutional) were also massively damaged in 2016. KPMG emphasizes: "Independent investment advisors and foreign exchange dealers often acted as delinquents in these cases."

In the previous year, private individuals and non-commercial organisations suffered the most from economic crime.

Example: Embezzlement

In another case, the chairman of the board of directors, the former managing director and a client advisor of the custodian bank of an investment firm embezzled around CHF 170 million. As a result, 2,500 clients were harmed.

Danger from managers

The most frequent offences in the area of white-collar crime in the past year were commercial or simple fraud. The motivation for the perpetrators was often to finance a lavish lifestyle (13 cases) or to avert the bankruptcy of their own company (7 cases). In the case of white-collar crime, executives pose the greatest danger due to their internal position and scope for action in companies:

Thus, in 58 percent of all cases, management alone was responsible for the acts and in a further 21% of the cases, management was involved together with employees.

Accordingly, active prevention work in the organizations would be important, comments Philippe Fleury, Head of Forensics at KPMG Switzerland, on the Barometer results.

Bribery and corruption weaken the economy, the state and society. Business leaders and politicians are aware that progress in the fight against illicit money flows is only possible with cooperation between the public and private sectors.

Promote cooperation

For companies, the fight against such misconduct has become even more challenging in recent years. First, because a growing number of governments have tightened or newly introduced anti-corruption regulations. Secondly, the fight against corruption has become more difficult in the globalized world because internationally operating companies have to deal with different corruption risks locally. KPMG's Anti Bribery & Corruption practice has a network of 3,000 dedicated specialists in 50 countries and can help companies and organizations prevent or respond effectively to illegal business practices.

More facts from the KPMG Forensic Fraud Barometer can be found in this Link

The history of ISO began in 1946 when delegates from 25 countries gathered in London to discuss the future of standardization. The then Austrian Standards Institute (ASI) and the Swiss Standards Association were founding members. The purpose of the young organization was to facilitate the coordination and standardization of the standards developed by its member organizations.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO for short, from the Greek ἴσος isos, German 'gleich') is the international association of standardization organizations and develops international standards in all fields except electrics and electronics, for which the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is responsible, and except telecommunications, for which the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is responsible.

These founding principles still apply today. The ISO family now has 163 members from almost every country in the world. Standardization has come a long way and ISO International Standards, which now cover almost all aspects of technology and business, will continue to ensure positive change in an evolving world.

Historical standards

After the organization was founded, 67 expert groups (technical committees) were set up in specific technical fields such as screw threads, marine technology, foodstuffs, textiles, varnishes and laboratory equipment with a mandate to develop international standards. This led in 1951 to the first ISO standard (then called "recommendations"), ISO / R1: 1951, the standard reference temperature for industrial length measurements.

Since then, the ISO portfolio has expanded to include over 22,000 standards that support all the major technological, environmental and social changes that have taken place in the world.

"For 70 years, ISO has made standards that have shaped our history and accompanied the world's greatest innovations. From the standardization of materials, components and equipment for the aerospace industry to the measurement of environmental pollutants, from the establishment of a management system to ensure food safety in the supply chain to the creation of guidelines for human-robot interaction, the need for international standardization has always been developed with the needs of industry and society ", says ISO President Dr. Zhang Xiaogang.

Expansion of the community

ISO has worked hard over the years to broaden its stakeholder base with organizations and users in developing countries, for example.

Societal parameters such as improved satisfaction and greater safety for consumers provide key specifications for standards. The inclusion of social insights in standards development is therefore essential, as these real-world perspectives help to ensure that issues such as quality and safety are adequately addressed. The importance of consumer protection thus received support with the ISO Committee on Consumer Policy (ISO / COPOLCO) as early as 1978.

With regard to current developments, standards will remain important in order to be able to regulate climate change or water scarcity across national borders, or to manage cyber security or human migration in order to optimise international action and integrated management.

Many evidenced points have recently been adopted by the United Nations as part of its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, cf. 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

"The ISO community has many standards that can help organizations and companies address their agenda," says the ISO president. "We are ready to provide efficient tools to help different communities around the world address these challenges."

www.iso.org

Products that approach artificial intelligence are now widely spread, as Apple's Siri assistant, Microsoft's Cortana assistant or IBM's Watson program show. Meanwhile, SMEs also have to deal with newer developments because, for example, voice or image recognition programs or digital assistants can also handle volumes of data in their areas.

Digital payload

"It is possible for large companies to buy in the technologies and use them as software packages," says Jana Koehler, a specialist in artificial intelligence in the Department of Computer Science at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Nevertheless, "Swiss SMEs often lack the money, knowledge and manpower to tailor the programs to their needs." In addition to the licensing costs for the software packages, there are further costs to train the software and integrate it into the company's IT.

The electronic colleague must be able to access data and be integrated into the work steps of the human colleagues.

Cognitive services for SMEs

"Artificial intelligence solutions will change the division of labour between humans and machines," says Jana Koehler. That's why her research team from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and the IT service provider UMB AG in Cham have joined forces in the "Cognitive Services for SMEs" project to play through what changes an implementation of artificial intelligence will mean for companies.

Assistant prototype

With the prototype of an intelligent assistant for an IT service desk, the team analyses process flows and develops solutions for the tasks that cognitive services can take over. Together with UMB, the team from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts selects cognitive technologies and implements the intelligent assistant. UMB additionally provides data and knowledge in customer support.

Software companies such as Microsoft, Amazon and IBM offer cognitive technologies directly as services in the cloud on their websites. One service recognizes language, for example, one can translate text, a third searches the archive for texts with similar content, and a fourth makes the computer talk. "The programs need data tailored to them and must first learn how to perform their tasks in the company," says Jana Koehler.

For the research project, Jana Koehler's team divided the work steps of an IT service desk into small steps: The texts of the incoming emails have to be analyzed. What kind of problem is it? Has a similar one already been solved? How urgent is the situation - has a critical software system failed, or has an employee just forgotten his password? What area does the request fall into? Who is the best contact person for the customer? Accordingly, the wizard creates a ticket, analyzes the request, solves simple problems itself and immediately forwards urgent and difficult ones to the expert.

In the beginning, such an assistant needs help from human colleagues, but over time it learns to solve more and more queries on its own by drawing on knowledge and information sources.

In doing so, the assistant must adapt to the customer and correctly receive their requests. This assignment poses challenges.

"Tit for tat"

Technologies already exist that recognize a person's mood. But Jana Koehler also reports on a program that reacted to harsh formulations with equally harsh responses. The computer could only respond in a mirror image - and had to be taken off the market after 24 hours. "The use of cognitive services must be controlled," says Jana Koehler. "Otherwise, the risk is far too great."

Please find further information about the research project of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts here

Marc Ziegler, Country Manager of Sage Switzerland: "The diamond partnership with TREUHAND|SUISSE is very important for Sage. It allows us to strengthen our network in the fiduciary sector and further expand our market position. After all, fiduciaries are among the central key players in our economy. We want to initiate an even stronger transfer of know-how here, so that SMEs and fiduciaries can emerge from the digital transformation as entrepreneurial winners".

With 2,400 trustees, Sage is one of the market-leading providers of fiduciary software in Switzerland. The software company offers solutions for trustees and SMEs that allow different forms of collaboration depending on the level of digital maturity and enable trustees in particular to achieve positive economies of scale in their collaboration with their clients.

Advantages for TREUHAND|SUISSE members

TREUHAND|SUISSE members should be able to act close to the needs of their clients, both within the framework of existing software solutions and in the use of new technologies. The close exchange between the fiduciary companies that have joined together under Treuhand Suisse and the market leader Sage is valuable and welcome for both sides.

Among other things, the members of the association receive discounted access to the software solutions for fiduciaries, with which they can optimally accompany their clients in the digital transformation. The 2000 members of the association benefit from 50% discount on software subscriptions from Sage in the first year. These include the specific fiduciary solutions Fiduciary Start and Fiduciary Extra, which include updates, support and back-ups as standard.

Furthermore, trustees receive discounts on Sage Academy training courses in the first year of subscription.

Further links: www.treuhandsuisse.ch and www.sage-treuhand.ch

Cathy Orner joined CWT in 2006 as Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer. In her new role, she is responsible for ensuring global business continuity - including client data protection, crisis planning and overall crisis management.

24/7 resilience

"A key part of CWT's digital transformation is to create a personalized travel experience for customers through technology innovation," says Andrew Jordan, CWT's Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. To do this 24 hours a day, seven days a week, CWT needs the highest level of business resilience.

Therefore, potential risks must be identified and averted on an ongoing basis. Cathy Orner's experience in the individual areas of responsibility of the new position makes her the ideal candidate.

Many sector managers were interested in maintenance Switzerland 2017, for example Sandro Maciocia, Head of Service Sales and Account Management at ABB Switzerland AG. (Image: zVg).

With 2,512 visitors and 142 exhibitors, organiser Easyfairs succeeded in achieving an optimal result over two days of the trade fair (8-9 February). The focus was on the future-oriented topic of "Digitalization" in conjunction with "Industry 4.0.

Smart on the move with tablet and smartphone, virtually networked with colleagues and collaboratively active on social networks: the world of maintenance has clearly changed and - for example, according to Stefan Frefel, Managing Director of Bilfinger Industrial Services Schweiz AG - has already arrived "in the middle of the industrial revolution 4.0".

New technologies

Anyone who visited maintenance Schweiz 2017 from 8 to 9 February noticed that predictive analyses have recently become the order of the day. The areas of "condition-based maintenance" and "predictive maintenance" are currently the main topics of discussion for maintenance professionals. Instead of carrying out preventive maintenance at fixed intervals, in future the development of a technical system will be continuously monitored on the basis of software - in order to be able to draw up forecasts for the further course and effective, cost-optimised maintenance plans.

A trade fair for experts

Maintenance specialists were able to address the exhibitors' experts with specific questions. In doing so, they received solution-oriented input for their operational practice. For many Swiss companies, digitalisation has only just begun: "Many manufacturing companies are still in the early stages of development," is the experience of Sandro Maciocia, Head of Service Sales and Account Management at ABB Switzerland Ltd.

An exhibition platform like maintenance Switzerland is exactly the right place to discuss concrete steps towards digitisation and to jointly implement suitable solutions at product, system or site level. For the time being, the focus is on how data can be cleanly collected and analysed. The next step would be to consider how intelligent and sensible measures could be based on this, some experts said. Digitalization is also an opportunity for SMEs that want to orient themselves across departments and industries.

The next maintenance Switzerland will take place from 7 to 8 February 2018 in Zurich, parallel to SOLIDS (bulk solids).