Berlin-based brand protection software provider Sentryc GmbH conducted a qualitative survey in 2022 involving companies from the IT sector, construction and mechanical engineering, the automotive industry and the financial services sector, among others. According to the survey, the annual damage caused by product counterfeiting is mostly between one million and 50 million euros. More than 60 percent said that copies of their products had already been in circulation, which poses a potential risk to end customers. The good news is that thanks to the active use of brand protection software, fraudsters detected a not inconsiderable proportion of the counterfeits.

Four currents under observation

As expected, the real and digital worlds will merge even further in 2023. As a result, consumers will encounter more and more online spaces. But the further development of virtual shopping also opens up new avenues for plagiarists. This poses a challenge to brand manufacturers, the industry and those involved in trademark law. Four essential developments and the resulting courses of action are summarized in the following currents developed by Sentryc GmbH.

• Stream 1: Creator with Counterfeits: Fakes in Social Commerce: Due to the growing popularity of social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Facebook, companies are increasingly selling their products directly via these channels and implementing dedicated social commerce strategies. Hyped products promote their own shopping dynamics. Coveted products advertised via social media attract counterfeiters. The accounts of the product pirates - social bots controlled by software algorithms - use the same hashtags as the sellers of the originals to draw attention to their fake products and fake stores. Superapps such as WeChat or Aliplay also offer room for imitators. In addition to messenger functions, these apps cover e-commerce and payment features. Due to their almost closed system including payment processing, they serve as a lucrative platform for counterfeit products. Pirate copiers exploit the complex and non-transparent structure of this app for their own purposes. Superapps have so far been found primarily in the Asian region, but the path to the German market has already been mapped out. To provide support from the political side, the EU is planning a new law with the Digital Services Act (DSA). The regulation obliges platform providers to establish the identity of traders and ban illegal, reported products. It calls on manufacturers to take targeted measures themselves to protect their brands in all relevant countries. They are supported by brand protection software that monitors social media and reports suspicious products.
• Stream 2: Fakes and Brand Abuse in the Metaverse: In the meantime, many brands are pushing into Web 3.0 and establishing presences on various platforms. The metaverse offers brand manufacturers enormous sales potential, but some of the new design spaces must first be opened up from a legal, regulatory and social perspective. In terms of cybercrime and fraud, they are more defenseless and vulnerable to damage than other digital platforms. Closing security gaps is of great importance. How can the next stage of the Internet be sustainably secured? It is imperative that intellectual property owners seek legal advice on whether to register their trademarks for virtual products and services, for example. It is also advisable to monitor online environments for infringements. Because monitoring various platforms involves considerable effort, far-sighted companies allocate a legal budget for the Web3 in addition to a marketing budget.
• Stream 3: Conscious purchase decisions for counterfeits: A recent study says that especially 26-32 year olds would buy counterfeit products. (1) Reason: the lower price. By buying counterfeits, consumers accept lower quality. Even if the knowledge about a purchased counterfeit is available, the complete knowledge about the phenomenon of plagiarism rarely resonates in the purchase decision: From the supply chain to the procurement of raw materials to distribution, people and the environment suffer from the precarious conditions, and end consumers ultimately feel the qualitative and health consequences. In order to counteract the threat to human rights, climate protection and health and to bring about a change, comprehensive information is provided to educate buyers. Legally, the responsibility lies with the manufacturer and brand owner. That is why Nicole Jasmin Hofmann, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Sentryc GmbH, recommends including detailed information on the consequences of counterfeit products in your brand communication. The information is spread via press relations, articles on websites and partner online stores.
• Stream 4: Risk management will play a greater role in business: In the risk field between cyber incidents, loss of reputation as well as fraud, trademark infringements play an increasingly large role. Companies know that plagiarism and brand abuse have an impact on sales. In order to prevent corporate misjudgement of the risk, internal transparency is becoming more important. The following assumption applies here: As soon as a product is in demand on the market, there is an economic interest in copying it. It is therefore important to take advantage of the many technical, mechanical and process-related options available as early as the production stage in order to make counterfeiting more difficult. Distribution of production steps among different production sites, unique identification features such as watermarks, and software- and AI-supported monitoring of trading places and sales markets represent some of the methods. Companies should check whether they are doing everything they can in terms of security and due diligence to prevent fakes, and critically question their risk management and prevention measures. Legal departments should also pay more attention to this topic in the future.

Conclusion: Stay one step ahead of product counterfeiters

To prevent losses due to product counterfeiting, manufacturers and brand owners must take active action against plagiarism. In-house legal departments or criminal charges filed may help in the aftermath, but by then the copy is already moving on the market. As the results of the study mentioned at the beginning of this article show, a rethink is currently taking place in the review of the market situation and in the enforcement of product and brand rights. Now it is a matter of continuously monitoring the online market and new channels in order to stay one step ahead of plagiarists.

(1) https://www.ey.com/de_de/forms/download-forms/2022/07/ey-studie-produktpiraterie

Source: Sentryc

ISO 9001 for quality management, ISO 14001 for the environment, ISO 27001 for information security, ISO 50001 for energy management: virtually every discipline has its own management system. Quite a few companies operate these systems side by side. The result: a high level of documentation and sometimes redundant - sometimes even contradictory - information. It's obvious that you don't burst into raptures when another audit is due.

One solution is offered by so-called integrated management systems (IMS). Such a system combines the requirements of several "large" management systems such as those mentioned above. Another advantage of such IMSs lies in their uniform systematics, which is based on the Harmonised Structure (HS) and also takes into account the process landscapes of the respective organizations. Processes, responsibilities and documentation are thus regulated across all topics and departments.

There are many examples of how companies work with IMS in practice. However, there is hardly any research work on the application of IMS in German-speaking countries. The Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, in collaboration with SQS, the Swiss Association for Standardization (SNV) and other partners in the DACH region, now wants to change this situation. In a first phase, a survey of as many companies as possible will be conducted. Their results will then be evaluated by the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences and country-specific results will be derived. In a further phase, focus group workshops will be held with selected survey participants. Good practice examples for the use of IMS will then be developed from these.

SQS and SNV will be responsible for communicating these results and examples of good practice in Switzerland. You too can benefit from them! However, the prerequisite is that the quality is guaranteed by a large number of survey participants. Therefore, you as a reader are also invited to participate in the survey. Participation takes 30 to 45 minutes. In doing so, you will be making a contribution to creating research-based foundations for reducing complexity through integrated management systems. To make doing business easier.

Click here to go to the survey: https://survey.questionstar.com/9a3f5782

Additional background information: https://www.sqs.ch/de/blog/mit-systemintegration-zur-komplexitaetsreduktion

The consulting firm Colombus Consulting has published the 7th edition of its annual study on the financial health of European electricity producers. This notes a decline in electricity consumption that continues to intensify in Europe (EU, UK and CH). At the beginning of 2023, the geopolitical context continues to cause tensions in energy supply, despite a decrease in electricity consumption at the beginning of winter. Against this backdrop, power producers continue to invest in renewables to diversify their supply sources.

Dramatic revenue growth for power generators in 2022

"The cumulative revenue of utilities has increased by 88 % between 2021 and 2022. This increase is almost ten times higher than that between 2020 and 2021. Profitability, on the other hand, does not follow the same trend," says Samy Belaiba, energy consultant at Colombus Consulting. In fact, the cumulative EBITDA of utilities (excluding Fortum) fell by 11 % in the first half of 2022.
This finding applies to all energy suppliers, even if this growth masks major differences. Nine energy suppliers nevertheless perform better on this indicator in 2021, which shows that the other five players studied have suffered significant losses in 2021. "Alpiq and BKW are seeing an increase in revenue thanks to higher prices on the energy markets," adds Samy Belaiba. Valuation adjustments on financial hedges have a strong impact on Alpiq's EBITDA (see chart).

Price fluctuations that benefit neither the producer nor the consumer

The very high volatility of electricity prices observed in recent years does not benefit consumers or generators. Stabilizing the market is a complex equation, and member states have considered several strategies to mitigate the impact of the sudden price spike: Capping the gas price, funding non-targeted price shields and/or targeted price schemes, opting for the single buyer system, taxing super profits.

Switzerland's security of supply depends on successfully linking the use of carbon-free production methods, the study also concludes. "The current pace of expansion of photovoltaics and especially wind energy is not sufficient to meet the ambitions described in the Energy Future 2050 plan. Electricity demand generated by replacing fossil fuels in transportation and heat generation will increase by at least 25%, Samy Belaiba adds.

Photovoltaic production, which has increased significantly compared to the previous year, now covers 6.3 % of Swiss demand, despite voices in favor of preserving green areas. For its part, the development of wind energy is slowing down. Some projects started 20 years ago are still waiting for federal or cantonal approval. The stakes are high, as this cumulatively represents an estimated annual production of 493 GWh, in addition to the 1.2 TWh that are in the early stages of the process or planning. "Geothermal also has a role to play. It could generate 2 TWh of electricity per year in 2050, but the exploration of suitable sites takes time," concludes Samy Belaiba.

Source: Colombus Consulting

While there are signs of a slowdown in the economy and forecasts vary from one institute to another, companies are facing sector-specific challenges: The financial and engineering (MEM) sector is preparing for a potentially difficult year, the tourism sector is struggling to return to normal, and multinationals are under pressure from environmental regulations (source: swissinfo).

Exploiting growth opportunities thanks to cloud solutions

I remain convinced that challenges present opportunities that make all the difference to companies that know how to exploit them. We have found that technology is often an inherent part of new solutions that impact the world of work. For this reason, Swiss companies are increasingly focusing on digital transformations (2023 survey ICTjournal and Netzwoche) - with growing priority for cybersecurity as well as data management and modernization of the IT environment with cloud solutions.

An example of this is Nespressowhich has moved its key applications and databases, to Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer Services. This upgrade offers benefits such as usage-based pricing, greater consolidation that reduces data center space and storage requirements, and improvements in compute performance, storage and overall flexibility. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) - the most important intergovernmental organization in the field of migration - also works with Oracle Cloud to facilitate its work. The cloud is used to support key areas such as projects, grants, supply chain and human resources management.

The supply chain issues, geopolitical tensions and cost of living crises that have characterized 2022 will continue to challenge businesses. Focusing on growth and optimizing agility as well as efficiency is very important. So what are these growth opportunities and how can companies take advantage of them in 2023?

1. a flexible planning and strategy

Digital competencies are critical to effective risk management. With the help of risk management, companies can respond quickly to new challenges and plan various scenarios to ensure the continuity of their business.

In reviewing their supply chain, companies were forced to respond quickly to the constant product shortages and supply delays that are still pervasive. This is just one example of how companies have had to act quickly to stay afloat, moving from a "just-in-time" model to a "more inventory, fewer shipments" model to offset the associated inventory and administrative costs. This type of continuous change allows for the shock of new scenarios to be absorbed. However, it can be difficult for companies to pinpoint the areas that require their attention. In 2023, the visibility of reliable, real-time data will be critical to enable proactive action and rapid adaptation of strategies. Bringing together data from all business functions, such as finance, inventory, and supply chain, into a single view will be critical to maximize return on investment and stimulate investment in further growth.

2. simplified financial automation

According to Gartner, the most difficult task for chief financial officers in 2023 will be recruiting and retaining employees. The battle for the best talent is fierce, and as CFOs kept their teams lean during the recession, they will need to be creative.

In 2023, automation will be a key investment for finance teams, not only to optimize performance, but also to allow professionals more time for value-added projects. Manual tasks such as month-end closing typically require finance teams to aggregate and analyze large volumes of disparate data. This task can be very time-consuming and error-prone, as a single incorrect entry can cost companies thousands of francs and wipe out their hard-earned profits. Therefore, in 2023, companies need to take advantage of growth opportunities in this area as well. Centralizing data and automating financial processes will reduce risk and make data more accurate. This allows finance teams to focus on analysis and respond to market changes.

Finance professionals don't want to waste their time checking and consolidating spreadsheets - they want to add value. Automation in 2023 will play a critical role in employee engagement and making finance employees feel valued.

3. automation of pricing to minimize supplier and currency risks.

As markets remain in flux in 2023, being able to adapt quickly to price changes will be critical. Budgets and profits can be affected by minor changes in supplier prices. It can therefore be difficult to spot the difference before it is too late. As international growth and foreign sales increase, complexity continues to grow due to ever-changing tax and customs regulations, making it difficult to move forward at the planned pace.

In 2023, automated pricing will enable fast-growing companies to remain agile and budget more efficiently. Using this technology, companies will be able to respond to supplier price fluctuations and create accurate cash flow forecasts. They will also be able to centrally manage pricing, ensure consistency across channels, and align product prices with profit margins. Automatic pricing effectively slows companies down when a product or component becomes more expensive, or gives the green light to buy at the right price. A key benefit is that these changes are made in real time, rather than weeks later, saving vital resources.

In international trade, this technology enables companies to centrally manage pricing and automatically update any country-specific tax or sales rules to ensure there are no unexpected penalties or lost sales. Currency-specific pricing and discount percentages give full control, allowing companies to allocate price levels to different channels and customers.

4. transparency: customers, employees and investors expect their brands to "do good".

ESG reporting will continue to grow in importance in 2023. Customers are demanding transparency, and the younger generation, which is imposing higher standards on employers than their predecessors, has assigned ESG a critical role in recruitment, retention, and brand loyalty. Nearly half of investors are even willing to divest from companies that do not take sufficient action on ESG issues, and as business leaders increasingly rely on investment, they cannot afford to neglect this reporting.

Greater transparency in business and personal data means better accountability and compliance. Creating and maintaining a robust ESG strategy depends on the quality and volume of a company's data. Cloud-based solutions will play a critical role in this by aggregating information from all parts of the organization, setting realistic goals, and monitoring progress to satisfy customers, employees, and investors alike.

Significant progress toward ESG goals has been shown to impact investment opportunities, increase consumer consumption, and improve employee productivity - which is critical as we head into a period of even greater financial uncertainty in 2023.

Author:
Billy Kneubühl is Country Manager Oracle Switzerland

Backup ONE, based in Bern, Switzerland, offers military-standard secure, flexible, yet easy-to-use backup solutions for businesses and home users. All backup data and metadata is stored geo-redundantly and exclusively in highly secure Tier IV/-III data centers in Switzerland. According to the company, Switzerland's data location provides the optimal foundation for its offering and it remains committed to its stability and further strengthening.

The ISO 14001 certification represents another step on this path. It confirms that Backup ONE has implemented an effective environmental management system and is actively committed to the environmental compatibility of its products and services. At the same time, ISO 9001 recertification underscores the company's commitment to the highest quality standards and continuous improvement of its business processes. Long before maintaining ISO 14001 certification, Backup ONE took steps to protect the environment. These include, purchasing electricity from only renewable sources, planting a tree every day, and using public transportation for business appointments. "We are proud to have achieved these important milestones," said CEO Tobias Undeutsch. "The ISO certifications confirm our commitment to sustainability and the highest quality standards. We thank Mark Schilt and Daniel Röthlisberger from easystep consulting as well as SQS for their valuable support on our way to these certifications."

Backup ONE believes that implementing an effective environmental management system is an important step in combating climate change and creating a more sustainable future. The company will continue to work to minimize its environmental impact and provide its customers with innovative solutions that combine sustainability and efficiency.

Source and further information

The EOC Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale has received the Equal Salary Certificate. This award represents a symbol of excellence in equal pay for all employees. After a successful statistical analysis of salaries, EOC underwent an internal audit to prove that the company applies equal pay between women and men. The audit was conducted by PwC.

The Equal Salary certification is valid for three years, during which the company must undergo two surveillance audits. After three years, if the company wishes to retain the seal of approval, it must renew the certification process with a new salary analysis and a full on-site audit.

Signal for the Ticino healthcare sector

"EOC's Equal Pay certification is excellent news for the Ticino healthcare sector. By putting values into action, EOC promotes gender-equal pay and puts the pioneering values of diversity and inclusion into practice. We hope this certification will inspire the healthcare sector to follow suit," commented Lisa Rubli, co-CEO of the Equal Salary Foundation. "At EOC, achieving this important certification is the first step on a broader journey to continuously improve the quality of women's working conditions and gender inclusion. 67 % of our employees are women, whose daily work ensures the high quality of our healthcare services," added Glauco Martinetti, CEO of EOC.

PwC also recertified for equal pay

The fact that auditing companies are also leading by example is demonstrated by the fact that PwC has also received certification, for the second time. "The Equal Salary recertification is an important building block of our I&D strategy, and I am very proud of our success in building an inclusive and diverse environment at PwC," comments Andreas Staubli, CEO and Territory Senior Partner of PwC Switzerland, on receiving the certificate.

Source: Equal Salary Foundation

Switzerland is a militia country, and has been for centuries. The militia system is one of the foundations of our democracy, our economy and our associational life. Authorities and public bodies, the army, organizations, associations, the media, etc.: The militia system strengthens confidence in our decision-makers in all these areas, provided they remain realistic and do not join the ranks of the "technocrats who are out of touch with reality".

Occupational safety and health protection lose touch with the grass roots

Mutual understanding and the exchange of experience and scientific knowledge are crucial everywhere, so also in the field of health protection, occupational safety and prevention. It is true that highly competent bodies (labor inspectorates, Suva, Health Promotion Switzerland, etc.) do excellent work. But without the natural mediation of the militiamen in the companies, their effectiveness would be much lower. With the individualization of society and the increasing demands in the world of work, the commitment of the militiamen becomes less and less "natural" and the system weakens.

Public statement

For this reason, the Swiss Society for Occupational Safety (SGAS) and Suissepro (umbrella organization for health protection and occupational safety) - both of which are entrusted with public duties - have drawn up a "Public Declaration" to preserve the militia system in Switzerland and promote its profit. Together with the social partners, companies are encouraged to offer framework conditions and working models that enable their professionals to engage in health protection and occupational safety in non-profit circles.

Win-win for entrepreneurs and their employees

To achieve this, large companies have a more favorable critical mass than small and medium-sized enterprises. For this reason, it is more difficult to convince the CEOs of SMEs. Nevertheless, dedicated, specialized militia members are an asset to companies of all sizes. SMEs can only gain by supporting this militia system. For the employer, the indirect benefits are numerous: image, social responsibility, visibility, network, knowledge, industry-specific solutions, customer loyalty and even integration. For the employee: "job enrichment", up-to-date knowledge, network, exchange of concrete experiences, mutual understanding, responsibility. A win-win situation that can be quantified for the company in terms of fewer absences, greater staff loyalty, and higher employee motivation. A win-win situation, a mission that - should it one day cease to exist - would compromise occupational health and safety, which would severely weaken Switzerland as a business location and reduce industrial peace.

Sources and further information: www.sgas.ch/de/miliz; www.sgas.ch and www.suissepro.org

The Crisis Communication Association (VKK) promotes professional crisis communication and reputation management in Switzerland. It supports the exchange of experience among corporate practitioners and with academia. The association can look back on an active year 2022. The demand for support in crisis situations and for prevention training remains high, according to the association. 

Reinforcement for the Crisis Communication Association

At the General Assembly, three new members were elected to the VKK Board. "I congratulate the new board members warmly on their election and thank them in advance for their dedication and commitment," explains association president Markus Baumgartner. With Claudia Jenni, an experienced communications expert strengthens the board, with Eckhard Baschek, a journalist is represented for the first time and with Roger Huber, the founding president makes a comeback. The board's plans for the coming months are to strengthen the exchange among members and to debate current incidents, to increase the footprint in social media and to enter into further partnerships such as with the Leadership Campus of the Swiss Armed Forces last year. Baumgartner: "As a competence center for crisis communication and reputation management, we promote exchange, networking and further training. The new board members will make an important contribution to this." 

The three new board members

Claudia Jenni worked at Credit Suisse from 1994 to 2011 as PR/Media Officer and Project Manager in sports sponsoring, then for about four years as Public Relations Officer for Urban Development of the City of Winterthur and for three years as Media Spokesperson for Sanitas Health Insurance. Since 2017, she has been running Kommunikationsatelier GmbH in Zurich with her business partner Christina Lamprecht, an agency for corporate communications, organizational consulting and working with managers and teams. In this context, crisis communication is a large part of her strategic and operational work. Claudia Jenni holds a Master's degree in Communication Management & Leadership from ZHAW, is a Certified PR & Communication Expert SAQ and a certified board member. 

Eckhard Baschek started his career in 1984 in the business editorial department of "Ostschweiz". From 1986 to 1994, he was media spokesman for the Swiss Red Cross in St. Gallen. He then worked as a freelance journalist for Finanz und Wirtschaft, St. Galler Tagblatt and Weltwoche before becoming an editor for Schweizer Versicherung and Schweizer Bank. From 1994 to 2008, he became an editor at Handelszeitung, to which he returned in 2016 as co-head of the supplements department. In between, he worked for CSC Switzerland, Infel, K-Money and autentio. Eckhard Baschek studied international relations at HSG St. Gallen and completed his diploma professional training as a journalist at the St. Gallen School of Journalism. He was a founding member of VKK in 2009. 

Roger Huber After completing his commercial training, he worked for the St. Galler Tagblatt and as business editor for the daily newspaper "Die Ostschweiz". He then worked for Switzerland's first private television station "European Business Channel" as a producer and after its bankruptcy he moved to "Finanz und Wirtschaft". From 1992 to 1997 he was a journalist at Cash/ Cash-TV and Development Manager for Ringier in Eastern Europe. Afterwards he founded the "Huber Media Consulting GmbH". He held mandates at UBS, Credit Suisse, Wincor Nixdorf, Bank Bär, Fujitsu Siemens or Ex Libris (book price fixing), among others. He was founding president of VKK in 2009. In 2021, together with two other people, he also founded the journalism platform "inside-justiz.ch", of which he is editor-in-chief. 

Source and further information

The Control is one of the important, large and international trade fairs on the subject of quality assurance (QA) and will take place for the 35th time this year. "We're pleased that more registrations have already been received now than at the same time in 2022," reported project manager Fabian Krüger from trade fair promoter P. E. Schall at the beginning of February. "At almost 37 percent, the foreign share of exhibitors is also now already higher than the foreign share in 2022," informed the project manager. "One can be excited and curious about the innovations in quality inspection and quality assurance presented in the four halls 3, 5, 7 and 9," promises Krüger. The reason: The technologies for measuring and testing are developing rapidly. On the one hand, because new fields of application are opening up, and on the other, because growing automation continues to be a strong driver. Control 2023 should once again live up to the show's reputation as the leading meeting place in quality assurance. "It is so unique in the world market because it represents different types of measurement technology and is therefore relevant across all industries," explains Krüger.

Not a day goes by without being confronted with the topic of cybercrime. Whether attacks on SMEs, administrations, operators of critical infrastructures, research institutions or private individuals: The frequency of cyberattacks has exploded in recent years; the extent of damage is reaching worrying dimensions. In 2020, the increase in ransomware attacks alone was 435% compared to the previous year. In 2022, global cybercrime caused about 30 times more damage than all natural disasters combined in the same year. Data-based assumptions put the extent of damage in 2027 at around CHF 24 trillion. That is more than the gross domestic product of the USA.

As the world's most innovative country, Switzerland is significantly affected by cybercrime and cyberespionage. This is not only a major threat to our competitiveness, attacks by state and highly professionalized non-state hacker groups also threaten national security and the basic tenets of our democracy. For example, by orchestrating and manipulating the shaping of public opinion in the context of democratic elections. The sharp increase in the area of cybercrime is due to the unmanageable digital hyperconnectivity of our globalized world. There is a lack of understanding of the effects that the interdependencies, interactions, spheres of influence and functioning of technical systems have on our lives.

The national platform for cyber competence comes to Bern

The Swiss Cyber Security Days SCSD, which claims to be the leading dialog and know-how platform of the
Switzerland in the field of cyber security, are already taking place for the fifth time. The combination of high-ranking national and international speakers, current geopolitical developments, socially relevant focus dialogs, the presentation of current findings from research and a trade fair are ideal for Swiss Cyber Security Days to bridge the knowledge gaps between people, society, business and technology.

Together with the organizer BERNEXPO, Nicolas Mayencourt, Program Director of the Swiss Cyber Security Days SCSD brings the national reference platform for cybersecurity to Bern for the first time. "As a native of Bern, it makes me proud to make the federal capital the cyber capital of Switzerland," says Nicolas Mayencourt. "Bern is the perfect location thanks to its proximity to politics and administration. The topic of cyber is of central importance for Switzerland. I am therefore very much looking forward to discussing new opportunities and solutions in Bern in order to build a digitally empowered society." Tom Winter, CEO of BERNEXPO, is also pleased about the event with international appeal: "The topic of cyber security is of great social relevance. The SCSD are therefore a very good fit for us and complement the BERNEXPO event portfolio wonderfully." The two-day event will take place on September 20 and 21, 2023, during the fall session at the BERNEXPO site.

SCSD makes Bern the "cyber capital" of trade fairs

The international and national appeal of the SCSD will help the canton to further expand its position as a nationally important trade fair and event location. "This is good news" said city president Alec von Graffenried. "I think it is right and important,
that these problems are negotiated in Bern, in close proximity to the politicians and administrators who are directly affected. This allows our locational advantages to take full effect." The new event also holds opportunities from the canton's point of view. "Bern is easily accessible from all parts of Switzerland and internationally connected. In addition, the topic is of the greatest social and economic importance," says cantonal economic director and government councilor Christoph Ammann (SP).

Source: Swiss Cyber Security Days

Will the data center industry turn more and more to sustainable business? Wojciech Stramski, CEO of Beyond.pl, a Polish provider of sustainable data center and cloud services, comments on the issue situation as follows:

Those who do not save energy lose competitiveness

"Those who ignore sustainability policy and shy away from implementing it in their company lose their competitiveness. The demands on environmental management are increasing - from non-governmental organizations, the European Commission or ultimately from customers. For them, topics such as measuring the carbon footprint and energy efficiency, but also the protection of biodiversity and human rights, are just as important as the level of service, safety or server efficiency.

If the awareness of companies has not changed significantly as a result of the climate crisis, there is a good chance that this will be the case with the current energy crisis. Irresponsible digitization that ignores the principles of sustainability will lead to an irresponsible increase in resource consumption, including electricity consumption. Leveraging modern technologies such as 5G, IoT, AI or machine learning and working with proven and effectively managed partners using cutting-edge product and software solutions makes it possible to optimize energy consumption and sustainability. 

Companies that have not been interested in solutions to reduce energy consumption have no choice now that various governments are announcing energy restrictions for businesses and rising prices. The users of the mentioned technologies should not only be companies from the IT sector, but also from the wider service sector, manufacturing or heavy industry. 

Further reducing energy consumption not only in times of crisis

In a situation of limited energy supply, we must fight to reduce energy consumption. This is reflected in the data from a study published in October 2022. Study (Title: 'In Search of Optimization. Data centers, colocation and cloud'). This shows that, from a business perspective, increasing energy efficiency is seen as the best way to reduce energy costs and emissions. 61 percent of respondents from the largest Polish companies and corporations cited the rising costs of maintaining and upgrading their own data centers as an important motive for hosting IT resources in a professional data center or for cloud computing.

Changing customer requirements are forcing the IT industry to compete in the field of energy efficiency, the measure of which is the Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) indicator. In 2021, its average value according to Uptime Institute at 1.57 PUE, which means that data centers consume on average 57 percent more energy to maintain the facilities' infrastructure than is required by the IT equipment operating within them. For enterprise server rooms, this ratio exceeds a value of 2.0 to 2.5. 

The ideal, though still practically unattainable today, PUE value is 1.0 - in this case, the energy consumption of the data center would be equal to the demand of the IT equipment operated in it. Beyond.pl's data center has a PUE value of 1.2, making it one of the most energy-efficient facilities in Europe. In addition, the facilities have been powered by renewable energy since 2020.

The data center industry takes sustainability very seriously

The activities of the data center industry are also being noticed, and in 2022, for the first time in the twelve-year history of the European Green Week (EU Green Week), providers were given the opportunity to showcase their environmentally friendly activities. Numerous initiatives aimed at making cloud services and data centers more transparent, driving green change, and creating regulations are making the entire IT industry more sustainable. 

These initiatives include the Pact for Climate-Neutral Data Centers or the Green Digital Coalition, whose membership includes Beyond.pl's requirements to power its facilities with 100 percent green energy, hold the ISO 14001 standard, and thus implement consistent measures that minimize the negative impact of its operations on the environment and contribute to sustainable business development.

What is forgotten when discussing the carbon footprint and environmental impact of technology is the fact that professional modern data centers achieve high resource savings, including electricity or water. Without modern data centers, the emission levels in the IT industry would be many times higher. Companies that choose to maintain their IT resources in their own server rooms are not able to provide the same level of optimization as larger facilities built specifically to maintain large IT environments.

Technology companies are not exempt from the challenges that all organizations face when it comes to employee diversity, equal pay for men and women, establishing stable foundations for corporate governance (organizational structure, business model, compliance with business ethics) or the environment. The challenges related to environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues are all the more important for technology companies because the sector is characterized by relatively little regulation in this area.

Source reference:

• https://www.statista.com/outlook/tmo/data-center/worldwide
• https://www.computerworld.pl/news/W-poszukiwaniu-optymalizacji-Centra-danych-kolokacja-i-chmura,441821.html
• https://uptimeinstitute.com/about-ui/press-releases/uptime-institute-11th-annual-global-data-center-survey

Faced with an all-time high in transaction volumes, customer expectations and competitive threats, banks must adapt quickly to keep pace. To meet these challenges, Oracle recently introduced its Banking Cloud Services, a new suite of component-based, composable cloud-native services.

Renew business functions of banks faster

These new services provide banks with highly scalable corporate deposit account processing, enterprise-wide limit and collateral management, real-time global ISO 20022 payment processing, API management, and new self-service capabilities for digital experiences. Based on a microservices architecture, they help banks renovate and modernize their business functions faster and with less risk. "Banks must innovate to succeed in today's competitive environment," said Sonny Singh, executive vice president and general manager, Oracle Financial Services. "We've developed one of the world's most comprehensive suites of cloud-native SaaS solutions to help banks of all sizes innovate quickly, securely and scalably without compromising their existing environments."

The new services in detail

The services can run standalone, seamlessly interoperate and co-exist with existing applications to help banks reduce cost and risk while driving innovation, Oracle explains. As a result, banks benefit from faster provisioning and availability - which can be achieved in minutes - and benefit from automated patching and shorter turnaround times for disaster recovery, reducing IT costs and burden. The new services include:

• Oracle Banking Accounts Cloud Service: Current corporate demand deposit account (DDA) solutions are not equipped to handle the explosion in e-commerce and digital payments that have led to a massive increase in global bank transactions. Accounting firm PwC estimates that the global volume of cashless payments is expected to increase by more than 80 % to nearly 1.9 trillion transactions between 2020 and 2025. The Oracle Banking Accounts Cloud Service provides highly scalable demand deposit account processing on Oracle Coherence Datagrid infrastructure. The service has already been tested for extreme performance, recording over 200 TPS per CPU on commodity hardware. It also integrates with a bank's existing processes and technologies, allowing them to modernize their core banking DDA systems to bring new offerings to market without operational disruption.
• Oracle Banking Payments Cloud Service: Legacy systems cannot scale or manage the growing volume and velocity of digital payments from e-commerce and new transaction types. Oracle Banking Payments provides a single engine for real-time payment processing, including cross-border, high-value retail, retail and 24×7 payments. The foundation of the service is based on a canonical ISO 20022 data model and more than 15 leading global payment systems, such as SWIFT, SEPA and others, ready to use.
• Oracle Banking Enterprise Limits and Collateral Management Cloud Service: Due to the lack of an enterprise-wide system, inefficient monitoring and poor controls, commercial banks struggle to manage the influx of defaults. According to McKinsey estimates, banks using improved models could see a 20 to 40 % reduction in their credit losses. With Oracle Banking Enterprise Limits and Collateral Management, banks can gain a holistic view of their risk by centralizing the limit definition process and collateral management. In addition, the service reduces risk by providing banks with a real-time solution for risk tracking, credit allocation, decisions and approvals.
• Oracle Banking Digital Experience Cloud Service: Oracle Banking Digital Experience Cloud Service is a digital banking solution that delivers ready-to-use banking experiences for businesses and consumers that improve customer service. The solution provides customer and product acquisition in addition to contextual omnichannel digital experiences supported by video, chatbot, AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP)-based engagement tools. In addition, the service works with the bank's existing technology and third-party services to enable seamless processes.
• Oracle Banking APIs Cloud Service: With more than 1,800 ready-to-use business and basic banking APIs, Oracle Banking APIs Cloud Service enables banks to deploy an open banking platform to accelerate innovation while complying with regulations. With this solution, banks can improve the customer experience and revenue opportunities by embedding their services into a growing ecosystem of partners, including e-commerce portals, enterprise software and more.

Source: Oracle