“The Second Digital Day” was held by digitalswitzerland for the purpose of promoting the digitally advanced country. Digital Switzerland, which was established in 2015, consists of a total of 130 organizations including ABB, Google, Swiss Airlines, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation as well as major domestic companies, universities, and local governments. In Switzerland, political, economic and scientific research are united in order to lead internationally in the field of digital technology.
Swiss Federal President Alain Berset attended
The event was held in 14 cities with 7 topics (My Data, Work 4.0, Mobility, Lifestyle, Health, Media & News, and Education). At the event’s most active location, the Zurich Main Station, Federal President Alain Berset made his presence felt by , asking and answering questions, giving interviews, and visiting numerous booths. His activities were reported on throughout the day on various media sites.
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology conducted a programming workshop for elementary and junior high school students
In conjunction with the success of last year’s programming workshop, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich cooperated with the University of Basel and the educational institutions of Bern this year, conducting a programming workshop for children. A total of 600 people participated in this workshop. ,A particularly important reason for offering such a workshop is that elementary schools in Switzerland have adopted “IT & Media” as a required subject from this fiscal year, centering on digital education.
Experience the state-of-the-art technology
Various booths were prepared for participants to experience some cutting edge technology such as Smart City, AI robot, etc. In the “Startup Pitch Session”, Switzerland’s unique innovations such as an application that provides ski coaching through the use of GPS and AI and a technology for protecting bees against deadly mites were introduced. Moreover, Pepper, a semi-humanoid robot manufactured by SoftBank also gathered a lot of attention.
Is blockchain technology still at the infrastructure construction phase?
Browsing around the venue, it was interesting to notice that Zug City, which has launched itself as Crypto Valley, did not participate in the event and no blockchain-related companies were found. Many Smart City projects were introduced but they are not blockchain-based projects. Also, at the startup event, the company Modum.io from Zurich was presented. Modum.io describes itself as a blockchain/IoT focused supply chain solution. However, nothing in the presentation this day mentioned it as a blockchain company. While we can see the collaboration of cutting-edge technologies and companies on Digital Day, blockchain technology has not been widely promoted yet. As it grows further, the development would potentially draw attention in the future.
As seen in public transportation, Switzerland is a compact and well-maintained country. It seems to be a strategy unique to Switzerland which raises the digital level of all citizens by integrating industry, government, and academia through holding such events nationwide.
