Die Schweiz an der CeBIT 2016: zwei starke Spieler in der digitalen Wirtschaft

Switzerland as CeBIT’s partner country

Germany is Switzerland's most important trading partner and the market leader in Swiss imports, with one third of all imports coming from Germany – more than those from Italy, the United States and China combined. The volume of trade has picked up since the crisis of 2009 and in 2014 amounted to approximately CHF 98 billion. With a total amount of CHF 51.4 billion at the end of 2013, Switzerland is the sixth largest foreign investor in Germany (5.7% of the total). Swiss companies employ approximately 379500 people in Germany, while German companies employ over 98000 people in Switzerland.

Switzerland has one of strongest ICT sectors, the excellent infrastructure and a clear focus on ICTs as part of its own future success. Its message at the trade fair is twofold: Firstly, Switzerland is an extraordinary ICT nation, and in this sector it engineers world-class products offering superior quality. Secondly, Switzerland is also a world-class destination for doing business. Many of the world’s largest IT companies have already invested in Switzerland, and many more are planning to follow their example.

With the CeBIT partnership, 2016 is shaping up to be a big year for German-Swiss relations. The opening day on March 14 will be attended by high-ranking government leaders from both countries. The invitee list for this prestigious event includes German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel.

A great opportunity to advance ETH’s research and innovation

President Prof. Lino Guzzella, as well as several members of the faculty and staff, will represent ETH Zurich at CeBIT 2016 with presentations, research demonstrations, social events and panel discussions. With 1500 sq m, the Swiss Pavilion will house more than 70 exhibitors including ETH spin-offs and start-ups such as Beekeeper, xorlab, ElectricFeel, Skye and Wingtra. For small businesses in particular, this global technology event is an affordable, highly effective means to forging key international contacts.

Across five days, ETH will also present the breadth of its research and education in the fields of robotics, digital fabrication, and game technology. Overall, the CeBIT offers an unprecedented level of exposure and access to services to maximize business potential, as well as exchange knowledge, share strengths and enhance collaboration among scientists. It provides, for instance, prearranged face-to-face meetings, networking opportunities with decision-makers and senior managements of companies, customised research and marketing & communication support.

D-INFK to showcase a new age of game technology

Augmented Reality provides a unique bridge between real-world activities and digital enhancement, renewing traditional activities of creative play in a new concept called "Augmented Creativity". Prof. Robert Sumner, head of ETH's Game Technology Center (GTC), and his team will demonstrate a new application that allows two-dimensional characters to come to life in a three-dimensional form: coloring book characters become animated in real-time. With the HeapCraft project, the GTC is also studying governance decisions in online game communities, such as Minecraft, in order to gain insight about how to improve real-world communities.