Programme highlights of the Informatiktage 2024: avatars, bots and cybercrime

Playful introduction to programming
Programming is a key skill that fosters logical thinking and creative problem solving. This year's programme offers several coding workshops for children and young people with no previous knowledge.  

In the "Programmieren mit Python" course, secondary school pupils learn how to use programming to move a turtle across the screen and draw shapes and figures. "Meitli programmieren" is an introductory course exclusively for primary school girls in grades 5 and 6. The girls construct geometric patterns and mandalas and learn important computer science concepts in the process. In the "Gross mit Klein: Programmieren zu zweit" workshop, children from the age of 7 and adults code together and get the autonomous mini-robot Thymio up and running.  

In the workshop "Von T-Shirts, Jacken, Schuhen und Socken: Informatikunterricht ohne Computer", 5th and 6th grade teachers learn that computer science concepts and methods can also be taught without computers and programming.

Cyber security: tips, tricks and background knowledge for everyone
How does the darknet work? What are the most common cybercrime phenomena? How do we recognise fake documents? These and many other questions about IT security will be answered on Saturday by experts from the Cybersecurity Clinic and the Cybercrime Department of the Zurich Cantonal Police as well as researchers from the ETH Zurich Security Group. Visitors will become cyber detectives and test how good they are at intercepting data or differentiating between forged and genuine documents.

Children also use mobile phones and other digital devices and are therefore equally affected by data protection issues. The two workshops "Entdecke die ersten Geheimschriften" and "Einführung in die Kryptografie" are aimed specifically at this age group with magic tricks, puzzles and illustrative examples.

In many cases, humans are the major weak point when it comes to unauthorised access to data. The lecture "Mensch-Computer-Interaktion: Der Mensch als Sicherheitsfaktor" is dedicated to the reasons for this and what can be done about it.

What are the possibilities of artificial intelligence?
Everyone is talking about artificial intelligence. Exemplary projects and presentations from research show what it can do and what challenges lie ahead. The AI robot "CyberRunner", for example, learns through experience and competes against humans in the game "Labyrinth". Curious visitors can also try out how future surgeons practise complex operations using training simulators and augmented reality. In a vivid presentation, the researchers from Disney Research Switzerland explain how to breathe life and emotion into robots using well-known Disney characters.

When talking about artificial intelligence, sooner or later the topic of ethics comes up. Whether AI is ethically justifiable and can act morally is the focus of the lecture "Künstliche Intelligenz aus ethischer Sicht". And anyone who wants to know whether ChatGPT can be trusted will find answers in the lecture of the same name.

Visions and a digital explosion
Digital technologies and artificial intelligence bring increased efficiency, medical and scientific breakthroughs, new economic models with digital currencies and blockchain and much more. These prospects are clouded by threat scenarios, particularly in the area of security. The lecture "Die digitale Explosion" puts current developments in context and shows the role cryptography plays in solving problems.

Public administrations and universities are also dealing with a variety of complex challenges. On Thursday evening, the directors of the ETH IT Services and the City of Zurich's IT organisation will talk about their challenges, findings, strategies and visions, and discuss them with other CIOs and IT managers.

The Volumetric Capture Lab is also on a visionary level. In a green room with around 100 spherically arranged cameras, body movements are precisely recorded and high-resolution 3D images are created. Realistic avatars are animated from the data and anyone who wants to can also create their own digital copy.

1:1 with students and lecturers
In addition to the numerous workshops, lectures and demos, Saturday offers the opportunity to talk to students and lecturers. Questions about studying computer science and IT apprenticeships will be answered and insights into the challenges of teaching programming will be shared. In the Game Lounge, graduates of the Game Programming Lab will present their self-developed game "Prometheus – The Heist". Players embark on an epic journey and attempt to conquer Mount Olympus – the home of the gods – and steal the sacred fire. Fun is guaranteed. 

And if you need a little break from all the activities on Saturday, you can get a temporary tattoo in the exhibition area on the first floor or treat yourself with a coffee or snack in the "Food&Lab" cafeteria.

While the exhibition on Saturday can be visited spontaneously, online registration is required for the workshops, lectures and guided tours. Places are limited and early registration is recommended.