The Swiss Cyber Security Days are now considered the leading Swiss platform dedicated to relevant cyber security topics. "Cyber: the fifth dimension" is the guiding theme on April 6 and 7. Transparency, knowledge transfer and open communication between representatives of politics, business, education and research form the core values of the event. In addition to an adapted concept with a combination of exhibition space and conference halls on one level, visitor guidance will also be optimized with an online platform and knowledge transfer better integrated for the Swiss Cyber Security Days 2022.

Swiss Cyber Security Days 2022 and the consequences of the pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has made it recognizable that it is not only the biggest digitalization accelerator, but also a crime accelerator. The number of known serious security breaches in Switzerland has more than doubled since the outbreak of the pandemic, from over 42,000 in 2019 to almost 114,000 at present. The Confederation's cyber security delegate, Florian Schütz, will highlight the priorities and scenarios on the first day as part of the National Strategy to Protect Switzerland from Cyber Risks. In addition, Nathalie Gratzer, project manager at the Federal Office for National Economic Supply BWL, will provide information on the protection of critical infrastructures in Switzerland. Divisional Commander Alain Vuitel, Cyber Command of the Swiss Armed Forces, sheds light on the topic of cyber from a military perspective. Federal Prosecutor Stefan Blättler shows how cyber criminals are prosecuted in Switzerland and abroad, and National Councillor Judith Bellaiche knows that cyber security is now also increasingly becoming the focus of political demands.

Special focus: The healthcare sector

Representatives from the Geneva-based Cyber Peace Institute highlight the health sector's exposure to cyberattacks and how malicious actors took advantage of the critical situation during the pandemic and launched a series of campaigns and Ramsonware attacks. In the process, international protection organizations such as the ICRC were not spared. Such cyber operations can have significant humanitarian consequences, not least when services essential to civilians are also disrupted. At the already traditional panel of the World Economic Forum (WEF), chaired by board member Alois Zwinggi, the international cyber situation will be discussed with representatives of international organizations (including Europol) and Swiss Re's cyber officer Maya Bundt.

SME, Cyber Safe and Cyber Space

The second day of the Swiss Cyber Security Days 2022 will focus in the morning on SMEs, whose rapidly increasing dependence on IT systems and data also requires increased protection against cyber threats. Presentations will include the Cyber Safe cybersecurity label, developed by a nonprofit organization, which aims to provide a way to address these challenges. A high-level panel will highlight the label's benefits, including an affordable path to robust cybersecurity, a reliable cybersecurity assessment for insurers, and increased credibility for IT vendors.

In the afternoon, Innosuisse Vice President Luciana Vaccaro will demonstrate the great potential of innovative developments in Switzerland together with startups and present the "Cyber Security Award" together with Tech4Trust. In addition to new developments on the Internet, the highlight of the day will be an international panel, also chaired by the WEF. The exciting thematic focus will be "Cyber in Space". High-ranking international representatives will bring visitors up to date on the latest knowledge regarding cyber in this sensitive area. The names of the panel participants will be announced at a later date.

Technical inputs and insights

The Expert Tracks on a separate stage will feature numerous technical inputs and insights with experts from Germany and abroad. Fil Rouge of this stage will be "A Virtuous Cyber Security Chain" with three heavyweights: Anticipation, Defense and Governance. This will highlight once again that nothing is safe and all data is at risk. The goal is to highlight the importance of security and risk management and a clear picture of the challenges. Further, malicious parties will be identified and the consequences of attacks will be highlighted. Over the two days, Expert Tracks will highlight the prerequisites for cybersecurity as well as management preparation and responsibilities. These Expert Tracks are designed to provide security managers with practical solutions to concretely improve the protection of the organizations for which they are responsible.

Further information: www.swisscybersecuritydays.ch

Only by measuring suitable characteristics can a statement be made about the quality of a manufactured product. For this purpose, the measuring equipment used must be tested regularly. For this purpose, there is now a new test instruction published by the Association of German Engineers (VDI), which in the German-speaking countries is in many areas Sets and manages norms and standards.

New test instruction for the assessment of measuring equipment

The guideline series VDI/VDE/DGQ/DKD 2618 describes procedures and courses of action for monitoring and testing measuring equipment for geometric quantities. The test instructions create a basis for the evaluation of new and used measuring equipment. Sheet 17.2 of the guideline series applies to the testing of length setting devices with numerical display.

In the form of directly applicable action and work instructions, the VDI/VDE/DGQ/DKD 2618 Sheet 17.2 the necessary work steps for the respective tests. In addition to calibration, the preparatory tests and activities are also explained. Furthermore, the guideline provides information on the evaluation of the calibration as well as on the documentation. In addition, an exemplary measurement uncertainty balance is drawn up in the appendix. 

Replacement of the December 2019 draft

Issuer of the Directive VDI/VDE/DGQ/DKD 2618 Sheet 17.2 "Inspection equipment monitoring - Inspection instruction for length setting devices" is the VDI/VDE Society for Measurement and Automation Technology (GMA). The guideline was published in January 2022 as a white paper and replaces the draft of December 2019. It can be ordered at a price of EUR 85.50 from the Beuth Publishing House (Tel.: +49 30 2601-2260).  

Online orders are possible under www.beuth.de or www.vdi.de/2618-17-2 possible. VDI guidelines can be used in many public display free of charge.

According to the latest PwC CEO Surveywhich has just been presented in Davos, executives worldwide are optimistic about growth. Digitization remains a priority for Swiss executives. There is a growing understanding of digital transformation, what it means and how it can be used to transform their core business. This is especially true for the design of ERP systems, supply chains and customer journeys. Cybersecurity remains an important issue for Swiss SMEs.

In 2022, Swiss executives should focus on six points that are likely to prove to be success factors.

1) Leading investments in the cloud to real transformation.

According to Statista, in 2022 organizations worldwide will have around $1.78 trillion for cloud technology and other digital transformation initiatives spend. However, the question remains: are companies and governments investing in a true transformation or are they merely whitewashing business as usual? Critical to the answer is the shift to cloud computing, including autonomous technologies. In the private sector, almost every industry already has one or more cloud-centric "digital rebels" transforming it. Expect a whole range of unconventional digital partnerships to emerge across all sectors.

Certainly, those companies that see the cloud as liberation will reap the greatest rewards. In fact, Gartner calls the cloud a "force multiplier" - it's a scalable, resilient technology foundation for long-term innovation and growth. Best example: The Deutsche Bank uses Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer with more than 40 petabytes of data in Oracle Databases, thus saving enormous costs. We are also hearing more and more frequently from customers that the cloud relieves their IT staff in the area of system and security updates and maintenance. The effect: they can concentrate more on developing profitable digital products and services.

Against this backdrop, as we enter 2022, boards of directors will demand more evidence from their leadership teams that their cloud investments are positioning the company for long-term competitive advantage.

2) ML and AI become core competencies of leading digital companies.

The data deluge continues to grow, and AI and ML algorithms are helping companies analyze and continuously learn from the data, make better decisions, and provide a range of information for next actions. However, most companies are still in the experimental phase when it comes to AI and ML. Part of the problem is developing the necessary skills.

Most companies and government agencies do not have the resources to assemble an army of PhD Data Scientists. An alternative would be to build smaller, more focused "MLOps" teams - similar to DevOps teams in application development. These teams would consist of Data Scientists, as well as developers and other IT staff, whose ongoing task would be to deploy, maintain, and continuously improve LI/ML models in production.

In addition, enterprises are recognizing the value of cloud infrastructure and applications with integrated AI and ML algorithms. Gartner predicts that by 2025. the ten percent of companies that have implemented AI/ML engineering best practices are at least three times as valuable from these practices than the 90 percent of companies that do not. Early adopters have a clear advantage here.

3) Customers and others increasingly evaluate companies in terms of sustainability

When buying goods and services, evaluating potential employers, and even investing in stocks, people of all ages are increasingly paying attention to companies' sustainability strategy and commitment.

By 2022, every company will be required to develop and implement a comprehensive sustainability strategy - a tall order that is already building momentum. Forrester reports that of the Fortune Global 200 companies, 81 percent in EMEA have already appointed a senior-level sustainability officer. A good start, but real action requires companies to make lasting changes to some of the fundamentals of their business.

4) New career and hiring plans are critical to attracting talent.

Swiss executives and companies are aware of the importance of a skilled workforce and talent as the most important growth factor. In 2020, 64 % of Swiss CEOs surveyed by PwC rated the availability of skilled labor as the seventh biggest threat to their company. But the big Resignation, triggered by the global pandemic, suggests that employers still have a lot of work to do. As businesses begin to reopen, organizations must be more proactive in developing a career plan for their most valuable employees and address their concerns about work-life balance and workplace flexibility. 

5) Supply chain disruptions - a new constant

Even the most sophisticated supply chain management technologies cannot fully predict the magnitude of market shocks like a global pandemic, but they can help companies determine the right balance of safety stocks. As purchasing behavior shifts from brick-and-mortar to online platforms, companies must recognize and respond to these changes, taking into account the impact in their factories, data centers and global supply chains.

A good example is Cohu, which, thanks to its transformation, has been able to establish a smaller and more agile IT team to maintain systems while supporting the company's growing activity and future acquisitions.

6) AI as a springboard for new financial managers

Business models change with customer expectations. There have never been so many mergers, acquisitions and divestments. All of these challenges are prompting a focus on the value of data: Cleaning up data, accelerating planning cycles, but also looking beyond the finance function. Companies are asking themselves what data they have, how it can best be structured and integrated across business units, and what benefits it offers. The leaders who fund these projects need to know how financial, supply chain, human resources, and other data sets combine.

An excellent example from Switzerland is Galdermawhich opted for further transformation and implemented integrated business planning, freeing up resources and combining what could not be fully automated and streamlined into shared services, enabling the launch of new services. The transformation has already stimulated an innovation boom in Galderma's business units responsible for prescription medicines, consumer products and aesthetics, enabling the company to hope for a global leadership position in dermatology.

When companies consider these key priorities in the context of business opportunities, challenges and impacts, they are automatically better positioned to increase their economic impact and improve their market position.

Source: Oracle

On February 7, 2022, just a few weeks before reaching the age of 89, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Hans-Dieter Seghezzi. He was probably the most important pioneer of quality management in the German-speaking world.

Active in industry, research and teaching

Hans-Dieter Seghezzi, born in Besigheim, Germany, on March 23, 1933, first studied physics at the University of Stuttgart, where he obtained his doctorate in 1959. He then worked at the Max Planck Institute and subsequently in the Research & Development Department at Hilti AG in Schaan, Liechtenstein, becoming a director in 1968 and Executive Vice President of the company from 1976. From 1977 to 1987, he was a professor at the University of St.Gallen, where he reformed the Chair of Technology. In connection with this task, he also founded the Institute for Technology Management ITEM.

Hans-Dieter Seghezzi: Thought leader in quality management

A defining element of his life in industry and research was quality management. Based on this motivation, Hans-Dieter Seghezzi founded the Swiss Association for Quality and Management Systems (SQS), which he also headed from 1983 to 2003. He was also president of the European Organization for Quality from 1986 to 1988 and a pioneer of IQNET, the global network for management system certification. With the book "Integrated Quality Management", Seghezzi and his co-authors created a standard work in which the trend-setting St.Gallen management approach is combined with quality management.

Committed to quality even in retirement

The Seghezzi Prize, which the Swiss Foundation for Research and Education "Quality" (SFAQ) will award every two years, for the last time in 2021, is also named after him. Unfortunately, Seghezzi, who was still a regular guest at SQS and SAQ events such as the "Swiss Quality Day" at an advanced age, was no longer able to attend this event for health reasons. Now the voice that always stood up for the topic of "quality" throughout his life has fallen silent forever. Hans-Dieter Seghezzi leaves behind a wife as well as two sons and two daughters.

Bosch Rexroth, a specialist in drive and control technologies, defines the "Factory of the Future": "From our point of view, the factory of the future is highly transformable. Only the walls, floor and ceiling have their fixed place - everything else is mobile. The assembly lines are modular and the machines can reform into new lines as needed. Everything is wirelessly connected and communicates via 5G. Power is supplied by an inductive charging system via the floor," explains Thomas Fechner, Head of Business Unit Automation & Electrification Solutions at Bosch Rexroth.

Bosch Rexroth's commitment to the Smart Electronic Factory

Such a vision thrives on consistent research and development work. That is why Bosch Rexroth is also involved in overarching centers of competence. For example, the company is a member of the SEF Smart Electronic Factory e.V. This is an Industrie 4.0 initiative of research institutions and well-known companies that want to jointly pave the way to digitalization for Germany's industrial SMEs. SEF Smart Electronic Factory e.V. is an association founded in 2015 that develops Industrie 4.0-capable solutions - with a focus on the requirements of medium-sized businesses. At the Smart Electronic Factory, an electronics factory in Limburg a. d. Lahn (Germany), Industrie 4.0 scenarios and applications are developed and tested under real production conditions. 

Thomas Fechner explains: "In the SEF Smart Electronic Factory e.V., the competencies of companies with different specializations come together, enabling holistic solutions to be created. Special attention is paid to ensuring that companies can achieve rapid digitization benefits with the solutions - with a view to the big picture."

Industry 4.0: not a question of "if," but "how

Bosch Rexroth sees itself as a pioneer when it comes to solutions for the digitalized factory. One focus is factory automation. For example, the company has developed the ctrlX AUTOMATION automation platform, heralding a paradigm shift. The platform overcomes the classic boundaries between machine control, the IT world and the Internet of Things. It features end-to-end open standards, app programming technology, enables web-based engineering and comprehensive IoT connectivity. Apps from Bosch Rexroth and partners are available for any automation task via the ecosystem. In addition, Bosch Rexroth offers numerous other products, solutions, and services for digital transformation in the factory, helping manufacturers to make their production more flexible and future-proof.

"Digitization will continue to significantly change the world of production. Bosch Rexroth and all the other members of our Industrie 4.0 association have made it their mission to support companies with solutions that do not require additional digitization expertise, but instead ease the burden and remove hurdles. It is no longer a question of whether Industry 4.0 is implemented, but how. And we want to make a valuable contribution in this regard," explains Maria Christina Bienek, Managing Director of SEF Smart Electronic Factory e.V..

The Swiss Safety Center, part of the SVTI Group, also has recognized expertise in the fields of materials engineering and science, metallurgy, materialography, and corrosion as part of its loss prevention and fire protection responsibilities, and prepares damage analyses, expert reports, and expert opinions. To this end, the Swiss Safety Center carries out a wide range of non-destructive material tests, either stationary in its own testing laboratory or mobile on site.

Particularly well networked in the SME scene

After already recently a new quality manager was presented for the entire SVTI Group, there is another personnel development to report at the Swiss Safety Center: As of November 2021, Dr. Arnulf Hörtnagl is now the new Head of Materials Technology. He is a mechanical engineer with further specializations in manufacturing technology and materials science. His scientific activities led to a doctorate and a specialization in the fields of corrosion, tribology and stainless steels. Thanks to his professional activity, in various internationally active laboratories, he expanded his know-how in the direction of plastics technology and acquired his skills in sales as well as in the management of R+D projects. In passing on specialist knowledge, he brings experience from his two years as a lecturer in materials science. His excellent networking in the Swiss "SME scene" ideally complements his profile, according to the Swiss Safety Center.

Further expansion of materials technology capabilities

In his new position, he is responsible for the testing laboratory, which has its core competence in the area of materials testing and damage analysis on primarily metallic materials. His goal is to expand the range of services to include testing and analysis of stainless steels and the area of plastics technology, as well as to deepen the electrochemical corrosion measurements. He sees the testing laboratory as a competence center and partner for individual examinations through to complex problems for SMEs of all sizes, from a wide range of industries, both nationally and internationally.

Source and further information: Swiss Safety Center

The important topic of sustainability has been represented in the Body of Knowlegde (Overview of Knowledge Requirements) of the Person Certification for Bank Customer Advisors, which is authoritative for the content, since its inception. In this year's revision of the requirements, SAQ and the banking industry have given additional attention to this element. The topic of sustainability was further deepened in all respects and the requirements for client advisors were additionally increased.

Sustainable Finance as a Competitive Factor for the Swiss Financial Center

Thanks to the collaboration with Swiss Sustainable Finance on the revision of the sustainable knowledge requirements, the goals set have now been achieved and multi-layered benefits can be created, according to a statement to the media. The advisors are equipped for the challenges ahead. Bank customers benefit from optimal advice on all aspects of their needs for sustainable financial services. For the banks, this means even greater certainty that their advisors will be able to find their way around the ever-growing range of sustainable products and provide needs-based advice in the interests of the customer. The increased requirements for bank client advisors on sustainable finance topics meet with approval from the Swiss Bankers Association. "The SBA welcomes the fact that sustainability topics are at the forefront of this important certification. This will make another significant contribution to the high quality of client advice in Switzerland," said a statement from the association. "The Federal Council considers the integration of Sustainable Finance in financial education and training to be a quality feature as well as a significant competitive factor for the Swiss financial center," the Federal Office for the Environment FOEN also said. "The FOEN supports Sustainable Finance education initiatives and enjoys this important development, which allows SAQ certified client advisors* to play an active role in the federal government's efforts to develop a sustainable Swiss financial center."

Complete knowledge level for next person certification

The adapted Body of Knowledge is valid since 1.1.2022 and must be implemented in the certification exams within one year. For existing certificate holders, a wide range of re-certification trainings around the topic of sustainability is available. The SAQ Swiss Association for Quality, the Swiss Bankers Association, Swiss Sustainable Finance and the Federal Office for the Environment FOEN recommend that all persons with an SAQ Certificate Client Advisor Bank update their knowledge on the topic of sustainability as part of the next recertification.

Source and further information: www.saq.ch

In order to be able to monitor movement processes in industrial applications in a targeted manner, companies often need to be able to access the data in real time. In view of constantly increasing data volumes, it is therefore obvious to make Ethernet usable for industrial applications as well. This enables uniform data communication worldwide across the boundaries of local networks.

Unify your protocols

However, proprietary protocols that are only compatible with the respective devices often stand in the way of effective networking. In order not to slow down the digitization of production steps, meta protocols such as OPC UA are needed. Open Platform Communication Unified Architecture is a manufacturer-independent, industrial communication protocol. Thanks to the use of Ethernet technology, it enables continuous and transparent communication from the sensor to the cloud. Thanks to the integrated imagination mechanism, new devices can be integrated into the protocol without much effort and communicate with the existing network.

This protocol is made possible by advances in microelectronics: sensors and actuators with their own mini-processors allow universal networking thanks to their open and real-time communication protocol. However, in order to access the data in real time, all devices must be aligned to the same time base.

TSN pushes open the door to real-time communication

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) created such a uniform time basis with the Ethernet standard Time Sensitive Networking (TSN). This protocol regulates data transmission (traffic scheduling) and automates the configuration of individual systems. In this way, it enables companies to synchronize the transmission behavior of data packets from individual devices over time. 

Together with the OPC Foundation's extended communication model, OPC UA PubSub, the bridge could be built and real-time capable applications in the industrial environment could be implemented as generally available standards. OPC UA PubSub accelerates communication even without implementing TSN by being able to send data continuously without having to wait for responses from the recipients between individual messages. This can significantly reduce the load on the network. OPC UA over TSN also enables users to use digital certificates and thus generate a high level of security during data exchange.

New world standard for data communication

With TSN, companies can therefore optimally prepare for Industry 4.0. It forms the basis for all IIoT applications. Thanks to its real-time capability, IT and OT merge into a common network in no time at all, and even end devices without TSN capability can be easily operated via TSN networks. As a result, compatibility limits can be overcome more quickly and time-critical plant components can be integrated into the Internet of Things more easily. With Time Sensitive Networking, nothing stands in the way of fully automated production.

Author:
Thomas Kruse is Product Manager Network Technology, Smart Home and Security at reichelt elektronik. Reichelt elektronik (http://www.reichelt.de) is one of the best-known European online distributors for electronics and IT technology.

The ongoing digitization of patient records, folders and documentation has led to, and will continue to lead to, greater accessibility of reporting or research documents. But what will truly revolutionize medical practice, research or service management is the ability to make medical and diagnostic experiences contained in this ocean of documents accessible to both software programs and the service users themselves. This involves technologies and methods that can automatically identify - according to the terminology used in each case in the report - the symptom, the associated pathology, the drug, and the effect of a treatment on that pathology, potentially at large scale, i.e., across all digital documents created by inpatient, diagnostic, or research facilities. This process of "scanning" may seem relatively straightforward, as it follows our brain's "learning by experience" model: The challenge becomes apparent when we try to automatically apply the process to documents created without any structure to describe in advance which term is a "drug", which is a "treatment", and which is a "therapy".

New opportunities for Health Care 4.0

To fill this gap, Oracle Italy is collaborating with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (DIETI) at the University of Naples Federico II on a large and, it says, revolutionary research project to develop a solution to this problem, using the latest "graph machine learning" and AI technologies. The project, which is supported by Oracle Labs, Oracle's research and development organization, may create new opportunities for Health Care 4.0 that are unprecedented, it says. It will lead to taking full advantage of the most advanced technologies - such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. This involves extracting valuable information and context from vast amounts of data that are currently unavailable due to lack of structure or unstructured storage. Furthermore, these insights enable the detection, treatment and eventual prevention of diseases.

Application of advanced data science technologies

Diagnosis, prescribed treatments, outcomes and symptoms are data that, thanks to this research project, can be used with full privacy and become part of the wealth of information available for the full digitization of healthcare processes, providing healthcare and research staff with a valuable source of data for treatment pathways. The research team is working to apply the most advanced Data Science technologies. This is initially with the goal of organizing the information content of these documents - often just cursory annotations, with abundant use of technical terms and abbreviations - into charts, units, and relationships so that they can be used for automated data analysis to extract specific indicators identified from time to time. The ultimate goal is to create a system that can be navigated and used in natural language, and that is equally capable of "training" digital assistants for use in remote services, such as teleassistance services.

Another benefit of developing such advanced information extraction techniques will be the ability to create electronic patient records in a new format that requires fewer data entry fields, providing staff with a more natural user experience, similar to the traditional one they are used to: A fundamental requirement for the rapid adoption and spread of digitization of medical activities "in the field".

Practical benefit confirmed in the clinic

"In terms of AI, ML and data management, we've done our best in this research," comments Gabriele Folchi, Strategy & Transformation Director at Oracle. "We feed it with the extensive know-how of Oracle's research and development labs in Zurich, which specialize in analytics and machine learning techniques. For data management, we apply technologies and solutions in which Oracle has been a leader for decades. In addition, we provide Oracle Cloud Infrastructure resources to the world's best scientific research institutions through our Oracle for Research program."

An initial comment on the project was made by Dr. Roberto Labianca, medical oncologist and former director of the Cancer Center at Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo. "As a clinician, I see a whole range of interesting spin-offs for daily practice as well as for the design of research projects. The use of a common language and the possibility of comparing different experiences, made fully communicable with this methodology, represent the basis for a continuous gain of knowledge in my specialty, the oncology field."

In the course of the research, a collaboration between Oracle and DIETI has also been established as part of the master's degree program in "Data Science". Researchers from Oracle give lectures to the students and internship programs have been set up at the Oracle Lab facilities in Zurich.

Source: Oracle

It is a declaration of war against CO2: InterXion, operator of several data centers, and the Elektra Baselland EBL cooperative are joining forces for the Airport City region - smart, sustainable and ecological, as they say. The reason for this is the endeavor to use local energy more sustainably and to emit massively less CO2. The energy network is intended to heat buildings with virtually no CO2 emissions and to cool them in a sustainable manner. The project is also being backed by the Zurich electorate, which approved a new energy law by 62.6 percent in the vote on November 28, 2021. This law is intended to reduce the climate-damaging CO2 emissions caused by oil and gas heating systems by 40 percent. In future, oil and gas heating systems must be replaced by climate-neutral heating systems. Energieverbund Airport City now stands up for a regional, sustainable and climate-friendly heating and cooling solution.

Energy network has long been worthwhile

Data centers require a lot of power, but they produce a lot of waste heat when they are performing at their best. Until now, this heat has simply been released into the environment. So why not make smart use of it? Because then an entire region can benefit from it. The three partners came to this conclusion three years ago and, based on a study and clarification of requirements, planned the construction of an energy network with the aim of generating minimum emissions for heating and cooling and using the unused waste heat from the data center in the energy network. The energy density or demand in the area between Glattbrugg station and Balsberg for heating and cooling is so high that an energy network for district heating and cooling has long been worthwhile. "If we need so much energy, we want to use it carefully," says Hans Jörg Denzler, Managing Director of InterXion. "In 2011, we decided that 100 percent of our electricity would come from renewable sources. Since 2013, CO2 has been compensated. We therefore see the Airport City district heating network as the next logical step towards sustainable data center operations."

The partners of the energy network

For Energie Opfikon AG, it was important to carry out such a project with a leading and highly experienced energy and heat contractor like EBL. The energy group from Basel-Landschaft has been active in the heating business for 25 years and now operates 50 district heating networks in Switzerland with a capacity of over 163 MW. Based on a public tender with a subsequent evaluation process, EBL was also able to convince with the Airport City energy network. EBL will therefore now build an energy center on the InterXion site, from which the district heating/district cooling pipelines for Rümlang and Opfikon will then originate. It will be responsible for the entire project development, planning, construction, financing and operation of the plant. The energy center, with potential expansion options, will be located underground on the site of the Zurich data center.

The energy network uses the waste heat from these data centers as its primary energy source, which is available year-round and 24 hours a day. According to InterXion, the computing power of the two existing data centers and one newly added data center totals 41 MW. The waste heat, which is constantly available due to the 24/7 operation, is processed by large heat pumps and made usable for the connected customers. The waste heat from the chillers is used by the energy center to generate heat in the summer. In summer, customers require heat not only for hot water production but also for their operational processes.

Heat supply from winter 2024 at the earliest

The final project decision will now be made in mid-2022, and implementation is scheduled to start at the end of 2023. If everything goes according to plan, heat can be supplied from winter 2024. The acquisition phase has already begun, as Tobias Andrist, CEO of EBL, confirmed on request. Currently, conventional heating solutions, mostly oil or gas heating systems, are still in use in many places in the Opfikon/Glattbrugg area. Legal pressure will mean that these systems will have to be successively replaced. "We are now contacting the owners, inquiring about the respective status of the heating life cycle or whether a new construction or conversion is pending. On the other hand, companies or property owners can approach us on their own initiative," explains Andrist.

Operational safety guaranteed

But how secure is the supply of heat from data centers? Hans Jörg Denzler can reassure us in this regard. The reliability is very high, "the downtimes are no more than 10 seconds per year," says Denzler. And it is also unlikely that the company will abandon the site in the short term. That's because the long-term contracts alone with the data center customers who operate their servers at InterXion ensure that. "The service life of a data center in itself is more than 50 years," explains Hans Jörg Denzler. "This also applies to the diesel generators that would be used in the event of a power outage: These are only in operation for a few hours a year. Of course, they are constantly being upgraded." Fossil fuels for sustainable data center operation? That certainly goes together. If traditional diesel were banned, there would be a switch to biodiesel or synthetic fuel. "Since we have a high demand for operational reliability, we only use tried-and-tested products. We can't afford to experiment," says Denzler. 

Further information

Ricoh, the provider of document management solutions, IT services, communication services, commercial and industrial printing, digital cameras and industrial systems, is acquiring the Swiss company Axon Ivy AG. The Tokyo-based group is thus taking over the renowned platform for digital process automation. Ricoh customers worldwide are to benefit from innovations in software development and faster digital transformation processes. It will also give them direct access to a powerful, industry-recognized platform for automating and orchestrating business processes with low-code/no-code support, according to the group. "This acquisition is part of Ricoh's strategic investment in growing our digital services business. It expands our ability to support customers worldwide in their digital transformation and strengthens Ricoh's position as a Digital Services Company," said Akira Oyama, president of Ricoh's Digital Services Business Unit.

Headquartered in Lucerne, with offices in Austria and Germany and subsidiaries in the US and Singapore, Axon Ivy has more than two decades of experience in developing software platforms and solutions that help customers achieve their digital transformation goals. The company will continue to operate under its existing name as a Ricoh Group company and all employees will be retained. According to the announcement, customers and partners will continue to receive the same high-quality service. In addition, Axon Ivy customers will benefit from Ricoh's global reach and access to a broad portfolio of digital services. Ricoh's solutions are designed to make workplaces seamlessly digital and help businesses realize innovation, increased security and greater sustainability through technology. Rolf Gebhard Stephan, CEO Axon Ivy AG, said, "I see tremendous value in becoming part of the Ricoh global family. We have developed one of the most reliable and user-friendly platforms for digital process automation. Especially in Central Europe, our track record is impressive. We will continue to focus on our core competencies of technology and flexibility, benefiting in the future from Ricoh's access to all major markets around the world."

Source and further information