The Swiss Informatics Society (SI) just celebrated its 40th anniversary. We received our esteemed members and representatives from our partner organisations, among them IFIP’s General Secretary Anatolii Marushchak, on Friday 17 November at Hotel Schweizhof in Bern for an anniversary celebration. While looking back on our 40 years of history with IT in Switzerland, we also wanted to look forward to things to come.
With presentations on ‘DNA as Data Storage’ by Prof. Pierre-Yves Burgi from the University of Geneva and on ‘Post-Quantum Cryptography’ by Dr. Sonia Duc from Adnovum, we had our eyes firmly set on the future and on important topics and innovations. The podium discussion on ‘The Future of Computer Science’ with representatives from academia, industry and politics naturally also looked forward. Their thoughts on the developments of computer science and specifically on the challenges of E-ID in Switzerland, the rapid rise of AI tools and the challenges of educating cititzens in such an ever-developing environment, will certainly come up in future discussions of our attendees.
Some of these discussions continued during the gala dinner, where we enjoyed the cuisine of Hotel Schweizerhof. SI was honored by the speech given by IFIP vice-president, Prof. Jacques Sakarovitch, and the commemorative trophy awaded by IFIP. The evening concluded with a speech by SI President Francis Baud on the protection and recognition of IT professionals.
SI would like to thank all its members for making our work possible and we look forward to another four decades of excellence in Swiss IT.