The 2024 Smart Services Summit invited academics, industry experts, and practitioners to explore the transformative impact of digital technologies and artificial intelligence on value co-creation within service ecosystems. This year’s theme emphasized the critical intersections between technology and collaborative value-creation processes, highlighting how these elements reshape business models, customer experiences, and service management.
The summit highlighted the effective implementation of AI-powered value co-creation, especially in the development of smart product-service systems (PSS). Case studies demonstrated practical applications and benefits of this approach. Keynotes emphasized the importance of building a vision for smart services, both within and outside the factory. This vision includes profit sharing and risk management as essential components of value co-creation.
The concept of an industrial metaverse was explored, where, e.g., technicians can prepare for tasks using a digital twin environment, supported by AI-generated field service reports. Transformational leadership was identified as a key factor for the effective adoption of technology. This involves focusing on user-centric designs, multilingual communication, and continuous engagement.
Throughout the summit, several critical insights and discussions emerged, shedding light on various aspects of AI and its integration into different sectors. One of the primary topics was the ethical challenges that arise at the intersection of legal frameworks and value creation. This is particularly relevant in the context of AI, where balancing innovation with ethical considerations in big data-driven business is crucial. Privacy concerns in marketing were also a significant focus. Various case studies from retail companies illustrated different approaches and challenges in addressing these concerns. Discussions also covered the use of data analysis for global sustainability, integrating environmental, economic, and social wellbeing into value co-creation strategies.
Several emerging themes were identified during the summit. One such theme was balancing value creation between individuals and organizations, ensuring that business value complements individual value.
October 09, 2024, by Gundula Heinatz Bürki, data innovation alliance
The Swiss Conference on Data Science (SDS) is Switzerland’s premier event for applied data science. The conference brings together leaders and science and business experts to exchange ideas and drive innovation in products and services, with a focus on the Swiss market. The SDS2024 took place in Zurich on May 30-31 at The Circle Convention Centre, Zurich Airport. If you want to get an impression how it was, have a look at the SDS2024 Flashback Video!
The 2-day conference started with an interactive workshop day to provide in-depth, practical and application-oriented insights into the latest developments in the field of data science and Artificial Intelligence. Over 450 participants took advantage of these opportunities and were able to benefit from exciting and professionally prepared and conducted workshops. Six of the workshops were supported by the Innovation Booster Databooster to identify challenges and discuss possible ideas for radical solutions.
Real World Applications of LLMs for Business and Industry
This workshop aimed to delve into the real-world applications of Large Language Models (LLMs), targeting both technical and business professionals. The agenda included a balanced mix of hands-on coding and brainstorming sessions to apply LLMs in addressing modern business challenges.
Participants got a comprehensive introduction to LLMs, and then moved into developing a web application using LLMs. Subsequent sessions focussed on performance and cost analysis, optimizing solutions, and exploring various applications.
The attendees gained practical skills and strategies for using LLMs efficiently in diverse scenarios.
Elevating Business Through Social Values – The Companies’ Perspective and Future Challenges
The 2nd workshop dealt with elevating companies through social values and related challenges. This workshop was organized by Jürg Meierhofer (ZHAW School of Engineering & data innovation alliance – Head Expert Group Smart Services) and Adrienne Schäfer (Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts – School of Business).
Sustainable business practices focus on considering the impact on the environment, society, and the economy. While economic and ecological sustainability are already firmly anchored in practice, the social dimension of sustainability tends to be neglected. The participants discussed these challenges and the causal relationship between data-driven operations and social outcomes.
AI in Action: A Practical Guide to Using Agents for Integrating Custom Knowledge With Large Language Models
The third workshop provided a practical guide about Agents for integrating custom knowledge with LLMs, organized by D ONE (Heiko Kromer and Philipp Warmer).
This workshop explored Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) in Large Language Models (LLMs), focusing on the integration of custom knowledge bases and the use of agents in the generation process.
Attendees learnt about the two main components of RAG: retrieval and generation. The workshop explained the role of agents, which are managed by an orchestrator that delegates tasks and condenses results into valuable answers for the user.
AI Standards: Navigating Compliance and Regulations for Responsible AI
The 4th workshop dealt with Compliance and Regulations for Responsible AI, one of the focus topics of the IB Databooster. This workshop was organized by ZHAW (Christoph Heitz and Ricardo Chavarriaga).
AI-related standards are a key element to comply with upcoming regulation of AI. This workshop provided an overview of the regulation process and important standards for AI innovation, and provided practical exercises on how to apply them in practice. More than 30 participants discussed this topics in detail.
Predictive Maintenance & Time Series Anomaly Detection With Darts
The hands-on workshop on predictive maintenance and anomaly detection using Darts more than 60 participants learnt how to use time series data to predict equipment failures and detect anomalies. To understand this topic better the moderators presented two real-world use cases from the healthcare and industrial sectors.
Data Science in Spatial Computing – Explore Your Data Using PlotAR
The participants had an immersive experience: walking through the data, grasping it with their own hands. They made hands-on exercises the basics of PlotAR and explored it in more detail.
The day was concluded with a networking apero and the presentation of the Swiss Viz Awards.
September 08, 2024, by Reik Leiterer, data innovation alliance
The aim and motivation of the RiskON initiative are to promote the further development of risk management in Switzerland under the patronage of sminds AG/N9 House of Innovation, the program management of the University of Zurich, especially of the UZH Innovation Hub, including business partners such as Bank Julius Baer, LGT Bank Switzerland, Pictet, EFG International and the Association of Swiss Cantona Banks.
Actively joined strategic partners in 2024 were Swiss Financial Innovation Desk (FIND), Swiss Risk Association and the Innosuisse Innovation Booster Artificial Intelligence. The latter will allow for the practice transfer after the RiskON Hackthon – a practice transfer for co-innovation between banking representatives and students, guided by the UZH faculty.
The RiskON brought together professional risk expertise with enthusiastic young academics in the format of a ‘Risk-/Hackathon’ with the aims to provide concrete solutions for real challenges in non-financial, financial, and digital risks: at RiskON 2024, experience and youth, curiosity and established professionalism, commitment and openness met for the second time at the University of Zurich to jointly develop comprehensive and digital risk management solutions.
The RiskON 2024 had three concrete challenges with 15 teams and 53 students to work on and produced use cases and approaches for the banks involved:
Challenge-1 ‘Use of new technologies for risk events classification and analysis’ Financial institutions, as part of their risk frameworks, are required to capture, investigate/analyze and report on risk events. Given the volume of such events, their handling and analysis may be cumbersome and resource intensive. So how to leverage new technologies to facilitate the classification of risk events and their analysis?
Challenge-2 ‘Fraud Risk Detection – How artificial intelligence can help’ Fraud risk, external and internal, is currently among the top risks in the financial sector. Big data and the rapid development of artificial intelligence has, unfortunately, also contributed to that over the past few years. On the other hand, AI-methods can be efficiently used by banks for early detection of fraud risk. In this context, a pragmatic approach for using AI methods and tools as part of a fraud risk detection tool with a focus on Private Banking business profiles is required.
Challenge-3 ‘How can AI be leveraged and enabled to enable CRO employees to work more efficiently’ By focusing on either completing counterparty due diligence questionnaires, enhancing the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) alert resolution process or streamlining, harmonizing, translating, and updating legal client forms using advanced analytics techniques, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), and NLP, ideas for improving, scaling and automating tasks performed by Chief Risk Officer (CRO) employees are needed (incl. considering the associated risks, limitations and implementation cost).
The participating, interdisciplinary teams were able to deal intensively with the challenges in advance and, after a brief introduction by the organizers and a description of the hackathon’s procedure, they moved to their break-out rooms to work on their projects. Here they were coached not only by the challenge owners, i.e. the finance institutions, but also by experts from the fields of finance, risk management and technology integration.
The following day – and for many of the participants after a rather short night – the results were presented separately for each challenge in front of a jury and discussed together with the bank’s representatives. All the results were consistently of a very high standard, both in terms of conceptual depth and technological implementation, as well as in terms of reflection on the challenges and basic understanding of the complex challenges worked on.
The award ceremony and networking aperitif took place in the center of Zurich – and gave the winners of each challenge the chance to present their results again in front of all participants and in a festive setting. In addition, the award ceremony dinner and the unofficial closing aperitif were used extensively to exchange ideas with the industry and research experts present – and to discuss possible next steps in the teams after this RiskOn experience.
For the winning teams, these steps are clear: the innovative solutions will receive funding and support to ensure practical implementation. Within six months, a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) or Proof of Concept (POC), showcasing the feasibility, viability and desirability of the ideas, will be put into motion. The innovation teams will also get the opportunity to co-author articles and white papers with UZH professors, gaining access to cutting-edge research, enhancing academic credentials and thereby allowing for academic transfer.
The 6th ZHAW Digital Health Lab Day took place on September 3, 2024, at the ZHAW School of Engineering in Winterthur, under the theme “People, Technologies, and Processes.” This annual event brought together leading experts, innovators, and stakeholders from various sectors to discuss and explore the future of digital health.
The program – which attracted almost 300 participants from healthcare, IT, management, health sectors, startups, and research communities, engaged in vibrant discussions about the latest developments in digital health – was designed to provide a rich and varied experience, featuring a blend of keynote speeches, interactive workshops, poster exhibitions, startup pitches, and panel discussions. This diverse format allowed attendees to engage deeply with the material and network with professionals across the industry. The keynote speakers included prominent figures from academia, healthcare policy, and industry who shared their insights on critical issues and innovative developments in the digital health landscape.
Among the highlights were presentations on pioneering concepts such as Digital Twins, explained by Prof. Dr. Sven Hirsch from ZHAW, who discussed how virtual models of patients can enhance personalized medicine. Prof. Dr. Roger Gassert from ETH Zurich explored advancements in neurorehabilitation, shedding light on new technologies that aid recovery for individuals with neurological conditions. Additionally, Dr. Guy Bogaarts from Roche Diagnostics provided valuable information on digital biomarkers and their role in patient monitoring and treatment optimization. Gian-Reto Grond from the Federal Office of Public Health offered insights into the DigiSanté program, emphasizing the Swiss government’s commitment to integrating digital health solutions into conventional healthcare practices.
The event also featured engaging workshops where participants could delve into specific topics related to digital health innovations and their practical applications. Startup pitches provided a platform for emerging companies to showcase their groundbreaking products and solutions, fostering an environment of collaboration and entrepreneurship.
Furthermore, the panel discussions facilitated dynamic exchanges among experts regarding the challenges and opportunities in implementing digital health technologies. These conversations encouraged participants to think critically about the ethical, regulatory, and logistical considerations necessary for the successful rollout of digital health initiatives.
Overall, the 6th ZHAW Digital Health Lab Day not only highlighted the latest research and technological advancements but also emphasized the importance of collaboration among diverse stakeholders. By fostering meaningful dialogue and networking opportunities, the event aimed to drive forward innovations in digital health that enhance patient care, improve health outcomes, and ultimately transform the healthcare sector.
August 29, 2024, by Jürg Meierhofer, ZHAW and Gundula Heinatz Bürki, data innovation alliance
In the age of Industry 4.0, the manufacturing landscape is undergoing a profound transformation. The smart factory concept, which centers on creating value from data and utilizing smart data solutions, is at the forefront of this revolution. In the framework of the Smart Data Forum at the “maintenance” fair (https://www.maintenance-schweiz.ch/) on August 29, 2024, three industry presentations from companies ABB and Kistler as well as a research presentation from ZHAW were given around this topic. The numerous audience was engaged in lively discussions. Many thanks to Markus Rodermann, Gerrit Schatte, Helmut Sedding, and Christian Oehrli for their valuable contributions.
The first presentation gave a deep dive into the integration of IoT (Internet of Things) technology in manufacturing, emphasizing its pivotal role in Industry 4.0. IoT enables automation, predictive maintenance, and asset tracking, which are game-changers for modern factories. Connected devices are not just enhancing productivity; they are also significantly improving worker safety on the shop floor. By automating routine tasks and monitoring conditions in real-time, IoT-driven solutions lead to more efficient and safer manufacturing processes.
Moreover, the environmental impact cannot be overlooked. IoT applications in industrial settings have the potential to drastically reduce energy consumption and associated costs. This contributes to more sustainable manufacturing practices, aligning with global efforts to reduce carbon footprints. The keynote highlighted how these advancements are not just theoretical but are already being implemented to drive tangible results.
Additionally, the presentations delved into the use of sensors and data analytics in monitoring manufacturing processes and infrastructure. Real-world examples, such as the monitoring of wheel-rail interactions for railway applications and the surveillance of bridge conditions, were used to illustrate the practical benefits of these technologies.
By leveraging sensor data, manufacturers can gain insights into the health of their processes and infrastructure in real-time. This capability allows for early detection of potential issues, reducing downtime and preventing costly failures. The ability to continuously monitor and analyze data ensures that manufacturing operations remain efficient and that critical infrastructure is maintained to the highest standards.
As resource planning is a critical aspect of manufacturing, there was an additional focus on how modern AI technology is enhancing this process. Traditionally, Gantt charts have been used to visualize objectives like efficiency and punctuality in resource planning. However, manual planning involves an experienced planner who accounts for both written and unwritten constraints—something that automated planning software often struggles with.
The introduction of AI changes the game by providing planners with a natural language interface that they can interact with intuitively. This allows for real-time adjustments to plans, closing the gap between automated scheduling and the realities of execution. This breakthrough is a significant step towards democratizing automated planning, making it more accessible and practical for industries across the board.
Adding a very interesting perspective, we explored the critical question of how to measure user value in smart applications. It was emphasized that both measurable values and the emotional impact of applications play crucial roles in determining their success. Understanding how users interact with and perceive these applications is key to improving existing solutions and guiding the development of new ones. The importance of focusing on user experience to ensure that smart applications deliver tangible benefits was highlighted. Whether it’s enhancing productivity, reducing costs, or simply making processes easier to manage, the ability to measure and optimize user value is essential in the ongoing evolution of smart technologies.
Conclusion
The event showcased the immense potential of smart factories powered by data and intelligent technologies. From IoT integration to AI-driven resource planning, each presentation highlighted different facets of how data and smart solutions are transforming manufacturing. As industries continue to adopt these innovations, the future of manufacturing looks smarter, more efficient, and more sustainable.
In open innovation, creating a safe space to share knowledge and ideas is vital for successful co-creation. This entails establishing a legal framework for open innovation by creating policies and guidelines that foster collaboration, protect intellectual property (IP) rights, ensure fair use, and maintain compliance with relevant laws. The following video explains how to enable a trust-building setting with rules of participation for an open innovation program and for collaborating teams.
In the frame of Intellectual Property Management, create and/or follow guidelines on the ownership and sharing of IP created through open innovation, including e.g. joint ownership, licensing agreements, or IP transfer policies. Create understanding on how patents and trademarks will be handled, including the set-up of agreements on filing and maintaining IP protection. If necessary, use non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to protect sensitive information shared during collaboration.
With regard to compliance with laws and regulations, be aware of data protection laws (e.g., GDPR, CCPA) when handling personal or sensitive data, comply with export control regulations that may affect the sharing of technology or information across borders, and avoid anti-competitive practices by ensuring that collaboration does not lead to market monopolization or unfair trade practices. May be consider using Creative Commons and open source licenses (e.g., MIT, GPL) to facilitate and ensure legal sharing, contribution and reuse of creative works.
We always recommend establishing ethical guidelines to ensure that innovations are developed and used responsibly. In addition, the incorporation of sustainability criteria into the innovation process could be something to think about to promote environmentally and socially responsible practices.
It was truly inspiring to see so many innovative ways data-driven methods can improve the lives of animals, humans, and society as a whole. From improving our behavior in front of screens, detecting distress in horses, and facilitating the mobility of people in wheelchairs to identifying small damages in bridges and more. The Innovation Booster Databooster, powered by Innosuisse, supported a wide range of fascinating projects. Read on to get inspired by the highlights of the Project Day on June 25th, 2024, at Oracle in Zurich. An afternoon where 35 data enthusiasts gathered to gain firsthand insights into the innovation journeys and lessons learned from innovators, exchange ideas, and network together.
The afternoon started with Huseyn Gasimov from Intelec AI, who presented their newly developed app. The app, still in its early stages, aims to improve children’s behavior in front of screens by ensuring they maintain an appropriate distance. The vision is to develop an app that runs in the background of digital devices, informing users when they unconsciously position themselves in unhealthy ways.
In the following presentation, Miriam Baumgartner from Agroscope informed the audience about their ability to detect distress in horses in free-range stables. The sensor-based data allows horse owners to track the well-being of their horses from a distance and avoid stress-based injuries.
The next presenter Dirk Zimanky from edisconet summarized their project as follows: “As seasoned professionals leave the workforce, the risk of losing valuable tacit experience “Silent Knowledge” looms large. Yet, collecting this tacit knowledge holds immense potential for future growth and success, both on individual and organizational levels.
edisconet is developing a platform that utilizes advanced AI techniques, such as scripted interviews transforming spoken knowledge into a usable format stored within databases. The Silent Knowledge project seeks to seamlessly convert tacit expert knowledge into new learnings, at the same time optimizing the training process for newcomers.” Do you want to try out the current state of the app and its abilities? Download the app Memoro and see for yourself.
Other highlights included the presentation from Iman El Telt from Topo Helvetica. Their Slowlution project aims at facilitating travel and mobility for people in wheelchairs. Additionally, Giulia Aguzzi from Kistler Instrumente demonstrated how they use Graph Neural Networks to detect abnormalities in bridge structures to ensure long-term stability.
After a refreshing networking break, participants were introduced to the projects “SkyScan: Object Detection from Limited Flight Data” presented by Eric Chaubert from ELIX. Massimo Menzio from MTF and Ayoub Omran from SUPSI presented a novelty for the construction industry: an innovative tool for simplifying the drafting of buildings’ specifications.
Manuel Kugler, from our partner SATW, presented the results of an incredible collaborative effort involving 70 domain experts on how to use the power of AI to mitigate the impact of climate change on Switzerland. Michele Bolla from ERNI provided insights into the benefits of open data value creation that were addressed in a cross-industry workshop.
Indiana Valerian from ANTS presented their journey towards a local and more affordable Machine Learning setup with distributed hardware to enable innovation with a chatGPT-type AI-assistant while keeping data safe and local.
Before the networking apéro, participants were introduced to further funding opportunities for national and transnational projects by Tim Llewellynn from EU Research and Frank Wolff, an Innosuisse Mentor.
Once again, participants left inspired, having connected with old and new data enthusiasts. Tomas Tamfal, Data Scientist at ERNI, summarized it well: “It’s always inspiring to be part of such innovative discussions and to connect with brilliant minds in the industry.”
On June 20, the Expert Group Smart Services (https://data-innovation.org/smart-services/) had the chance to visit the Kistler innovation lab in Winterthur. The visit provided an impressive insight into the increasing intertwining of physical and digital processes, which unlocks countless new possibilities and opportunities. Kistler, a global leader in dynamic measurement technology, recognizes this potential. In their Innovation Lab, they harness data-driven insights to create innovative services and solutions.
The afternoon started with impressive presentations by Johannes Stühler, Head of Service Development, Sharon Joseph, Data Engineer, and Gerrit Schatte Lead Projects / Biz Dev Innovation Lab. Profound discussions unfolded between these experts and the participants of the expert group. Numerous opportunities for further discussions were also recognized and new contacts were made.
The round of presentations was followed by a factory visit, which gave in-depth insight into the technological and value-adding processes of Kistler. At the concluding aperitif, the discussions could be deepened and further initiatives were initiated.
The Swiss Conference on Data Science (SDS) is Switzerland’s premier event for applied data science. The conference brings together leaders and science and business experts to exchange ideas and drive innovation in products and services, with a focus on the Swiss market. The SDS2024 took place in Zurich on May 30-31 at The Circle Convention Centre, Zurich Airport. If you want to get an impression how it was, have a look on the SDS2024 Flashback Video!
The 2-day conference started with an interactive workshop day to provide in-depth, practical and application-oriented insights into the latest developments in the field of data science and Artificial Intelligence. Over 450 participants took advantage of these opportunities and were able to benefit from exciting and professionally prepared and conducted workshops. Two of the workshops were supported by the Innovation Booster Artificial Intelligence to identify challenges and discuss possible ideas for radical solutions.
Next-Gen Cleantech Solutions: Mining Insights from Media and Patent Data with Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Large Language Models (LLMs)
At a time when tackling environmental challenges is of paramount importance, the cleantech industry plays a central role in promoting sustainable solutions. However, technological innovation in the cleantech sector requires a deep understanding not only of the technologies, but also of the market requirements. The workshop addressed the challenge how this information, usually embedded in a large amount of patent and media data, could be analysed using Natural Language Processing (NLP) and the latest advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs).
The workshop started with a talk about Disentangling the Global Innovation Landscape by J. Lipenkova and expert techniques were presented for analysing patent and media data for cleantech innovation including NLP, LLMs, RAG, and LLMs-augmented recommender systems. These inputs were then applied in a hands-on session and transferred to specific use cases, where the participants were able to try out the presented LLM-powered cleantech question-answering and recommendation system.
They key challenges identified and discussed were:
i) How to identify use cases and workflows in the cleantech sector that can be supported with natural language processing, large language models and retrieval-augmented generation techniques?
ii) How to evaluate the business value of different technical variations and how to quantify the ROI of such systems?
Generative AI has reached broad attention in the media over the last months. Different new use cases have been identified to support people in their daily work and make their work more efficient. But what about the well-being of the individuals? Different studies have shown that there is a rise of stress, also in Switzerland. On the one side, technologies such as chatbots or coaching technologies can support mental health or therapy in the setting of blended therapy. On the other side, there is a huge potential of multimedia interventions for elderly people, patients or stressed workers.
In this interdisciplinary workshop with a mixture of talks and hands-on parts, the different directions possible were discussed and how these latest technologies can be applied for the well-being of humans. One example was, how language models could be leveraged for advanced conversational interactions in the digital health domains or more in general, how generative AI could be a suitable technology in mental health care. Current challenges include the sometimes-limited patients health literacy which could leads to less effective treatments. This could be addressed with digital assistants providing personalized information’s and thus may increase patients therapy adherence. The practical part was all about enhancing well-being through multimedia generative AI with a focus on image and sound generation.
The day was concluded with a networking Apero and the presentation of the Swiss Viz Awards.
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