The "What's Next Forum" of Innovation World Switzerland is expecting around 150 innovators, start-ups and change-makers from SMEs and the corporate world on November 7. The event will take place at Google Switzerland at Europaallee 36 in the afternoon. Visitors will learn first-hand how new AI and XR technologies can be used profitably and effectively in practice and what potential they offer. The program includes keynotes, twelve use case sessions, an "AI in HR" lab and several live demo points for asking questions, testing and experiencing immersive technologies. The focus is on best practices, the independent exchange of information and the live experience.

Under the motto "What's next?", speakers such as Dr. Simone Ruppertz-Rausch from Google Cloud, Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) and Marek Dutkiewicz, founder of HR Campus, will provide insights into future technologies and highlight the potential. This will be followed by panels with experts with recommendations for action and best practice.

Interactive elements and networking

The forum focuses on interaction, networking and the learning experience. In various use case sessions, at demo points and in the Google Atelier Digital, visitors can experience how chatbots and machine learning are revolutionizing marketing, what a takeaway car workshop looks like or how augmented reality (AR) enables targeted interactions in retail. "Now is the time to find out what is possible with artificial intelligence and immersive technologies in the virtual world. That's why personal experience and trial and error are so important to us," explains organizer Ewa Ming. "At the event, participants can ask all their questions and gather important information so that they can soon get started with new tools, ideas, concepts and strategies."

A ticket costs 269 francs. Further information about the event can be found at Whatsnext-forum.ch.

Because in this case, the musician had promised to officially change his name to the suggestion that gets the most likes on social media. The winner was "Blunty McBluntface". The 50-year-old then assured that he would go through with the marketing stunt if he had to.

Blunt reacted to the chart decision with a ironic videoIn it, he is filmed on the phone with his manager telling him the "bad" news that he has missed the top of the charts. While the interviewer comforts him, Blunt cheers: "I don't have to change my name" and jumps around on the sofa with joy.

Name changes in the UK relatively simple

In the UK, name changes can be made via a so-called "deed poll" by declaration. The cost is 49.32 pounds, which corresponds to around 55 francs. There are only restrictions if copyright is infringed or the name could be offensive, for example if it is offensive or sexual in nature. However, the step can also be reversed very easily.

However, the last word may not yet have been spoken for Blunt, who is known for his self-irony - if the joke video is to be believed. "I've spoken to the record label and we think it might be time to rebrand. We're all a bit tired of James Blunt," says the manager in the video. Besides, the kids would love Blunty McBluntface. "It's got a really nice ring to it." Blunt then slumps in shock. The manager addresses him: "Bluntface...?"

Blunt stormed the charts in 2005 with "Back to Bedlam" and the single "You're Beautiful". The record remained at the top of the British charts for ten weeks. (SDA/swi)

"As the ESC, we have a duty of care and will take a closer look at the issue of well-being in future," Walden told the Sunday View.

The SRG manager admitted mistakes at the last ESC in Malmö, Sweden, which was overshadowed by the Middle East conflict: "Malmö was a great ESC final - but a few things must not be repeated," said Walden. For the edition in Basel, he promised better communication on the part of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which will organize the ESC 2025 together with SRG and the city of Basel.

"In future, we will have our own crisis management, strengthen communication and work very closely with the SRG project team. We at the EBU are organizing the competition, SRG is organizing the event together with Basel," said Walden. They want to make sure that the ESC is as neutral as possible. Anti-Semitism has no place at the ESC.

They want an ESC where everyone puts their heart and soul into it. It would be a "strong statement" if everyone treated each other fairly, peacefully and respectfully. Because: "We can't solve the many wars and conflicts in the world during the ESC," said Walden. (SDA/swi)

The prelude to the JournalismDay.24 will make the keynote speech by Silvia Princigalli, who draws on her many years of experience in various editorial offices such as 20 minutes, Annabelle and Izzy reports. In her presentation, she shows how journalists have to constantly reinvent themselves in the digital transformation. Princigalli makes it clear that crises can also be seen as opportunities for innovation and provides concrete insights into how media professionals can overcome these challenges.

The results of the ZHAW's current occupational field study will be presented at the event for the first time. The study raises various questions: How does political orientation relate to diversity in editorial offices? What role does gender-equitable language play in different types of media? Media professor Vinzenz Wyss discusses the findings with journalists Camille Lothe from the Nebelspalter and Eva Hirschi from the NZZ.

Panels and workshops will continue to focus on hot topics such as the financial situation of the media industry, non-discriminatory reporting and the role of the media in the US presidential election campaign. The panelists include Simon Bärtschi from Tamedia and Arthur Honegger from SRF. In a workshop, Thomas Benkö from Ringier will demonstrate the possible uses and limits of AI applications in everyday editorial work.

A special focus is on the next generation of media professionals. Three journalists under 30 discuss the future prospects of the industry. Finally, new editors-in-chief from various Swiss media, led by Sandro Brotz, will debate quality journalism in times of scarce resources, including Sabine Eva Wittwer from the Migros Magazine or Marcello Odermatt from the Confederation.

JournalismDay.24 will take place on November 21, 2024 and will begin at 12 noon with a networking opportunity. After an intensive program, the event will end in the evening with an aperitif riche. The venue is the IAM Institute for Applied Media Studies of the ZHAW at Theaterstrasse 15c in Winterthur.

The Adecco Group's annual "Global Workforce of the Future" survey shows that the average time saved per employee per day through the use of AI is one hour. A fifth of the 35,000 employees, including 1005 respondents in Switzerland, in 27 economic nations even reported that they would save up to two hours a day with AI. Five percent of respondents even save three or four hours a day.

Hardly any industry differences

According to the Adecco study, time savings are fairly consistent across all industries. Employees in the energy, utilities and cleantech sectors report the highest savings at 75 minutes per day, while the lowest savings - in aerospace - are 52 minutes per day. Employees in the technology sector save an average of 66 minutes per day, in finance it is 57 minutes and in the manufacturing industry 62 minutes.

Denis Machuel, CEO of the Adecco Group, is quoted in a press release on the study as follows: "There has been a lot of speculation about how AI will change the world of work. That's why it's incredibly exciting to see these first potential signs of efficiency gains. The time saved by workers seems to have been put to good use and is not just limited to one or two sectors, but seems to be widespread across industries. It's still early days, but AI seems to be delivering on its promise."

The survey suggests that the time saved is used to create greater added value: 28% of study participants say that they use the time saved for more creative tasks, 26% of respondents say that AI gives them more time for strategic thinking, and 27% report an improved work-life balance. However, there are also indications that the time saved by AI is not always used productively: 23% of users state that they do the same amount of work, while 21% spend more time on personal activities.

AI is changing the world of work and causing fear

The study not only provides information about the influence of AI, but also sheds light on how the world of work is changing. According to the study, employees are increasingly concerned about an uncertain future, with economic conditions and job security taking center stage. While more employees are opting to stay with their current employers, the impact of AI on job stability was largely underestimated last year, according to the study: 13% of respondents said they had lost their job due to AI.

40 percent of respondents expressed concerns about long-term job security. 83 percent plan to stay with their current employer - the highest retention rate in the past three years. At the same time, the view of the disruptive effects of AI becomes more balanced when other aspects are considered: 51% of respondents believe that AI will expand their career opportunities. 46% agree that AI offers them more opportunities to learn new skills and advance professionally.

Train adaptability, not just skills

Another important finding of the study is that a select group of high performers stand out from their peers. This is mainly due to the strong support of their employers. To expand the group and develop future leaders, companies need to prioritize continuous skills improvement, the study further found. Currently, only 11 percent of employees are "future ready", meaning individuals who are characterized by adaptability, flexibility in career plans and a proactive approach to learning new skills.

Mental health and well-being

The authors of the study call on employers to prioritize the mental health of employees by demonstrating a commitment to inclusion and sustainable working practices. In the past 12 months, 40 percent of employees would have experienced exhaustion due to excessive workload - a figure that would rise to 62 percent if employees are concerned about the impact of AI and are negatively affected by it.

Managers are also challenged, as the study found out. Less than half of employees have confidence in the AI skills and knowledge of their managers (46 percent). (Marc Landis/NetzKI Bot/Tme/swi)

This article first appeared in Netzwoche.

"With Stefan, we have an ideal candidate," says editor-in-chief Philippe Chappuis with conviction. "The fact that he has a lot of experience as a VJ is an advantage. Younger colleagues in our team will also benefit from this."

After leaving BaselMedia, Plattner joined Radio Basilisk in 2018, where he currently works as editor and producer of the "Penalty Podcast". "Whether it's a city of culture and carnival, a construction site hole, a sports mecca or a Kirsi stronghold - my home region offers an endless number of stories and people," says Plattner about his return. "It's a new challenge for me to capture these in moving images again. With Telebasel and Baseljetzt, this is possible in terms of multimedia and journalism."

BaselMedia is an independent foundation. It operates the television station Telebasel, the news platform Baseljetzt since January 2023 and the video production company Bildwerk Basel since July 2024.

Since April 2023, the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne has been presenting the "House of Energy" in the Interactive permanent exhibition "Experience Energy!"which promotes scientific, political and social dialog on the topic of energy. Since Friday, the "Sustainability Dialogue" area, which was created in part through the partnership with Sustainable Switzerland, has expanded this exhibition. It was developed jointly by Sustainable Switzerland and the Swiss Museum of Transport in collaboration with scientific partners.

At its heart is the "Emission Explorer", an interactive tool that visitors can use to determine their personal carbon footprint by means of questions and self-assessments. The Explorer was developed together with the "Energy Science for Tomorrow" (ES4T) initiative, in which ETH Zurich, EPFL Lausanne, the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and Empa are involved. The experience is complemented by Sustainable Switzerland's interactive sustainability dialog, which provides tips for greater sustainability in everyday life and invites visitors to express their opinions on key issues relating to sustainable development. The dialog is rounded off with exciting and surprising facts on the five topics of mobility, flying, consumption, nutrition and living.

Every year, the Swiss Packaging Institute presents the Swiss Packaging Award in recognition of outstanding achievements in the packaging industry. The aim of the competition is to showcase the creativity and innovative strength of the Swiss packaging industry. Companies can submit their packaging solutions in the categories of sustainability, convenience, design, marketing, technology / construction / machine solutions and reusable packaging / systems.

The 55th Swiss Packaging Award was hosted by Philippe Dubois, President of the SVI, together with jury president Stefan Jüde. This year, a total of 37 packaging solutions were submitted by 25 different participants. The sustainability category was again particularly well represented with 20 submissions. This reflects the demands of the times: packaging companies must develop recyclable, reusable and recyclable packaging - the submissions show that they are tackling this with pioneering solutions.

The Audience Award, sponsored by the Empack packaging trade fair, went to Andreas Kopp with the "King Penguin with pull-out mechanism" packaging solution for the customer Jakobs Basler Leckerly / Basel Zoo. The audience award is voted for by consumers, not the jury.

The 2024 winners at a glance

• Sustainability category: Pharma Guard from Südpack Medica
• Category Marketing: Cartony - Pizza Karton Wave from Delicous Network, Manufacturer: Bourquin
• Design category: "Gottlieber Hüppen" from Pawi Packaging Switzerland
• Convenience category: Implant packaging from GPI Swiss
• Category Technology / Construction / Machine systems: Sushi Pack - dry molded fiber from Bachmann Forming, developer: Scafa Thermoforming / OMG Thermoforming SRL
• Reusable packaging / reusable systems: ReCircle reusable network by Stefan Kälin, design: AdRem Design

SVI Managing Director Andreas Zopfi referred to the high innovative strength of the Swiss packaging industry and congratulated the sector on its progressive and goal-oriented approach to sustainable packaging solutions. The winners of the Swiss Packaging Award automatically qualify to take part in the World Star Award of the World Packaging Organization.

This price tier recently had 35% more users than three months previously. Netflix now has a total of around 282.7 million households. According to the company, customers spend an average of two hours a day on the service.

The streaming provider increased its revenue in the third quarter by 15 percent year-on-year to just over 9.8 billion dollars. Analysts had expected slightly less than 9.8 billion dollars. At the bottom line, profit jumped to 2.36 billion dollars from around 1.68 billion dollars a year earlier.

Netflix is hoping for a further boost in the current quarter, including from the second season of the successful South Korean series "Squid Game", and is again expecting revenue growth of almost 15 percent.

New subscriptions due to restrictions

Netflix has been cracking down on password sharing since last year. This is also driving growth in the number of subscriptions. Many previous free riders have taken out their own subscription instead of turning their backs on Netflix.

Investors were delighted. Netflix shares rose by a good three percent in after-hours trading on New York's Wall Street. (SDA/swi)

The reputation study was based on all Swiss online and print media, in which articles from 70 industrial companies were examined using an AI analysis methodology. Almost 70,000 reputation-relevant statements were identified and evaluated over a period of twelve months. To calculate the strength of reputation in the individual areas, the number of articles, the tonality and the reach and importance of the media sources were taken into account.

Six dimensions form the good reputation

The reputation model on which the study is based distinguishes between six different factors - known as reputation dimensions - that shape a company's reputation: Products & Services, Innovation, Economic Performance, Management & Leadership, Workplace, ESG & Sustainability. The study determined how industrial companies perform in these areas in the media.

Sensible benchmarking through categorization

The media presence of the companies surveyed varies greatly. For this reason, four groups of companies were formed, each covering a specific presence spectrum:

• Presence leaders - omnipresent companies with high visibility
• Pacesetters - regularly in the media, often leaders in their industries
• Pioneers - reliably present, setting the tone
• Hidden champions - small presence, striving for the top

Each of these groups comprises 17 or 18 companies. This segmentation allows the companies in the individual groups to compare themselves with companies with a similar media presence. This makes benchmarking possible - either as a whole or at the level of a reputation dimension - in order to meaningfully classify the results achieved and take targeted measures.

Media reputation is highly relevant for industrial companies

"Most industrial companies are business-to-business enterprises with which the general public has little contact," says Katrin Frei, Managing Director of Pressrelations Switzerland. "The media are often the only source of information that the public uses to find out about the activities, successes and challenges of companies. What the online and print media report therefore has a decisive influence on the reputation of companies among the Swiss population."

For Lukas Zihlmann, Managing Director of Swissreputation.group, visibility is essential in order to stay ahead of the competition: "It's not just about working conditions and career opportunities. Employees prefer well-managed, successful, innovative and sustainable companies. Industrial companies in particular must therefore communicate convincingly in all these areas, especially via the media."

"The remaining savings will be achieved through early retirements, natural fluctuation and vacancies that are not refilled, as well as through measures with no impact on staff," RTS announced on Thursday. RTS had announced in mid-September that the company would have to save CHF 10 million due to price increases and a further decline in advertising revenue.

According to RTS, staff account for more than half of the budget. Job cuts are therefore unavoidable. However, according to the Directorate Council, several suggestions from the staff consultation were taken on board. As a result, the reduction will be somewhat smaller than originally planned.

Employees protest

The media union SSM does not share this view. "Some marginal proposals were accepted, but the essentials were rejected," said union secretary Jean Burgenmeister to the more than 100 employees who had gathered at the RTS tower in Geneva on Thursday lunchtime. They were demonstrating against the redundancies and the "forced retirements".

"RTS must find other solutions for these savings," explained the union secretary. He also denounced the fact that the cuts were always made on the backs of the employees without affecting the managers.

Incidentally, a call for solidarity from the managers was rejected by them, he added. The union is calling on RTS to tap into its own funds in order to leave the jobs untouched until a substantive reflection has taken place.

Shipments canceled

The savings plan will also have an impact on the program. The television programs "Helvetica", "Sport Dernière", "Vivants", "Nouvo" and "Journal Radio" at 22:30 will be discontinued.

The summer program on television will be thinned out. Recordings of classical music, contributions to partners and the presence of RTS at cultural and sporting events will also be affected. (SDA/swi)

The client Smartphoto was so impressed by the concepts presented that two versions were realized - even though only one TV commercial was initially planned. Moreover, both versions performed very well in the pre-test, as Smartphoto Managing Director René Baumann emphasizes.

During the conception phase of the campaign, creative ideas were developed and measures for implementation in the areas of filming, post-production and music were worked out. For example, Silverspot produced a new smartphone jingle with music and a singer.

It was challenging to include a small child and a cat in the filming, as Remo Civatti, Managing Director of Silverspot, and Creative Director Nicolas Vonlanthen explain: "But we managed to integrate the unpredictable elements into our stories and thus underpin the authenticity of the commercials."

The commercials will be broadcast on Friday on channels such as Srf 1, Srf 2, Srf Info, 3plus, 5plus, TV24, Swiss 1, Nitro, Rtl, Vox, ProSieben, Puls 8, Sat.1 and Sixx.