ICT Focus 2024

Andy Fitze, is one of the top digital shapers. He is president of the Swiss IT Leadership Forum, member of the Board of Directors of SwissICT. Andy is a lecturer and Member of the Strategic Advisory Board at Bern University of Applied Sciences and is a lecturer at the ETH for CAS Architecture Digitization. He received the Swiss CIO Award for Best IT Manager in Switzerland in 2015. He is also a passionate skipper on the oceans – providing him with a great balance for head and soul.

Alexander Leichtle studied medicine at the Ludwig-Maximillians-University in Munich and is associate professor at the University of Bern since 2019. His interests cover „classical“ clinical chemistry as well as modern statistical methodology for the analysis of „-omics“ and routine data. 2017 Alexander Leichtle institutionalized the Insel Data Coordination Lab (IDCL) as data delivery and governance body of the Inselspital, and since 2018 he is research consultant at the Directorate of Teaching and Research of the Inselspital, supporting the Insel Data Science Center (IDSC) scientifically. Alexander Leichtle is PI of the SPHN Swiss BioRef and the SNSF PGXLink Biolink project as well as co-PI in several other projects. Since Sep 2024 he is also Head of Laboratory at the Kantonsspital Baden.

Alexandre Gachet has been Chairman of the Switch Foundation Council since 1 January 2024. Furthermore, he has been Director of Administration of the University of Fribourg since 2021. Alexandre Gachet holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Kansas and a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Fribourg. After his studies and a research assistantship in the computer science department of Fribourg University, he carried out postdoctoral research at the University of Hawaii and subsequently headed up numerous IT projects in different industries. In 2012, he joined his alma mater as Director of IT Services, a position he held until 2021.

Christoph Witzig is responsible for strategic relations and partnerships at Switch. He holds a degree in high energy physics from ETH Zurich and worked for several years at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, NY. He held various positions in the commercial sector before joining Switch in spring 2005.

As Head of Community Management at SWITCH, Claudia Lienert has been responsible for developing business relationships with the Swiss education, research and innovation community since March 2023. Prior to that, she held various management positions in the IT and transport industry and completed an Executive Master of Business Administration at the University of Strathclyde.

Dalith Steiger belongs to the top pioneering women in cognitive technologies and one of the top digital shapers and leading voices in the global AI ecosystem. She was born in Israel, grew up in Switzerland, and studied mathematics and business informatics at the University of Zurich. With Andy Fitze she co-founded the award-winning AI start-up SwissCognitive, and the CognitiveValley Foundation. Dalith advises various companies in their AI journey, mentors young women and girls in tech, and teaches AI & Machine Learning in a CAS module at the Applied University of Luzern.

Kevin Chavarría is an experienced Senior Product Manager with a background in engineering and business, bringing over 13 years of expertise across the ICT, healthcare, finance, and semiconductor sectors. Having worked in diverse markets including Costa Rica, Spain, the USA, and Switzerland, Kevin has developed a strong, customer-centric approach to innovation. Since 2023, he has applied his extensive experience to Switch, focusing on developing cloud solutions that align with the specialised needs of Swiss institutions.

Throughout her academic career Maarit Korpi-Lagg has challenged the conventional knowledge with the help of supercomputers. Leading multidisciplinary research teams in Germany and Finland, funded by several projects through European Commission and Max Planck Society, they have achieved many breakthrough results concerning the Sun and the space weather phenomena it drives. Currently they are engaged solving data analysis challenges to reach efficient and sustainable Exa-scale high-performance computing.

Marcel Egger has held numerous leadership roles at the University of Bern, until August 2024 serving as Vice Dean for Digitalization of the Medical Faculty since 2022. He was previously Director of the Department of Physiology and Co-Director. Furthermore, he served as Vice Dean of Bachelor Education in Medicine. Additionally, he directed the Bachelor Education Program in Medicine.

Since 2000, he has received ongoing research support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) for his projects. Additionally, he has been awarded numerous peer-reviewed research grants, including funding from EU.

After studying at ETH Zurich, Martin Leuthold worked in a number of security functions in Switzerland and abroad, including CISO of a multinational industrial conglomerate. As a member of the Management Board, Martin Leuthold has been Head of the Data, Security and Network Division at Switch since February 2016.

Silvio Oertli has been working at Switch for eight years. Before joining Switch-CERT, he has been working in IT investigation for law enforcement agencies since 2008. Silvio is chairing the steering commitee of TF-CSIRT, an organisation bringing together the CSIRT Teams in Europe and abroad.

Tom Kleiber is the managing director of SWITCH. He has devoted himself to the ICT industry and the education community for 30 years. As an entrepreneur and digitalisation consultant, he held positions as the CEO and founding member of Zetamind AG as well as various leadership positions in large corporations such as Microsoft, Siemens and Alcatel.