Opendata.ch Conference 2015

Written by Léonard Mouny, State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation

On 1 July 2015, the association Opendata.ch held its annual conference in Bern. On this occasion the major actors from the Swiss and international open data scene were present. The conference lasted a whole day and was divided into three parts; it started with keynotes on different aspects of Open Data, followed by workshops dedicated to specific themes and was concluded by a panel debate about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the Swiss legal framework for Open Data. In this article, the essence of this conference will be summarised.

Source: Slide from Matthias Stürmer Presentation

Korea Takes a Lead in Medical Big Data System

Written by Sunwoo Lee, Science & Technology Office Seoul, Embassy of Switzerland  in South Korea

 South Korea, a world leader in information technology (IT) infrastructure, has been taking big data to the next level over the past years. So far, Korea excelled in engaging big data in service delivery in the public sector, policy making, and building foundations for the future by effectively utilizing its solid IT infrastructure. Of the big data developments yet, one that especially stands out from a global standpoint is the advancement of big data in Korea’s medical system.

Source: MaRSHealthKick

 

Bangalore is fast becoming the data science hub of India!

Written by Maitree Dasgupta, swissnex India

The Federal Council of Switzerland recently launched a National Research Programme devoted to the development of Big Data solutions, with a budget of CHF 25 million. We looked at a similar trend arising in India – where Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India is witnessing the rise of Big Data analytics as a sector in itself. Here’s what Prof. Pulak Ghosh – member of the UN’s Big Data Group and Professor at IIM Bangalore – had to say about the new developments and the future of Big Data in India.

Bangalore, India, Credits: Thinkstockphotos.in

Spain: launching big data startups

Written by Gabriel Rey, Embassy of Switzerland in Spain

Spain suffered a harsh economic crisis the past few years, resulting in less public investment in cutting-edge technologies. Thus, innovations related to Big Data had to come from the private sector and individual initiatives, although a few cases were supported by the central or regional government.

Now, macroeconomic indicators show the Spanish economy is on the road to recovery. Nevertheless, the high rate of unemployment, in particular among young people, could seriously jeopardize the genuine value of the macroeconomic progress. Part of a solution could be increasing the creation of companies in sectors that have a high potential to generate quality jobs. Big Data is, with no doubt, one such sector. Those are the reasons why I choose to present Incubio here, a Barcelona-based company whose aim is to transform ideas based on the use of Big Data into concrete entrepreneurial projects.

Barcelona’s technology district 22@Barcelona, Picture by 22atbarcelona