SWITCH opens site in western Switzerland

The digitalisation partner for Swiss universities is getting even closer to the education, research and innovation location of French-speaking Switzerland. The foundation celebrated the opening of its branch at the Lausanne Innovation Park yesterday. Martin Vetterli, President of EPFL, welcomed this step at the opening ceremony.

Text: Roland Eugster, published on 03. May 2023

Group photo from the opening ceremony
(From left to right) Prof. Dr Martin Vetterli, President of EPFL; Tom Kleiber, Managing Director of Switch; Claudia Lienert, Head of Community Management at Switch; Dr Alexandre Gachet, Vice President of the Switch Foundation Council. Photo: Switch

SWITCH moved into its new premises in western Switzerland on 2 May 2023. The foundation is opening offices for up to 15 employees at the EPFL Innovation Park. “In order to fulfil our national role in the university sector in a better and more credible way, we need a location in western Switzerland. Being close to the community and having a direct exchange with the people is very important to us,” explains Tom Kleiber, Managing Director of SWITCH. This step sends a clear message to French-speaking Switzerland.

Increased collaboration with universities in western Switzerland

Martin Vetterli, President of EPFL, welcomed the new location in his speech at the opening ceremony: “The universities in western Switzerland are looking forward to increased collaboration with SWITCH.” French-speaking Switzerland invests significantly in education, research and innovation (ERI). The new location is a logical step for SWITCH: as a digitalisation partner to organisations in this area, it is now able to engage on the ground that these funds are used effectively for the benefit of the ERI community. Important initiatives are underway in the areas of life science research, data science, IT security and education.

The new location in western Switzerland also offers local talents the opportunity to work on meaningful tasks in their own region, such as the sustainable use of research data, cyber security or digital identities.

Corporate
Media release
Roland Eugster

Roland Eugster

Senior corporate communications specialist

Switch

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