Presentation of the #FemBizSwiss Awards

Highly committed power women are increasingly shaping digitization – and to such an extent. This was highlighted by the winners and their projects at the second FemBizSwiss Award ceremony held under the motto of “Beyond the next level” in Rüschlikon on 3 September.

The FemBizSwiss Award provides digital pioneers with a platform to showcase their projects. And it also seeks to inspire potential successors to play an active role in digitization. As part of its efforts to promote urgently required diversity in IT, Swiss Post is supporting the award by taking a seat on the jury. The eagerly anticipated prize ceremony took place on 3 September 2021 at the Swiss Re Centre for Global Dialogue in Rüschlikon. The event was hosted by Tijen Onaran, founder of Global Digital Women and initiator of FemBizSwiss, and Patrizia Laeri.

And the winners are…

From among the nominated candidates – who have resolved wide-ranging challenges and created many benefits – the jury selected their favourites in the categories of communication, innovation, leadership, IT tech, diversity and digital transformation:

• Olga Miler, founder and managing director, was the winner in the communication category with SmartPurse. The independent, digital financial education toolkit works like a fitness app and imparts financial knowledge.
• #NetzPigCock, submitted by Jolanda Spiess-Hegglin, CEO of #NetzCourage, impressed the jury most in the innovation category. This complaint generator enables victims to report unsolicited penis images within 60 seconds.
• Susanne Laurentia Häcki, Intrapreneur New Work & Mobility, SBB, triumphed in the leadership category after displaying strong leadership qualities in the Work-here project. The joint initiative between the Work Smart organization, Hotelleriesuisse and SBB provides third places for working.
• The software developed by Myriam Lingg, CEO of macu4 and the winner in the IT tech category, can adapt the shaft design of prosthetic arms to various arm stumps in a matter of seconds. This enables the provision of telemedical care for patients.
• Women setting up their own companies should be able to access starting capital regardless of their gender or skin colour. VenturePole AG is developing tools to address this issue. Xiao Jean Chen, CEO and founder of VenturePole, won over the jury in the diversity category.
• Federica Suardi, big data architect and engineer at Scigility, was the winner in the digital transformation category: a transparent and fair cost allocation system for the disposal and recycling of packaging material among the stakeholders was developed for the German Central Agency Packing Register.

Detailed information on the finalists and their projects can be found at FemBiz-Award under Finalists.

Swiss Post promotes diversity in IT professions through various measures and also supports the FemBizSwiss Award. Linda De Winter is Head of Development at Swiss Post Informatics and sat on the jury in the digital transformation category. Her message is clear:

The award raises the profile of the winners, enhancing their status as role models. The success and benefits of the nominated projects for society and the economy also aim to appeal to young women when deciding on their career paths. It shows them that there is great creative freedom in IT with new technologies and that they can make a meaningful contribution. The hope is that this will make IT careers more appealing and increase the demand for such training. In this context, “beyond the next level” sounds like a pledge for a more diverse future.