Digital Economy Award 2025 honors outstanding Swiss achievements
Zurich - The Swiss digital economy awarded its best companies, organizations, and personalities of the year at Zurich's Hallenstadion on 13 November. Bühler, the Office for Economy of the Canton of Zurich, ISS Switzerland, AKENZA, mimic robotics, into technologies and Leuchter IT were all winners, along with Nathalie Kern, Simon Weigold, and Alina Matyukhina.
(CONNECT) A total of 24 finalists were in with the chance of winning in one of the categories at the Digital Economy Award 2025. Ultimately, six projects and three individuals were named as winners and celebrated at the award ceremony on 13 November at Zurich's Hallenstadion, which attracted more than 800 guests from the worlds of business, administration, politics, and research, according to a statement.
A key theme across many of the projects submitted this year was the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Winners of the Digital Excellence Commercial category are the two Zurich-based companies ISS Switzerland and AKENZA. The facility manager and the IoT specialist use AI to “respond to building needs more quickly, precisely, and in a more resource-efficient manner”, the organisers write. Meanwhile, the Office for Economy of the Canton of Zurich won the Digital Excellence GOV & NPO category for its AI Sandbox, a support program for AI innovations that the statement describes as “unique internationally.”
Mimic Robotics won the Next Global Hot Thing category. Founded in 2024 as a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, the company was honored for its humanoid robots with arms and hands. According to the Zurich-based startup, the technology is already being tested in industry and by logistics service providers.
Young talents also received awards in the NextGen Hero category. They went to Nathalie Kern from OST – Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences for her approach to harmonizing digital solutions in the public sector, and to Simon Weigold from the University of Lucerne for his commitment to democratizing legal knowledge.
In the ICT Education & Training category, Chur-based into technologies won in the section for companies with up to 20 ICT employees, Leuchter IT Solutions from Lucerne won among those with up to 100 ICT employees, and plant manufacturer Bühler from Uzwil in the Swiss canton of St.Gallen won in the group of companies with over 100 ICT employees. Bühler emerged also as the overall winner of the category. The award recognized the hybrid learning approaches with which Bühler AG “responds to the preferences of the next generation and successfully combines them with its industrial tradition.”
The Pascal award, which was presented in collaboration with the online magazine Inside IT, went to Alina Matyukhina. As CSO, she is responsible for global cybersecurity of Building Products at Siemens Smart Infrastructure in Zug. ce/mm