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Editorial for the autumn issue 2020

Dear SI members,
Dear SIDM readers,

The spotlight of this issue of Swiss Digital Magazine features two articles on hot topics, albeit seemingly independent of each other. The first of the two spotlight articles explores the question of why computer science should become an obligatory subject in compulsory schooling, i.e. why it is not enough to offer training courses for future computer science specialists whose mission is to drive technology forward. The second spotlight article deals with the symbolic leap into the cold web conferencing water that many of us were forced to take this year. Unforeseeable circumstances or, metaphorically speaking, Nassim Taleb’s Black Swans, determined the course of events. Due to a lack of systematic preparation, many of us were inundated and overwhelmed with digital technology. In this example, the connection between the two spotlights can be established archetypically and quite casually: Digitization provides tools of unprecedented power, but also of unprecedented complexity, which cannot be mastered without a basic technological understanding, or even without basic technological training.

In the reader columns of this issue, Business Informatik celebrates its premiere. Authors are two people who are responsible for the newly founded specialist group of the same name. Other columns from Economy 2.0, Privacy & Security and IT & Culture deal with more specific topics such as software engineering practices in companies, trends in home office technology and possibilities of using IT methods on crypto platforms for speculation in virtual spaces. The blogroll on Digital Collaboration by Daniel Stoller-Schai, head of the Digital Competency group, and the section “Problem Solving” with a new puzzle for lateral thinking may further contribute to broadening horizons, enriching knowledge and entertaining our readers.

Finally, one article each “SI in Review: A Report” by our President Reinhard Riedl and “What is the eOffice?” with insights into virtual offices in general and SI online practices in particular, as well as announcements and important details about the upcoming General Assembly and the Swiss Digital Summit. I would not like to conclude this editorial without urging you, our member, to register for the Swiss Digital Summit 2020. It will take place online and offer an impressive program with top-class presentations and panels, all of which you can attend with a simple click on your screen.

Jürg Gutknecht, Past President

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The Swiss Informatics Society SI is the association of Informatics professionals in Switzerland.

Die Schweizer Informatik Gesellschaft SI ist der Verband der Informatikfachleute in der Schweiz.

La Société Suisse d’Informatique SI est l’association des professionnels de l’informatique en Suisse.

La Società Svizzera di Informatica SI è l’associazione dei professionisti dell’informatica in Svizzera.