ETH at Digitaltag
Digitalisation is rapidly transforming our society. Switzerland’s first Digitaltag event on 21 November 2017 will showcase what this change means for our country and our economy. ETH Zurich will also be there to shed some light on selected aspects of the digital transformation.
The countdown ends on 21 November 2017: Switzerland’s first Digitaltag digital day invites the public to attend the more than 80 events being held throughout the country, offering a glimpse into how the digital transformation will impact our future. Spearheaded by the umbrella organisation Digitalswitzerland, the event invites over 40 companies and institutions to discuss the opportunities offered by digitalisation. The importance of this topic in the realm of politics will be highlighted by the presence of three government officials – President of the Swiss Confederation Doris Leuthard and Federal Councillors Johann Schneider-Ammann and Alain Berset.
The focal point of the activities will be in the main hall of Zurich’s main station, where there will be an exhibition covering a variety of topics, as well as a stage hosting a wide range of events. Other Digitaltag events will also be taking place in the railway stations in Geneva, Lugano, and Chur.
Grips and Bits exhibition
ETH Zurich will have various exhibits on offer in the main hall of Zurich’s main station. In the Grips and Bits exhibition area, ETH will address the topic of education and work through four exhibits:
The Brain Runners game, which was developed by ETH Zurich and Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) for the 2016 Cybathlon, lets visitors control an avatar with their minds.
From 10.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. and from 12.30 p.m. to 1.30 p.m., the Game Technology Center will be presenting its augmented creativity apps, which creatively meld virtual elements with the real world. Also on display (rotating with the other exhibitors) will be the Thymio learning robot, which offers visitors a fun way to learn the basics of programming and robotics.
The ETH spin-off Astrivis will also be participating in the exhibition: from 5.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m., it will be presenting its app, which lets visitors take a 3D selfie.
Activities on the stage
ETH will be making several appearances on the large stage at Zurich’s main station. From 10.25 a.m. to 10.45 a.m., researchers from the Department of Computer Science will be explaining why a basic understanding of programming is so important. The slot will also include a live broadcast of the programming workshop taking place at the same time in ETH’s main building (see box).
From 12.15 p.m. to 12.30 p.m., researchers from the NCCR Digital Fabrication will be showing how digitalisation is changing the construction industry and what opportunities are opening up for architecture.
Finally, from 6.15 p.m. to 6.30 p.m., the Computer Vision Lab and ETH spin-off Parquery will be holding a joint presentation on how a variety of images can be used to generate an urban model for the city of Zurich and how finding parking can be made easier.
Stimulating discussions
The stage at Zurich’s main station will also be a forum for lively discussion: from 12 p.m. to 12.15 p.m., ETH president Lino Guzzella and others including Federal Councillor Johann Schneider-Ammann will be discussing topics that include the impact of digitalisation on our professional lives.
From 2 p.m. to 3.45 p.m., the programme Der Club will be recorded on the stage located inside Zurich’s main station and then broadcast later that evening on Swiss television. During the broadcast, Lino Guzzella will be debating with other guests about the digital future of our country.
For ETH, the day will also come to a close at Zurich’s main station. From 6.20 p.m. to 6.40 p.m., Roland Siegwart, Professor of Autonomous Systems, and Pascal Kaufmann, founder of Starmind, will be at the Imagine restaurant holding a discussion entitled Artificial intelligence: Is it everything that marketing has promised?" This discussion, and all events on the main stage, will take place in German.
180 kids coding away
One highlight of Digitaltag will be hosted at ETH Zurich itself. Around 180 pupils from all over German-speaking Switzerland will travel to Zurich to take part in a programming workshop hosted by the training and resource centre for computer science education (ABZ) in ETH’s main building. The pupils will also receive a visit from one very prominent figure: Federal Councillor Johann Schneider-Ammann will be stopping by to peek over the shoulders of the aspiring young computer scientists and learn some basics of programming himself before his appearance at Zurich’s main station.