24 November 2026
Forum Day - Community meets community!
Join us for an exciting event that brings together our communities for a day of connection, collaboration, and inspiration. Forum Day offers a unique platform for various groups to meet, share information, engage in dynamic discussions, and listen to enlightening keynotes.
25 November 2026
ICT Focus - Connecting minds. Creating futures.
The ICT Focus event brings together decision-makers from the education, research and innovation sectors across Switzerland, as well as members of the governing bodies of Switch, including the foundation committee and council.
The event's traditional target audience is senior leaders of IT and service departments in Swiss higher education and research institutions.
Agenda in progress
Check-In & Welcome Coffee
Verkehrshaus Luzern, Haldenstrasse 44, 6006 Luzern (Conference Center Foyer)
ICT LAW (closed community)
Verkehrshaus Luzern, Haldenstrasse 44, 6006 Luzern (Room 6)
Please register only if you are officially part of this community.
SIG AI Session 1
Verkehrshaus Luzern, Haldenstrasse 44, 6006 Luzern (Room 8)
edu-ID
Verkehrshaus Luzern, Haldenstrasse 44, 6006 Luzern (Room 5)
Network
Verkehrshaus Luzern, Haldenstrasse 44, 6006 Luzern (Room 3)
Switch Drive
Verkehrshaus Luzern, Haldenstrasse 44, 6006 Luzern (Room 2)
Check-In & Lunch
Verkehrshaus Luzern, Haldenstrasse 44, 6006 Luzern (Conference Center Foyer)
eduroam
Verkehrshaus Luzern, Haldenstrasse 44, 6006 Luzern (Room 6)
The session includes a 30-minute coffee break, the timing of which depends on the program.
PROC German
Verkehrshaus Luzern, Haldenstrasse 44, 6006 Luzern (Room 3)
The session includes a 30-minute coffee break, the timing of which depends on the program.
PROC French
Verkehrshaus Luzern, Haldenstrasse 44, 6006 Luzern (Room 2)
The session includes a 30-minute coffee break, the timing of which depends on the program.
SIG AI Session 2
Verkehrshaus Luzern, Haldenstrasse 44, 6006 Luzern (Room 8)
The session includes a 30-minute coffee break, the timing of which depends on the program.
Cloud (closed community)
Verkehrshaus Luzern, Haldenstrasse 44, 6006 Luzern (Room 5)
Please register only if you are officially part of this community.
The session includes a 15-minute coffee break, the timing of which depends on the program.
Day Recap
Verkehrshaus Luzern, Haldenstrasse 44, 6006 Luzern (Room 5)
Have you ever been curious about what’s happening in other communities? Join the Day Recap! Participating WGs and SIGs will share a brief summary of the key discussions and topics covered today.
Farewell Apéro & Networking
Verkehrshaus Luzern, Haldenstrasse 44, 6006 Luzern (Conference Center Foyer)
Take the time to network, share experiences, and engage in conversations with cloud experts, partners, and colleagues.
ICT Focus Dinner (closed community)
Kulturhof Hinter Musegg │ Diebold-Schilling-Strasse 13 │ 6004 Luzern
18:30 - 19:15 Apéro
19:15 - 22:00 Dinner
Event language
All sessions will take place in English, with the exception of WG Procurement (sessions in French and German).
Registration will open 2 September 2026
Speakers
Stefan Arnet
Senior Procurement Specialist, Switch
Stefan Arnet is a Procurement Specialist at Switch. As a part of Switch Procure he supports the Swiss Higher Education, Research and Innovation community with his expertise on license agreements and public procurement. He has several years of experience as a buyer in the ICT domain and as a software asset manager within Higher Education. He has more than 15 years of experience as buyer in the ICT domain and as a Software Asset Manager within Higher Education.
Daniel Bertolo
Business Owner & AC Network
Daniel is Business Owner of the Research and Education Network at Switch, where he has been leading the Switch LAN network services since 2013. He holds a degree in computer science from the University of Applied Sciences HSR (today OST) and a Diploma of Advanced Studies HSG in IT Business Management. His work focuses on delivering high-performance connectivity solutions to Switzerland’s research and education community
Rolf Brugger
ICT Consultant – edu-ID
Rolf studied computer science and psychology at the University of Fribourg and then worked for the national Swiss Virtual Campus project. He joined Switch in 2007 and was initially responsible for setting up the e-learning section. Since 2013, he has been working on the then called Swiss edu-ID. He was involved in the design of the service and then with its development and introduction at universities. He has been the product owner for Switch edu-ID since 2018.
Kevin Chavarria
Kevin Chavarría is an experienced Senior Product Manager with a background in engineering and business, bringing over 13 years of expertise across the ICT, healthcare, finance, and semiconductor sectors. Having worked in diverse markets including Costa Rica, Spain, the USA, and Switzerland, Kevin has developed a strong, customer-centric approach to innovation. Since 2023, he has applied his extensive experience to Switch, focusing on developing cloud solutions that align with the specialised needs of Swiss institutions.
Frederic Gerber
DevOps Engineer
Frederic Gerber is a DevOps engineer at Switch, currently working on edu-ID and eduroam. Previously, he studied computer science at EPFL and ETHZ, including a Master Thesis at Switch in digital identity. He is enthusiastic about how computers work, free and open-source software, and interactive knowledge transmission. Since joining Switch, he has worked on various topics, ranging from API implementation to direct customer contact. He is also happy to talk about cycling, photography and linguistics.
Geert Hoevenaars
Product Portfolio Manager
Geert joined Switch in 2018 with a background in international product management. Over the years, he has guided several new product developments, introduced and trained several processes, created numerous new Switch tools for product managers, and is now responsible for Switch’ Product Portfolio Board. As the product manager of Switch OER, he drives the business and marketing aspects of this service.
Claudia Lienert
Head of Community Management, Switch
As Head of Community Management at Switch, Claudia Lienert has been responsible for developing business relationships with the Swiss education, research and innovation community since March 2023. Prior to that, she held various management positions in the IT and transport industry and completed an Executive Master of Business Administration at the University of Strathclyde.
Christophe Makni
Head of Data, Automation & AI
Christophe Makni is Head of Data, Automation & AI at Migros Bank, a guest lecturer at FHNW, and coordinator of the Swiss AI for Banking Community. As an international speaker on AI, leadership, and transformation, he brings 25 years of experience in digital innovation, Lean transformation, and human-centered leadership.
Cornelia Puhze
Expertin für Human-Centred Security, Switch
As part of Switch CERT, Cornelia Puhze supports the Swiss education, research and innovation community in effectively addressing the human factor in information security. Equipped with an MA in Political Communications, she honed her professional expertise in the private sector, the public sector and NGOs in Zurich and London.
Christian Rohrer
Product Owner - ROAM Services
Since the beginning of the year, Christian Rohrer has officially put on the PO hat for eduroam, for which he has been technically in charge since his return to Switch in 2020. In this position, he recently introduced two new products in the 'ROAM' family: eVA (eduroam Visitor Access) and govroam. With a background in neurobiology and interaction design, Christian enjoys working on interfaces, be it with counterparts made of flesh or silicon.
Kaspar Scheller
Senior Procurement Specialist, Switch
Kaspar Scheller is the Product Owner of the Switch Procure Service for the Swiss Higher Education, Research, and Innovation Community. With his legal background and more than 20 years of experience in the ICT domain, he supports Community members in license management and public procurement matters.
Dominik Valloni
Legal Counsel
Since 2023, Dominik Valloni has been a member of the Switch Legal Team, bringing with him more than nine years of experience as a lawyer and legal counsel. He advises Switch on all relevant legal matters relating to contract, data protection, trademark, domain name, and intellectual property law, as well as compliance. With his expertise, he helps ensure that Switch can provide its services to universities in a legally sound and efficient manner. Outside the legal field, he is the father of two children, where he finds both the most exciting challenges and the best balance alongside his professional life.
Jean-François Van de Poël
Deputy Director for digital affairs University of Lausanne
Jean-François Van de Poël is Deputy Director for digital affairs of the Centre de Soutien à l'Enseignement at the University of Lausanne. He has been active in the field of educational technologies in higher education for 20 years. During this period, he has held various positions, including educational designer, virtual campus manager and MOOC project manager in several institutions. He holds masters degrees in educational sciences, educational technologies and higher education pedagogy, and is particularly interested in the fields of teacher professional development, educational multimedia and the hybridization of educational practices.
Stefano Tardini
Head of USI eLab, Lecturer at USI Università della Svizzera italiana
After graduating in Classical Philology, in 2002 he obtained his Ph.D. in Language sciences at the Catholic University in Milan, with a thesis on the linguistic and semiotic features of virtual communities.
Since 2004 he has been head of USI eLab - eLearning Lab; he is lecturer at USI at the Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society. His research interests include ICT mediated communication and eLearning, virtual communities and online social networks. He has been a certified facilitator for the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodology since 2013. In 2021 he was awarded, on behalf of the entire eLab, USI's Credit Suisse Award for Best Teaching.
Thomas Steiner
Head of Cyberlearn, HES-SO e-learning center
Prof. Dr. Thomas Steiner is the head of Cyberlearn, the HES-SO e-learning center. The former CEO of the FRIBOURG REGION and director of the Swiss School of Tourism is specialised in AI, tourism, digitalisation and transition management. As a consultant with immotour ltd, Thomas is leading restructuring, transformation and interim processes for several destinations, official bodies and family businesses. He is the president of Vercorin Tourisme SA and member of several boards among which Switzerland Tourism and Emch+Berger Bern.
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Event location
Haldenstrasse 44
6006 Luzern
Getting to the Swiss Museum of Transport (Verkehrshaus der Schweiz)
By Car:
The Swiss Museum of Transport is located just a few minutes from Lucerne city centre. Parking is available along Lidostrasse and opposite the Lido beach. Electric vehicle fast-charging stations are also available on site.
By Public Transport:
From Lucerne railway station, take the S3 train or the Voralpen-Express to Luzern Verkehrshaus station (approx. 8 minutes). Alternatively, bus lines 6, 8, or 24 take you directly to the Verkehrshaus stop in about 10 minutes.
ICT Focus Dinner
Kulturhof Hinter Musegg
Diebold-Schilling-Strasse 13
6004 Luzern
Lenny Hartmann’s cuisine at Kulturhof Hinter Musegg is distinguished by its uncompromising commitment to sustainability. Dishes are prepared exclusively with fresh, seasonal, and regional organic ingredients, sourced whenever possible from the farm itself or from nearby organic producers. The restaurant was the first in Switzerland to be awarded three Bio Cuisine stars, meaning that more than 90% of the ingredients used are organic. The concept is further complemented by a strong commitment to minimizing food waste and by serving craft beer brewed in the farm’s own brewery.
Overnight stay options
We can recommend:
Hotel Luzernerhof (10 minutes walk to Hinter-Musegg - Dinner Location)
Alpenstrasse 3, 6004 Luzern, Switzerland
To book a hotel room, simply email (hotel@luzernerhof.ch) the hotel and quote the booking code "ICT FOCUS Switch".
We have a contingent for 25 rooms.
Price per room: CHF 165,50/night incl. breakfast excl. taxes
Hotel Astoria (from Lucerne railway station, just a 7-minute walk away)
Price per room: CHF 195,00/night incl. breakfast excl. taxes
Open the website of our hotel: Hotel Astoria Lucerne website
Click on “Book now”
Enter the desired number of guests
Click on “Add code” – ICTFOCUS
In the “Discount” field, select the option “Group participants”
Then enter your booking code in the designated field
Click on “Add”
Select “Choose and proceed to the next step”
Set your desired stay dates
Confirm by clicking “Confirm travel dates”
Select your preferred room (king bed or twin bed)
Click on “Add room & checkout”
Finally, enter your contact and address details and provide your credit card for payment of the booking
Rooms can be reserved until 22 November 2026, subject to availability.