SWISS IT CONGRESS 2024 – Epilogue

Bern, sitem-insel
16 May 2024

Artificial Intelligence: From use to abuse

The Swiss IT Congress SITC 2024 will be held on Thursday 16 May 2024 as a physical event at the sitem-insel building in Bern. The lectures will be preceded by the General Assembly of the Swiss Informatics Society.
We encourage all people interested in AI, data security and education to participate in SITC 2024. For members of SI and SIRA, participation is free.
Registration is required.


SITC 2024 Program
8h15	Registration, welcome coffee
08:30 – 10:00	SI General Assembly	Francis Baud, SI President
10:00	Opening of SITC 2024 and Welcome	Francis Baud, President and Nora Sleumer, Vice President and Moderator


11:15 – 12:00	AI in School	Enrico Nardelli, Professor, University Tor Vergata, Roma
12:00 – 13:00	Networking Lunch
13:00 – 13:45	AI in the Public Sector	Bertrand Loison, Vice-Director FSO, Head of Data Science, AI and Statistical Methods, FSO, Neuchatel
13:45 – 14:15	Active Networking - enter questions	Moderator, all participants
14:15 – 14:30	Break
14:30 – 15:15	Legal and ethical aspect of AI	Nicolas Capt, Lawyer specialized in digital technologies
15:15 – 16:00	AI and IT education: impact on study plan, pedagogy, rules and precautions	Giovanna di Marzo Seregundo, Professor, University of Geneva
16:00 –16:30	Discovering the fake using AI tools	Lamia Friha, Manager R&D unit, University of Geneva
16:30 – 17:00	Open discussion	All participants
17:00 - 19:00	Active networking Apero

Speakers

Bertrand Loison

Vice Director FSO, Head of Data Science, AI & Statistical Methods Division, the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Neuchatel

Bertrand Loison has +25 years experience in Management of Information Systems (MIS) mostly in the Public Sector. He is currently Vice Director-General and Head of Data Science & Statistical Methods Division at the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (SFSO),
Swiss Representative to the UN Committee of Experts on Big Data and Data Science for Official Statistics, Member of the European Statistical System Innovation Network, Member of the International Advisory Committee for the UN Cloud Global Platform’s Regional Hub in China.
In addition, he was Member of the Singapore Department of Statistics Advisory Panel between 2021 and 2023 and Vice-Chair of the National Planning Committee eGovernment Switzerland between 2016 and 2021.
He is currently responsible for the Swiss Confederation's Artificial Intelligence Competence Network (CNAI) and also heads the Data Science Competence Center (DSCC) that supports Swiss Federal Agencies to implement evidence-based decision-making processes based on Data Science and AI.
Previously he was responsible for the National Registers Division (120 staff), Chief of the Corporate Data Management Section and Chief Information Officer (CIO) after spending many years in the private sector as Engineer. He also served as Reserve Officer during 30 years in the Swiss Army. He is now retired from the Army with the grade of Lt-Colonel.
Since September 2018, Bertrand has been an Honorary Professor of Management Information Systems (MIS) at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland (HES-SO), School of Management Arc, Institute for the Digitalization of Organisations (IDO). He is also Visiting Professor at the University of Navarra (UNAV), School of Economics and Business Sciences and a Guest Lecturer at the Swiss School of Public Governance (ETHZ), where he teaches Data Science for Public Policy. His research interests are in computational public policy.
Bertrand Loison earned his Bachelor's Degree in Engineering and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from the University of Applied Science and Arts Western Switzerland. His MSc and PhD in Management Sciences are from the University Sorbonne Paris I (F). He also earned a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the University of Lausanne (CH), a Post Graduate Diploma in Information Technology from the University of Fribourg (CH), a Post Graduate Diploma in Digital Excellence from IMD (CH), and a Post Graduate Certificate in Data Science from the Purdue University (US).
He is fluent in French, German, and English and has basic knowledge of Italian.

Nicolas Capt

LAwyer specialized in digital technologies, Founding partner of the "15 cours des bastions" law firm, geneva

Nicolas Capt enjoys an international reputation for his expertise in the law of media, reputation and modern technology law, including a cutting edge knowledge in all areas relating to Artificial Intelligence. He also offers considerable experience in Crisis Management.
Nicolas Capt provides his services to public institutions, companies and individuals who are particularly vulnerable (for example company directors, celebrities, high ranking politicians).

Founding partner of the firm, he advises his clients regarding all issues relating to and connected with technology, reputation and media law, whether on an advisory basis or acting on their behalf in all forms of dispute. He also offers a full strategic and legal planning service for the implementation of complex digital projects on a national level.
A longstanding member of the Paris Bar as a practicing Barrister (is on the list of community lawyers), Nicolas Capt has developed a first class professional network throughout the territory of France.
He regularly gives talks, both in Switzerland and worldwide, at conferences on his field of expertise, and often appears in the leading media and publishes articles on a regular basis.
Nicolas teaches media studies at the Centre de Formation au Journalisme et aux Médias (CFJM) and regularly participates in continuous education courses at a university level.
He is a member of numerous professional organisations, including the Geneva Bar Association, the CEDIDAC, the Swiss Press Club and the Swiss Association of Specialised Journalists (AJS).
He is one of the co-authors of a book at the convergence of IT, law and philosophy entitled CODE_IA, under the direction of Xavier Comtesse (Georg, Switzerland Editions), published in 2021.

Giovanna di Marzo Seregundo

Professor, University of Geneva

Prof. Giovanna Di Marzo Serugendo received her Ph.D. in Software Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) in 1999. After spending two years at CERN (the European Center for Nuclear Research) and 5 years in the UK as Lecturer, she became full professor at the Geneva School of Social Sciences, University of Geneva in 2010. Since 2016, she is the Director of the Computer Science Center of the University of Geneva, Switzerland. She has been nominated in 2018 among the 100 digital shapers in Switzerland.
Her research interests relate to Semantic AI and the engineering of decentralised software with self-organising and emergent behaviour. This involves studying natural systems, designing and developing artificial collective systems, and verifying reliability and trustworthiness of those systems.
Giovanna co-founded the IEEE International Conference on Self-Adaptive and Self-Organising Systems (SASO) and the ACM Transactions on Autonomous Adaptive Systems (TAAS), for which she served as EiC from 2005 to 2011.
She recently set up a Digital Innovation Hub (2019) at the University of Geneva which aims at developing innovative services for the academic community, as well as other public, private or international organisations bringing together students, researchers and stakeholders.

Lamia Friha

Head of the R&D unit and the Accelerator of Science and Digital services, University of Geneva

Dr Lamia Friha holds a PhD in Computer Science, in Artificial Intelligence, from the University of Geneva. She was in 1998 at the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), then in 2000 at Kudelski, and since 2003, she is Senior project manager at the Information Systems Division of the University of Geneva.
She is also lecturer at both at the University of Geneva and Haute Ecole de Gestion (HEG, Geneva). Lamia is also in charge of the Accelerator of digital science and services of the Digital Innovation Hub and the R&D Unit.

Enrico Nardelli

professor of Informatics in the University of Roma "Tor Vergata", Director of of the informatics & school national lab of CINI, past president of informatics europe

Enrico Nardelli is professor of Informatics in the University of Roma "Tor Vergata", affiliated with the Department of Mathematics, which got the first place among the large Departments of Mathematics in Italy.
He is coordinating since April 2014 the project "Programma il Futuro" for the introduction of basic concepts of informatics as a scientific subject in Italian schools, with emphasis on primary schools and on computational thinking. Since its inception, the project has led about three million italian students (half of them in primary schools) to start learning the principles of informatics. The project was selected in 2016 as one of the best 4 projects of the category "Digital for School" in the Digital Skill Awards competition, managed by the Directorate‑General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology of the European Commission, which received 258 applications. More recently, the project has been recognized in April 2022 as the best initiative in the category "School Education" in the 1st Italian National Prize for Digital Competences
Since March 2017 he is the Director of the CINI's National Laboratory on Informatics and School, which he has founded, working on all issues related to Informatics as a scientific discipline in school.
He was (2009-2023) on the Board of Directors of Informatics Europe, the association of informatics departments and research laboratories in Europe and neighbouring areas, serving as President of the association since 2018 and currently ex-officio member of its Board of Directors as Past President.
From 2015 to 2019 as an elected member of the ACM Europe Council, comprised of European computer scientists he was committed to fostering the visibility and relevance of the Association for Computing Machinery in Europe. From 2019 until December 2023, he served as the liaison between the ACM Europe and Informatics Europe.