Vaud and Geneva join forces to create TRUST VALLEY

The pandemic has accelerated the digital transition of our economy and society. It has made visible their dependence on digital infrastructures and services that have become inescapable. Against this backdrop, the Cantons of Vaud and Geneva have joined forces in an unprecedented way to create TRUST VALLEY, a public-private partnership aimed at promoting the excellence of the Lake Geneva region in the field of digital trust and cybersecurity. Their cooperation will focus on three main missions: to raise the profile of the region's skills cluster, to network players in the field, and to foster the development of innovative projects.

While teleworking helped avert a more serious economic crisis and keep thousands of schoolchildren in school, the number of cyberattacks reported in Switzerland at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic was up to three times higher than normal (National Center for Cybersecurity - NCSC). More than ever, this health crisis has brought digital technology to the forefront of political and economic attention.

For several months now, the Cantons of Geneva and Vaud have been working to set up TRUST VALLEY, a joint economic promotion initiative, resilience and innovation platform entirely dedicated to the field of digital trust and cybersecurity, with the aim of positioning the Lake Geneva region as an agile, innovative and high-performance force for digital transformation.

Initiated and supported by the Cantons of Vaud and Geneva, EPFL, HEIG-VD, HES-SO Genève, IHEID, UNIGE, UNIL, ELCA, GCSP, Kudelski, SGS and SICPA, TRUST VALLEY is supported by :

• more than 500 experts, the largest pool of talent in the field in Switzerland
• collaborations and synergies between universities and research institutes, based not only on their international recognition but also on their strong complementarity
• the pioneering role of TRUST VALLEY founding members ELCA, Kudelski, SGS and SICPA in the field of digital trust and cybersecurity
• a concentration of economic players, with nearly 300 companies and organizations active in the region in this field.

The genesis of this initiative is also closely linked to major developments underway in the region: the creation of the Cyberpeace Institute, the Swiss Digital Initiative, the momentum generated by the Geneva Digital Talks, the launch by SICPA of an innovation campus dedicated to the trust economy, the roll-out of the digital strategy aimed at making the Canton of Vaud a "data territory", and the implementation, at federal level, of the National Strategy for Protection against Cyber Risks (SNPC).

Data security, confidentiality, integrity, reliability and ethics are today the keys to a secure digital world, and the foundations of the 4th industrial revolution underway, which must be able to rely on the trust of citizens and businesses alike. Thanks to its tradition of neutrality and its know-how recognized by numerous international institutions, Switzerland and the Lake Geneva region are ideally positioned to lay the foundations for "digital trust" on an international scale.

Promoting innovation and bringing together know-how and expertise in fields as varied as data protection, blockchain, artificial intelligence, digital forensics and criminology. But also all the resources needed for standardization and certification, authentication of people and objects, data preservation and governance. These are all assets that the region has at its disposal, on the one hand, to offer international digital governance and, on the other, to generate economic added value and attract talent.

Supported by the Cantons of Geneva and Vaud through a mandate given to the EPFL Innovation Park Foundation, TRUST VALLEY will be officially launched in October 2020 at a public event. The platform will be financed by the two founding cantons, as well as partners (notably companies) and calls for projects.

It should be noted that the first TRUST VALLEY activities have already kicked off in 2019 as part of a pilot project to launch a startup acceleration program called Tech4Trust. Following the success of the first edition, the program will be repeated in 2020.

Source: press release from the cantons of Vaud and Geneva