Switzerland is where the world wide web was created in 1989 and has proved itself to be a dynamic player in the digital field for several decades now. In this context, the canton of Vaud has played a pioneering role with the founding of Elca Informatique in 1968, followed by Logitech in 1981, and the large data centers of the 2000s. It represents a digital safe house and the ideal environment in which to conduct secure digital activities. Vaud-based companies such as Safe Host (bought in 2022 by the American group Stack) and Brainserve are examples of this. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) has two centers dedicated to data science – the Swiss Data Science Center and the EPFL AI Center, dedicated to sustainable cloud computing technologies. Be it big data, robots, artificial intelligence, blockchain or cybersecurity, Switzerland is at the forefront of digital technologies. The canton of Vaud boasts the largest data center in Switzerland. It was inaugurated in 2017 in Gland by the company Safe Host, bought in 2022 by American group Stack. It groups together thousands of servers over 14,000 m2. The canton is home to several other companies in the cloud computing field, including SyselCloud. Many EPFL research entities, the University of Lausanne and the HEIG-VD have links with digital technologies. UNIL’s expertise is reflected by its information systems department and a group of researchers active in the fields of cybersecurity and cyber defense. Meanwhile, the HEIG-VD has an institute dedicated to communication and information technologies and a group of multidisciplinary researchers developing solutions in the health field.
about Information & Digital Technologies in Vaud