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SDS2021 was a lot of fun!

Another year, another successful SDS! In 2021 the data innovation alliance took the bold move to organize a hybrid event. This was a success: in-person participants were very happy to get the opportunity to meet each other in person for more than a year. SDS2021 took place in-person at KKL Lucerne, with the beautiful backdrop of the lake surrounded by the ever majestic Swiss Alps. After a few challenges and some creative solutions, we were happy to be able to host as many as 150 in-person participants and 130 participants online. We could increase the number of in-person participants by making two separate “covid-safe wings”. The participants of the different wings could then get together and interact mask-free by the Lake-side.

All participants could also take part in the conference through the online platform where they had access to the contacts of the other participants in order to  share, discuss and maybe even start new partnerships. As networking is an important part of the SDS experience, there were many possibilities for on-site and online participants to interact. For example the hallway discussions took place entirely online in order for the participants to engage there. There was also the opportunity for anyone to start jump-in discussions with a topic of their choice.

The Topics of Interest in 2021 were Smart Services, Learning from Little, Intelligent Data Management, Health and Industry 4.0 as well as many other relevant subjects. We were joined by speakers from Switzerland and Internationally. 

SDS2021 in numbers: We had 2 Keynote Speakers, 34 Talks, 6 Sparkle Discussions and 4 streams.  23% participants were from academia and 77% participants from business. 67.5% were alliance members and 32,5% non-members.

But none of this would have been possible by ourselves. A special thank you to our fantastic sponsors with a very special thanks to our presenting partner D ONE and our scientific partner Datalab of Zürich University of Applied Science.  And a big thanks to all of our members and volunteers who worked backstage and made sure the conference was running smoothly. Something unexpected is always sure to happen and this year a dog attended the conference. However, due to not having registered in advance and since dogs are not allowed at KKL, he took part mainly from the lake-side in front of the venue.

To get back into the SDS mood, see the flashback video here, check-out our photos – maybe you have been spotted! And to spark your memory of the talks – or maybe to see the ones you missed – have a look at the slides and videos.

And what about next year?  We hope to be able to use all the experience from the hybrid event of SDS2021 and reuse the most successful aspects.

Save the date for SDS 2022:  23rd of June 2022! follow us on LinkedIn and twitter to get the deadlines and to sign-up. See you in 2022 – Together we move faster! 

SDS2021 Staff