Source Article : SWITCH
Europe's oldest Web Award is presenting its Honorary Award 2013 to the SWITCH Foundation – and hence to an organisation for the first time rather than to an individual.
At the 'Best of Swiss Web' Award Night being held in the Kongresshaus Zurich next Thursday, 21 March 2013, not only will the best Internet and mobile projects receive awards in front of an audience of 700, but the traditional Honorary Award will also be presented. This prize is generally awarded to persons who have rendered exceptional service to the development of the Internet and the ICT sector, such as through fundamental developments in the technical field or exceptional achievements as an entrepreneur, politician or researcher.
For the 2013 Honorary Award, the jury has selected an organisation for the first time, rather than individuals. This year's Honorary Award is going to the SWITCH Foundation.
Since it was founded on 22 October 1987, SWITCH has been a Swiss Internet pioneer and, for more than 25 years now, a reliable competence centre providing services both to the Swiss universities and to the entire Swiss Internet industry. In the jury's opinion, SWITCH has created excellent conditions for Swiss students, researchers and teachers to be able to work together efficiently and securely. This involves providing the technical basis for internet access and extends right through to taking all the necessary IT security precautions.
SWITCH has also provided valuable services for all companies, organisations and individuals as the registry for all the Internet domain names for Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Added to this come a large number of other services and activities, including the promotion of young Internet talent with the SWITCH Junior Web Award website competition for school classes.
In many areas, SWITCH holds a leading position worldwide, including in identity management and in the fields of high-performance networks and network security. It is thanks to SWITCH that Switzerland's Internet is one of the most secure in the world. In a globally unique anti-malware process, SWITCH informs the operators of infected .ch and .li websites and asks them to remove the malicious code within a period of 24 hours. According to the 2012 annual report of security firm, Panda Security, Switzerland is one of the countries with the fewest infected computers anywhere in the world.
SWITCH has been a dependable and innovative partner throughout the eventful development of the Internet – and one that has stood out through its high quality and sustainability.
The managing directors of SWITCH to date will be taking receipt of the prize on behalf of the Foundation:
- Prof. Dr. Bernhard Plattner (first managing director)
- Peter Gilli (managing director from 1988 to 1995)
- Thomas Brunner (managing director from 2001 to 2012)
- Dr. Andreas Dudler (managing director since May 2012)
Previous 'Best of Swiss Web' Commendation Prizes have been awarded to:
• 2007: Dr. Fulvio Caccia (former director of ComCom )
• 2008: David Nüscheler (CTO Day AG)
• 2009: Christian Wanner (CEO LeShop)
• 2010: Robert Cailliau (co-inventor WWW, CERN)
• 2011: Marc Bürki and Paolo Buzzi (founders of Swissquote)
• 2012: Prof. em, Dr. Beat Schmid (founder of IWI, St. Gallen University)
