What should one put in a "time capsule" that is concreted into the foundation stone of a research building under construction and is intended to provide future generations with information about the era at the time of construction? This question was asked by all those involved in the construction, especially those from the two research institutes Empa and Eawag, which will one day use the "co-operate" campus. Empa chose some products from its own research. For example, Empa Director Gian-Luca Bona placed a small steel rod made from a shape memory alloy developed at Empa in the small capsule, as well as a 3D-printed cube that demonstrates the possibilities of digital production of unique items.

According to Bona, the new "co-operate" research campus is intended to become a place of diverse collaboration with Empa partners and to link the institutions of the ETH Domain even more closely. "In the construction and operation of the new campus, we always have the goal of "net zero" in mind, for example by planning a highly efficient energy supply and reducing CO₂-neutral technologies are not only being researched, but also implemented. For example, a new type of geothermal probe field will "temporarily store" summer heat for heating and hot water in winter. And, according to Hannes Pichler, head of Empa's real estate management department, "co-operate uses the "Building Information Modeling" method. This means that before implementation begins on the construction site, a digital twin is created, which reduces planning and implementation errors. The data obtained is also used later in operation."

Eawag Director Janet Hering put something about the liquid fertilizer "Aurin" developed at Eawag in the capsule. This contains valuable nutrients derived from urine. The new buildings will be equipped with toilets that can separate and collect urine. Jens Vollmar, Head Buildings at Implenia, contributed a stick on which the construction plans for "co-operate" are stored. "We are delighted to be able to execute the future-oriented and sustainable research campus "co-operate", which is of great importance beyond the region, for Empa and Eawag," said Vollmar. The symbolism of their co-location was also mentioned by ETH Board President Michael Hengartner, Dübendorf Mayor Andre Ingold, and Andrea Gubler and Sascha Menz of SAM Architects, who had planned the new research campus.

"Augmented Reality" makes buildings visible and tangible

Before the partners then climbed into the excavation pit together to set the time capsule in concrete and lay the foundation stone, there was a special experience for everyone present: instead of studying construction plans and descriptions and then imagining the future campus in their own imagination, they were able to experience the future on their smartphones and tablets today, so to speak. This was made possible by an augmented reality app "co-operate AR" programmed especially for the event. It was an impressive experience that many onlookers will probably also enjoy during the construction period.

Campus square as a meeting place

The laying of the foundation stone marked the start of work that will be completed by mid-2024. A laboratory building, a multifunctional building and a parking garage will be built. The laboratory building will then offer around 60 new laboratories and offices in a compact structure with high structural dynamic requirements as well as multifunctional areas on the first floor. The building volume is just under 40,000 cubic meters. The multifunctional building will provide 1,000 square meters of office space, and the first floor will include a restaurant area with a loggia facing the campus square. The multi-storey parking lot, with over 260 parking spaces, will also house Empa's vehicle fleet, including a workshop and car wash. The volume of the multifunctional building and parking garage amounts to almost 60,000 cubic meters. All new buildings will be Minergie-P-Eco certified.

This will create a modern, attractive research campus: The entire area will be increasingly landscaped, and all parking spaces will be relocated to the parking garage. This will make the spaces between the different areas more inviting and safer, especially for pedestrians and cyclists. A campus square will be created around the NEST, offering employees an attractive place to stay and meet outdoors.

The current version can be downloaded from the App Store (Apple) or at Google Play (Android) can be downloaded.

 Source: Empa

Actually, we've already gotten used to it: we grant ourselves access. The concert ticket booked online gives us access to a specific service during a predefined time at a predefined location. While "print at home" and e-tickets rely on a barcode being scanned on site, the app now goes one step further: actually opening the door. The application is particularly popular for hotels. Here, too, we have already become accustomed to entering our customer data ourselves for the booking, and the payment process is also carried out manually.

Here, too, we have thus acquired the "authorization" to gain access at a specific location during a specific time. The automatic transfer of this authorization to an app is only the next logical step. There have long been practical examples where the hotel guest opens his room door directly with the app without having visited a check-in beforehand. Of course, if booked, other accesses such as the parking garage, spa, lounge or even the opening of the minibar can also be activated. All this is done automatically and without the need for hotel staff.

Mobile Access in Trend?

The associated technology has been available for smartphones for around ten years. The prerequisite for its use is an NFC- and BLE-enabled device, and the right app. Here, too, we have already become accustomed to it. Payment transactions, e-banking and patient apps for lab reports or the Swiss Covid app: we use one or more apps for many sensitive applications.

So why not for access as well? Of course, the infrastructure, i.e., the opening mechanism of the door, must also be ready for the application: BLE- or NFC-enabled reading of the signal and integration (onboarding) of mobile access control into the system are the basic prerequisites for the desired door opening via smartphone.

Wide range of applications

Temporary activation of access points has been known for a long time, particularly in the case of electronic access controls. It has also been common practice for some time that accesses are recorded electronically and can therefore be traced. However, with conventional systems, authorization was linked to a locking medium or an identification marker (IMT).

With mobile access, these tasks are performed by the smartphone or the (manufacturer-specific) app. This results in a wide range of possible applications. For example, variably deployed personnel can be authorized directly for the respective assignment or for opening the relevant doors. This could be, for example, for jumpers in the gas station store or the service technician in the data center.

So everything under control?

Today, the (location-independent) activation of authorizations is done on a vendor-specific basis. Proprietary (cloud) solutions are often used. Individual solution providers are in the process of offering vendor-independent solutions or integrating different providers via interfaces. The general principle here is: the more interfaces, the higher the number of possible security gaps. Physical security on the door is therefore also dependent on the IT security of the overall system. It should also be noted that in the case of the Springer in the service station store mentioned above, it cannot necessarily be assumed that a company-owned smartphone is available. Is it therefore permissible that the employee is forced to install apps used for business purposes on his smartphone? And conversely, is it desirable from the employer's point of view that security-relevant processes are handled on a private smartphone? And to include the service technician: Does it really make sense to enable access to the IT rack in the data center via app?

The need for safety is decisive

Not all rooms or their contents/uses have the same security requirements. While the term protection needs analysis is often used in IT, the objective is also identical for physical security: to define the security requirements. This often results in requirements for access organization and the technical tools used. It is no coincidence that the market penetration of mobile access in the "consumer" segment is increasing. Hotel applications, meeting rooms and generally areas with low security requirements are predestined for such applications. However, the more the security requirements increase, the more caution is called for. If necessary, an additional identification feature can be used to meet the increased security requirements. However, mobile access is not (yet) suitable for applications in high-security areas such as data centers, safes, prisons or ammunition depots.

What generally applies

The access concept is part of security planning, and the general rule here is that it is not the user-friendliness of an app that is decisive, but the (protection) requirements. So before the access control technology is selected, its requirements should be defined as part of a security concept. It is quite common that not all the rooms concerned have the same security requirements.

It is also typical that not all users are authorized for access to all rooms. And this brings us to the not new, but still valid principles of the access concept.

Access organization begins with zoning

Each use is assigned to a safety zone and each zone is given a color. This creates a colored safety plan that shows which zone transitions require special attention. Traffic areas are often mixed uses, some with a semi-public character. If a semi-public area borders directly on a high-security area, the security requirements for the zone transition automatically increase. For a door, this classically means increased requirements for burglary resistance, the so-called Resistance Class (RC), which can also have an influence on the choice of locking technology, monitoring and thus, under certain circumstances, on the choice of locking medium. A popular mobile-access solution for retrofits is the installation of a corresponding electronic locking cylinder, a digital cylinder. It is now necessary to check whether the desired RC requirements can be met in this way. It should be noted that today's mobile access solutions are not yet consistently tested with resistant doors (RC class).

Has the key had its day?

Mechanical locking is still the most common form of access organization. The risk of losing a key, which is the biggest disadvantage of this solution, increases with the distribution of large numbers of keys. Although management and authorization management with mechanical locks are not very flexible, there are still applications in the high-security sector where the desired security standard can be achieved with key changers or key safes and secure issuance with two-factor identification.

Mechatronic locks combine the advantages of a robust, mechanical lock and the benefit that lost keys can be blocked electronically, thus preventing the costly replacement of the lock. The key here is therefore also an identification feature carrier (IMT). An IMT is also a prerequisite for all other electronic solutions: from digital cylinders and hardware readers to the well-known offline and online access control systems and radio-networked solutions. In addition to the best-known IMT, the badge, the market offers a wide range of colors and shapes. With Mobile Access, there are now also solutions that no longer necessarily require the physical handover of the IMT.

So when Mobile Access?

As already mentioned, the selection of the right access control also depends on the security and protection requirements. Possible (cyber) risks must be taken into account here just as much as the physical security requirements of the door. However, if one assumes applications without increased security requirements, there are definitely advantages with mobile access. The fast and flexible assignment of authorizations, the traceability of access and, last but not least, the tendency toward increasing user acceptance have the potential for the solution to become more widespread. From a business point of view, it is particularly interesting if the user registers himself and the authorization is transferred automatically - if, for example, the room and the booked additional services are activated directly with the payment process on the app. Hoteliers are thus relieved and can use the free capacity differently. Perhaps simply to be a good and relaxed host in direct customer contact.

On September 30, 2022, the Swiss Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) has Consultation for the adaptation of Swiss food law has been opened. The proposed legislation should make it possible to maintain health and deception protection in Switzerland at the same level as in neighboring countries and to prevent possible trade barriers. Furthermore, four motions referred by parliament are to be implemented. A total of 23 ordinances are affected.

Where do bread and baked goods that are sold openly come from?

Consumers should be able to better identify the origin of bread and baked goods that are sold openly. Bakers, restaurants and retailers will now have to declare the country of production in writing for whole and sliced bread as well as for baked goods such as croissants.

Sell frozen food openly

In the future, retailers will be allowed to sell unpackaged, frozen foods openly. This will save packaging material. At the same time, the quality of food offered in this way must be protected. As with other openly sold foods, the necessary information must be made available to consumers in writing or by other means.

Fight Food Waste

Food establishments and distribution organizations must ensure that only food that is safe for human health is donated or given to food waste prevention organizations. New framework conditions are to provide legal certainty for the donation of food.

Protecting protected food designations even better

The control of agricultural products with a protected designation (e.g. Vacherin Fribourgeois or Valais raw ham) is to be strengthened in order to make imitations and deception more difficult. The branch and producer organizations should be able to commission private organizations for the control. These organizations should report violations to the cantonal food enforcement authorities, which are then responsible for implementing appropriate measures.

Simplify labeling for food from the EU

The detailed declaration of allergens on food packaging is mandatory in Switzerland, often voluntary in the EU. It will now also be possible under Swiss law to use group designations (e.g. nuts or gluten-containing cereals) instead of naming the specific allergen (e.g. hazelnut). This change will have no negative impact on consumer health. When voluntarily indicating the country of origin of an ingredient, it should now be possible to indicate a larger geographical area (e.g. EU or South America).

The consultation period ends on January 31, 2023, and the Federal Council or the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) will decide on the adjustments.

Source: BLV

Energy shortages, blackouts, resilience, cyberattacks, supply chain issues, resilience, volatility, natural disasters... Operational security is about to be tested on multiple levels. No company can afford to negate the current forms of threat. The first headlines of more affected companies have already been picked up by the daily media.

At the Save symposium "Business failures, disruption, crisis: What to do?" on October 27, 2022, a number of experts will talk about current business risks as well as possible vulnerabilities and targets of attack. The speakers will provide approaches on how to manage new risks and what measures can be taken to avoid major damage. Participants will learn important inputs on business security from the following speakers:

• Anton Dörig, expert for safety, leadership, management
• Dr. Thomas Egli, expert for risks from natural hazards
• Andreas Gitzi, expert for operational and technical risks
• Tom F. Hofmann, Cybersecurity Enthusiast
• Dominique Meier, Cybersecurity Expert
• Christoph Müller, Expert for Corporate and Special Risks
• Harald Pfurtscheller, expert for digital alarm systems
• Herbert Saurugg, international blackout and crisis preparedness expert

To the program of the event and further information

The risk of suffering an accident at work in large companies with more than 500 employees is often lower than in small and medium-sized companies. This is the result of an evaluation of the Occupational accidents 2021 of the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV) emerged. The rate of reportable accidents at work in 2021 was 17.7 accidents per 1000 employees with a 100% workload. This is the lowest figure compared to other company sizes. In micro-enterprises with nine employees, the accident rate was 21.5, slightly lower than in the previous year, but with the highest rates of insurance claims.

According to the DGUV's press release, there are many reasons why SMEs usually have higher rates of accidents at work than large companies. On the one hand, it is certainly due to the different distribution of sectors. Secondly, larger companies often have occupational health and safety management systems in place, while SMEs cannot spread occupational health and safety across many shoulders. The DGUV also counts many administrative bodies and companies with many office workplaces among the large companies.

Source: DGUV, editorial office

Securiton invites you to its traditional Securiton Late Afternoon Symposium on October 27, 2022. Participants can expect a wide-ranging program of presentations. Depending on the system, access control based on biometric features using fingerprints, iris or facial recognition complements conventional solutions with keys or badge cards, especially in the high-security sector.

The biometric information cannot be stolen or forgotten, it cannot be lost, and it is not transferable. Thus, biometric access control, in combination with classic systems, offers maximum security and convenience.

The Late Afternoon Symposium Program:

Welcome
Martin Altorfer, Division Manager Sales Switzerland, Securiton AG

4.40 pm
"Biometrics in access control - the human as the key".
Stefan Melly, Head of Strategic Business Unit Access Control Systems, Securiton AG

5.05 pm
"Future = Opportunities"
Claudio Passafaro, Group Security Officer Property and Fire Protection, Swisscom (Switzerland) Ltd. and Roger Steinmann, Product Owner Access Control System, Swisscom (Switzerland) Ltd.

17.30
Break

18.00
"Biometrics on the Brink:
How to master body language and facial expressions in the extreme."
Marc Hauser, owner erfolgswelle AG, Bern

18.45
Questions & Answers

19.00
Apéro riche

Approx. 20.15
End of the event

Moderation
Accompanied through the event Janine Geigele.

Speakers:

Stefan Melly, Head of Strategic Business Unit Access Control Systems at Securiton AG, provides an insight into biometric access control methods and explains which aspects are important when evaluating such systems and in which areas they are ideally used.

How access with biometric data is implemented in practice is explained by Swisscom Switzerland Ltd. Claudio Passafaro, Group Safety Officer Property and Fire Protection and Roger Steinmann, Product Owner Access Control System. They provide insights into why selected areas of the building need to be particularly protected against misuse and manipulation, how the cooperation with Securiton works in this regard, and where future requirements lie.

Marc Hauser is an entrepreneur, professional speaker and adventurer. Between extreme sports and performing, he has discovered amazing parallels in body language and facial expressions. Although he was the first person to freefall into the jet stream, giving a speech in front of a large audience is still the greatest adventure for him. He passes on the knowledge he has gained from ten years of stage experience as a coach in exclusive public speaking training sessions.

To the registration

On September 23, 2022, the Federal Council passed a Report of the parliamentary business audit commissions (GPK) on the crisis organization in the first phase of the Covid 19 pandemic. Among other things, the work and coordination of the main bodies of the crisis organization of the Covid 19 Task Force of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), the Federal Civil Protection Staff (BSTB) and the Crisis Staff of the Federal Council Corona (KSBC) are examined. In particular, the pandemic phase from the beginning of January to June 2020 was examined.

Covid 19 pandemic "satisfactorily" managed

The report concludes that Switzerland, with its crisis organization, managed the pandemic "satisfactorily" on the whole. However, it also makes eleven recommendations on how the federal government's crisis management can be optimized in the future and how coordination between the individual agencies can be improved.

This includes, for example, collaboration with the scientific community, which was established and improved through the mandate of the Swiss National Covid-19 Science Task Force. In addition, according to the report, the network with the relevant external stakeholders was expanded and rapid involvement in crisis management was ensured (e.g. culture, gastronomy and travel industry).

Work in progress

Other ongoing work includes the revision of the Epidemics Act. The Federal Council is expected to be able to open the consultation on the revised law in summer 2023. The dispatch is to be referred to parliament in the course of 2024.

Further revisions are underway for the national pandemic plan. At the end of 2021, the Federal Commission for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (EKP) presented a rough concept of the future general pandemic plan. This provides for a new focus on all relevant potentially pandemic pathogens. The ongoing revision work will be coordinated with important precaution-relevant revision projects and plans, for example in the area of legal foundations, crisis management or the supply of critical goods.

Source: Federal Council/Editorial Office

According to a British study 70 percent of employees report symptoms of burnout. Above all, a lack of free time and a high workload are the highest stress factors among those who feel such effects. This is of great concern to managers and companies, as employee engagement is directly related to business results. Hogan Assessments, a provider of personality assessments and leadership consulting, highlights some areas employers can scrutinize and address to ensure their employees are satisfied and engaged, thereby avoiding the burden of burnout. Suffering burnout, she says, is less likely when hiring individuals whose personal values are most aligned with those of the company.

However, a company must also set a good example at all times. If management does not model the values it wants to see in its employees, it runs the risk of being the driving force behind unhealthy work practices. The key to combating burnout, he said, is to prioritize making work compatible with personal life. Acknowledging employees' overtime and reassuring them that it is not a standard that is always expected of them is of great importance, he said.

Allowing employees to sign out at the end of their workday may not seem like a revolutionary concept, but may be generally relevant, as this fact may have been forgotten or "pushed aside" by many workers during the pandemic.

Source: Hogan Assessments

ICS and OT in critical infrastructure, unprotected, can cause a great deal of damage. In the report "Control System Defense: Know the Opponent", the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Agency (CISA) and the National Security Agency (NSA) describe how such attacks take place. It is made clear that traditional models for securing ICS/OT are often not sufficient. In most cases, securing security vulnerabilities is not possible because ICS and OT are often operated with outdated systems for which patches are no longer available.

The attackers often work with social engineering attacks to gain more insider information about compromisable systems. Especially the information about the infrastructure to the systems should never lurk unencrypted on a server. Remote connections should only be accessible through specific points or via VPN. In addition, unneeded scripts and tools should be removed from systems so as not to leave too large an attack vector open. Admins should also perform regular security audits.

CISA and NSA recommend that owners and operators read the recommended remediation measures and actions. The report is primarily intended to provide an understanding in the modus operandi of malicious cyber actors and provide insight into tactics, techniques and approaches. While the NSA security service has been in the headlines repeatedly in recent years, the security tips from the Document well worth reading.

Source: NSA, CISA (Heise), editors.

The Denios AG has moved to Lupfig. For no less than 14 years, the Swiss subsidiary of the North Rhine-Westphalian hazardous materials storage group was located in Wettingen. It was about time for the move: The specialist for environmental and occupational safety technology was bursting at the seams at its old location. Since the beginning of September 2022, Denios AG has now moved to the "Interpark" in Lupfig. Close to the freeway entrances to Basel, Zurich and Berne, the new location in the industrial area is well connected. The commercial property in the industrial area of Lupfig convinces with its large bright windows and spacious meeting and working rooms. In total, premises with over 6000 square meters were created on four floors in the new commercial landscape.

"There were many reasons why we moved," says Denios Switzerland Managing Director Titus Zimmermann. On the one hand, of course, to make room for our organic growth; on the other hand, also to be able to provide more space for product presentation. Not only the classic showroom, but also a separate seminar room for hazardous materials training required more space. As a result, it is now possible to invite several companies at once to Denios' specific training events.

Asked where Denios Switzerland sees itself in two or three years' time, Zimmermann says: "If we carry on like this, we will continue to grow and gain even more skills and employees." But working in compliance with the law also means always setting a good example, even if he thinks of construction site employees who had to be made aware of the necessary fall protection at the new site in Lupfig, says Zimmermann.

Denios SE was founded over 36 years ago in Germany and has been active in Switzerland since 2004 with its independent subsidiary Denios AG. The current product range in the area of hazardous materials storage, handling, occupational safety & industrial supplies includes over 16,000 products and various individual solutions.

The new address is: Denios Switzerland, Gass 5, 5242 Lupfig

More information: www.denios.ch

The digitization of vehicles is progressing faster than one might think. Vehicles are increasingly becoming smartphones on wheels thanks to intelligent assistants and the increasing complexity of software functions. But companies in the automotive industry are also becoming more and more dependent on secure IT systems. The German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has published a situation report on the automotive industry that highlights the challenges, both in production and in vehicles.

Various ransomware incidents

The control of the vehicle itself, but also its networking with the infrastructure, is being rapidly digitized. In Germany, for example, the world's first approval for an automated lane-keeping system was granted last year. New technologies must therefore not be able to be manipulated under any circumstances, and IT security must not have any impact on driving safety. In the reporting period, however, many automotive suppliers were once again affected by ransomware incidents, which led to significant interruptions in service provision. The fact that one in three companies is also generally affected by IT security incidents is also confirmed in the automotive sector.

In the situation report, the BSI also documents the vulnerability of current vehicle systems to attacks and manipulation. For example, various infotainment systems in individual vehicles have already failed due to faulty metadata from a radio station. The report also discusses unsecured API interfaces for attacks on keyless locking systems and possible scenarios for the interruption of fast charging processes.

The entire industry situation can be seen as PDF (4 MB) can be downloaded from the BSI website.

Source: BSI/Editorial Office

3D printing is becoming increasingly important in the construction industry. Both on construction sites and in factories, stationary and mobile robots are already printing components in steel and concrete. A new approach to 3D printing uses flying robots: drones that use collective construction methods - inspired by natural builders such as bees and wasps.

As the research team led by Mirko Kovac, who heads the "Materials and Technology Center of Robotics" at Empa and is also a professor at "Imperial College London", reports in a cover story in the science magazine "Nature", the system called "Aerial Additive Manufacturing" (Aerial-AM) consists of a fleet of drones that work together for a single construction plan. These include so-called "BuilDrones," which print and place materials in designated locations while in flight, and "ScanDrones." They are used for quality control, continuously recording the performance of the "BuilDrones" and specifying the upcoming manufacturing steps.