IT'IS Foundation Appointed as Member Organization of SATW

At the 30th General Assembly of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW) in Zurich on April 7, 2011, the IT'IS Foundation was appointed as a full member organization. The SATW has around 240 individual members and 60 member organizations. Individual members are eminent figures from the fields of education, research, business and politics. They are appointed for life.

The SATW focuses its activities on technology-oriented areas that are very important or beneficial for the society and workplace of Switzerland. These include:

• Conservation of nature and livelihood (focusing on the economic, environmental and societal)
• Promotion of sustainability (of products and processes)
• Decoupling economic development and consumption of resources
• Reduction of complexity (technological, procedural and regulatory levels)
• Promotion of understanding in the public of the opportunities / benefits and risks of technology
• Fostering innovation in Switzerland (monitoring and promoting innovation)
• Addressing ethical issues related to new technologies

SATW strives for high-quality, appropriately-targeted and clearly-understandable dialogue with society and especially with today’s youth. Goals are to promote public understanding of technology and its importance for our welfare, and to inspire young people to take careers in the technology sector. In addition the SATW continues to engage in application-oriented activities of national economic benefit, (e.g. “Transferkolleg” whereby the SATW promotes the exchange of knowledge between universities and industry, making research findings that have a market potential visible in an early phase) and strengthens SATW’s role as a credible, independent umbrella organization in the field of technology promotion.