According to Le Matin Dimanche in 2013 over 40,000 bicycles were stolen in Switzerland of which fewer than 500 were recovered. The costs are enormous. Insurers pay out around CHF 60 million in claims a year, a cost that is ultimately borne by policy holders via premiums. In Geneva, Bern and Zurich, Le Matin Dimanche put GPS trackable chips […]
More than just highways
Switzerland’s worsening commuter nightmare may find some relief with the Federal Council’s decision to grant CHF 2.7 billion this year to improve highways, part of it to be channelled toward the Lake Geneva region’s own heavily populated zones, notably Lausanne and Geneva. While some Swiss are not particularly happy about this emphasis on the “Arc […]
Scotland’s independence vote – what does it mean for Switzerland?
Scotland, you might think, is just a small country populated by roughly five million people. But it is far more. Discounting its history and disproportionate achievements (you’re only as good as your last mega-invention – Grand Theft Auto), the country has Edinburgh, a vibrant, world-class financial centre; a significant oil industry; an unassailable whisky industry; […]
Apple’s U2 iTunes stunt has polarised opinion
Le News went to Swiss iTunes and found U2’s new album “Songs of Innocence” there for free. Yes free! This is Apple’s latest marketing stunt. Millions of U2 fans were happy to find it. Macrumours.com reported that the album had been downloaded over 2 million times by users just three days after being made available. Many others however have […]
Changing times at Le Temps
The Swiss Competition Commission last week approved publisher, Ringier’s take-over of flagship Swiss daily Le Temps. Managing director, Valérie Boagno has left the company and Daniel Pillard, CEO at Ringier Romandie, assumes operational management in the interim. From April 2015, Stéphane Benoit-Godet (44), Bilan’s current editor-in-chief, will be the newspaper’s editor-in-chief. Benoit-Godet worked for […]
Exploring tomorrow’s terrain
Planning for the future? Of course you are. We all are. But a solid plan needs to be based on a vision of how the future might change. How solid is your vision? Most organizations rely on projections or forecasts to try and get a handle on the way things will develop in the future. […]
Blatter to stand for fifth Fifa term – England not supportive
Sepp Blatter (78) has confirmed he will stand as Fifa president for a fifth term next year despite repeatedly denying that he would do so. Blatter claims that the support expressed by most national associations at Fifa’s congress in São Paulo made him reconsider. Several Fifa members, including England, state that they will not support […]
SMS tickets to move smoothly around town
Both Geneva and Lausanne transport companies have recently introduced easy ways to buy tickets on public transport. Travellers just send an SMS (text message) to buy a ticket on their phones and voila! But be aware that you need to buy your ticket before you get on the bus, tram or metro. Gaming the system […]
Apple takes aim at Swiss watch industry
Apple, the US-based technology company, has predictably tried and to a degree succeeded in getting a rise from the Swiss media by claiming that its latest device, a digital watch, will cause the demise of the Swiss watch industry. The campaign disingeniously ignores the truism that a wristwatch is worn for far more than just […]
Swiss organ donor shortage
Every year 100 people in Switzerland die due to lack of an organ transplant, but the country’s nationwide organ shortage could now be reduced. A new smartphone app developed by Jocelyn Corniche, an anaesthetist at Lausanne University Hospital, and Swisstransplant, informs emergency-room staff that the phone’s owner is a registered organ donor – even if […]
