Tag: Swiss
How a Swiss computer game is teaching kids to defeat Covid-19

The Swiss-developed CoronaQuest computer game is helping pupils in Switzerland and abroad protect themselves – and face their fears over the coronavirus.
This content was published on October 7, 2020 – 10:00

Originally from Peking, Jie moved to Switzerland in 2003 and studied pedagogy (Bachelor Degree in Pedagogy, Master Degree in Comparative and Intercultural Pedagogy University of Fribourg). Jie have moved on to work as journalist and joined swissinfo.ch in 2011. She speaks French, German and English, covers a wide range of issues mainly in French- and German-speaking Switzerland.
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Born and raised up in Russia, became a journalist in the late 1990s reported on humanitarian and political issues travelling to different regions of the Russian Federation. Later worked as a parliamentary correspondent in Moscow. After completing post-graduate studies as a media specialist in the University of Geneva in 2007, Lioudmila start working as a multimedia online journalist and joined Swissinfo in 2013. She speaks French, German and English.
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The educational game, launched by canton Vaud in May for pupils aged 4-16, has been played 342,000 times globally (end of September figures). It now exists in 11 languages.
“I introduced my 5-year-old son to it and we’ve played the first two levels,” said Julien Schekter, head of communication at the canton’s Department of Training, Youth and Culture, who also led the game development team.
Schekter said there was a surge of interest in computer games at the peak of the coronavirus crisis. This led to the development of a number of educational games in which heroes wear masks and socially distance. But as far as he
NEC snaps up Swiss digital banking solutions provider Avaloq in $2.2 billion deal
NEC has agreed to acquire Avaloq in order to secure a global pathway into the digital payments market.
Announced on October 5, the deal will bring Avaloq under the Japanese IT group’s umbrella, although Avaloq will continue to operate using its own brand.
Under the terms of the agreement, NEC will pay CHF 2.05 billion, or approximately $2.23 billion, for 100% of Avaloq shares. At present, 45% is owned by global private equity firm Warburg Pincus, whereas the rest are held by the firms’ founders and employees.
Founded in 1985, Avaloq is an IT solutions company now specializing in banking, wealth management, and the digital payments space. The firm has developed business process as a service (BPaaS) and software as a service (SaaS) cloud solutions for banks and financial organizations.
See also: Infosys acquires GuideVision in European services push
Headquartered in Switzerland, Avaloq is listed on the Tokyo stock exchange (TYO) and has a presence in over 50 countries.
Avaloq has traditionally served high-end wealth managers and private banks but intends to “democratize” this area in the future by expanding to include “affluent investors” rather than just high net-worth individuals.
“Clients will continue to enjoy the high level of service they’ve grown used to,” Avaloq says. “This transaction will not lead to a reduction in workforce and the management remains fully committed to Avaloq’s growth story.”
While NEC is the provider of a range of IT solutions in industries spanning from aerospace to data analytics, by picking up a company already established worldwide in banking technology, the organization will add digital finance to its bow — as well as the ability to enter this market on a global scale.
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The news comes on the heels of
NEC to buy Swiss financial software firm Avaloq for $2.2 bln
Adds context, background
TOKYO, Oct 5 (Reuters) – Japan’s NEC Corp 6701.T said on Monday it had agreed to buy Swiss financial software company Avaloq Group AG for 2.05 billion Swiss francs ($2.2 billion), a move that will spearhead its entry globally into digital finance software.
The deal is expected to be completed by April 2021 after necessary approvals, NEC said in a statement. Source text for Eikon:
Privately-held Avaloq, the top provider in Europe of financial asset management software, reported sales of 610 million Swiss francs ($664 million) last year, 70% of which came from Europe.
NEC has spent the last decade restructuring unprofitable units that lost business to price-competitive Asian rivals, selling its semiconductor, personal computer and smartphone units.
The company has since focused on providing governments and businesses with solutions services using its technologies in biometrics, healthcare, data analyses and telecommunications.
It recently received a 64.5 billion yen ($560 million) investment from Japanese telecoms company Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) 9432.Tto beef up its efforts to develop fifth-generation (5G) wireless technologies.
($1 = 0.9184 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Chris Gallagher and Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Jane Wardell)
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NEC to buy Swiss software firm Avaloq for $2.2 billion
By Makiko Yamazaki, Sam Nussey
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s NEC Corp 6701.T said on Monday it will buy Swiss financial software company Avaloq Group AG for 2.05 billion Swiss francs ($2.2 billion), a move that will spearhead its entry globally into finance software.
NEC will acquire unlisted Avaloq, Europe’s top provider of financial asset management software, from Avaloq’s founder and employees and private equity firm Warburg Pincus, which has a 45% stake and engineered the sale.
Avaloq, whose customers include Deutsche Bank DBKGn.DE and HSBC HSBA.L, reported sales of 610 million Swiss francs ($664 million) last year, 70% of which came from Europe.
The deal will allow NEC to offer cloud services acquired through the merger combined with its own biometrics and data analysis products to financial institutions and governments as digitalisation gathers pace.
It has spent the last decade restructuring unprofitable units that lost business to price-competitive Asian rivals, selling its semiconductor, personal computer and smartphone units.
NEC said it will target Japan, where financial institutions have been slow to move online and new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has pledged to modernise outdated government systems.
“Japan is lagging in financial digitalisation and this will be a big trend,” Chief Executive Takashi Niino told a news briefing.
The deal follows NEC’s 2018 acquisition of British IT services company Northgate Public Services, whose customers include London’s Metropolitan Police, and 2019 purchase of Danish e-government services firm KMD for more than $1 billion.
NEC “share my ambition for Avaloq to continue to shape the future of the financial industry by continuing to invest heavily in R&D,” Avaloq founder Francisco Fernandez said in a statement.
Warburg Pincus had been targeting a 2020 sale or listing of Avaloq, Reuters reported last year.
NEC recently received a 64.5 billion yen ($560 million) investment from
NEC to buy Swiss financial software firm Avaloq for $2.2 billion
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s NEC Corp 6701.T said on Monday it had agreed to buy Swiss financial software company Avaloq Group AG for 2.05 billion Swiss francs ($2.2 billion), a move that will spearhead its entry globally into digital finance software.
The deal is expected to be completed by April 2021 after necessary approvals, NEC said in a statement. Source text for Eikon:
Privately-held Avaloq, the top provider in Europe of financial asset management software, reported sales of 610 million Swiss francs ($664 million) last year, 70% of which came from Europe.
NEC has spent the last decade restructuring unprofitable units that lost business to price-competitive Asian rivals, selling its semiconductor, personal computer and smartphone units.
The company has since focused on providing governments and businesses with solutions services using its technologies in biometrics, healthcare, data analyses and telecommunications.
It recently received a 64.5 billion yen ($560 million) investment from Japanese telecoms company Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) 9432.T to beef up its efforts to develop fifth-generation (5G) wireless technologies.
Reporting by Chris Gallagher and Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Jane Wardell