The One About Zurich’s AI Ecosystem
What does AI look like on the ground in Zurich?
From creating spaces to safely test AI in the real world, to mapping hidden urban infrastructure and modelling floods within minutes, join practitioners from Zurich as they share how AI is being developed, deployed and translated into real-world impact across government, cities and industry.
More About the Sharings
Raphael von Thiessen (Programme Lead for Artificial Intelligence, Office for Economy, Canton of Zurich) will share on the "Innovation Sandbox for AI"
How can governments create the conditions for organisations to test and deploy AI responsibly in the real world?
Raphael will introduce the Canton of Zurich's Innovation Sandbox for AI, a collaborative testing environment that helps organisations develop and validate AI solutions under real-world conditions. Drawing on use cases across public administration, healthcare and public infrastructure, he'll share practical lessons on implementation, governance, data access and scaling, as well as how regulatory collaboration and open knowledge sharing can help accelerate responsible AI innovation across an ecosystem. (Technical Level: 100)
Dr Jürg Lüthy (Director, Geomatics + Surveying, City of Zurich) will share on using AI to map Zurich's urban infrastructure
A city's utility networks may be hidden underground, but clues to where they are can be found all around us.
Dr Lüthy will share how Zurich is using AI and street-level imagery to detect and geometrically locate objects such as manhole covers, helping to improve the completeness and positional accuracy of the city's urban utility cadastre. He'll unpack the approach behind the project and how better spatial data can support the development of utility and waste management networks, infrastructure planning, and Zurich's broader blue-green transformation. (Technical Level: 200)
Noëmi Kaufmann (Head of Growth, REOR20) will share on AI-driven flood modelling with DeepWater
What if flood information could be generated within minutes, on demand, anywhere in the world?
Noëmi will introduce DeepWater, REOR20's physics-trained AI flood simulation engine, which translates rainfall data into on-the-ground flood information within minutes. She'll share how this turns flood modelling from a slow, after-the-fact analysis into a dynamic tool for early warning, nowcasting, post-event analysis and climate scenario planning.
Delivered via API to partners worldwide, DeepWater also offers a look at how deep-tech AI can be translated into tangible business impact, with applications particularly relevant to the resilience of societies and businesses in places like Singapore. (Technical Level: 200)
More About the Speakers
Raphael von Thiessen leads strategic initiatives in technology, policy and innovation and is Programme Lead for Artificial Intelligence at the Office for Economy at the Canton of Zurich. Since 2021, he has been responsible for the Innovation Sandbox for AI, a testing environment for real-world use cases. As an author focused on strategic foresight, Raphael has published several books, including Decoding Artificial Intelligence (NZZ Libro, 2020). He is also Co-Founder of Momentum Collaboration, a strategy and innovation consulting firm.
Dr Jürg Lüthy is Director of Geomatics + Surveying at the City of Zurich, the office responsible for cadastral surveying and spatial data infrastructure in Switzerland's largest city. He obtained his master's degree from ETH Zurich in Rural Engineering and Survey and later completed his PhD there. He has extensive experience in the digital transformation of spatial data and the operation of Spatial Data Infrastructures. He also heads the Swiss delegation to the International Federation of Surveyors and is a board member of the Swiss Society for Geographic Information (SOGI).
Noëmi Kaufmann is Head of Growth at REOR20, a Zurich-based deep-tech startup building the next generation of AI flood models, where she leads marketing, sales and customer success. With a technical background from ETH Zurich, she has spent her career translating deep-tech into tangible business impact for global businesses across corporates and startups, including experience in Singapore.
More About The Series
AI Wednesdays is Lorong AI’s weekly gathering, bringing together practitioners, researchers and innovators for technical discussions on research insights, product development and engineering practices.
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