01.01.22 | 7 min

Harnessing the power of AI through community: how Lucerne is creating a new center for innovation and collaboration

Unlocking AI's full potential, Lucerne emerges as a trailblazing force in the global AI landscape with its community-driven initiative, LAC². Discover how this Swiss city is creating an innovation hub, bridging academia and industry, to harness the power of AI for a brighter future.

It’s 2023 and artificial intelligence (AI) is in full swing in the business and academic worlds. And if it’s not already a part of a company’s processes or an academic institute’s programs, then it is on their minds, just the same.

Global trends indicate the leading applications in AI are Robotics, Natural Language Machine Learning and Virtual Agents, according to serial entrepreneur Peter Rudin, Chairman of the new, community-driven AI initiative (LAC²), based in Lucerne and representing the region of Central Switzerland.

As governments, industry and academia apply AI more broadly, we will see pioneering public-private initiatives emerge. And the Lucerne AI and Cognitive Community (LAC²) is one such promising one.

Why AI in Switzerland and in Lucerne

«One of the biggest challenges in dealing with AI is building up the necessary know-how to use it profitably. In this respect, however, we are very well positioned in Switzerland.» - Andreas Kaiser, Partner and Sr. Software Engineer at Opacc Software AG based in Lucerne

Switzerland is one of the most forward-thinking business locations on the globe, making it an optimal destination for pilot testing disruptive technologies in the marketplace. 

Here are some good reasons for AI in Switzerland, as described by Peter Rudin, Chairman of LAC²:

• repeated ranking as the most innovative country in the world
• early adopter market for new technologies
• low-touch bureaucracy and business-friendly regulatory environment
• ease of attracting qualified talent from abroad coupled with our ability to retain talent locally
• stable, safe, secure economic, social and political environment
• internationally competitive corporate and personal income tax rates and incentives

Additionally, AI in Lucerne  simply makes good sense! 
Our canton is strategically positioned in Switzerland’s largest ICT and Hi-Tech Corridor in the Zurich metropolitan area. Lucerne is vibrant with its access to peer companies, multi-lingual tech savvy talent, and leading disruptive technology knowledge centers.

One such center, the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences (HSLU), is a founding board member of the LAC² initiative. HSLU is heavily involved in leveraging AI, and its seemingly endless possibilities, both through its students and also through its industry R&D partnerships.  

Fittingly, HSLU was the first Swiss university to offer a Bachelor’s in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning back in 2020; and HSLU also hosts the largest interdisciplinary data science master’s degree program in Europe with about 300 global students. This program is led by Dr. Patricia Feubli,  a proactive knowledge expert in both AI for education and AI for industry, functioning as Head of Research for LAC² and Deputy Head of the Master of Science in Applied Information & Data Science at HSLU.

LAC² as the leading AI-Hub in Lucerne and for Central Switzerland

As you explore AI in Switzerland and in Lucerne, we at Lucerne Business, invite you to participate in our region's leading AI Hub, LAC².

«LAC² partners with firms like 4th-IR and leading academic institutions including Hochschule Luzern (Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts) to bridge the gap between commercialization and academia - offering participants a view of the future of AI today,» explains Thomas Gustinis, CEO of the AI/Machine Learning company 4th-IR and Vice Chairman of LAC².

LAC² stands for ‘Lucerne AI and Cognitive Community.’ Its purpose is to create an “applied AI” ecosystem that serves the business communities in our region of Central Switzerland, bringing together AI enthusiasts, academicians, regulatory experts, Swiss and foreign corporates, as well as knowledge leaders. 

Since its start as a virtual community in early 2022, LAC²  has had a primary goal of integrating people, processes and technology – to serve as a bridge to future value creation through applied AI.

Companies and individuals come to LAC² seeking to explore the functionality of AI. LAC² offers “process” workshops to understand and define a problem that can be analyzed systematically, and access to technology whereby an applied AI-‘Sandbox’ is used for rapid prototyping through the use of high-performance mini data centers (GPUs) with validated algorithms.

The physical AI Hub will open doors in the Summer 2023 and will showcase an innovation lab where these three pillars - people, processes and technology - are coalesced into one facility. LAC² ’s strategy to reach its goal is defined by the following phases:

- Phase 1 (2023-2024): Build the Community and AI-Hub  
- Phase 2 (2024-2025): Grow a large AI-Ecosystem in Central Switzerland
- Phase 3 (From 2025): LAC² Foundation: Act as AI Incubator / Innovation Fund

«We recognize AI is the present and the future more so than any other disruptive technology platform and so establishing the framework to develop the hottest community-driven AI ecosystem in Central Switzerland is crucial to answering this emerging need,» shares Mathias Lischer, LAC²’s Head of Marketing and Promotion at Lucerne Business.

Recently we had a big win. LAC² recently received a «substantial grant» from the Canton of Lucerne and the Swiss Confederation to establish the physical AI Hub in Lucerne, positioning Lucerne at the forefront of integrating AI technologies into everyday business practices and ensuring LAC² is serving its community, including local Swiss and foreign companies. This is what we at Lucerne Business and our founding partners aspired to create through LAC². 

«We want Central Switzerland to be the hottest spot for AI; we had a vision, connected all the key stakeholders and all the vital parts for a successful AI ecosystem. It's been a lot of hard work and we are really pleased with the outcome,» summarizes Mathias Lischer.

Read more  by visiting Peter Rudin’s, Chairman of LAC², Thought Leadership article on Switzerland, Lucerne, AI and LAC².