2022 Annual Report
Boosting businesses
Boosting businesses – that is how we at the Bern Economic Development Agency see our mission. The more favorable the outlook is for our businesses, the more successful our work has been. I am pleased to say that we have favorable news to report in this respect: After the crisis years of the pandemic, the wave of bankruptcies forecast mainly by the media has so far failed to materialize. Bernese businesses are proving resilient and even optimistic in many cases.
But that is not a given, thanks to the many uncertainties that shaped 2022 – first and foremost the war in Ukraine, the unpredictable pricing and supply situation on the energy and raw materials markets, and the lack of clarity thus far in our country’s relationship with the European Union. What is more, like ourselves, our businesses have been using multiple critical paths to identify future opportunities. I would particularly like to highlight two areas in which we have been active for some time: the advances in digitalization and sustainable, future-oriented business models in line with the principles of the circular economy.
The administration has been making great strides in the digital transformation for several years now. We are digitalizing processes and services, having introduced digital primacy on March 1 this year. All communication with businesses
must now be carried out digitally. Closely linked to digitalization is the shift to circular business models and closed material or energy loops. We are helping businesses make this switch with several pilot projects, platform solutions, and amended support criteria. This work began before the pandemic and is now slowly but surely seeing the light of day.
Right at the top of businesses’ lists of priorities is the need for skilled and unskilled workers. However, the demographic trends do not bode well in this regard: we are standing at the beginning of a radical development, which is all the more reason to continue to focus on innovation, value creation, and entrepreneurial freedom as important cornerstones of our activities. Investments in new research facilities, site expansions, and innovative projects prove that the Canton of Bern’s economic system is heading very much in the right direction. We are delighted to present you with a small selection of these in this annual report.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my team, who work tirelessly every day to help advance the economy in the Canton of Bern. Our thanks also go to our partners in the innovation ecosystem of the Canton of Bern and beyond. Together we support our businesses and projects actively, competently and reliably.
Bern Economic Development Agency
The Bern Economic Development Agency (BEDA) supports companies and their activities with a wide portfolio of advisory and other services. Our services are tailored to meet the needs of export-oriented and international companies of all sizes, ranging from startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to multinationals. BEDA helps companies to get in touch with the right people in the administration. Our key services are:
– Advice
– Arranging contacts, real estate, cantonal realty, and guarantees
– Initial advice for SMEs and startups
– Financial assistance and tax relief
In order to boost economic development, BEDA markets the Canton of Bern as a business location abroad in collaboration with Switzerland Global Enterprise and the Grea-ter Geneva Bern area. Other important partners in the Canton are the innovation promotion agency be-advanced, the Switzerland Innovation Park in Biel/Bienne and sitem-insel.
Another area in which we provide strategic project support is that of innovation promotion and real estate development
projects. These activities boost the long-term attractiveness of the Canton as a business location.
One of BEDA’s key tasks is to improve the overall regional environment for business and tourism. Our regional policy boosts competitiveness in rural areas, generates added value and creates jobs, benefiting residents, companies, and tourists alike. BEDA supports the tourism sector to enable it to hold its own against the competition and develop. Key areas of our support are market promotion and events.
BEDA’s success is measured in terms of the actual investments made by Bernese companies and the number of jobs they create. We therefore continuously monitor the progress of the projects and businesses we support and conduct regular reviews of the effects and benefits of our funding activities. The latest review has shown that the tools we employ generate net revenues and thus ease the burden on the Canton’s financial budget. The next review is scheduled for 2023/2024.
Legal basis for BEDA funding and support and number of funded projects in 2022
The work of the Bern Economic Development Agency is based on four laws:
The Economic Development Act (WFG) enables us to support innovative projects, startups and companies relocating to the Canton.
The Innovation Promotion Act (IFG) allows us to provide funding for applied research and development institutions.
The Cantonal Investment Aid Act is the basis for the support we provide for infrastructure and development projects under the New Regional Policy (NRP).
And finally, the Tourism Development Act (TEG) enables us to support events and marketing activities in the tourism sector.
Swiss Battery Technology Center
Batteries are the key to e-mobility, renewable energies, and modern means of communication. In line with its commitment to this technology, the Swiss Battery Technology Center (SBTC) develops batteries that can be reused or recycled more efficiently. With its work, it proves not only that battery reuse and recycling are feasible but also that they facilitate the development of new business models.
The SBTC is also contributing its expertise to Innosuisse’s flagship research project, CircuBAT. The aim of this project is to improve various aspects of the manufacturing, use and recycling of batteries with a view to reducing their environmental footprint.
Electrifly-In Switzerland
The association Electrifly-In Switzerland actively supports the phasing out of combustion technology in aviation and promotes e-mobility in this domain. For them, the question is not whether, but when electrically powered aircraft will be the norm.
To raise awareness of hybrid and electrically powered aircraft, the association has been holding an annual fly-in, Electrifly-In Switzerland, since 2017. A symposium with lectures, e-talks and an exhibition provides a platform for teams of developers to present their technologies and developments for silent and virtually emission-free aviation to a wide audience. The event was held at Bern-Belp Airport for the first time in 2022.
In the Swiss Battery Technology Center, Bern now has a center of excellence for battery recycling that is not only of national but also international importance. It will do much to help attract businesses in this sector.
Jean-Philippe Devaux
Learning to fly almost silently and emission-free – a technological breakthrough is currently under way in our innovation ecosystem.
Sebastian Friess
Circular business innovations
In the Canton of Bern, the circular economy (CE) as a regenerative and sustainable economic model is more than just a buzzword. To help companies transition to circular business innovation, the Office of Economic Affairs has developed a range of basic CE principles and has defined concrete measures as part of its innovation promotion strategy. It also promotes knowledge transfer by providing SMEs with specific solution models for innovation projects and by matching them with suitable cooperation partners such as enterprises and financing, certification, and research partners.
This support for the CE is based on the recognition that circular business models create new opportunities for SMEs and that collaboration in an appropriate setting strengthens the competitive position of SMEs in national and international value chains.
Straumann Villeret SA
To meet the steadily growing demand for premium implants, in October 2022 the Straumann Group opened a new building at its existing implant manufacturing site in Villeret. Villeret 2 was designed and built to be fully ESG compliant, with two solar panels on the roof and 100% of its electricity from renewable sources. The old and new buildings are heated with wood pellets sourced from the surrounding forests.
Currently employing over 870 people, the Straumann Villeret site produces dental implants for the premium Straumann brand. The Group produced more than three million implants at the Villeret site in 2021 and is on track to exceed the four million mark this year.
Sustainable business models follow the principle of “value first”, taking aspects of the entire product ecosystem and its life cycle into account. Intercompany cooperation projects can give rise to new, circular systems, striking a path for innovation.
Virve Resta
Straumann has created more than 800 jobs at its main factory in Villeret. The company has also been instrumental in building a dentistry ecosystem with more than 50 partners that is unique in Switzerland.
Jean-Philippe Devaux
DroneTalks
The advent of drones, advanced air mobility and digital airspace management is causing a radical upheaval in the aviation industry. The new players still often fall short on knowledge of aviation regulations and the impact they can have on their product development and day-to-day operations.
To address these issues, Manageld Switzerland GmbH has developed an innovative education platform for the drone industry. The aim of the platform is to make new approaches and ideas more widely available and to bring together the relevant players in the drone ecosystem. Part of this is the Aerial Cities event, the first of which was held in Bern in 2022 and attracted participants from all over the world. The DroneTalks in Bern are set to become a permanent fixture in the diaries of the major players in the drone industry.
Swiss Athletics Night
Swiss Athletics, the governing body for athletics in Switzerland, promotes elite sport, young talent, and grassroots development. It is headquartered at the House of Sport in Ittigen bei Bern. Internationally, Swiss Athletics is the official Swiss representative in the World Athletics and European Athletics federations. At the national level, Swiss Athletics is a member of Swiss Olympic.
The federation honors the Swiss track-and-field athletes of the year at the annual Swiss Athletics Night. This event also doubles as a platform for the promotion of young athletes and a get-together for the Swiss track-and-field family. The afternoon before the event is a chance for upcoming talents to take advantage of opportunities to plan their career or hone their expertise.
Manageld Switzerland GmbH has developed an innovative education platform to address the current issues in the drone industry. In doing so it is making a major contribution to the advancement of the drone ecosystem.
Peter Kistler
Once a year, the red carpet is rolled out in Bern for the Swiss track-and-field athletics family. Over three days they develop their sporting plans for the future here and celebrate what they have achieved.
Virve Resta
Sale of land in Gampelen
In 2022 the Bern Economic Development Agency (BEDA) prepared and completed the sale of a 10,000 m2 plot of land in the Gampelen industrial zone.
Several projects will be realized on the land in the near future: Two buildings are being built by an investor from the region. One of these will be leased to a local company, and an industrial park is to be built on the second, making a total of 2,000 m2 of flexible space available for rent by SMEs in the future. A third building is being built by Aebi Suisse SA.
The sale of the land has been ratified by the government of the Canton of Bern. The land in the Gampelen industrial zone is owned by the Canton of Bern and is managed by BEDA.
Wandfluh
Frutigen-based Wandfluh AG is a production and development facility for hydraulic valves, systems, and electronics. As part of the Wandfluh Group, the company is actively represented on the global market with sister companies in the USA, UK, China, Germany, Austria, and France as well as sales partners in more than 30 countries. These partners not only act as sales and marketing companies but also as integrators and system solution partners for business and end customers.
The company works constantly on developing its product range by designing and implementing innovations. Among these are electronics cards which it integrates into valves for complex and compact hydraulic solutions. Thanks to their modular design and numerous variants, Wandfluh products can be used in a wide range of industries.
The planned projects will create a perfect mix of new activities, business expansions, and new arrivals on the Gampelen site.
Jean-Philippe Devaux
Wandfluh AG has been investing heavily in its Frutigen site in recent years and has expanded its production area. Among its current projects are the development of a modular range of Proportional Mobile Valves (PMV) which can be individually assembled for any type of application.
Ralf Müssig
Capt’n Greenfin
This startup was founded by Jonas and Damian Urwyler with the aim of making fishing more sustainable. They want to achieve this by imparting knowledge and supporting local sustainable fishery projects. But their main focus is on developing a 100 percent organic lure that will revolutionize predator fishing.
These imitation fish trick predatory fish into biting. At present most lures are made of plastic and often contain substances that are harmful to fish, humans, and nature. When lures are lost, they remain in our waters. Der organische This organic lure, which dissolves completely in the water within eight days, has been available in limited quantities for testing by fishermen since September 2022.
DM Surfaces SA (+MD’Art SA)
DM Surfaces is a market leader in the high-quality decoration of watch components. With the help of its state-ofthe-art laser technology and electroplating, it can texture and structure materials of all kinds – even in the micro range. The company’s expertise lies primarily in the aesthetic and functional decoration of watch dials.
Since it was founded in 2007, DM Surfaces has undergone continuous growth. This does not come easy: to achieve it, DM Surfaces constantly develops and invests in new technologies, as demonstrated by the expansion of its St-Imier site and the establishment of the spin-off MD’Art SA, the new marketing arm for the company’s unique expertise in high-end watch dial engraving and coloring.
With its 100 percent biodegradable fish lure, Capt’n Greenfin is bringing about a groundbreaking revolution. Its mission supports the environmentally aware fishing and outdoor community.
Ayse Cirit
DM Surfaces develops revolutionary laser engraving technologies, some of which are world firsts. Its success has enabled the company to grow at an impressive rate in recent years.
Etienne Maillefer
FISCHER Fuel Cell Compressor AG
FISCHER Fuel Cell Compressor AG (FFCC) in Herzogenbuchsee is the international technology leader in air compressors for fuel cell technology. Its electric turbocompressors are based on a patented aerodynamic bearing with spiral groove technology, which requires the components to be manufactured with absolute precision. This can be achieved thanks to FFCC’s close working relationship with its stakeholder.
With its own research and development, precision manufacturing, assembly, and sales departments, FFCC Switzerland covers the full range of expertise, enabling it to dominate the entire value chain. Its turbocompressors are used in a variety of applications, such as in electric mobility (buses, trucks, cars, trains, ships) or for emergency power supplies.
Peerdom AG
How do you design an organizational structure that encourages its employees to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset? CEO Bastiaan van Rooden and his co-founders Alexandre Margot and Nathan Evans asked themselves this question and came up with a solution: Peerdom, a smart application that gives you a picture of the complex interconnections of an organization using the simplest of visualizations.
At its heart are interactive maps that show the organization’s structure along with its employees’ profiles and roles, enabling employees to find the right contacts and make decisions quickly and unbureaucratically. Peerdom is also popular with hybrid teams, who find it a valuable tool for promoting a virtual sense of community and productivity.
FISCHER Fuel Cell Compressor
AG emerged from FISCHER AG Precision Spindles. Based on its patented spiral groove bearing technology, the company has a high-tech product portfolio and plays a key role as a partner to the world’s leading companies.
Manfred BöbnerThis startup was established in Wabern (Köniz) in 2021. Unlike conventional applications, Peerdom does not display job positions but roles. This provides a clear overview of the company’s needs and makes HR processes much more informed and dynamic.
Stefan Jans
Swiss Cluster AG
Swiss Cluster AG’s goal is to facilitate research into new materials and their use in products and technologies. To achieve this, it provides researchers and enterprises with the tools they need to accelerate material breakthroughs. These tools include their innovative coating systems, but also technical and scientific services relating to thin-film coatings, vacuum technologies, and material characterization.
With its novel approach, the company also offers tailormade solutions for coating systems, hardware/software, and processes.
Swiss Cluster AG is an official Empa spin-off that was cofounded by five researchers and engineers from its Laboratory of Mechanics of Materials and Nanostructures.
Arboloom AG
Can you replace a disposable cup with a renewable product? Arboloom, a spin-off from the Biel-based innovation platform Creaholic, has tackled this challenge with its sustainable Arboloom Cup made of wood. Enjoyment with a clear conscience, so to speak. The cup is made from renewable resources with minimal material transformation and has an impressively small ecological footprint. It also takes over 50% less wood as well as less energy and water to produce than paper cups and contains no chemicals such as bleach or bonding agents. Because the coating is also biodegradable, the cup can be composted after use. The fact that they are manufactured locally in the Biel/Bienne region keeps the price of the cups competitive.
Arboloom already has further wood-based packaging products in the pipeline.
This Empa spin-off specializes in developing novel thin film deposition systems and components. Among its customers are universities, development centers, and enterprises in various branches of industry.
Ralf Müssig
The new star among cups has already proved a big hit at its debut events, including at a BSC Young Boys football match in November last year. We congratulate the company on its sustainable product innovation and wish it continued success in the future.
Manfred BöbnerAxNum SA
Pressing, labeling, moving and screwdriving – AxNum offers innovative solutions and technologies for the manufacturing industry with its wide-ranging product portfolio. Size is no obstacle: AxNum systems can handle items of all sizes from microcomponents up to entire car bodies. To achieve this, AxNum produces turnkey manual workstations as well as components and modules for machine manufacturers.
In addition, AxNum is a participant in the HE-Arc MicroLean Lab project, which aims to build a complete microsized Factory 4.0 that is agile, flexible, and energy- and space-saving.
AxNum’s customers include companies in the watchmaking, microtechnology, medical technology, electrical engineering, and automotive industries.
Yotavis AG
Yotavis is the Swiss representative and distributor of the Japanese company ANRITSU, a world-renowned provider of innovative testing and measuring solutions for the communications industry, along with innovative products such as autonomous robots, networked IoT devices (5G), drones, and radar systems.
In the Switzerland Innovation Park Biel/Bienne, Yotavis has opened the Swiss Communication Competence Center, an open test laboratory with neutral, discrete spaces where enterprises and engineers can test new products and innovations for quality, performance, and compatibility. The lab boasts an extensive range of measurement equipment as well as a team of telecommunications technology specialists.
AxNum is part of the MicroLean Lab project. In this context it is developing an autonomous micro machine for jeweling and assembly that is many times more efficient and effective than conventional machines.
Etienne Maillefer
The Swiss Communication Competence Center is a creative space equipped with the very last word in communication technologies. It facilitates the development of innovative products such as autonomous cars, drones, and smart IoT devices.
Ayse Cirit
Alleima Saint-Imier SA
The Swedish company Alleima is a world leader in manufacturing stainless steel and special alloys. It is part of the Sandvik Group, which is headquartered in Stockholm and employs nearly 40,000 people worldwide. Alleima acquired Galvarex SA in Saint-Imier in 2022, a move that has given it a new Swiss subsidiary and enables it to grow its expertise in surface treatment.
Galvarex’s electroplating capabilities are used by a number of demanding industries, including medical, electronics, aerospace, and automotive. Its latest development is a component for charging electric vehicles. Impressive features of Alleima in Saint-Imier are its strong growth and ambitious expansion plans.
Youngpreneurs Association
The Youngpreneurs Association turns young people into young entrepreneurs. In its support program, the young people work in interdisciplinary teams to develop business models for an idea or challenge and learn to present it in the form of investor pitches. Over a period of eight months, participants work independently on their project in moderated learning modules, go through a startup process, and are introduced to the entrepreneurial mindset. After Youngpreneurs Bern and Thun, Biel/Bienne and Interlaken were added as new sites in 2022.
Even though the basic concept of Youngpreneurs is in place and has proved its worth, site-specific adjustments and new developments always need to be made to strengthen the support program.
This company offers galvanizing treatments tailored to the most demanding industries. Alleima Saint-Imier has also achieved recent successes in the rapidly growing electric vehicle sector. We are delighted to see Alleima expanding in this way.
Etienne MailleferTo succeed as an entrepreneur, you need to start early. The Youngpreneurs training program builds an important bridge to the entrepreneurial mindset.
Peter Michel
Mobileup
This startup is an online platform for refurbished electronic devices. Each device on offer has been professionally inspected, tested, and thoroughly overhauled. With every device sold, mobileup reduces e-waste and CO2. To be able to offer the widest possible range of refurbished devices, the startup operates a Europe-wide supplier network with a self-developed algorithm that helps to perfectly match supply and demand.
The current range, consisting of refurbished smartphones, tablets and wearables, is set to be greatly expanded in the future, in line with the startup’s mission: «We make refurbished electronics the new normal!»
Caynova AG
Caynova AG was founded in 2020 as a spin-off from Lantal Textiles AG in Langenthal, taking over its former Pneumatic Comfort Systems division. The young company’s aim is to improve travel comfort for airline passengers.
In 2023, two technically sophisticated Caynova AG systems, for cooling and heating aircraft seats respectively, will celebrate their world premiere in commercial aviation. But that only marks the beginning: Caynova’s innovation team already has further ideas up its sleeve to improve personal flying comfort.
Mobileup is resolutely driving the transformation to a circular economy in the consumer electronics market. In 2022 they were one of the winners of the Swisscom StartUp Challenge. We congratulate them on their success.
Ayse Cirit
With its innovative products, the Lantal Textiles AG spin-off is shaking up commercial aviation and improving personal flying comfort. Much to the delight of passengers!
Manfred BöbnerAseptuva AG
Aseptuva AG is developing new disinfection technology for medical devices based on ultraviolet radiation. Unlike commercial UV technologies, the application is harmless to human tissue, allowing infections to be prevented directly on the body – a solution that hospitals have been eagerly awaiting for a long time. No wonder, then, that even before its market launch Aseptuva was able to win numerous hospitals in Switzerland and abroad as future customers of its product. Its location close to the Inselspital in Bern plays an essential role in progressing its research work.
This technology is expected to save thousands of patient lives a year and billions in healthcare costs worldwide. Aseptuva’s long-term goal is to establish its technology as the standard for infection control in hospitals. In doing so it is making a major contribution to optimizing healthcare.
EcoCircular Lyss Seeland
In the Lyss Nord industrial zone in the Bernese Seeland region, over CHF 100 million has been invested in recent years in finding good uses for biological by-product streams and waste heat. This endeavor is geared primarily towards production processes in the food industry.
EcoCircular Lyss Seeland is currently working on a development designed to expand on existing processes using innovative forms of energy use and food production with a view to creating an optimally networked and exemplary circular economy system.
The association runs this process as a central coordination, knowledge, and communication platform. It is working with the Bern University of Applied Sciences School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (HAFL) to create the ECLS Knowledge Hub, in which innovative development projects will be initiated and an information pool on the circular economy compiled.
The Sitem MedTech Hub in Bern proved to be the ideal starting point for Aseptuva to break into the highly competitive hospital environment and grow as a company.
Vassiliki Riesen-Giannoyssios
As a pilot project, EcoCircular Lyss Seeland demonstrates conclusively that with innovation and commitment, the circular economy can not only be sustainable but also economically relevant, commercially lucrative, and profitable for the region in the context of our regional policy.
Daniel Wüthrich
Schulreiseland Emmental
Schulreiseland Emmental is a digital platform that promotes educationally valuable offers from the Emmental region. Its aim is to bring teachers and their classes from all over Switzerland to Emmental. To achieve this, special offerings are being developed with potential extracurricular learning venues in the region, with the focus on sustainable development goals. The offerings are not only educational but also fun, bringing edutainment in the true sense of the word to Emmental. Recommendations for accommodation, catering, and transport options tailored to individual target groups are also provided.
Emmental aims to use the modular platform to position itself as the ideal destination region and to generate sustainable added value for the region. It will also spotlight the diversity of the region and promote connectedness.
CircularTower
The aim of the CircularTower project is to research circular construction and make it a tangible experience by creating a real-world laboratory. This is being done based on a model building that is both innovative and experimental and at the same time designed for real-life use.
The building will also serve as a platform for regional companies seeking to develop, test, and present their circular products and services, with the option of working with research partners or other companies. Various exhibitions and events on the subject of circular construction complement the project.
The building is ideally located on the Bern University of Applied Sciences campus in Burgdorf, at the intersection of housing, education, and industry.
Many people remember with fondness the places they visited on school trips in years gone by and will return there later in life with family and friends. With its many destinations to explore and discover and its wide range of atmospheric inns and hotels, Emmental is the perfect place for this.
Martin Tritten
The CircularTower project makes circular construction a tangibleexperience for everyone. The future building will serve as a realworld laboratory and a source of inspiration for other circular economy projects. I am delighted that our regional policy is geared towards prioritizing this area.
Daniel Wüthrich
Grimsel Campus
The Grimsel Campus training and development center is a research and development location that so far exists as a vision. It is to be built at an existing power station at Handeck on the Grimsel Pass.
The Guttannen Bewegt association plans to carry out indepth investigations and develop a business plan for the campus based on a feasibility study. This will be combined with an area development plan for infrastructure repurposing. Following on from that, potential sponsors for the construction of the Grimsel Campus training and development center will be approached with an investor dossier.
be-connected.ch
The Bernese networking platform be-connected.ch helps entrepreneurs in the Canton of Bern to find the right support offerings with a few clicks of the mouse.
Since mid-2022, businesses have also been able to publish news updates and job vacancies on the platform free of charge.
From there, news items are distributed across more than 50 news channels such as LinkedIn, increasing the visibility and reach of SMEs and startups with very little effort: businesses simply email their news and images to a news agency who writes the article and publishes it. This service has received widespread attention and already has some prominent imitators across the country.
Practical professional development in the mountain region. The Grimsel Campus is an important and exciting project in the field of training, research, and development.
Peter Michel
The digital networking platform be-connected.ch tripled its visitor numbers within one year, proving its benefit to the players in the Bernese innovation ecosystem. In response to this, the platform’s services are being expanded to form a central digital networking platform in the region.
Virve Resta
FIS Telemark Jr. World Championships
Mürren and the Schilthorn have a long and legendary history in skiing. Telemark is actively practiced on the Schilthorn, both on-piste and in deep snow.
Telemark events have been held in Mürren at national and international level since 1998. The athletes compete in three disciplines and in a team competition. Among the favorites are numerous Swiss skiers, including local heroine Martina Wyss from Lauterbrunnen. The FIS Telemark Junior World Championships were also held here for the first time in 2022.
Swiss Hiking Summit
Hiking is the most popular form of outdoor activity in Switzerland. It was showcased in August 2022 at the first Swiss Hiking Summit in Gstaad. The conference was a combination of an instructive specialist event, a networking opportunity, and an innovation generator. Alongside the seminars and panel discussions, some of the program items were fittingly held in a relaxed atmosphere outdoors.
The Swiss Hiking Summit aims to become a competence platform and to ensure long-term dialog between tourist and hiking organizations.
Telemark events have been held in Mürren since 1998, and an annual World Cup competition has taken place there since 2015.
Mürren hosted the first ever Junior World Championship in 2022. The two events are a highlight in the region’s calendar.
Alexandra Fries
Hiking is one of our most popular leisure activities. If a destination wants to profile itself successfully in this area, it needs to actively engage with the subject. The Swiss Hiking Summit has made a valuable contribution to this.
Martin Tritten
Alexandra Fries
