With an almost complete line-up - there's probably always one who gets sick on a day like this - we started our journey south by public transport. Destination: The competence centre for Industry 4.0 being built on 70,000 square metres. Full of euphoria and zest for action, we initially got on the right bus - but in the wrong direction. Despite this momentary aberration, the sheer size of the site made it impossible for us to miss. Fortified with croissants, coffee and drinks, we were able to listen to the presentation on the origins, purpose and goals of uptownBasel. As an internationally oriented centre, it pursues the vision of acting as a platform for corporate networking in the areas of the Internet of Things, robotics, artificial intelligence, mobility of the future and agile working, and to promote cross-industry knowledge transfer. We were particularly impressed by the presentation of QuantumBasel, Switzerland's first commercially viable quantum computer hub. Our development department, in particular, had a heart-to-heart here and a lecture quickly turned into a lively conversation.
Afterwards, a guided tour of uptownBasel was on the agenda. Using a model, we first became aware of the scale of this project: we saw the ambitious plans for the new buildings, which are to create space for a planned 50 to 100 companies and about 2500 jobs. After viewing the model, it was of course the turn of the original - at least the part that already existed. In the process, we saw that our client Stamm Bau was also involved in the construction processes - and found it exciting to unexpectedly find Vanillaplan's traces here. During our tour of the buildings, we got to know some of the companies located there, who briefly introduced themselves to us. And then came the long-awaited highlight: the roof terrace! With a great view, lots of space and greenery that made us forget we were in a company building, it was a worthy end to the morning.
Welcomed with an invitation to lunch, we then arrived at our customer Selmoni. After this sumptuous refreshment, the first stop was the adjacent data centre of NorthC. The security precautions on entering already gave us the feeling of being in a special place. And this impression did not diminish as we approached the interior. We were highly impressed by the mass of servers and the numerous security mechanisms to guarantee their continued functioning even in exceptional circumstances. From the cooling systems to the fire precautions, we got an impressive picture of how the data centre works.
Afterwards, we went back to Selmoni. The head of department first explained to us how Vanillaplan is used at Selmoni. And just like the year before, it was nice for us to see how our customers ultimately use our product. Of course, in addition to the use of Vanillaplan, we also wanted to learn something about the work processes of Selmoni itself. During the guided tour through their halls, we were able to gain an interesting insight into their work processes in electrical engineering. Finally, we went up one more floor. Here we could admire their showroom with many different types of lighting systems - very impressive.
After our return journey to Basel, we rounded off our office excursion with an aperitif, where we were able to discuss the varied impressions of the day. We'll be back next year!
