The Innovation Hub at Les Roches Crans-Montana welcomes its first incubation projects and embraces the cutting-edge digital expertise of six world-class tech companies – Rayshaper in the area of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Simprosoft, the leader in Virtual Reality (VR), Spektrum, the web app developer, Workshop 4.0, robotics engineer, qiibee, expert in blockchain and Brunata, the international leader in the Internet of Things (IoT).

The Innovation Hub, specialized in the hospitality industry, was first revealed in June this year still in its development stage and will be officially launched this Friday digitally through an e-conference. Both a multi-disciplinary center, a network and a collaborative web platform, the Innovation Hub Les Roches Crans-Montana stands out internationally in the sectors of hospitality and hospitality education. This particularity aligns well with the level of excellence Swiss hospitality education is known for worldwide.

At the root of the initiative, Dr Christine Demen Meier, the Managing Director of Les Roches and a member of the Innovation Council of Innosuisse: “Companies like Booking.com have evolved thanks to the digital revolution 2.0 in a disconnected industry. With the arrival of web 4.0, our industry must embrace the technology and become a leading player in its own development. This makes the digital knowledge now more than ever a key component in the education of the leaders of tomorrow.”

Les Roches Crans-Montana – a player in a digital ecosystem

The platform is open to start-ups as well as to major international brands. Its main activities comprise a challenge center (consultancy & diagnostics), a development center, start-up coaching and incubation, a testing center and events. In transversal support to these activities, a group of companies in the digital world, digital shapers, will provide advice in the form of mentoring to the projects supervised by the Hub.

This expertise covers six tech verticals: AI with Rayshaper (Switzerland), specialized in ultra-high-definition imagery and a winner of the Red Dot Design Award, the most prestigious award in the industrial design in the world. E-Commerce & Web Applications linked to Spektrum (Canada), web project and app developer. VR & Augmented Reality advised by Simprosoft (Poland), a leading company in simulation training for fire brigades, police forces and airports. Robotics with the technical offer by Workshop 4.0, the developer of robotics solutions and 3D printing. IoT by Brunata (Germany), a global leader in custom-made technology and remotely controlled integrated sensors and meters. Last but not least qiibee (Switzerland), a Blockchain plug & play solution developer.

Pablo J. Garcia, The Director of the Innovation Hub reveals that: “with these partners the incubated projects and our students will be able to benefit from an invaluable amount of expertise as well as the business experience of this group of entrepreneurs.”

A similar initiative is also currently being developed in Les Roches Crans-Montana sister school, Les Roches Marbella in Spain.

First projects accessing the collaborative support

The Innovation Hub will host up to 10 innovation projects and 10 start-up incubation projects per year. The first three collaborative mandates have already started, all on a large scale: active in the field of artificial intelligence and facial recognition, IP Keys for "Inside Personality Keys", is developing a solution intended to profile the personality of a subject through the biometric analysis of facial emotions. 50 students have already participated in the research.

Brunata AG: Les Roches students are called upon to examine and confront a solution potentially intended for the hospitality sector. The Association of Municipalities of Crans-Montana, an associated partner of the Innovation Hub, benefits from the support of the teams for a project that focuses on the development strategy of the Crans-Montana resort's hotel offer.

For students, the new Innovation Hub represents a unique opportunity to become part of an innovation ecosystem, especially as they themselves have the prospect of setting up a start-up project during their studies.

Finally, in its function as a networking platform, the Innovation Hub initiates an ambitious program of activities, exchanges and international events between major companies and newcomers in the industry. Further, in mid-November, the ShiftIn’Festival takes place and will mobilize the collective intelligence of the entire Les Roches institution on sustainability projects.