SCIA Events
Please review upcoming events and make your participation arrangements accordingly.
From a Lonesome Cowboy to a Powerfull Artillery
How to Grow Your CI Department
Tuesday March 16, 2010 at 18:30
Zurich Main Station at the Restaurant AuPremier.
Christian Frey - Head of Market- & Competitive Intelligence, SIKA Services
Urs Dommann - Senior Executive, Evalueserve
Christian will talk about how a single CI practitioner is able to meet all the different needs of various stakeholders within the company. From defining the key intelligence topics, to setting up the key deliverables and communication channels, to research in foreign languages and tapping into field with domain expertise needed (like financial analysis or patent analysis). Urs and Christian will also discuss how to utilize an external partner to increase the virtual team and the best-practices and pitfalls of such outsourced solutions from both sides.
About the 2010 SCIA Sponsor: LexisNexis
Nico Maffei will present LexisNexis generally as well as the services available for CI and the SCIA-Members.Program:
Admission/Registration:
From Firefighters to Futurists - Developing World Class CI
Tuesday November 24, 2009 at 18:30
Zurich Main Station at the Restaurant AuPremier.
This is a shortened version of the workshop Jens Thieme prepared for the recent SCIP Europe Summit in Amsterdam. We are now priviledged to receive this course directly in our back yard without having to fly all the way to the Netherlands.
The presentation will provide a hands-on learning experience about the key elements of a modern CI function and their development options.
Jens Thieme is currently Global Contract Manager at Lonza. In his former roles in Competitive Intelligence he developed and ran global CI functions at Ciba and BASF. As a member of the SCIA board and a member of the Board of Directors of SCIP Jens maintains a strong network of world-wide active CI professionals. In his role as Chairman of SCIP's International Advisory Committee he is also responsible for international relationships with the Swiss CI comunity besides many other country organizations.
Please note that this event was sponsored by I.S.I.S., Inc. - global experts in primary and secondary competitive intelligence with offices in Lucerne and Geneva. www.isisglobal.com
Please find the presentation slides and material here (membership required).
SCIA Education Day - "Your Educational Options in CI". September 29, 2009. Afternoon and evening.
SCIA and the Institute for Competitive Intelligence (ICI) presented:
It's about your personal education options this time as a Competitive Intelligence professional. And as this topic is so incredibly important to our members and the CI community in Switzerland we run a fairly large program this time.
Join us in Zurich for half a day of high caliber CI guru's who will leave no question unanswered. In fact, we will even ask for your detailed questions up-front (watch out for a survey to be released here shortly) and have them answered by a top notch panel of world class CI masters (see program below).
As we get closer to the event we will add on details on the program and the speakers, release a members survey and ask your opinion. Please stay tuned for this exciting, largest SCIA gathering of all time:
Zurich Main Railway Station, Au Premier Restaurant, September 29, 2009 4pm-10:00pm.
Monika Giese (Switzerland) will talk about a case of an internal annual CI education program at a large global corporation and focus on the implementation of the Prescott/Comai CI model there.
"Continuous internal CI Education – examples for tools/techniques/approaches from education programs of large global corporations". The presentation will provide insights into:
- Building and maintaining a CI Communitiy of Practice
- Annual Training Event and workshop examples
- Continuous Virtual Learning and Sharing
- Presentation
Stefan Schuppisser (Switzerland) is Head of the Center for Strategic Management at Zurich University of Applied Sciences - School of Management and Law and is just about to ramp up academic efforts here in Switzerland to support CI professionals and companies much more intensely as in the past.
- You will get familiar with the cornerstones of the first Competitive Intelligence course in Switzerland with a Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) degree.
- The course will not only help you excel in your CI job and make you fit for your further career.
- It is also an investment in another way: As it fulfills the requirements of the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) it also facilitates the recognition of your studies on a national and international basis, e.g. if you are planning to enhance your studies to earn a Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) degree at a later time.
- Presentation
Rainer Michaeli (Germany) will introduce ICI's options to support your educational needs as a CI practitioner.
- SCIP’s “CI Body of Knowledge” project and its impact on CI education
- Trends and characteristics of the job market for CI professionals
- ICI's CI education offering: workshops , certificate programs and conferences (ICI is the exclusive sponsor of SCIA's Education Day 2009)
- Presentation
So will Toni Nagle (United Kingdom) of ACI, SCIA members and interested visitors will learn about their opportunities to become better educated CI pro's from various angles.
- Obtain an overview of the Academy of Competitive Intelligence (ACI) education programmes & and introduction to a world class faculty
- How to gain the internationally recognised Competitive Intelligence Professional , CIP® certificate
- Learn about the new ACI distance learning programme
- Presentation
SCIP will support SCIA with material and a featured reading/commentary via phone by Bonnie Hohof (US) of SCIP. Detailed benefits include:
- Participants will receive a comprehensive overview handout of CI education options
- Participants will learn about the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) as a top notch CI education provider with its conferences, workshops, sessions, chapters support and
- Body of Knowledge value proposition
- Presentation
And finally Alessandro Comai (Spain) and John Prescott (US) will also dial in to introduce their World Class CI Model, share their experience in CI education and provide insights into career path supporting CI training options. Detailed benefits include:
- Participants will learn the dimensions of our world-class CI function model
- Participants will have access to our world-class diagnostic tool and be able to benchmark their function
- Participants will learn a process for redesigning their CI function based on the world-class model
- Participants will learn the core CI research and teaching topics in academics
- Participants will learn the different teaching approaches to CI used in academics
- Participants will be able to discuss how we can leverage CI knowledge and practice across academics, business and government
- Presentation
All speakers in the room and on the phone will finally join forces in a major panel discussion fed by SCIA members questions (via survey as mentioned above) and live questions in the room and from the sessions.
Please find the presentations of the event next to the speaker/session intro above (membership required).
Event photos can be found in the album here.
"ICI was founded to provide solid and adaptable international training programs to CI professionals seeking certification in CI. Our general principle is to provide an uncompromising quality of education through intensive, practical learning. You can choose to study our complete certificate programs or attend specific workshops. We also offer individual in-house training to companies."
Other SCIA 2009 Dates, all Zurich:
November 24, 2009 18:30h
December 8, 2009 18:30 General Assembly
"World-class CI Organizations: Academic Model vs. Reality" SCIA Evening Event June 25, 2009
June 25 18:30h in Zurich.
World-class CI Organizations: Academic Model vs. Reality. Monika Giese, Basel (Switzerland)
As a seasoned CI professional I have followed the development and debates on how to best organize CI within an exsisting organisation to maximise the utilization of internally available intelligence.
Academic models provided food-for-thought and stimulated many pilot projects and activities. In this presentation I would like to share my observations , successes and failures with the SCIA community.
I intend to disclose my short-list of ‘do’s and don’ts’ and hope for a lively discussion hearing about your experiences.

Monika has been a member of SCIP (Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals) and the Strategic Leadership Forum (ILF) for many years, thus becoming globally one of the most desired speakers and teachers in the field of Strategic Competitive Intelligence. Monika has recently resigned from her role as the Head of Global Competitive Intelligence at Novartis Pharma AG to pursue a career as a consultant and advisor, mainly supporting and coaching organisations to build effective internal CI organizations .
A scientist with an interdisciplinary background, Monika holds a BS degree from the University of Bochum , Germany in Neurophysiology, Immunology, and Biochemical Pharmacology. She also is a certified CI professional and Market Researcher, holds an International Marketing and Communications degree from the Nijenrode Business School, and the London Business School.
Material
As a SCIA memberyou can download presented slides and accompanying material to our events including this events materials.
Photos from the event
Other SCIA 2009 Dates, all Zurich:
September 29, 2009 potentially whole afternoon event
November 24, 2009 18:30h
December 8, 2009 18:30 General Assembly
"ABB’s Business Intelligence Program" SCIA Evening Event March 24, 2009
The next SCIA event will be held March 24 18:30h in Zurich.
ABB’s Business Intelligence Program, Daniel Niederer, ABB Zurich
This session will provide attendees a glimpse into the inner workings of ABB’s Business Intelligence Network. Learn how the program currently operates, and what the future holds.

Daniel Niederer is currently Vice President, Head of Strategy Controlling & Operations for ABB Group Function Corporate Strategy in Switzerland. He leads a multinational team responsible for operating the strategy controlling process and the business intelligence for the ABB Group.
Niederer is responsible for driving the ABB Business Intelligence Network for competitive, market and macroeconomic intelligence, ensuring permanent competitive surveillance capabilities as well as high ad-hoc responsiveness in case of urgencies. He holds a masters degree from the University of St. Gallen, HSG, Switzerland with Studies in Economy and Business Administration, Emphasis in International Management.
Material
As a SCIA memberyou can download presented slides and accompanying material to our events including this events materials.
Photos from the event
Other SCIA 2009 Dates, all Zurich:
June 25, 2009 18:30h
September 29, 2009 potentially whole afternoon event
November 24, 2009 18:30h
December 8, 2009 18:30 General Assembly




