This year’s Society 5.0 International Conference on the Co-Existence Between Human Being and Machine Being was a great platform for experts in the field to share their research findings. The conference was held in San Benedetto, Italy and received 64 submissions. 39 submissions were accepted for presentation at the conference, of which 23 papers will be published in the conference proceedings by Springer.

A true highlight was the talk on  Cultural Influences on Human Cybersecurity Behaviour: A Study of Switzerland and Cameroon, presented by Dr. Bettina Schneider and co-authored by Franka Ebob Enow Ebai, Simon Eyongabane Ako, George Fonkeng Epah, Gaius Ngong Mufua, Willibroad Abongwa Acho, Williams Boma, Delbert Akom Afumbom, Veronica Ika K. Visemih, Samuel Nemkul Lackbuin, and Mary Feh.

During the presentation, Bettina gave an informative talk on the Swiss-African Cybersecurity Community, which has provided valuable insights into how cultural factors shape individual cybersecurity behavior—a crucial element in fostering inclusive and effective digital trust. Through this work, we are laying the foundation for the first cybersecurity community bridging Africa and Switzerland, serving as a powerful example of meaningful and promising international cooperation.

Collaborative Work

Through collaboration with the FHNW Digital Trust Competence Center, our community also benefits from the highly relevant research, highlighted in the following studies and projects:

• Data Security Compliance – An Application-Oriented Solution for Small Businesses, presented by our community member, Sherdel Käppler and co-authored with Petra Maria Asprion and Tanja Tschan. For this project, they developed a comprehensive yet easy-to-use hands-on tool to help small businesses assess and improve the security of their digital data; practical, effective, and urgently needed.
• Revolutionizing Whistleblowing through Digital Trust: A Comparative Analysis of South Africa and Switzerland by Hermann Grieder, Marié Hattingh, Alexander Norta, and Petra Maria Asprion. This marks the beginning of a research partnership focused on secure, anonymous reporting systems, with the goal of developing solutions that set new benchmarks for digital trust.