Developments in blockchain technology are transforming many industries including financial services, insurance, legal, and healthcare.

To better understand the opportunities and challenges that blockchain brings to businesses, and keep up with this rapidly evolving world, the following list combines some of the most comprehensive courses available in Switzerland covering blockchain technology, distributed ledger technology, cryptocurrencies, and initial coin offerings (ICOs):

Digital Finance IMD

October 17-19, 2018

IMD Switzerland, Ch. de Bellerive 23, P.O. Box 915, CH-1001 Lausanne

The Digital Finance program aims to help participants understand emerging financial technologies and see how they can create value and revenue. Participants will discover new opportunities from fintech, blockchain, big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning amongst other innovations.

The program will allow participants to identify the type of financial instruments emerging from technology their business can use, discover how they can monetize digital transformation, explore fintech’s major breakthroughs, and understand the role of cryptocurrencies in this new finance world.

Consensys Academy: Ethereum Smart Contract Development

October 24-26, 2018

ti&m AG, Buckhauserstrasse 24, 8048 Zürich

The Consensys Academy: Ethereum Smart Contract Development course aims to allow participants to master core skills for smart contracts development. After completion, they will understand the technology and the fundamentals of smart contracts programming enabling them to apply it and develop key use cases on Ethereum.

In particular, participants will be able to understand blockchain for the decentralization of Internet and a new paradigm for solution-enabling, setup the developer environment for smart contracts, both in testnet and production, understand Ethereum as the platform for developing top and key blockchain-based applications, and develop smart contracts for solving real-life problems through key use cases of Blockchain.

This course is open to anyone with no previous or minimum experience in Ethereum interested in becoming a top blockchain developer. Participants will learn and develop fundamental skills for using and understanding the technology. They will be able to design, code, deploy and call smart contracts.

CAS Blockchain Economy HWZ

Beginning in January 2019, duration: 1 semester (18 days including four-day study tour)

HWZ Hochschule für Wirtschaft Zürich Sihlhof, Lagerstrasse 5, 8004 Zürich

The  Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) Blockchain Economy course at the HWZ University of Applied Sciences Zurich aims to build a bridge between the established real economy and the potential of a dynamic future in blockchain.

This degree program, entirely in German, will enable participants to link the application areas of blockchain with commercial opportunities for your organization.

In addition to the 18-day course, participants will take part in a four-day study tour and will visit the emerging blockchain epicenter of Singapore and learn from global opinion leaders and thought leaders of the Swiss diaspora in Southeast Asia.

The CAS Blockchain Economy course is targeted at employees from the financial industry, their partners in the CFO offices on the client side, consultants, advisors and representatives from other corporate departments.

CAS Blockchain Luzern

Spring of 2019, duration: 6 months

Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Werftestrasse, 6002 Luzern

The CAS Blockchain course at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts covers the basics of the new digital world, the digital business models and the many possibilities (cryptocurrencies, smart contracts, etc.) in relation to blockchain technology. Students will gain insight into best practices from existing blockchain platforms.

Modules part of the CAS Blockchain course include Blockchain Business Models, Blockchain in the New Digital World, Blockchain Technology & Crypto Currencies, Legal, Compliance & Governance, Smart Contracts, and Blockchain Platforms & Best Practices.

The director of studies of the CAS Blockchain course is Prof. Dr. Georges Grivas, a former financial services executive who worked at the likes of Credit Suisse, Swiss Life, Allianz Suisse, and Raiffeisen Switzerland.

CAS Blockchain ZHAW

February 22, 2019 – July 13, 2019

ZHAW School of Management and Law (SML), St.-Georgen-Platz 2, 8400 Winterthur

The CAS Blockchain course at the ZHAW School of Management and Law (SML) is aimed at graduates of universities with at least three years of professional experience, and professionals without a university degree with at least five years of professional experience and corresponding continuing education certificates.

Modules part of the course include Principles, including the structure of a peer-to-peer architecture, understand the nature of a public ledger, and initial coin offerings (ICOs), and Cases Studies.

CAS Blockchain Bern

Berner Fachhochschule BFH Holz, Falkenpl. 24, 3012 Bern

The CAS Blockchain course at the Bern University of Applied Sciences teaches students how to evaluate, plan and implement blockchain solutions as well as embed them in an overall IT architecture. Various areas of application are highlighted with focus topics and case studies.

In a focus section of the CAS, participants will immerse themselves in the topics of “general applications”, “technology and development” and “digital health”.

The course is aimed at those responsible for projects with high demands on data protection, security relevance, process traceability and compliance, and professionals who work in the realization of blockchain applications in IT companies.

Requirements to assist include previous experience in computer science and computer science projects.

Blockchain Technology for Executives

The Blockchain for Executives workshop aims to acquaint executives with the basics of the technology, enumerate the impact it can have on their business, and provide guidelines for the identification of good blockchain use cases.

The workshop is designed for executives who would like a quick overview of blockchain technology, its business potential and a tour of its current state.

Attendees are not required to have any prior knowledge about blockchain. A general interest in blockchain technology and some ‘back of the envelope’ business improvement ideas are useful, but not needed.

Blockchain Specialist 1 BVS

BVS Business School Zurich, Militärstrasse 106, 8004 Zürich

The Blockchain Specialist 1 BVS course is designed for professionals who want to familiarize themselves with the modern tools of digital business management and use them.

The course content includes:

• Blockchain Basics BCS 01: Blockchain in a generally understandable way. Students will be able to independently think about how blockchain can influence and transform their businesses.
• Blockchain programming BCS 02: In this module, students will learn how to make a genesis block and how to build a blockchain.
• Innovative Business Models BCS 03: Students will get an overview of the current possibilities to develop new business models based on blockchain technology, and concrete blockchain startup cases.
• Ethereum & Cryptocurrencies BCS 04: This module introduces the Ethereum platform and Smart Contract services. Apart from that, the dangers are dealt with by the case The DAO, in which millions of dollars were destroyed.

Courses at ETH Zurich

Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zürich

BIOTS – Blockchain and the Internet of Things

The Blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT) annual course explores the potential of these two technologies with a specific focus on sustainable development, and provides opportunities to gain fundamental understanding of promising new technologies as well as develop creative decentralized solutions for societal challenges using these technologies.

Participants will learn the fundamentals of blockchain technology, its mechanisms, design parameters and potential for decentralized solutions. A hackathon will allow participants to work in mixed teams on concrete challenges addressing some of the pressing global challenges our societies face, like climate change, financial instability, energy, or mass migration, etc. The aim is to develop decentralized approaches towards a sustainable, sharing circular economy using blockchain and IoT technologies.

Blockchain Security Seminar

The annual Blockchain Security Seminar introduces students to the latest research trends in the field of blockchain. The seminar covers the basics of blockchain technology, including motivation for decentralized currency, establishing trust between multiple parties using consensus algorithms, and smart contracts as a means to establish decentralized computation. It also covers security issues arising in blockchains and smart contracts as well as automated techniques for detecting vulnerabilities using programming language techniques.