Urs Gerber, Head of the Competence Centre Base Data for Environmental Monitoring
Urs Gerber is Head of the Competence Center „Base Data for Environmental Monitoring“ since 2007. He was born in 1955 and grew up in Kirchberg (BE) and Burgdorf. He gained the rural engineering diploma of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich in 1978. He joined swisstopo in 1984 and was Manager of Information Technology from 1987 to 1999 and Head of Management Support Division from 2000 to 2001. From 2003 to 2006 he headed swisstopo’s Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) Project Coordination Competence Centre.
Heads of the Competence Centres
- Urs Gerber
- Werner Balmer
Dr. phil. nat. Werner Balmer, Head of the Competence Centre Projects
Werner Balmer is Head of the Competence Centre Projects since 2007. He was born in 1962 in Unterseen in Canton Bern and grew up in the Bernese Oberland. He studied at the University of Bern where in 1989 he received a dipl. phil. nat in Geology. From 1989 to 1992 he continued his studies at the ETH Zurich in the areas of hydraulics, hydraulic-engineering, flow and material transport modelling as well as system analysis. Between 1992 and 2000 he worked at various engineering and GIS companies as a project leader and leader in specialized fields while at the same time studying for his doctorate. In 2001 he joined swisstopo as a project leader. In 2002 he assumed the leadership of the GIS competence centre and extended it to become the present GIS-Centre department.
Werner Balmer is Head of the Competence Centre Projects since 2007. He was born in 1962 in Unterseen in Canton Bern and grew up in the Bernese Oberland. He studied at the University of Bern where in 1989 he received a dipl. phil. nat in Geology. From 1989 to 1992 he continued his studies at the ETH Zurich in the areas of hydraulics, hydraulic-engineering, flow and material transport modelling as well as system analysis. Between 1992 and 2000 he worked at various engineering and GIS companies as a project leader and leader in specialized fields while at the same time studying for his doctorate. In 2001 he joined swisstopo as a project leader. In 2002 he assumed the leadership of the GIS competence centre and extended it to become the present GIS-Centre department.
- Philippe Mouchet
Philippe Mouchet, PhD, Head of the Military Geography Institute
Dr. Philippe Mouchet is Head of the Military Geography Competence Center at swisstopo since February 2008. He is born in Neuchâtel in 1962 where he studied geology at the University. He completed his studies with a doctorate in 1995. He worked as an exploration and mine geologist in Australia between 1995 and 2001 and as a Project Manager at the Armed Forces Planning Staff in Ittigen near Bern between 2001 and early 2008. He completed a Masters in military Operational Research at the Defence College for Management and Technology (Shrivenham, UK) in 2007. Philippe Mouchet is a lieutenant colonel in the Swiss Armed Forces.
- Olaf Forte
Olaf Forte, Head of the Competence Centre Marketing Sales
Olaf Forte was named Head of the Cartography Division in August 2008. He was born in 1964 in Iserlohn in Germany and received his cartographic training at the Land Survey Office in Northrhein-Westphalia. After earning his cartography diploma and gaining first professional experience at the Technical Institute in Munich, Olaf Forte joined Kümmerly + Frey in Switzerland in 1992. Until 1999 he assumed various line functions and was a member of the management board. From 1999 to 2007 he was head of the Profit Center at Ringier Print in Zofingen, and project manager at Swissprinters. In 2008 Mr Forte was head of steering and development of the product acquisition at Swiss Post.
- Ruedi Bösch
Ruedi Bösch, Head of the Competence Centre Communication and Web
Ruedi Bösch has been running the communications and web competence centre since April 2012. He was born in 1960 and grew up in Subingen. After graduating as a geographer from the University of Bern he became deputy head of the Pro Natura Centre at Aletsch and worked as a freelance journalist for various publications. From 1991 to 1992 he was editor and programme coordinator at Radio 32. Then he spent nine years on the scientific staff of the Swiss Historical Highways Inventory. In 2001 he became Head of Communications at the Federal Office for Water. In 2006 he shifted to PostMail where, most recently, he ran communications. In 2011 he became Head of Department of the Cultural Routes of Switzerland project.