OKB

What OKB does

OKB (Ostschweizer Kompetenzzentrum für Berufsbildung) is a cooperative consortium of three educational institutions headquartered in St. Gallen, Switzerland — Pädagogische Hochschule St.Gallen (PHSG), Institut für Wirtschaftspädagogik der Universität St.Gallen (IWP-HSG), and Zentrum für berufliche Weiterbildung (ZbW) — that coordinates vocational education and training (Berufsbildung) across eastern Switzerland and the wider DACH region. Its core activities center on annual events, principally the OKB Symposium (held each December since 2013 and attracting 380–400+ vocational education professionals in recent editions), the Berufsbildung DACH cross-border conference (Innsbruck 2025, Munich 2026), and OKB Discovery educational trips (debuting Munich 2022). OKB also operates a newsletter and publishes blog content on practitioner-oriented vocational education topics. The organization has roughly 29 direct employees and draws on its partner institutions' broader ecosystems (PHSG ~600 staff, ZbW 400+ instructors).

OKB has no proprietary technology platform and does not develop or sell software products; it functions as a coordination hub and community-of-practice organizer. Its revenue model depends primarily on paid event registration — OKB Symposium 2026 tickets are fee-based with early-bird pricing through June 30 and Come-alone-Ticket options, plus optional lunch add-ons — supplemented by sponsorship revenue from HEP Verlag (main sponsor) and Impact Partners including SWICA, MOVIS, Metrohm Stiftung, and nu.education. Distribution is handled through direct event registration via the OKB website and through the institutional networks of its three founding partners. In July 2025, Prof. Dr. Maximilian Koch stepped down as long-term Managing Director and was succeeded by Désirée Makris as Geschäftsführerin; OKB is governed by a Strategy Council (Strategierat) drawn from the three partner institutions and an Advisory Board (Beirat) including representatives from Helvetia, HOCH Health Ostschweiz, SWICA, Hotel & Gastro Formation, SFS Group, and Fresh Food & Beverage Group AG.

Name

OKB

Legal name

Ostschweizer Kompetenzzentrum für Berufsbildung

Website

https://berufsbildung-ost.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

OKB is a consortium of three Swiss educational institutions (PHSG, IWP-HSG, ZbW) that coordinates vocational education across Eastern Switzerland and the DACH region through annual symposia, cross-border conferences, and educational trips for practitioners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

St. Gallen

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Conference and event participation fees: OKB organizes fee-paying symposium events (e.g., OKB Symposium 2026 with early-bird and regular tickets). Participants register and pay for attendance, including optional lunch and Come-alone-Ticket options.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

OKB coordinates and delivers professional development events for the vocational education (Berufsbildung) sector in Eastern Switzerland and the broader DACH region. Its core offerings are the annual OKB Symposium (a one-day conference held in St. Gallen with keynotes, breakout sessions, and structured networking), the OKB Discovery educational trips, and the Berufsbildung DACH regional conferences, all targeted at vocational teachers, company trainers, and education administrators.

Product overview

OKB (Ostschweizer Kompetenzzentrum für Berufsbildung) is a competence center for vocational education in Eastern Switzerland, operated as a cooperation between Pädagogische Hochschule St.Gallen (PHSG), the Institute for Business Education at University of St.Gallen (IWP-HSG), and the Center for Vocational Training (ZbW). The organization does not offer traditional software products but provides educational events and programs including the annual OKB Symposium, OKB Discovery educational trips, and Berufsbildung DACH conferences. These offerings serve vocational training professionals through conferences, forums, and knowledge-sharing platforms focused on topics such as digital transformation in education, AI in vocational training, and mental health of apprentices.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• OKB Symposium Annual one-day symposium featuring keynotes, breakout sessions, networking opportunities, and presentations on vocational education topics, targeted at vocational teachers, company-based trainers, and education administrators across Eastern Switzerland and the DACH region.
• OKB Discovery Educational excursions and study trips for vocational education professionals to exchange knowledge on topics such as skilled labor shortage and the contribution of vocational education to securing skilled workers.
• Berufsbildung DACH Cross-border conference for exchange on vocational education across the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), held in various locations to bring together vocational education practitioners from all three countries.
• OKB Newsletter Email newsletter providing subscribers with updates on OKB events, symposia, and articles related to vocational education and training, promoted through the OKB website footer and registration forms.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 400 participants attended the OKB Symposium 2022 focused on mental health of trainees and trainers.
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Pädagogische Hochschule St.Gallen (PHSG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPHSG is one of three founding partner institutions in the OKB consortium. It contributes its expertise in teacher education for primary/secondary schools and vocational training. PHSG's core mandate includes initial and continuing education of teachers. The institution employs nearly 600 staff and serves approximately 1,400 students plus 10,000 annual continuing education participants. PHSG's Campus spans four buildings in St.Gallen, Rorschach, and Gossau. Prof. Regula Flisch serves as Prorektorin Weiterbildung und Dienstleistungen PHSG on the OKB Strategy Council.
• Institut für Wirtschaftspädagogik der Universität St.Gallen (IWP-HSG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIWP-HSG is a leading institution in economic pedagogy research, teaching, and continuing education. It makes a central contribution to the development of vocational education in Switzerland. IWP researches teaching and learning processes in vocational education, develops didactic concepts for promoting professional action competence, and contributes to the professionalization of vocational school teachers. Prof. Dr. Bernadette Dilger serves as Direktorin IWP-HSG on the OKB Strategy Council.
• Zentrum für berufliche Weiterbildung (ZbW)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerZbW is a higher vocational school anchored in eastern Switzerland, founded in 1946 by industry, trade, and public stakeholders. It offers programs preparing for federally recognized exams and diploma degrees of the Höhere Fachschule HF. ZbW also trains trainers and Berufsbildende and provides individual professional and company courses. It operates a modern inter-company course center and runs well-known basic training years for ICT and mechanical engineering professions. Over 400 instructors contribute to ZbW alongside their primary professional activities. ZbW has campuses in St. Gallen and Sargans.
• HEP VerlagminorGTM or Marketing PartnerHEP Verlag appears as a main sponsor (Hauptsponsor) of the OKB Symposium across multiple years, providing financial and promotional support for the event series.
• SWICAminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSWICA appears as an Impact Partner (Impactpartner:in) of OKB in 2025/2026, supporting the consortium's mission.
• MOVISminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMOVIS appears as an Impact Partner (Impactpartner:in) of OKB, contributing to the consortium's activities.
• Metrohm StiftungminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMetrohm Stiftung (Metrohm Foundation) appears as an Impact Partner (Impactpartner:in) of OKB, supporting the consortium's activities.
• nu.educationminorGTM or Marketing Partnernu.education appears as an Impact Partner (Impactpartner:in) of OKB, supporting the consortium's mission.
• Industrie- und Handelskammer für München und Oberbayern (IHK)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOKB Discovery 2022 partnered with IHK München und Oberbayern as a local host and partner for the educational trip to Munich, Germany, focused on 'Fachkräftemangel – Beitrag der Berufsbildung zur Fachkräftesicherung' (skilled labor shortage).
• Advisory Board (Beirat)minorOthersOKB's Advisory Board (Beirat) includes representatives from industry and service organizations: Andreas Auböck (Helvetia), Denise Eigenmann (HOCH Health Ostschweiz), Danielle Grimm (SWICA), Daniel Inauen (Hotel & Gastro Formation), Robert Kolb (SFS Group), and Daniele Santi (Fresh Food & Beverage Group AG). The board supports leadership in strategy setting and development.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• bfi (Berufsförderungsinstitut) Austria: Austria's largest non-profit vocational further-education provider. Comparable to OKB in target audience (working adults and trainers) and in DACH scope, though bfi operates at much greater scale with a permanent course catalogue rather than a single annual symposium.
• WIFI (Wirtschaftsförderungsinstitut): Austria's leading provider of vocational continuing education run by the Wirtschaftskammer. Comparable to OKB as a multi-channel vocational training organiser offering courses, certifications, and events for working professionals in the DACH region.
• BIBB (Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung): Germany's federal institute for vocational education and training. Compares to OKB as a larger, federally mandated counterpart that also convenes practitioners, produces research, and shapes the vocational training agenda across the DACH region.
• SBFI (Staatssekretariat für Bildung, Forschung und Innovation): Swiss federal body overseeing vocational and professional education policy. Compares to OKB as a higher-level convening and agenda-setting actor in the Swiss Berufsbildung ecosystem, with which OKB's programming is closely aligned.

Others

• Online Educa Berlin: Major international conference on technology-supported learning. Adjacent to OKB in the sense that it is a DACH-based educator convening event, but its digital-learning focus differs from OKB's vocational-training specificity.
• SwissSkills: National organiser of Swiss vocational skills championships. Comparable to OKB in audience overlap (Berufsbildungsverantwortliche, trainers, companies) and in promoting vocational education, though SwissSkills is event-driven around competitions rather than professional development symposia.
• Schweizerische Berufsbildungsämter-Konferenz (SBBK): Conference of Swiss cantonal vocational education offices. Comparable to OKB in that it convenes public-sector actors responsible for vocational training in Switzerland, with overlapping stakeholder networks in the Berufsbildung ecosystem.
• LEARNTEC: European trade fair and conference on digital learning in education. Comparable to OKB as a recurring education-sector convening event in the DACH region, but with a stronger edtech vendor audience than OKB's teacher/trainer focus.

Emerging players

• Didacta: Europe's largest education trade fair held annually in Germany. Comparable to OKB as a recurring in-person convening event for educators, though Didacta operates at a much larger scale and broader K-12/tertiary focus rather than vocational-only.

Direct peers

• EHB/IFFP IUV (Eidgenössische Hochschule für Berufsbildung): Switzerland's federal university for vocational education. Like OKB, it serves Berufsbildungsverantwortliche through research, training, and convening activities, and operates in the same Eastern Switzerland / DACH vocational education niche with a similar teacher-and-trainer audience.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/berufsbildung_ost
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/okb-berufsbildung-ost

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about OKB