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We, as humans, are inherently creative. However, we are also creatures of habit. Reinventing established practices isn’t what we do on a daily basis. But what if we did? In light of the recent outbreak of the infectious disease COVID-19 we have to reimagine the way we work quickly.
Many of our members, thought and industry leaders in Switzerland, have shared how they handle the extraordinary situation we face today. They are stepping up once again to show that every challenge can be overcome. But only if we are proactive, creative and collaborate not only as organizations but also as citizens of this world. As a top priority, virtually all companies have taken proactive measures to protect their employees and halt the spread of COVID-19.
Keeping a physical distance is one of the best ways to stay healthy. While banning handshakes is now a common practice some organizations go beyond and ask their employees to work remotely. I see no reason why people who can work remotely should have to go to the office – social distance is ultimately what’s going to save us.
The concept of remote work isn’t new, however the speed at which companies are equipping their employees with the necessary tools is unprecedented. However, we mustn’t forget that there’s a large group of people, including knowledge-workers, who are afraid of technology or don’t know how to use it. Now more than ever it is the responsibility of all of us to help those who aren’t as digitally literate and to continually educate ourselves.
However, remote work and digital collaboration is not available for all employees, especially manual labor workers. That’s why flexible work hours and alternating shifts are on the rise. Not only does this practice allow traveling to and from work outside of peak hours, it also exposes workers to fewer people during their shift, which lessens the risk of contagion.
The technology needed for that to happen, has been around for a while. This allows meetings and even some events to be held in virtual settings. Is this the push some organizations need to rethink excessive meeting culture? Is COVID-19 what could establish digital tools and remote work in organizations?
None of us can predict the future but I do expect 2020 to be the year of digitalization. More companies than ever before will introduce tools that foster connection and collaboration online. The workforce as a whole will have to not only tolerate but wholly accept digital tools. COVID-19 will be the largest driver of digitalisation in history. Not only in Switzerland but worldwide.
Self-serve, buffet style Cafeterias are common among larger organizations. After all they are cheap and easy to maintain and allow employees to control exactly how much of what they consume. From the very beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in Switzerland, organizations like Bain & Company and Ringier have adjusted the way they serve food. To minimize the risk of contamination they have committed to serving individually packaged goods only.
The topic of hygiene will continue to be relevant. I am expecting to see a change in our lifestyle and therefore new opportunities for business – after all, the only thing stopping a virus is proper hygiene and social distance.
Again, physical distance is what will save us. Companies like Ringier have made layout changes to their cafeteria from the very beginning of the outbreak in order to minimize physical contact. This practice is now adopted to offices all over the world. Open floor plans, once all the rage, are now being questioned.
Right now is not the time to travel: Neither for business nor for pleasure. That’s tough for many corporations as big decisions have always been made in physical meetings. International companies are fostering exchange and connection with other employees and their organization through personal interaction. We are now forced to rethink this practice and find alternatives. But are there any? We are human beings. We need human connection. And while video meetings are excellent tools to foster connection, they will not be able to replace real-life human connection. That’s why I predict that air travel will pick up again rather quickly after we have survived the COVID-19 pandemic.
Start-ups are agile, the rest of us are not. Or are we? While the first statement might have held some truth just a few weeks ago, big corporations are now forced to rethink and accelerate their decision making process. Time is a luxury we don’t have these days.
It is remarkable how quickly large companies have responded to the crisis. That goes to show that all participants of the economy can make quick decisions if needed. If large corporations can keep making quick decisions, not only today but 12, 18 and even 24 months down the line, we will emerge out of this crisis stronger and more innovative than ever.
Stay healthy,
Nicolas
More companies than ever will introduce new digital tools, foster digital literacy and equip their employees with everything they need to work from home. The pace at which companies adapt a digital mindset is unprecedented, innovation is happening rapidly and with it we are entering a new era.
The term is a composition of global and local. It describes the act of thinking globally and locally at the same time. I am expecting that many production companies will start producing more locally. This allows them to monitor and adjust production constantly, be in close contact with local authorities and respond to the growing demand of society for locally produced goods.
Growth has been at the forefront of our minds for many years now. From one week to the next it seems we have switched into survival mode. Almost all companies are struggling, many SMEs are expected to declare bankruptcy within the coming year. What can save us now is creativity, adaptability and a positive attitude towards change.
Working from home is technically possible for a large number of people. But what about those, who aren’t as digitally literate? It is our responsibility as a society to continually educate ourselves on digital topics. Ask for help if you need it. We are all both students and teachers.
In terms of leadership the skills that will matter going forward are empathy, compassion and trust. If you are a manager of a team: stop micromanaging and let your team show you what they are capable of. Model discipline, communicate openly and show compassion. This is a tough time for all of us and we’re all doing our best. Going forward, leaders will be the ones who are able to motivate their teams in times of crises. Those who are able to cultivate a sense of community, purpose and belonging.
The next few months, maybe even years, will be tough. Possibly the toughest many of us have ever lived through. But they also hold great learning opportunities – after all, crisis is a great catalyst for creativity. Not only for businesses or employees but for us as a society, as citizens of the world. We will emerge out of this crisis stronger, more resilient and connected than ever.
Please reach out to me if you have anything to add, want to prove me wrong or would like to share your thoughts. This is just the beginning of our conversation.
Stay healthy,
Nicolas Bürer
As we embark upon the most digital decade to date, new education trends are sure to emerge. One of these is the ‘super-university’ – super because of high brand value, great rankings and, according to Dr David P. Baker of Penn State University, their ability to “produce unprecedented levels of science, technology, and knowledge about human society.”
The USA has taken the lead with high-performance super-universities, injecting generous private funding and adding tech transfer, patenting offices and publications to the mix. European nations such as Germany and Switzerland have followed suit.
Many universities today are internationalizing, creating campuses abroad. Lausanne’s prestigious school of hospitality, Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL), has a campus in Singapore, while Boston University has been sending students to Geneva for a semester for many years. The European Union has created the European Universities Initiative. Their mission is to accelerate the transformation of universities so “young people are prepared for the jobs of tomorrow in a fast-changing society, and future generations are empowered to find solutions to big societal challenges that Europe and the world are facing.”
The fundamental difference between the USA and Switzerland is that the latter’s leading public universities are publicly funded and controlled.
The Confederation:
The cantons in Switzerland:
So are Switzerland’s universities super universities – and if not, could they be in the future?
Considering the size of the country, Swiss universities fare extremely well in a national comparison. This is thanks in part to the high overall level of wealth. The UK’s Times Higher Education World Rankings places 1 of Switzerland’s 12 universities in 13th place – just behind Oxbridge and a host of Ivy League school. All of the Swiss candidates feature in the top 600. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) does better on the female:male ratio than the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, while the Università della Svizzera Italiana is nearly at parity. According to Thomson Reuters innovation rankings, which include patent filing as one criterion, Switzerland is highly regarded. Four Swiss universities have made it into the top 25, namely the EPFL, the University of Zurich, the ETH and the University of Basel. Extending the list to the top 100 sees the University of Geneva added to the list of Swiss names. The excellent performance reflects Switzerland’s culture of innovation. As a nation, the Swiss submit the most patent applications per capita.
If Switzerland wants to compete in the global market, it needs to develop the right talents and work continuously to remain attractive. Super-universities play a vital role in this. They will help the country fill its pipeline with more women, greater research and impressive innovation – across fields. While STEM is a priority, the ivory towers of this country must preserve their capacity to think deeply, inspire greatly and create vocations. This means continuing funding at all levels of education, prioritising learning and development, and testing new teaching and learning methods. The good news is that we already on this journey to the future.
On the third Swiss Digital Day, the dialogue format called ‘tell’ was used for the first time. The name says it all: it is a series of events that offers the Swiss population a platform to actively communicate their fears and hopes in times of digital transformation. More than 1’000 people took advantage of this opportunity at 18 different locations and discussed the issues that concern them. The opinions of the Swiss population were collected, evaluated and additionally supplemented with two representative surveys. This information forms the basis for the newly published «tell»-report.
“Raising public awareness of digital change forms the basis of the Digital Day. But with «tell» we want to go one step further and encourage the public to get directly involved in the change process. We were pleased with the high level of participation in the events, which are designed precisely for this purpose. In order to meet the population’s growing need for a say, we are promoting dialogue in an even more targeted manner for the upcoming edition of the Digital Day,” says Diana Engetschwiler, overall project manager for the Digital Day.
For the Oliver Wyman study, conducted in June 2019, around 2,000 people were asked for their opinions on the topic of digitalisation. In addition, sotomo recruited more than 4,000 people via the online platforms blick.ch and rts.ch before Digital Day and surveyed them on the topic of the digital transformation in Switzerland. On the recent Digital Day on 3 September 2019, around 30 hours of audio material were recorded, then transcribed and evaluated by the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland. During that process, the generated texts were analysed using Natural Language Processing techniques and checked, among other things, for sentiments and word frequencies.
“The aim of the ‘tell’ events is to get to the heart of what is really important for each individual and for the future of the community. From the very beginning, it was clear that the valuable messages from these discussion groups would be recorded and evaluated accordingly. In addition, the ‘tell’-report is intended to reward the commitment of society”, explains Nicolas Bürer, Managing Director of digitalswitzerland.
The issue of digitalisation is perceived in a wide variety of ways, depending on the topic and question. It triggers mixed emotions with regard to the future. The high participation in the ‘tell’ events (over 1,000 people) and in the two quantitative studies shows that the population feels a growing need to discuss and debate the issue of digitalisation.
The population is particularly cautious and concerned about the topic of data. There appears to be great uncertainty about what happens to data and who has access to it. In the areas of education and smart city, respondents see the benefits of digitalisation and are prepared to use new technolgies. Learning videos enable individual and completely new ways of learning, which has led to scrutiny of the traditional classroom teaching style. A majority of respondents see the area of media and news as most heavily affected by digitalisation and 60% believe that the credibility of the news has been diminished by the internet and new technologies. In the area of health, there is general agreement that digitalisation brings many advantages in terms of research, but there is a widespread sense of uncertainty in the area of health data.
In most areas, there is a desire for increased regulation and state responsibility. Central platforms (for example, for obligatory study matter or health files) should be made available to prevent the misuse of data by private parties. According to the ‘tell’ participants, new technologies should also have a positive impact on the environment. Reduction of emissions was one of the ideas put forward. Half of all respondents admit to believing that in the future, some of their work will be done by robots. At the same time, they also emphasize the benefits of flexible working which digitalisation also brings. On the issue of mobility, it was clear that there is a degree of scepticism about self-driving vehicles, but also a positive attitude towards the opportunities for ‘Shared Mobility’ and ‘Mobility as a service’.
We would like to thank everyone who was involved in organising the events and has participated.
A particular thank you goes to Microspot, the main partner of this report, which provided the recording equipment for the «tell» pilot project. We would also like to thank Oliver Wyman, Ringier and the University of Applied Sciences of Northwestern Switzerland who provided us with the study results upon which this report is based.
The Swiss dual learning system is widely admired and the subject of emulation attempts by countries as diverse as the United States and Rwanda.
Vocational education and training (VET) enables young people to learn a trade by combining classroom study with in-company work. At the end of their compulsory education, at the lower secondary school level (Sek I), young people in Switzerland can choose between continuing their studies or opting for VET. The basic in-company apprenticeship combines three or four days a week in the workplace with classroom learning at a vocational school. The apprentice is paid by the employer throughout the training period, which lasts between two and four years and culminates in a Federal VET Diploma or Federal VET Certificate. Afterwards, the individual can enter the labour market directly or move onto higher education.
digitalswitzerland’s Top talent report noted that many companies do not have solid forward planning for skills, partly because skill set requirements are changing so fast. This was recently borne out by media coverage of the Swiss Federal Railways SBB: there has been a gaping lack of planning for training and recruitment of railway engineers. But while SBB has been publicly blamed and shamed for the lack of foresight, other areas of the economy are suffering similar issues. In 2019, 12,000 apprentice positions, including 4,000 for electricians, remained unfilled. The number of young people opting for an apprenticeship is dropping in the French and Italian-speaking parts of Switzerland. Indeed, parents prefer to push children into studying and higher education in the hope that they will find jobs more easily and earn more in the longer term. The apprentice market mirrors the general skills shortage seen on the wider labour market.
Currently, the most coveted apprenticeships are in the commercial, digital, health and social sectors. Hospitality, industry and catering professions are increasingly being ignored by pupils. Agriculture is struggling to retain apprentices. These are industries that require long hours, are physically demanding and where there is little flexibility in terms of location and timetables. And yet, according to Swiss politician Rudolf Strahm, “Someone who has completed an apprenticeship is three times less likely to become unemployed or be without work for a long period.” Guy Ryder, head of the International Labour Organization (ILO), goes further: “In countries where apprenticeship systems are strong, youth unemployment rates mirror those for adults. Where apprenticeship systems are weak, youth unemployment is typically much higher, reaching three or even four times the adult unemployment rate.”
Apprenticeships are not just for school leavers. As the concept of a career change become more widespread, some people choose to start an apprenticeship in their 40s or 50s. Some 269 over-40s requalified through apprenticeships in 2014. There are also examples in the 25-40 age group, such as a banker retraining to become a chocolatier or an investor becoming a restaurateur.
The increased global interest in apprenticeships has extended to adult apprenticeships. The 2019 European Alliance for Apprenticeships (EAfA) meeting in Finland explored apprenticeships as a route to reskill and requalify adults, for example to enable low-skilled workers to have access to new opportunities and open up new career options for experienced workers at risk of losing their jobs to automation.
According to the ILO, apprenticeships offer a more flexible approach to training, given that they combine work and learning. They require “learning by doing” with hands-on skills, as well as problem-solving. They also, by their very nature, enable close links to employers. In an increasingly automated world, it is the employers who know what they need. As the job market transforms and becomes more demanding, apprenticeships depend on human presence and support, as well as social dialogue.
“The new kinds of work that are now being created and the existing jobs that will be redefined and reorganized in the future are more difficult to forecast, so we can only speculate. Algorithms and databases are automating some kinds of work, but even as this occurs other value-creating opportunities are appearing,” write Martin Kenney and John Zysman in a long analysis of the digital platform economy. No doubt, as long as there are humans, there will be a place for apprenticeships of all kinds well into the future.
Digital transformation is here to stay. We must therefore constantly foster dialogue to increase awareness for all that is and will become digital. Digitalisation brings not only opportunities, but also risks that need to be addressed and taken seriously. In my series “Dialogue Interviews” I discuss these topics with leaders in Switzerland, from our member organisations to digital shapers and the brightest minds in the fields of technology and innovation.
In this edition, I talked to Philipp Metzger, Director General of the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM).
Nicolas: Mr. Metzger, you have been Director General of the OFCOM since 2014 and lead the Swiss Government’s Digital Switzerland Strategy and Digital Action Plan. In February 2020, you’re moving on to take up a new professional challenge. Before you go, please would you share some insights into the progress of the initiative in the first two years since it was launched?
Mr. Metzger: The national ‘Digital Switzerland’ conference, which was organised by the Swiss Confederation, took place on 2 September 2019 in Basel and discussed many of our achievement so far. It was also a chance to take stock of where we stand and consider where we’re heading.
In his opening speech, Ueli Maurer, President of the Swiss Confederation, emphasised Switzerland’s leading position in fintech and blockchain, thanks to our forward-looking regulation. He set this as a benchmark for future endeavours. He also noted the creation of the Cyber Security Center and the appointment of a Cyber Security Delegate, while acknowledging that a lot remains to be done in this area to increase confidence in digitalisation in Switzerland. Federal Councillor Simonetta Sommaruga focused on the package of measures to support the media sector, especially online media, which will be submitted to Parliament in 2020. We need to redefine the framework conditions to enable the media to continue to play their pivotal role in our democracy as our environment becomes increasingly digital.
Nicolas: And what are some of the highlights so far, in your view?
One highlight in the implementation of the strategy has to be the analysis led by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation in the field of artificial intelligence. The results of this work are expected to be available before the end of 2019 and will include consideration of measures to be undertaken in this area.
Elsewhere, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) is evaluating legislation relevant to economic policy to identify provisions that unnecessarily hamper digitalisation, or that are redundant as a result of digital development. Having surveyed a broad range of business associations, trade unions, companies and consumer protection organisations in the context of a ‘Digital Test’ survey, SECO has found that legal requirements hinder a wide range of transactions in a digital business environment. These requirements will now be reviewed and revised with a view to facilitating the further development of the digital economy.
Last but not least, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs has launched the digital self-determination network. Its aim is to examine the social, legal, regulatory and technical prerequisites to strengthen people’s digital self-determination. As far as possible, citizens should be able to decide for themselves who may use their data and for what purpose. A first use case in the field of mobility should demonstrate how the different actors organise their cooperation in order to ensure a free, self-determined and trustworthy data exchange between all participants.
Nicolas: The IMD Worldwide Digital Competitiveness Index ranks Switzerland at number 37 in terms of e-participation and 36 for starting a business. Both domains depend on the Swiss government and the cantons. What can we do to improve our position in the next 2-3 years?
Mr. Metzger: The IMD World Digital Competitiveness Index 2019 measures e-participation in terms of governments’ use of online services to facilitate provision of information to citizens (e-government), interaction with stakeholders (e-consultation), and engagement in decision-making processes (e-voting).
In e-government, various measures are currently being taken in Switzerland to further develop the system. In a shared project, stakeholders are currently working on solutions to help the Confederation, the cantons and the municipalities manage and coordinate their digitalisation activities, initiatives and projects more effectively. The current structures are not designed to meet the requirements of a digital society (changing demands in society, competition between locations, speed, etc.). This contributes to increasingly complex and inefficient coordination and control of digital activities. In addition, the Federal Chancellery is in the process of preparing a report on compliance with procedural requests from Parliament regarding more efficient consultation procedures and the opportunities of civic tech. Furthermore, the Federal Council wants to promote participation and innovation by publishing the data of the federal offices; this would make administrative data freely available to the economy for use in applications such as the creation of new business models. The use of open administrative data is the main objective of the second Open Government Data Strategy (2019 – 2023) adopted by the Federal Council in November 2018.
The Federal Council has also taken an important decision in the area of e-voting. It has commissioned the Federal Chancellery to work with the cantons by the end of 2020 to devise a reorientation of the trial operation and to present it in a report.
As for start-ups, there is progress with regard to the financing aspect. According to the Swiss Venture Capital Report, the capital invested has quadrupled since 2012 and so have the financing rounds for Swiss start-ups. The areas with the most investment are ICT solutions for the business sector and life sciences. In fintech, Switzerland is a leader. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, which has been investigating entrepreneurial activities and their impact on national economies worldwide for twenty years, also shows good framework conditions for start-ups in Switzerland (Switzerland is ranked third after the USA and the Netherlands). There is scope, though, to better exploit potential in terms of entrepreneurial activity.
Nicolas: As general question, in which digital and innovation areas do you see Switzerland having a leading position worldwide in 3-5 years?
Mr. Metzger: Switzerland will continue to lead in the areas of fintech and blockchain by promoting digitalisation of the financial sector with appropriate regulation. In December 2018, the Federal Council adopted a report by the State Secretariat for International Finance SIF on the legal framework for blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) in the financial sector. The emphasis is on creating the best possible framework conditions so that Switzerland can establish and further develop its position as a leading, innovative and sustainable location for fintech and DLT companies. Healthcare is another area in which Switzerland could blaze a trail in the future – if we succeed in making optimum use of the advantages of new technologies, artificial intelligence and robotics. This includes rapid automated collection of health-relevant information, extracting new insights from the systematic evaluation of this information and making treatment-relevant information available at the right time and place.
Digital transformation continues to change the way we work. As processes go digital, what about the people responsible for them? One in three jobs is set to be taken over by software, robots and smart machines by 2025. And while the shift will save $5-6 trillion in global employment costs, it won’t necessarily mean a loss of jobs. In fact, we can expect completely new job profiles to emerge. This, in the words of WEF founder Klaus Schwab, means: “Talent, not capital, will be the key factor linking innovation, competitiveness and growth in the 21st century.”
The 2018 WEF Future of Work report puts the onus on businesses to take an active role in supporting their existing workforces through reskilling and upskilling. What’s more, they need to embrace this mindset now to prevent a situation where technological change plus talent shortage add up to mass unemployment and growing inequality.
How do Swiss companies fare? In 2015, 89% of Swiss companies supported continuing professional training, at least for some of their employees. But if they really want to drive change, companies in Switzerland need to do more to develop and implement robust solutions that close the growing skills gaps.
SMEs are the backbone of the Swiss economy and account for 99% of companies and around two-thirds of jobs in the country. Although small companies (10 to 49 employees) are often less active in the field of continuing training, they have made the biggest leap forward in recent years. Size is not a hurdle to lifelong learning if companies opt to offer training through external providers rather than in-house structures. In Switzerland, 74% of companies offer outside learning opportunities compared to 58% with their own programmes.
According to a recent study by Deloitte companies and individuals acknowledge that the traditional career model is becoming defunct. Of those surveyed in Switzerland, over half consider building new career models and skills very important. At the same time, around 57% have no programmes in place to build the skills of the future, and only 25% give employees active development opportunities.
The four drivers of change are increasing automation and digitalisation, the global war for talent, an ageing population and flexibilisation of work. The boom in digital platforms such as Uber has sparked massive change in the world of work, contributing greatly to what is now called the gig economy. The latter is often perceived as a fast-growing threat to employment stability and workers’ rights, as the economy functions on low-grade, low-paid jobs. As people increasingly turn to platforms or independent jobs based on project work, we must address the issue of responsibility. What are platforms or short-term business partners doing to ensure that workers are trained, upskilled and re-skilled. As many independent workers start in more formal company settings, this is the place to instil the urgency and need to keep learning, regardless of career or lifestyle choices.
Lifelong learning is part of a package that companies can use to attract and retain talent. The offer must be varied, include different subjects, technologies, methodologies, and provide value not only to the company but to the employee. At the same time, Swiss companies need to acknowledge the variety of transferrable, sometimes uncertified, skills that a diverse – human – workforce brings.
While novel technology in space materials has increased strength and reduced weight, the challenges of automation, affordability and recyclability remain. Martin Eichenhofer CEO & Co-Founder of 9T Labs explores the current situation and explains how his company is contributing to the New Space movement.
A new era in space exploration called “New Space” has gained momentum over the last decade with new commercial players coming in to challenge the incumbents NASA and ESA. Prominent commercial contenders include SpaceX, BlueOrigin and Virgin Galactic. They are being joined by smaller launcher and space technology companies, which are popping up every day around the globe. For example, over the last 20 years over 100 new launcher companies have been founded, mainly focusing on small and medium-sized satellites. Spurred by new IoT technology, the global demand for communication satellites in the 5G age is making space technology an attractive field for work and investment. The larger companies’ broader visions to erect a permanent base on the lunar surface or even colonise Mars are no longer just science fiction.
Advanced lightweight structures are a key enabler of commercial success in the New Space era – and entire future mobility sector in general.
In particular, space engineers are excited about carbon fibre reinforced polymer composites (CFRP). Imagine a material which is as lightweight as plastic but as strong, or even stronger, than metal. CFRP materials outperform their metal counterparts both in terms of weight and mechanical performance. However, the traditional and established manufacturing routes are still a barrier to widespread adoption of this high-performance material, mainly because of extremely long and expensive development times as well as a lack of automation during production.
The global fibre composite industry is growing at a healthy 5% CAGR towards a $100b market in 2020. Within the industry, the strongest growth at 11% CAGR is seen in the field of carbon fibre reinforced composites. Currently, the biggest trends are automation, thermoplastic composites and recyclability. Automated manufacturing, together with new software solutions, enable more favourable lightweight designs at lower manufacturing cost. Whereof, the use of thermoplastic composites enables recyclability in addition to the superior mechanical performance of this class of polymer composites. This kind of performance is especially important for as applications in aerospace, automotive, leisure and medical devices.
Swiss ETH spinoff 9T Labs responds to all three trends. The company’s explicit mission is to use the advantages of 3D printing to make high-performance thermoplastic composites more accessible.
3D printing brings automation to the traditionally manual manufacturing process, driving down production costs. In addition, it offers a higher degree of freedom to steer the continuous carbon fibres and enable more optimal – lighter – parts. In conventional manual technologies this is not possible, because the manufacturing requires a huge compromise between ideal fibre design and manufacturing costs. 9T Labs’ automated 3D printing systems and Fibrify software allows for highly optimised designs, resulting in extremely light weight parts at a cost competitive price. Commonly the structural weight can be reduced by more than 50%, saving cost and resources. Furthermore, at the end of life of a part, the material can be fully recycled and reused as feedstock material.
Automated, affordable and recyclable carbon fibre composites are a viable contender for metal substitution – beyond aerospace applications.
Switzerland is committed to pursuing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all and promote lifelong learning. As educational and economic needs change, how does the Swiss government support lifelong learning?
In 2016, the Confederation, cantons and communes spent a total of CHF 37.2 billion on education, equivalent to 17.5% of total public expenditure and 5.6% of Switzerland’s gross domestic product (GDP). In European terms, Swiss spending on education ranks among the top 15, with Iceland leading the way at over 7% of GDP.
At federal level, the education spend for 2016 came to CHF 6.4 billion overall, of which more than half was spent directly and CHF 2.8 billion distributed via the cantons. Switzerland’s cantons account for the largest portion of public expenditure on vocational and professional education and training. In 2017, public expenditure for Switzerland’s vocational and professional educational and training (VPET) system stood at around CHF 3.6 billion. In accordance with the Federal Act on Vocational and Professional Education (VPETA), the Confederation funds a quarter of total public VPET expenditure. Alongside public funding, professional organisations and companies also contribute heavily to the financing of vocational and professional education and training, including the dual system.
In 2018, a Federal Council strategy document warned of the impact of globalisation and digitalisation on jobs. Actors in the field of training, research and innovation were urged to take their roles as digital agents seriously, strengthen their position and raise awareness of digitalisation in society and the economy. Although the government acknowledges the need to keep pace with change, more could be done.
The Swiss Federation for Adult Learning (SVEB/FSEA) has constituted a parliamentary working group to raise the agenda of lifelong learning and increase the profile of the issue at the political level. Meanwhile, the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) has initiated a programme targeted at the least qualified workers in Switzerland, who cannot and must not be left behind as the economy and labour markets move forward on the wave of digitalization. As the OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria has put on public record, “We need an effective system for lifelong learning, offering opportunities to the low-skilled, who are the most at risk from automation.”
Employment status in Switzerland is closely related to education level and income class, with an employment rate of 64.0% in the low-income population and 92.0% in the high-income brackets. Clearly, lifelong learning is a worthwhile investment. But funding is a central issue, especially among the lower-income groups that – arguably – need it most.
Last week, the second edition of the “Digital Competitiveness Summit” was held in Lausanne. This event was jointly organised by IMD and digitalswitzerland. Representatives from academia, politics and business were invited to interpret and evaluate the latest results of the “IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking” for Switzerland. Switzerland was able to defend its 5th place overall. However, participants agreed that this was no time to be resting on our laurels. On the contrary, it is now critical to further improve these scores and take the country to the next level, because there is still much to be done.
By far, the most frequently mentioned factor during the Summit on how to improve Switzerland’s position was education and lifelong learning: “If we are not able to educate the next generations of children to be digitally ready, if we are not able to engage productively with the education system, then we will not have the impact that this topic deserves and requires in a modern society like Switzerland”, declared Martin Vetterli, President of EPFL. Marcel Salathé, Professor at the EPFL joined the chorus: “Digital upskilling is key. A digital illiterate society is one that’s at higher risk. Thanks to organisations like digitalswitzerland and others, this awareness is now widespread. We must advance lifelong learning.”
The shortcomings that currently strain Switzerland’s digital competitiveness are in the areas of training and education, regulatory framework, business agility and capital.
The Digital Competitiveness Ranking seeks to assess the capacity of an economy to adapt and explore new technologies that change businesses, government practices and society. This is measured by three factors:
Switzerland ranks 5th among 63 countries. This can be broken down as follows for the three categories: Switzerland came in second in the category of “knowledge” and in the categories “technology” and “future readiness”, Switzerland is in 10th place. Looking at the sub-factors, Switzerland performs well in terms of the scientific competencies that are available in the country and IT integration (7th place). The flip side of the coin shows how difficult it is to set up a company in Switzerland within the regulatory framework. Immigration legislation is also not very technology-friendly. As in many other European countries, the market capitalisation of IT-related companies is very low.
“Europe does not have the power that Asia or North America have. With regard to Switzerland, there may be problems related to the regulatory framework and also doubts, especially among individuals, as to how they can use this technology”, said Christos Cabolis, Chief Economist & Head of Operations at IMD World Competitiveness Center.
The capital available for digital progress is more moderate compared to other countries. The use of big data in the private sector is also inadequate. In the area of training and education, Switzerland is only in the upper midfield (15th).
Cabolis explained that there is not one strategy that actually makes an economy competitive in the digital world. But every economy must invest and draw its strengths from its own competencies. Education is undoubtedly a very important component. The five leading economies (USA, Singapore, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland) invest heavily in education and knowledge is a very strong factor.
Eastern Asia, North America, and Western Europe are the regions that have been able to adapt to and explore technological innovation. North America and Western Europe are high in respect of ranking but they have remained more or less unchanged. In contrast, Asia is growing much faster in terms of understanding and using these technologies.
Fathi Derder, National Councillor also pointed out the enormous competition, especially from Asia, and how Switzerland must react quickly. “With everything changing so rapidly, we must be able to modify regulation in less than one to three years. That is almost impossible today. If we want to stay number five, or better become number one. We don’t have any other choice than to focus on strategic issues, talent, venture capital and we need to be more agile and invest more than we do today. First and foremost, in education.”
Kamila Markram, CEO and Founder of Frontiers referred to the challenge, that there is a lack of talent in Switzerland. Universities have a great opportunity to train more people in big data analytics and artificial intelligence. It is extremely important that there is also the free movement of talent across borders. In addition she also emphasized that technological innovation is not enough. Only business model innovation can take full advantage of performance and technology.
Nicolas Durand, CEO Abionic expressed his regret about the state not investing more in research and development. “They want to cut the research budget but R&D is the core of every single company. If you cut the R&D budget, you try to kill the company.”
Nuria Gorrite, President of Canton de Vaud shared the digital strategy of Canton de Vaud. Three principles are of central importance: sovereignty, security and solidarity. For the digital transformation to be accepted by the population, it must be legitimate. Therefore, the e-ID or the protection of personal data must remain within the framework of public legislation. It must also be ensured that those who are less able to participate in the digital transformation are protected from possible negative side-effects. Education should be harnessed so that the population has the necessary competences to act in this digital world. “Digital transformation must not remain an issue that is shared by the privileged few. To be sustainable, digital change must be just. The benefits of digital transformation must be redistributed across social classes, age and gender. This is ultimately also in the interest of business and enterprises.” In addition, data protection, the necessary infrastructure, people and business support as well as funding innovation are crucial.
Martin Vetterli, President of EPFL dismissed the participants by punctuating the following circumstances that urgently need to be improved in order for Switzerland to stay ahead: “Although Switzerland remained number 5, some of the results are alarming, not only since this year. I am very concerned about talent. The EPFL is a place where we try to foster talents who enter the Swiss or global economy. This presupposes that Switzerland remains a very open country. We also really need more entrepreneurs. We need more gross funding and we must achieve gender equality.”
EPFL will be hosting the third Digital Competitiveness Summit on 1 October 2020 in collaboration with digitalswitzerland.
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