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As a Swiss-wide and cross-industry initiative, digitalswitzerland aims to strengthen and anchor Switzerland as a global leader in digital innovation. In 2020, more than 210 member and partner organisations supported this common mission and made a significant contribution to achieving this goal. Together, we were able to continuously mobilise Switzerland on its path to the digital future. Despite the very challenging circumstances, we accomplished to connect various stakeholders to work together, interdisciplinary and future-oriented in outlook towards a shared vision of a digital Switzerland. 

Celebrating its fifth year, digitalswitzerland, with 20 employees in Zurich and Lausanne, helped to ensure that the debate on digitalisation continued in all regions of Switzerland. In addition to the projects outlined below, which were the focus in 2020, the merger with ICTswitzerland was a transformational change for digitalswitzerland that demanded considerable attention. The transition process has already shown that the combination is greater than the sum of its parts. The preparation of the merger led to the segmentation into Association members and politically-neutral Foundation partners.

The year 2020 has undoubtedly pushed digitalisation in Switzerland and worldwide further than ever before. Numerous digital solutions were developed and implemented, and digital progress was made evident, both in everyday life and in the world of work. In some areas, it was possible to switch to digital means and processes in a very short time. A new lease of life was given to the notion that the use of digital technologies can boost productivity, strengthen the resilience of an economy and open up new opportunities for value creation.

“Digital transformation is no longer just a buzzword, but a reality: Working remotely, digital events, homeschooling – all of these are a matter of course today and define our everyday lives. These changes open doors to new realities that were previously considered unthinkable.”

– Nicolas Bürer, Managing Director digitalswitzerland

At the same time, COVID-19 was and remains a stress-test for the entire system, exposing digital deficits. 2020 was a year of many ups and downs for digitalswitzerland. Even as a digital Association, we were not as digital as we thought we were. It was a wake-up call. Rethinking our strategy and priorities was necessary. In doing so, our tried-and-tested flexibility proved to be of great benefit to us. At the same time, many of our members experienced severe losses. This did not leave us unaffected. As ecosystem builders, it was difficult to watch our members endure hardship. And since one of our core businesses is to meet, connect and mobilise, we had to find new ways to do this. 2020 was a roller coaster ride from which we learned a lot.

In 2021, our journey into a new world will continue. We will not go back to the life we knew before. Instead, we are entering a new normal, which is a hybrid normal, a new world with many opportunities, many possibilities, both in the digital and physical realms.

This is where the future of work becomes more important than ever. We are all questioning how we will work in the future. As part of this new landscape, we are becoming more and more flexible. The Coronavirus has shown us all how small and fragile we are as human beings. In the future, we will live more according to the principle of solidarity, and we will succeed in taking positive elements from the global crisis to live more sustainably after this exceptional period.

Switzerland’s digital decade

In addition, Switzerland should draw on the experience gained from the crisis to steer and accelerate digital change in the required direction. To this end, the government should press ahead swiftly with the expansion of the necessary infrastructure. It should minimise bureaucratic hurdles and create a regulatory framework that facilitates and promotes digitalisation and allows its prosperous effects to come to light.

The vision for a digital Switzerland in the next few years is for it to become more sustainable and environmentally aware, to be among the top five digital innovation ecosystems in the world, with five to seven new emerging industries in which Switzerland will be a global leader.

Projects 2021

In 2021, digitalswitzerland’s portfolio of activities centre on the following elements: public dialogue with the Swiss Digital Day, which will be larger and focus on strengthening digital skills of the Swiss population over a period of six weeks. This education theme transitions smoothly into other projects of the #LifelongLearning initiative, such as the Boost Programme and the promotion of STEM professions. Our work on policy frameworks to support digital innovation will continue after the e-ID campaign earlier this year with the 99% initiative and the digital infrastructure subject, such as 5G. In addition, activities will revolve around collaboration and innovation. On the one hand, the multi-stakeholder platform Leap continues to grow and on the other we will pursue support for the startup ecosystem to get off the ground, and with Swisstech we make Switzerland more visible abroad. With our cybersecurity programme, the security of citizens, the state and companies in the digital space remains at the core of our efforts.

Download the Financial Statement 2020

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