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GITEX Technology Week, the Arab Emirates’ most important trade fair in the electronics sector, will be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from 17 to 21 October.
Among the 4,500 exhibitors and over 750 startups, the SWISS Pavilion, organised by digitalswitzerland, Swisstech and T-LINK, will be showcasing over 12 companies.
In partnership with Bilanz, Handelszeitung and PME, digitialswitzerland is once again celebrating the 100 people changing the face of the Swiss digital landscape.
The 100 Digital Shapers have shown bravery and commitment to digitalisation in extremely challenging times. As we transition into this post-Covid period, we asked our Shapers about their views of the digital future, how Switzerland can stand out and what advice they would give to their 16-year-old selves.
Corina Schedler is the co-founder of Code Excursion – a female coding school. A self-taught web developer, Corina has developed a community that teaches women the basics of programming. She is passionate to support women who wish to make a career shift into the tech industry.
Q: If you could give your 16-year-old self one piece of advice (career or life), what would it be?
A: “Success is what you define it to be. So define it as the sense of wonder or joy you feel while doing something. Don’t study for good grades but for what interests you. In the longterm people pleasing will lead nowhere. Get to know yourself, notice the moments of passion and trust your intuition. Be intentional about your decisions because your choices have a bigger impact than you think.”
Raphaël Brunschwig is the Chief Operating Officer at the Locarno Film Festival. He focuses on how digitalisation plays a transformative role in the strategic development of the festival, a process which has been sped up due to Covid-19. An exciting future lies ahead for events that no longer follow a traditional framework.
Q: Where do you think Switzerland can make the most impact on the digital innovation stage?
A: “Switzerland’s great strength lies in its neutrality, its expertise, and its tradition as an abiding place for reflection and exchange. We are therefore faced with an opportunity to present ourselves as a place that poses the question of ethics with respect to the digital revolution. And this puts us in a unique position. As Kissinger put it, if the Enlightenment was an ideal in search of the tools by which we might realize our potential, the digital revolution is an incredible toolkit desperately in search of a guiding philosophy. We therefore have the strength and credibility to be a land that reflects and engenders reflection on the great changes taking place in the world and the digital realm.“
Melanie Gabriel is Chief Marketing Officer and Co-founder of Yokoy, the all-in-one spend management platform. Melanie is passionate about streamlining and simplifying payment processes using AI. Last year, Yokoy secured 1.7 million Swiss francs in seed funding which has allowed for scaling and exciting market expansion.
Q: What are you most excited about for digital innovation for 2021 and beyond?
A: “There have been many breakthroughs in artificial intelligence recently. A firework of innovation can be observed. Increased computing power and the availability of large amounts of data are opening up gigantic new possibilities for machine learning. This will revolutionize many areas. Think about medicine or the financial sector. Especially in fintech things will change rapidly.”
Theodora Dragan is Data Protection Officer and Legal Counsel at the CyberPeace Institute. As Chairperson of the Swiss section of the International Association of Privacy Professionals and co-founder of the Swiss DPO Association, Theodora’s mission is to strengthen data protection systems against cyber attacks, and to support organisations in striking the right balance between their own interests and individual rights and freedoms.
Q: If you could give your 16-year-old self one piece of advice (career or life), what would it be?
A: “Show kindness and compassion to yourself and others, and do not allow yourself to be defined by your success or by your defeat. Accomplishments are just as fleeting as failures – so try not to take either too seriously. In the famous words of celebrated Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
Luc Haldimann is Founder and CEO of Unblu, a Conversational Platform for Financial Services. It empowers financial institutions to increase online conversions and deliver better customer experience. As a board member of the SwissICT association, Luc promotes the exchange between software providers, users and specialists, and as a consultant he supports software companies in offering their digital solutions.
Q: Where do you think Switzerland can make the most impact on the digital innovation stage?
A: “Besides biotech and pharma, Switzerland provides a great environment for innovation at the intersection of financial services, privacy, and security. The accelerating need for digital transformation provides a massive chance for us to build software based services for the future of trust between people and machines. We have lived through two decades of online and mobile automation. It’s time to add the human factor back in.“
Naomi MacKenzie is Co-founder Kitro, a state-of-the-art imaging solution that provides instant analysis of your food waste. Initially focused on the catering industry, Kitro has now further expanded its customer segment to work with medical centers. As a trainer and speaker at Venturelab, Naomi also trains and supports start-ups on their way to future success.
Q: If you could give your 16-year-old self one piece of advice (career or life), what would it be?
A: “Learn how to code ;). Don’t stress about things you can’t change.”
Harry Halpin is CEO of Nym Technologies, which has the mission to establish privacy as a default for online communications. When Harry worked at World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) / Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with every major Silicon Valley company on web standards, he saw how badly companies managed to protect the privacy of customers. In his opinion, there is only one way to maintain the right to privacy: with cryptography. It is his aim to make the advantages of encryption available to everyone.
Q: Where do you think Switzerland can make the most impact on the digital innovation stage?
A: “Switzerland is a country remarkable due to its decentralization of government and its focus on privacy. It’s self-evident that cryptocurrency is the future of financial technology, and that less and less people trust Silicon Valley due to surveillance. As the world enters crisis, let’s not forget chaos is a ladder. As an American entrepreneur who left MIT to found a startup in Switzerland, this could be a benefit for Switzerland, as long as it increases it is favorable regulations for fields such as cybersecurity and cryptocurrency.”
Denis Morel is Head of the eGovernment Business Unit at Swiss Post. An exciting time for Denis’s team, Swiss Post’s e-voting project should be ready to launch in early 2022. Denis places key importance on trust and transparency for the project to be a success. He believes that eVoting will improve opportunities for participation in the voting process.
Q: What will be the biggest change in the world of digital and the way you work in the next 10 years?
A: “Digital innovation requires the ability to accept mistakes and to learn from them. It is particularly important for the government and state institutions, which are building high, secure critical applications. In Switzerland, the “Mistake Culture” (or better the “Improvement Culture”) is mainly missing. All actors in Switzerland (Politics, Media, Government, Enterprises and People) have to change to this culture. This will be, from my point of view, a big change in the next ten years for a successful digital transformation in Switzerland.”
Agnès Petit Markowski is founder and CEO of Mobbot. Agnès’s mission is to help reduce the impact of the massive use of concrete in infrastructure. Mobbot has created innovative technology for the robotization and automation of sprayed concrete. As a result, a concrete element weighing one tonne can be printed in less than ten minutes.
Q: What are you most excited about for digital innovation for 2021 and beyond?
A: “Crisis helps the adoption of a change. The pandemic has favoured the digitalisation of many sectors. Now, the most exciting time will be the post-Covid era. What surprises me however, is that we still have “Chief Digital Officers” or ”Digital Director” roles or departments within companies. Digitalization should be part of our DNA. It is neither a department nor a job title.I think the post-Covid era will help to accelerate this change for many companies.”
Florian Falleggger is Co-Founder at Neurosoft Bioelectronics. Florian and his team are developing the next generation of soft implantable electrodes to interface seamlessly with the nervous system. Advances in this field offer the potential for medical devices that can restore the impaired functions of the nervous system through electrical stimulation or recording of neural tissue.
Q: What are you most excited about for digital innovation in 2021 and beyond?
A: “I believe medicine will see a revolution in the standard of care by integrating new digital solutions in the treatment pipeline. By accumulating and combining different data streams directly from patients, new personalized and more precise therapies can be achieved. Additionally, data that is collected from large groups of patients can be used to discover new bio-markers for novel treatments.”
Read the full interviews with all 100 Digital Shapers in this dedicated Bilanz publication.
The fourth edition of the Digital Competitiveness Summit took place yesterday, co-organised by digitalswitzerland, EPFL and IMD.
As part of this event, the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2021 was presented, with a special focus on Switzerland. Switzerland defended a strong position with its 6th place overall ranking and remains in an excellent standing in an international comparison. Analysis focused on the results and discuss how Switzerland can stay competitive within a fast-changing environment.
A warm introduction and welcoming words was offered by Rüdiger Urbanke, Dean of the School of Computer and Communication Sciences at EPFL, Jean-François Manzoni, President of IMD and Natacha Litzistorf, Municipale de la Ville de Lausanne.
The welcoming speech was one to trigger question and debate: “To digitalise or not to digitalise? That is not the question” and delivered by, Nuria Gorrite Présidente Conseil d’Etat Vaudois.
The Summit welcomed Prof. Arturo Bris, Director of the World Competitiveness Center and Professor of Finance at IMD who gave a Presentation of the Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2021, with a specific focus on the Swiss results.
Three leading experts in digitalisation also took to the stage and shared key statements from the academic, economic and political fields in a panel discussion.
It was also an exciting launch of Digital Day 2021 with a special video message from Guy Parmelin, President of the Swiss Confederation.
The last six weeks have been very busy with a wide variety of learning and dialogue activities leading up to Digital Day on 10 November. One of the most important initiatives during this period is the ‘Upskilling Commitment’ made by our partners.
We invited partners to dedicate 1-4 hours of time to all or a selected number of employees to join in Digital Day activities. This means anything from online talks to physical events happening at more than 20 Swiss-wide locations. We extend a warm thank you to the following partners for their dedication and commitment to our learning initiative: Accenture, Amt für Wirtschaft Kanton Schwyz, APG SGA, Atos, Chain IQ, Cisco, Civic Lab, Club de Ginebra, Cognizant, digitalswitzerland, eFachausweis, ELCA group, ewz, EY, Federal Council (Foreign Ministry Switzerland, FDFA), Green.ch, Hays, Heads! International, HES-SO, Huawei, IBM Switzerland, IMD, JobCloud, KPMG, Kudelski, LEXR Law Switzerland, Microsoft, Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund, Miraex, Moneycab, Pro Juventute, Ringier, RUAG, Sherpany, Siemens, Sir Mary, Snowflake, Swiss21.org, Swisscom, swissICT, SwissSign, UNICEF, Università della Svizzera italiana, We Talents, Wenger&Vieli, Zentralbibliothek Zürich.
By reaching a very high number of Swiss citizens, we can have a real impact on the upskilling of the Swiss population. To date, 45 members have committed and in addition 156,000 employees have been reached.
Explore all results of the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking here.
All images courtesy of Alain Herzog.
In partnership with Bilanz, Handelszeitung and PME, we are delighted to celebrate the 100 Digital Shapers who are driving digital innovation and change.
A huge congratulations to these inspiring thinkers and doers who continue to push boundaries and are working to transform the future of Switzerland.
Read the full interviews with all 100 Digital Shapers in this dedicated Bilanz publication.
Switzerland is proud to have a rich and diverse community of innovative digital thinkers. Here is the list of all ten categories:
Explore previous editions of the 100 Digital Shapers and take a look at the nominees from 2019 and 2020.
Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter will deliver the opening address. Maria Victoria Haas and Tanya König will moderate through the evening held on 11 November at the Hallenstadion Zurich.
Find out more about awards categories and awards information here.
Photo credit: Eduard Maltzer
The General Assembly elected Sascha Zahnd as the new President of digitalswitzerland this morning. He succeeds Ivo Furrer, who is stepping down after three years in office, but will continue to make a significant contribution to digitalswitzerland as a board member.
The 6th Annual General Meeting of digitalswitzerland was held for the last time under the leadership of the previous President Ivo Furrer. “Sascha Zahnd will bring his complementary knowledge and wealth of experience to bear in a targeted manner for the benefit of digitalswitzerland and thus be able to ideally further develop the strategy in line with the course already set,” says Ivo Furrer.
Sascha Zahnd from Bern was one of Tesla founder Elon Musk’s closest associates until the end of 2020. As head of Tesla Europe, he was responsible for sales of the Model 3, as well as for preparations for the Gigafactory in Berlin, the expansion of the Supercharger charging network and the development of the service infrastructure. Sascha Zahnd previously held the position of Vice President of Global Supply Chain and had been a member of the Tesla Inc. management team in Palo Alto, California since 2016.
“We would like to express our great thanks and sincere appreciation to Ivo Furrer for his dedicated service and formative leadership over the past three years as president of digitalswitzerland,” says Marc Walder, founder of digitalswitzerland.
We position Switzerland as a leader in digital technology and as an attractive place to do business. Part of our mission is to showcase the best Swiss-made innovation on the global stage. We are proud to send more than 10 promising Swiss organisations to this year’s Hannover Messe from 12 to 16 April.
Everything at a glance with the exhibitor flyer.
Interview with Martin Hirzel, Swissmem President:
13 April 11:30 – 11:55
Livestream link
Interview with Timothy O’Hear, Co-Founder impactIA:
13 April 15:00 -15:25
Livestream link
Interview with Prof. Dr. Siegwart, Founding Co-Director Wyss Zurich:
13 April: 16:00-16:25
Livestream link
Interview with Beatrice Scarioni, Vice-Presidency for EPFL Innovation Park:
14 April 11:30-11:55
Livestream link
Interview with Martin Hirzel, Swissmem President:
14 April 15:00-15:25
Livestream link
Interview with Timothy O’Hear, Co-Founder impactIA
15 April 11:30-11:55
Livestream link
Interview with Beatrice Scarioni, Vice-Presidency for EPFL Innovation Park:
15 April 15:00-15:25
Livestream link
The area of manufacturing is undergoing massive changes led by Swiss organisations, innovations and thinkers. What is the future of manufacturing? Leading Swiss organisations provide answers to questions around the following topics:
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digitalswitzerland’s aim is strengthen Switzerland’s position as a leading innovation hub. This includes supporting a world-class start-up ecosystem that creates an environment where entrepreneurs grow and scale. In second part of this blog series, Jan Friedli, Project Manager at digitalswitzerland dives deeper into the trend of Superclusters.
In the first blog post, we discussed the growing trend towards hyper concentration of innovation activity, which has fuelled the rise of so-called ‘Superclusters’.
Analysing emerging research into STATION F in France, this helped to understand what exactly brought 1,000 startups into one building in less than two years. The economic impact that followed has been unprecedented, and has gained worldwide praise. Many governments are now looking to replicate this success, but they share a difficulty.
The term ‘Supercluster’ remains a very abstract concept. The question is how can we conceptualise a Supercluster? And, what exactly makes them so effective compared to traditional ecosystems?
The term itself may suggest that Superclusters are a radically new and unlike anything we have previously encountered. According to research, that is not quite accurate.
Superclusters are not new but rather an extreme form of regional clusters, which have been around for quite some time. Recall the ‘Silicon Roundabout’ in London, ‘Silicon Valley’ in San Francisco, or ‘Silicon Wadi’ in Tel Aviv.
At its core, these regional clusters have two things in common: (1) they operate in the same general area of geographical proximity and (2) they have an established social network across firms.
Superclusters, in contrast, take a leap forward on these two dimensions. They bet on (1) an extreme concentration of innovation in a single location and on (2) a closely-knit community of entrepreneurs, investors, and corporates. If STATION F is any indication, the bet is paying off.
Despite the successes, we have yet to conceptualise Superclusters in any meaningful way. Such a conceptualisation of Superclusters is essential if we hope to build them elsewhere. I argue that Superclusters need to be understood as a system of several interconnected parts that they provide to their startups, which are called ‘Capitals’.
As depicted in the below framework, I propose an analytical distinction between six different types of Capitals including human, financial, political, built, cultural and social capital – all of which are desirable for startups to have.
In summary, Superclusters are an extreme form of regional clusters, focusing on an extreme concentration of innovation in a single location and a closely-knit community of entrepreneurs, investors, and corporates. They are best understood as a system of six interconnected ‘Capitals’, each distinctly valuable to startups.
All other things assumed equal – a startup becomes more successful when it accumulates Capitals. For example, if a startup gains credibility through the Supercluster, it accumulates Political Capital. Similarly, if a startup learns from co-located peers, it accumulates Human Capital.
The idea that accumulating Capitals is beneficial is hardly groundbreaking. However, what is astonishing is the way in which the Capitals are absorbed by startups.
The empirical evidence suggests that when certain Capitals are gained, it increases the likelihood that others will also follow. For example, once a startup has Social Capital, it can more easily access Financial Capital, which makes it easier to access Human Capital, and so forth. Consequently, startups undergo a process of ‘success building on success’ – a virtuous cycle that accelerates growth.
To illustrate such a virtuous cycle, consider the following experience from the Co-Founder of a Mobility Startup:
Critics may contend that it is quite possible to attain these Capitals outside of Superclusters, and thereby trigger a process of ‘success building on success’. They are correct. This happens all the time in traditional innovation ecosystems that we have all become accustomed to.
But virtuous cycles are all about intensity – and that is the ace that Superclusters have up their sleeve.
Recall that Superclusters bet on an extreme concentration of innovation in a single location and on a closely-knit community of entrepreneurs, investors, and corporates. This makes Capitals both highly-centralized and highly-accessible.
This high-level of integration across Capitals is their defining characteristic.
Because of this integration, the virtuous cycles that startups experience are much more intense in Superclusters than anywhere else. In other words: startups grow much faster because they can accumulate more Capitals in a shorter time.
In summary, Superclusters are tremendously effective because they offer the prospect of intense virtuous cycles that cannot be rivalled by an innovation ecosystem.
As emphasised, the emergence of Superclusters indicate a new trend towards hyper-concentration of innovation activity. Given their continued success, governments are beginning to respond.
For the deeptech nation of Switzerland, this has two practical implications.
First, we must strengthen our existing sector-specific clusters. We are privileged to have a range of vibrant tech hotspots from MedTech in Neuchâtel to BioTech in Basel to FinTech in Zug. The research indicates that social capital plays the most important role in starting or accelerating virtuous growth cycles for startups. In the short-term, our limited resources are best invested in the social infrastructure of the respective clusters to create more connections between regional entrepreneurs, experts and venture capitalists.
Second, we must start building our own version of a Supercluster. Even in the digital age, the physical location continues to matter a great deal. The fact that 1,000 startups have moved to a single building in Paris in less than two years shows us this beyond any doubt. If we want to attract the next 1,000 of the most promising entrepreneurs, we must give them a reason to come.
To accomplish this, we must first learn how other Superclusters got started, namely by talking to lots of startups about their needs and defining clearly what the new community stands for. But far more importantly, we need to shed our Swiss mentality of modesty, and instead gather our courage to think big.
Of course, there are promising projects underway. For instance, the Switzerland Innovation Parks (including the EPFL Innovation Park or Biopôle) or the Impact Hub’s new Hub in Zurich (planned for 2024). These are all pioneering efforts in their own regard. With such projects, we are undoubtedly moving in the right direction – but can we afford to be bolder and faster? After all, the shift from Ecosystems to Supercluster is an imperative for the digital age, and it’s happening right now. As the most innovative country in the world, we have the ideal conditions to build Superclusters – so long as we find our courage.
The aim of these two blogs is to highlight this new trend and start a conversation. Because it concerns many stakeholders, different perspectives are needed to paint the whole picture.
We want to provide you with the opportunity to share your thoughts. So the third blog of this series belongs to you. It will crowd-source perspectives on this topic and serve as an open forum to showcase yours.
Navigate here to take this chance to shape the conversation around Superclusters!
Missed part one – read more here and stay tuned for part three!
In the meantime, please feel free reach out to our Collaborative Innovation team who are busy working to empower organisations to create impactful ecosystems for innovation or find out more about our work in Startup Ecosystem.
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