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Innovation Switzerland: A Particular Kind of Excellence

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Innovation Policy and Governance in High-Tech Industries

Abstract

Switzerland consistently holds a leading position in international comparisons of innovation performance. Historical, economic, and political circumstances have shaped the country’s unique innovation system. This chapter analyses the main features, strengths, and weaknesses, as well as the reasons for the high innovativeness of the Swiss economy. The nation’s liberal concept of innovation policy is characterised and examined for consistency across main policy areas. Recent and future controversial aspects of Swiss innovation policy are discussed, and changes in innovation policy that might become necessary are explored. The chapter also discusses threats to the country’s uniqueness and the particular innovation policy profile, the likelihood of inconsistencies within the principles of Swiss innovation policy, and factors that might weaken future innovation performance.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Major recent policy efforts to strengthen innovation are, for example, EU: Lisbon Strategy (2000) and Digital Agenda for Europe (2010); Canada: Achieving Excellence, Knowledge Matters (2002); UK: new positioning of science and innovation policy (since 2004); Sweden: Innovative Sweden – A Strategy for Growth through Renewal (2004); U.S.: National Broadband Plan (2010); Germany: High-Tech Strategy (2006); Denmark: Progress, Innovation, and Cohesion (2006); Ireland: Strategy for Science, Technology, and Innovation (2006); and Finland: Finland’s National Innovation Strategy (2008).

  2. 2.

    Examples are the high level of internationalisation in Swiss tertiary level institutions (in 2006, 44% of professors and 52% of other teaching staff were foreign nationals); the establishment of R&D centres of international companies such as IBM or Google; and the high percentage of foreign nationals of all those in gainful employment. As a result of the lifting of quotas for labour immigration for the EU15/EFTA from 1 June 2007, there was an influx in 2008 alone of around 25,000 persons qualified on secondary level and 44,000 on tertiary level, all together 1.5% of the workforce who found jobs in Switzerland.

  3. 3.

    The four linguistic regions in Switzerland (German, French, Italian, and Romansh) favour multilingualism and the above-average incidence, in international comparison, of a knowledge of foreign languages. The co-existence of various cultures means that people have always had a high capability to integrate and adapt culturally.

  4. 4.

    Switzerland also ranked first in 2006.

  5. 5.

    According to a survey, for the period 2003–2004 some 39% of companies and 23% of the tertiary education institutions reported international cooperation for their innovation activities. Both figures are well above those for Germany or the UK. For tertiary education institutions it is even the second best figure in Europe after Finland (Eurostat multiple years).

  6. 6.

    The level of R&D outsourcing by companies in Switzerland has greatly increased in the last few years. Contracts worth about CHF 4bn were awarded in 2004 although mostly to private companies (26%) or abroad (60%) and only a small share to Swiss tertiary education institutions (6.4%). At the same time 74% of Swiss tertiary education institutions reported KTT activities with foreign companies (Arvanitis et al. 2005).

  7. 7.

    The documents which most explicitly outline innovation policy of Switzerland are from the Federal Council as the government of Switzerland (Bundesrat 1992) and the Federal Department of Economic Affairs (Eidgenössisches Volkswirtschaftsdepartement 2003).

  8. 8.

    It is perhaps possible to talk of an informal coordination of the individual policy areas. Actors aim at generally recognised goals such as “supporting innovation”, “being innovative” with a view to their own political success.

  9. 9.

    The 2008 growth report by the Staatssekretär für Wirtschaft (SECO), describes innovation policy’s relation to growth policy as follows: “Innovation policy is not considered as a field of action of growth policy in its own right because innovation derives at least as much from the intensity of competition and international opening as from expenditure on education, research and technology transfer” (Staatssekretariat für Wirtschaft SECO 2008). Innovation policy is therefore subordinated to growth policy.

  10. 10.

    The proposal for a new Federal Law on Public Procurement (Bundesgesetz über das öffentliche Beschaffungswesen BöB), which is currently under consultation, mentions that innovative content should range among the non-monetary criteria for successful bids. Variants including features that were not part of the call for tender are expressively welcome, thus promoting innovative solutions.

  11. 11.

    In 2007 the 5.5% share of public education expenditure on GDP was slightly below the average for OECD countries (5.7%) and well below the top group led by the U.S. with 7.6% and Denmark with 7.1% (OECD 2010, p. 217).

  12. 12.

    Some 81% of this amount is for basic research, 19% for targeted research, programmes, national competence centres, and the promotion of young talent.

  13. 13.

    This is seen in the KOF (Konjunkturforschungsstelle at the ETH Zurich) survey on the channels of knowledge and technology transfer (KTT) (Arvanitis et al. 2006).

  14. 14.

    Eurostars is a EUREKA programme dedicated exclusively to SMEs, see http://www.eurostars-eureka.eu/ for more details (retrieved August 4, 2010). With the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009, former Article 169 was renumbered Article 185.

  15. 15.

    Over 24,000 young people were taught and motivated over the period from 2004 to 2007 in information events to consider entrepreneurial independence as a meaningful alternative to a dependent employment relationship and to act as founders of companies. In addition 7,500 people took part in courses for setting up businesses companies.

  16. 16.

    Companies with a CTI start-up label show a survival rate that is well above average, a much higher profit and turnover volume and double the size of employee growth. They have also raised seven times more debt capital than a corresponding comparison group which was not involved in the CTI start-up coaching process (ITM 2006).

  17. 17.

    See the development of the Raster tunnel microscope in Zurich at IBM and the subsequent promotional activities of the SNSF in nanotechnology or analogue research results and the increased promotion introduced later in connection with the superconductors and semiconductors.

  18. 18.

    See regional innovation promotion strategies of central Switzerland, Western Switzerland, Greater Zurich Area, or multinational activities in the region of Basel.

  19. 19.

    Johann N. Schneider-Ammann, president of Swissmem, The Swiss Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Industries, and Member of the National Council suggested in the national parliament (05.3539) equal treatment in the promotion of R&D at universities and in private business. He claimed that private partners in R&D-projects shall be eligible to get state subsidies. Up to now, the Innovation Promotion Agency – CTI has no right to do so which is – in the eyes of Schneider-Ammann – a disadvantage from the point of view of Swiss mechanical and electrical engineering industries and for innovation activities in Switzerland in general.

  20. 20.

    See, for example, the development of the company Zellweger which was well established in textile machinery. After substantial restructuring and downsizing a new company arose, Uster Technologies, which is focused on testing and measuring textiles and spinning products. Therefore, the result of the restructuring was a highly specialised function within the textile business.

  21. 21.

    For the typology see Ergas (1987).

  22. 22.

    See the project on systems biology and is implementation through SystemX.ch in the region of Basel with the participation of ETHZ, Universities of Basel and Zurich, the pharmaceutical industry and the Swiss federation.

  23. 23.

    Lundvall and Borras (2006) identify a similar development in other OECD countries.

  24. 24.

    Often such a process is not directed or moderated. It is a kind of self-coordination between the units involved. An example could be the growth report 2008 of the State Secretary of Economic Affairs (SECO). The programme to stimulate economic growth is based on the list of measures which where decided earlier within the programme for the legislation. Some adequate measures where selected and put together to the growth programme afterwards.

  25. 25.

    the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology as a whole counted for 40% of the resources for R&D of the overall federal budget for R&D (of a total of CHF 2.2 billion). The Swiss Science Foundation had a share of 20% and the Innovation Promotion Agency – CTI 5%. Therefore, ETH is a major force in the federal R&D-policy (ETH Board 2010).

  26. 26.

    National Centers of Competence in Research (NCCR) promote long-term research projects (up to 10 years) in areas of vital strategic importance for the development of science in Switzerland, for the economy of the country, and for Swiss society.

  27. 27.

    Up to September 2010, the nationwide harmonisation of the compulsory school system was accepted in 15 counties and rejected in seven. The political debate is still in process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Beat Hotz-Hart

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  1. Beat Hotz-Hart
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  1. , Quello Center for Telecommunication, Michigan State University, Communication Arts and Sc. Building 409, East Lansing, 48824, Michigan, USA

    Johannes Bauer

  2. , Department of Politics and Management, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz, 78464, Germany

    Achim Lang

  3. , Department of Politics and Management, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, Konstanz, 78464, Germany

    Volker Schneider

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Hotz-Hart, B. (2012). Innovation Switzerland: A Particular Kind of Excellence. In: Bauer, J., Lang, A., Schneider, V. (eds) Innovation Policy and Governance in High-Tech Industries. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12563-8_6

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