04-07, 14:30–14:50 (Europe/Zurich), Verge Stage
Switzerland typically does not have a government-led industrial policy that favors specific industries. This is in contrast to other countries from the US to the UK and from Saudi Arabia to China who are strongly supporting and funding specific industries such as solar, battery technology or AI. Here are some recent examples:
- New UK GPB 100m fund for AI
- Saudi Arabia announced a USD 40bn push into AI
- The US with its Inflation Reduction Act IRA will hand out billions in subsidies to chip makers, AI companies and other high tech industries
At the same time the EU is pushing for new regulation from the EU AI Act to the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulations act that will have a big impact on the Swiss ecosystem.
As a result, there is a growing concern in many high tech industries in Switzerland that we will not be able to compete in the global AI race.
As a result, will Switzerland be able to compete in this global high-tech race and what strategies can we deploy?
The report shall focus on these questions and delve into Switzerland’s unique federal structure and bottom-up grassroots innovation approach:
- Innovation: Switzerland is a leader in innovation and research globally with leading education institutions such as the ETH and EPFL as well as a research hotspot for big tech
- Decentralized: Switzerland has a unique bottom-up approach to innovation. Great examples are the Crypto Valley (staking dialogue with FINMA), the Canton of Zurich Sandbox and the ETH and EPFL AI centers. These are all bottom-up grassroots initiatives that spur competing initiatives by other cantons
- Hub-and-spoke: Switzerland is also very strong in greeting strong economic connections with other tech ecosystems through its business hubs. A hub-and-spoke approach could support Switzerland’s tech prowess and supercharge global commercialization of Swiss startups.
In short, Switzerland can neither compete on size nor on doling out money with larger ecosystems. We have to be smarter (better research), more innovative (freedom to experiment) and better connected globally (hub-and-spoke model) to compete globally. By building on these strengths, we can remain at the forefront of the digital data transformation!
Alexander studied economics before working in alternative investments.
He is the author of reports and a book about crypto, blockchain and Web3.
He is the president of “Home of Blockchain.swiss”, a Swiss non-profit that promotes the Swiss blockchain
ecosystem.
Alexander is the principal of Brunner Digital, an advisory firm for fintech and Web3.
He is an international speaker and was a Member of Parliament in Zurich. He was also a commander in the
Swiss army.