Switzerland as a nation commands considerable soft power worldwide, especially in a number of areas and values considered very desirable. In fact, Switzerland was ranked as the most innovative country in the world for the 12th time in a row, according to the Global Innovation Index 2022 published last December by the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization). The country also holds position as the second most competitive nation when it comes to investment.
Strong of these achievements, it was only natural for the country to enter the race to digitalisation. In 2015, the central European state was only ranking at a humble sixth place globally.This is when it was decided to put a greater emphasis on digitalisation. “That is how digitalswitzerland came about,”recalls CEO Stefan Metzger.
“We wanted to align our resources better in order to make Switzerland a leader in digital innovation, while explaining the great potential for economic growth this would bring with it,” Metzger explains the aims of the non-profit Association.
With this goal in mind, digitalswitzerland leveraged its excellent connections with Government, both at a Federal, as well as Canton level, to determine six criteria where thecountry was deemed capable of doing better, in terms of digital innovation, setting ambitious targets to achieve in each.
Firstly, digitalswitzerland understood it needed to address the public mindset and explain the immense opportunities that lie within this new frontier. Secondly digitalisation was seen as an important enabler to address great challenges that existed in Swiss society, in various sectors. One such sector identified was healthcare, which until the time was still non-digitalised.
The third area of focus was collaborative innovation, bringing stakeholders and willing collaborators together in order to solve challenges that could not be addressed by one single player alone. “Once again, healthcare is a great example of how multiple parties such as patients, doctors, hospitals, pharma, health insurance companies and ultimately the payers, all have a vested interest to collaborate and improve the way we do things,” Metzger notes.
Digital infrastructure was identified as another important area that required attention, followed by political lobbying in order to convince parliament of the immense possibilities that digitalisation brings about.
“One such practical example is that still today, Switzerland does not have an E-ID, and hence its citizens cannot identify themselves in the digital world. digitalswitzerland has taken a leading role in this area, helping with the development of the relevant legislation,” Metzger continues.
“Same with matters of cybersecurity, which require considerable investment in infrastructure and multiple players to come together for the desired successful outcome.”
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