SWITZERLAND HARVESTING THE FRUITS OF THE AI SUMMER

The history of Artificial Intelligence (AI) certainly had its fair share of technology and investment roller costing from the coining of the technology in 1956 to the 'winter' period starting in 1974 to a renewed interest in 1987. And now, the 21st century brings us the 'AI Summer,' with Switzerland embracing the social, technological, and economic fruits of the AI Summer.

The Swiss approach around strategy, policy, and reports lies in the philosophy of a bottom-up approach facilitated through supportive framework conditions created by the Confederation. However, it was noted that the scope of artificial intelligence and its impact call for interventions from the Federal Council. The Digital Switzerland Strategy was adopted by the Federal Council on 11 September 2020, followed by AI guidelines, working groups, and guiding reports.

The Swiss AI Report is looking at "Beyond the Hype" on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Swiss Companies was released at the AI Conference held in Switzerland on 7 June 2022. For the first time, a report offers a systematic approach for assessing the use of AI technology by companies in Switzerland. The report demonstrates how established companies, start-ups, and research institutions are dealing with the new technology and illustrates the areas in which AI is already being used.

Let us see how Switzerland is sunbathing in the AI Summer. For the Swiss AI Report, 92 companies were surveyed on their current and future use of Artificial Intelligence. The report includes systematic analyses in the critical areas for dealing with AI: technology & data, workforce, business, strategy, and governance.

AI has climbed to strategic relevance backed by action and funding. The companies are willing to invest in AI, expecting to increase their AI budget by more than 100% in the next three years. Swiss companies are also acting as learning institutions focusing on the in-house capacity for AI development. AI is deployed for data management and analysis with humans still in the driver's seat.

True to the Swiss reputation for innovation and precision is the outlook at the start-up level to increase the efficiency of processes through AI Companies are concerned about data integrity directly impacting value creation. A premium is placed on developing AI skills through a wide range of training, access, and exposure to AI. AI is a vehicle for job creation with data scientists, machine learning engineers, and data engineers in demand. Another interesting element of the survey is that AI must earn the trust of Swiss companies for full deployment in the coming years.

Key Findings of the Swiss AI Report of June 2022 (Pabst, 2022)

Swiss AI companies are attracting more and more investments today. Switzerland is a country that has all the necessary infrastructure for market players to perform. Thanks to its traditional strength in innovation, Switzerland has 34.6 AI patents per 1 million inhabitants, 500 AI companies in 2021, and 37% of Swiss AI patents are world-class.

The uptake of AI by Swiss companies is fueling the existing collaboration between industry and academia, with 71% of companies already in exchange or cooperation with research institutions. The reason for the Swiss academia-industry partnership is apparent. Switzerland has world-renowned universities and research institutes in the field of AI, demonstrated by the presence of tech giants running their AI research in Switzerland. Did you know that Switzerland is first in the Global Innovation Index, the Global Talent Competitiveness Index, the Impact of AI publication per country, and has the highest number of AI companies per capita in the European Union?

Indeed we are not only enjoying the profits of the AI summer but also sharing these profits through our collaboration with South Africa in artificial intelligence.

References:

Pabst, S., Sigrist, S. & Suter, D, (2022) Swiss AI Report Beyond the Hype on the use of Artificial Intelligence in Swiss Companies. WIRE & Mindfie. Available from: https://uploads-ssl.webflow. com/5e71f505e224b656715c1753/629f91e3ac23483a7102968 5_Swiss_AI_Report_19052022.pdf (Accessed: July 2022)

Swiss Cognitive, (2021) Artificial Intelligence Industry in Switzerland Landscape Overview 2021 Q4. Available from: https://analytics.dkv. global/AI-in-Switzerland-2021-Q4/Report.pdf (Accessed: February 2022)