9 minute read
Interview
Nicolas Bideau, directeur de Présence Suisse, promeut l’image du pays partout dans le monde. Le diplomate met l’accent sur la recherche et l’innovation helvétiques.
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– Propos recueillis par Sven Jorganssen
Quel regard portez-vous sur l’écosystème de l’innovation suisse et lémanique?
Depuis que nous avons lancé notre campagne #SwissTech, qui vise à promouvoir nos forces dans le domaine de l’innovation, je suis impressionné par la variété des projets. La dose de talent au mètre carré est hallucinante: deux des meilleures écoles polytechniques du monde, des projets européens majeurs dans la recherche médicale et la biotech, un pôle de compétence mondial en robotique, etc. Impossible de tout citer! Et difficile de définir la recette miracle, si ce n’est une collaboration extrêmement forte entre les secteurs académique, privé et étatique, pour garantir le plus de fluidité et de réactivité possible. Il nous manquait parfois dans le passé un zeste de goût du risque, mais le nombre de start-up montre aujourd’hui que ces craintes sont dépassées!
La Suisse se hisse au top des classements internationaux en matière d’innovation. Or, elle est davantage perçue comme un «Heidiland» que comme un «Hightechland». Pourquoi?
Peut-être parce que notre fromage est trop bon! La force de nos clichés positifs laisse parfois peu de place à d’autres aspects moins spectaculaires. Cela tient aussi à la forme de notre innovation: aux yeux du grand public, elle doit être incarnée dans des produits ou des projets très visibles. A l’exception de quelques entreprises, comme Swatch ou Logitech, «notre» innovation est souvent dans la recherche fondamentale, ou embarquée dans des produits associés à d’autres pays, comme des voitures allemandes ou des avions américains. Notre défi est donc de faire savoir que nombre de produits iconiques ne fonctionneraient pas sans la Suisse!
Petit pays, mais gros cerveaux, la Suisse a-t-elle les moyens de régater face à la Chine ou aux Etats-Unis?
Tout dépend comment vous définissez le terme «régater»! En termes de volume, les défis ne sont bien entendu pas les mêmes. Par contre, proportionnellement, nous sommes souvent en tête des indicateurs. Nos hautes écoles font partie des meilleures du monde de manière absolue. La combinaison entre notre force d’innovation et notre taille raisonnable nous permet de collaborer avec tout le monde, sans enjeu géopolitique. La preuve? Le nombre de produits avec une composante suisse. C’est l’effet «Swiss inside»: un label de qualité et de performance.
Quels sont les points forts et les points faibles de la Suisse en matière d’innovation?
Au-delà des forces de l’écosystème évoquées précédemment, je pense qu’il y a un savoir-faire particulier à la Suisse, lié à la fois à notre histoire et à notre multiculturalisme: nous sommes des agrégateurs pragmatiques à haute valeur ajoutée. La Suisse sait plus que les autres coordonner des projets complexes avec de nombreux acteurs. Notre tradition d’ingénierie s’appuie sur ce savoir-faire pour apporter une valeur ajoutée, même quand nous n’en sommes pas à l’origine. Quant aux points faibles, je dirais la petite taille de notre marché et la difficulté d’attirer des investisseurs pour nos jeunes pousses hors des secteurs classiques de Suisse, comme la finance ou la pharma.
The Lake Geneva region global innovation hub
For two decades, the region has positioned itself as a global hub of innovation and technology. Why this success? – Text Sven Jorganssen
They are part of our daily lives or outline our future. Coffee capsules, computer mice and the Solar Impulse experimental solar-powered aircraft are all concrete innovations born in the Lake Geneva region’s centres of excellence. Medtech, biotech, cleantech, robotics, artificial intelligence or even digital technologies – the region’s list of skills is long. A concentration explained by the presence of about fifteen internationally renowned universities and research institutes, coupled with a diversified and innovative economic fabric. This proximity between the economy and academic research has notably enabled the emergence and growth of several innovation parks. A know-how that places the Lake Geneva region fourth in the world rankings in this area, according to criteria of quality, quantity and dynamism.
STRONG LINKS WITH THE LOCAL ECONOMIC FABRIC
As a laboratory of ideas and innovation, the Lake Geneva region is a model for Switzerland and abroad. For twenty years, the region has shown incredible growth. The canton of Vaud, where a large part of this ecosystem is concentrated, saw its GDP increase by 40 percent between 2000 and 2015 – twice as much as the European Union. The Universities of Lausanne and Geneva, as well as the Swiss Federal Institute
Nobel pioneering researchers
Solange Peters
The Chair of Medical Oncology at CHUV is at the forefront of immunotherapy research. Solange Peters is also renowned for her campaigns, not only against cancer but also against inequality in access to healthcare, lack of transparency, and the hike in the price of medicines. She especially advocates for an overhaul of the Swiss health system.
Jacques Dubochet
A media figure in the fight against climate change, the retired Swiss biophysicist received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2017 for his research on cryo-electron microscopy, a revolutionary biomolecular imaging technique that reveals the secrets of biological mechanisms – and therefore life.
Michel Mayor and Didier Quéloz
Mayor the astrophysicist and Quéloz the astronomer, both Swiss, jointly received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2019 for their discovery of an exoplanet in orbit around a solar-type star. Their work has contributed to a new understanding of the structure and history of the universe, forever changing our view of the world.
Bertrand Piccard
With a DNA going back three generations, the psychiatrist and aviator was destined to think innovatively. Initiator of the Solar Impulse experimental solar-powered aircraft project, he was co-pilot, with André Borschberg, of the first round-theworld solar-powered flight between 2015 and 2016. At the end of this widely publicized exploit, they launched the World Alliance for Clean Technologies.
of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), have more than doubled their enrolment and today bring together a third of students in Switzerland and an increasing number of students from abroad. The region alone attracts 34 percent of the total external research funds and 43 percent of the funds allocated by the European Union to Swiss institutions. But the presence of centres of research and learning excellence is only part of the story. The Lake Geneva region’s innovative strength lies in its ability to forge close links between the academic world and the economy, particularly through its support for start-ups. For example, half of the venture capital investments made between 2013 and 2017 in promising start-ups in Switzerland were made in this region –
What is your view of the innovation ecosystem in Switzerland and the Lake Geneva region?
Since we launched our #SwissTech campaign, which aims to promote our strengths in the field of innovation, I have been impressed by the variety of projects. The amount of talent per square metre is mind-blowing: two of the best technology institutes in the world, major European projects in medical research and biotech, a global centre of expertise in robotics, etc. Impossible to name all of them! And difficult to define the miracle formula, if it is not an extremely strong collaboration between the academic, private and state sectors, to guarantee the most fluidity and responsiveness possible. We were sometimes afraid to take risks in the past, but the number of start-ups today shows that we have overcome our fear!
Switzerland has risen to the top of the international innovation rankings. However, it is viewed more as “The land of Heidi” than “The land of High-Tech.” Why is that?
Maybe because our cheese is too good! The strength of our positive stereotypes sometimes leaves little room for other less spectacular aspects. It also has to do with double that of Zurich, the Confederation’s economic lung. This dynamism has also given a boost to existing centres of innovation excellence, such as CERN on the French-Swiss border, or the Wyss Center – specializing in neuroscience – and Campus Biotech in Geneva.
TRANSDISCIPLINARITY
This dynamism attracts multinationals and high-end SMEs from the region in its wake. Among the more than 400 companies and as many laboratories active in the field of life sciences and medical research, we can mention MindMaze with its virtual and augmented reality solutions for stroke victims, or Sophia Genetics whose trials probe and analyse patients’ molecular information. The Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) the form that our innovation takes: in the eyes of the general public, it must be embodied in highly visible products or projects. With the exception of a few companies, such as Swatch and Logitech, “our” innovation is often in basic research, or embedded in products associated with other countries, such as German cars or American planes. Our challenge is therefore to make it known that a number of iconic products would not function without Switzerland!
Small country, but great intellect. Does Switzerland have the means to compete with China and the United States?
It all depends on how you define “comalso plays a central role in this innovation ecosystem. This care, training and research centre also develops ambitious transdisciplinary projects, such as NeuroTech, a unique platform in Europe dedicated to evaluating the impact of digital health technologies. CHUV is also at the forefront in the field of oncology, and more particularly in immunotherapy. The Swiss Cancer Center Léman in Lausanne is one of the main centres of Swiss research in this area, thanks in particular to an unprecedented alliance between CHUV, the Geneva University Hospitals, the Universities of Lausanne and Geneva, EPFL, the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and the ISREC Foundation. Over 300 researchers and clinicians work together to innovate in the
Nicolas Bideau, director of Presence Switzerland, promotes the country’s image all over the world. The diplomat focuses on Swiss research and innovation. – Interview by Sven Jorganssen
field of life sciences. pete”! In terms of volume, the challenges are naturally not the same. However, we are often proportionally at the top of the indicators. Our universities are absolutely among the best in the world. The combination of our innovative strength and our reasonable size allows us to collaborate with everyone, without any geopolitical concerns. The proof lies in the number of products with a Swiss component. This is the “Swiss inside” effect: a label of quality and performance.
What are Switzerland’s strengths and weaknesses in terms of innovation?
Beyond the ecosystem strengths I mentioned, I think that there is a particular know-how in Switzerland linked to both our history and multiculturalism: we are pragmatic aggregators with high added value. Switzerland knows more than anyone else how to coordinate complex projects with numerous players. Our engineering tradition is based on this know-how to bring added value, even when we are not the source. As for our weaknesses, I would say the small size of our market and the difficulty in attracting investors for our start-ups outside Switzerland’s traditional sectors such as finance or the pharmaceutical industry.
