san francisco
2012 Initiative of the State Secretariat for Education and Research SER Annex of the Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco Swiss Knowledge Network Outposts in Bangalore, Boston, San Francisco, Shanghai, and Singapore
SWISSNEX 2012 ANNUAL REPORT
Table of Contents
Read the annual report online at www.swissnexsf.org/annualreport
FOREWORD / 2 2012 BY THE NUMBERS / 3 MANDATES & INITIATIVES / 4 VISITING STARTUPS & RESIDENTS / 6 STUDY TOURS & DELEGATIONS / 7 MAKING OF THE SKIN SERIES / 8 NEXTRENDS / 10 EVENTS / 11 PEOPLE / 13 FINANCIALS / 14 PARTNERS & SPONSORS, MEDIA MENTIONS / 15 OUTLOOK / 16
Foreword
SWISSNEX SAN FRANCISCO IS MATURING AND STRETCHING OUR SKIN—AND OUR REACH. AS WE MATURE, we shift from one-on-one connectors to curators of longer-term, more complex projects. We build true communities and ecosystems around what we do, and our stakeholders benefit from the holistic approach we take.
Christian Simm —
Founder and Executive Director, swissnex San Francisco
Speaking of skin, you’ll see on page eight how a simple idea to host an exhibit on the body’s largest and most visible organ transformed into a beautiful web of meetings and introductions, public events, unexpected pairings, and global collaborations still ongoing. The perfect example of our networked way of connecting Switzerland and North America. As we take on new challenges, we find new ways to share what we learn with our audience. In the pages that follow, find a sampling of our work in the last year. Readers can now also find our reports on what’s hot and what’s next in the American West on our blog, nextrends, launched in 2012. WWW.NEXTRENDS.ORG
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2012 By the Numbers CONTACTS IN OUR NETWORK
>20,000 POPULATION AND SIZE
SWISSNEX 2012 ANNUAL REPORT
STUDY TOURS & DELEGATIONS
EIGHT
FACEBOOK FANS FROM SWITZERLAND
1,563 In the US / 1,224
Switzerland
ESPRESSOS CONSUMED
4,490
STAFF
SEVENTEEN WEBSITE TRAFFIC FROM FACEBOOK
15%
YOUTUBE SUBSCRIBERS
San Francisco Bay Area
Population Switzerland / 8 million San Francisco Bay Area / 6.8 million Size Switzerland / 41,285 km2 San Francisco Bay Area / 17,932 km2
1,460 NINE
FOUR
EVENT ALERTS SENT BY EMAIL
312,264
87 From Switzerland
57,774 11,000 visits on mobile devices 48% from iPhones / 26% from iPads
SWISSNEX ALUMNI
297
minutes
BUSINESS TRIPS 40 Total
VISITING STARTUPS
TWENTY-ONE
224
28,737 21,000 from Switzerland
12,569
NOTABLE PRESS MENTIONS
107
EVENT SPEAKERS
SWISS UNIVERSITIES WORKED WITH
15 to Switzerland
EVENTS
VISITORS TO OUR WEBSITE
VIEWS OF NEW FORA.TV VIDEOS
TIME SPENT WATCHING OUR YOUTUBE VIDEOS
7,500
ATTENDEES TO OUR EXHIBITS, CONFERENCES, AND PANELS
INTERNS AND IT SPECIALISTS
38,782
SWISSNEX RESIDENTS
BUILDING FT ²
TWITTER STATS
2,809 Followers gained 952 Followers (2.6 per day) ZIP TIES USED IN THE THIRD SPACE SCULPTURE, PRESENTED AT BURNING MAN
250,000
PARTNERS AND SPONSORS
209 MANDATES & INITIATIVES
13
143
Former staff, interns, and longterm visitors
NEXTRENDS
21,000 Views of our blog Countries readers live in / 114 Number of posts / 15
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Mandates and Initiatives
13
Special projects, research, and services supported by partner agreements with outside parties in 2012.
CANTON OF VAUD
GEBERT RÜF FOUNDATION – US MARKET ENTRY CAMP
Support internationalization efforts of the Swiss state’s educational institutions and collaborators, and facilitate partnerships with West Coast universities.
Assist Swiss startups in the three-month US Market Entry CAMP accelerator program.
CTI START-UP Share Silicon Valley entrepreneurial expertise, accelerate privileged access to a broad network of contacts, and provide a home base for Swiss startups.
ÉCOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FÉDÉRALE DE LAUSANNE (EPFL) Conduct university outreach, promotion, and media relations in North America.
EPFL AND UNIVERSITY OF ST. GALLEN STARTUP BOOSTERS Provide a platform for university spin-offs (from EPFL and the University of St. Gallen) to test their business models and products against the US market.
PRO HELVETIA Develop a presence on the West Coast of North America for cutting-edge Swiss artists and projects fusing art and technology.
REUTAX Identify innovations in the workplace and workforce recruiting.
SWISS UNIVERSITIES’ INTERNATIONAL MARKETING (SUIM) Full content analysis of website and comparison to similar sites in other countries.
UNIVERSITY OF GENEVA (UNIGE)
SWISS FEDERAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ZURICH (ETHZ)
Support internationalization efforts and facilitate partnerships with West Coast universities.
Support programming for university delegations and promote the university on the West Coast.
UNIVERSITY OF LAUSANNE (UNIL)
GEBERT RÜF FOUNDATION – SOCIAL MEDIA Enable Swiss higher education to leverage social networking for communications through two-year “Swiss Academia and the Social Media Landscape” program.
Facilitate student ambassador program and identify strategic partnerships for the School of Business and Economics.
“When I first read the proposal for Swiss Academia and the Social Media Landscape, I was smiling. It was a crazy idea. But after five minutes of studying the proposal, I got it. swissnex had the guts to turn up with this idea. They are able to push novel topics into the sector of higher education.”
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PHILIPP EGGER —
CEO, Gebert Rüf Foundation Basel, Switzerland
SWISSNEX 2012 ANNUAL REPORT
LUC MEIER —
Project Head for the “Under One Roof” initiative at EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland Former Associate Director and Head of Public Programs at swissnex San Francisco
“SWISSNEX IS LEADING THE WAY IN SMART, INNOVATIVE MODES OF SCIENCE DIPLOMACY—THAT’S THE BEST WAY TO CREATE GREAT THINGS GOING AHEAD. IT’S BEEN MY LIFE FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS, AND I’LL KEEP TUNING IN FOR INSPIRATION.”
— Art meets science. Recording the sounds of a redwood forest with the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, the Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology, the Swiss Federal Institute of Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, and the US National Park Service. /5
Visiting Startups
21
Swiss startups officially used our startup services in San Francisco, including our three-month accelerator program, the US Market Entry CAMP. Many more took part in our other startup activities, such as the November Startup Roadshow in Switzerland and the Experience Silicon Valley Contest in December.
10 US Market Entry CAMP Participants
* Participated in the
acceleration CAMP at swissnex Boston
11 Other Startup Visitors
01 NextWidgets
06 Koemei
Alex Savic
Temitope Ola
02 QualySense*
07 SUBA
Francesco Dell’Endice Olga Mykhailova
Christopher Webb
03 Dualsystems* Daniel Auerbach
Roger Fischer Charlotte Gubler
04 Gbanga
09 Koubachi
Matthias Sala
Philipp Bolliger
05 Jilion
10 Flatev
Mehdi Aminian Zeno Crivelli
Carlos Ruiz Jonas Müller
01 Dacuda
06 Scandit
Karim Nemr Alex Ilic
Samuel Müller
02 Lemoptix
Pedro Pinto
Nicolas Abelé
03 Optotune Jörg Wertli
04 BugBuster Olivier Crameri Renault John Lecoultre
05 Nomad3D Alain Fogel
08 Kaywa
4 Residents
YEAR-ROUND
SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER
Greater Kathy Zurich Hahn Area ETHZ
MAY–JULY
Klaus Bredel ETHZ
SEPTEMBER 2012–JUNE 2013
Carole Varone UNIGE
07 HelloSlide 08 Hirschfaktor Fabio Magagna
09 Biognosys Philipp Antoni Johan Malmstroem
10 Vela Solaris Simon Geisshüsler
11 qipp Stefan Zanetti
“I’m spending time at swissnex organizing a symposium on Music & Emotions. The staff knows exactly who I should talk to and helps me get connected to the right faculty members, companies, and artists. swissnex makes my stay in the Bay Area very productive.”
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CAROLE VARONE —
Knowledge Transfer Officer, Swiss Center For Affective Sciences Geneva, Switzerland
Study Tours and Delegations
MAR
MAR
Social Media Study Tour Social media immersion for Swiss academia
Guardian Angels FET Flagship International Advisory Board & Consortium Meeting
MAR
APR
Cissy Yiwen Sun, swissnex China
APR
SWISSNEX 2012 ANNUAL REPORT
Patrick Aebischer, EPFL President, and delegation Molecular imaging and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
MAY
University of Art and Design Lausanne (ECAL) Design schools, designers, and Types We Can Make exhibition
Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI) Incubators, accelerators, entrepreneurship initiatives, and innovation centers
Communications and interdisciplinary events at swissnex San Francisco
MAY
Radio Télévision Suisse
8
Innovations in media curation and content exploitation
DEC
City of Zurich
Art and business in preparation for Mayor Corine Mauch’s visit to San Francisco in June 2013
ROGER FISCHER —
CEO, Kaywa | Switzerland Visiting Startup, US Market Entry CAMP Participant
“SWISSNEX SAN FRANCISCO’S SUPPORT WAS DECISIVE FOR THE SUCCESSFUL ESTABLISHMENT OF KAYWA’S AMERICAN SUBSIDIARY AND CONTINUES TO PROVIDE TIMELY ADVICE FOR US.”
< The Social Media Study Tour in March at Facebook Headquarters in Menlo Park, California
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Making of the Skin Series
Coming up with our programs is complex business. And that’s how we like it. Every connection is key to developing our ideas, identifying the right subjects, choosing the right partners, and creating value for collaborators, participants, and the public on both sides of the globe. Below, discover how our event series on skin came to be.
Teaching kids about science in spare time connects Aurelie to future speaker on fingerprinting
SÉVERINE PILLOUD
MADELEINE BAUMANN
AURÉLIE COULON
INSTITUT ET HAUTE ÉCOLE DE LA SANTÉ LA SOURCE
INSTITUT ET HAUTE ÉCOLE DE LA SANTÉ LA SOURCE
L’ É P R O U V E T E
SWISSNEX SAN FRANCISCO
UNIL
Fencing hobby leads to job at swissnex and birth of skin series
KIERON LESLIE UCSF
SARAH LOMBARDI
A R T B R U T, L A U S A N N E
R O X A N N E C U R R AT
YA N N M A R U S S I C H
F O U N D AT I O N CLAUDE VERDAN
PERCEUSE PRODUCTION
VICTORIA SWEET UCSF
MAXLINE STETTLER C A N T O N O F VA U D
SUZANNE HRABA-RENEVEY SWISSNEX SINGAPORE
CHRISTIAN SIMM
SWISSNEX SAN FRANCISCO
Preparations for the skin exhibition in 2013 started back in early 2012
L E E A N N L A U R E N TA P P L E G AT E EPFL, CHUV
WA S S I M R A F F O U L
N AT I O N A L B U R N C A R E C E N T E R , CHUV
VÉRONIQUE SÉCHET CHUV
GRAND CENTRAL ART CENTER
LACE
THE LAB
PERFORMANCE ART INSTITUTE
AIMAGO
YA N N M A R U S S I C H TOUR BLEU REMIX
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OCT 2012
AUG 2012
JUN 2012
JAN 2012
2012
C T I S TA R T U P
THE CHANGING VIEW OF SKIN DISEASES
PEOPLE/CONNECTIONS O U T S I D E O R G A N I Z AT I O N S
CHRISTOPHE CHAMPOD INSTITUTE OF FORENSIC SCIENCE, UNIL
EVENTS IN CALIFORNIA I N D I R E C T R E S U LT
F R A N C E S C O PA N E S E E P F L , F O U N D AT I O N CLAUDE VERDAN
JOËLLE VUILLE UC IRVINE
Inspired by the skin series, decides to spend his sabbatical between swissnex Boston in 2013 and swissnex San Francisco in 2014
LY N W E G G E N M A N - O ’ C O N N O R SFPD
SWISSNEX INDIA
SFPD
SWISSNEX CHINA
SWISSNEX BOSTON
S O P H I E L A M PA R T E R
DO FINGERPRINTS TELL THE TRUTH?
SKIN, CELLS, AND SKIN GRAFTS EXHIBIT
See and hear these connections come alive!
T O U C H I N G A R T: TRIBUTE TO JUDITH SCOTT
SEP 2013
NOV 2012
This connection also led to an event in 2013 as part of the skin series
WWW.SKINSERIES. SWISSNEXSF.ORG
APR 2013
Yann Marussich to do a residency at the Performance Art Institute in mid-July 2013
FEB 2013
M AY O R E D L E E
SAN FRANCISCO CITY
We hear that the collaboration with SFPD makes the Mayor happy!
KISHORE HARI
B AY A R E A S C I E N C E F E S T I V A L
Exhibit likely to travel to other swissnex locations and beyond
SWISSNEX SAN FRANCISCO
S K I N N O V AT I O N
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nextrends
– Our blog, nextrends, launched in 2012. Posts written by the staff of swissnex San Francisco provide the freshest news and insights from our vantage point in the American West, one of the world’s most innovative environments.
WWW.NEXTRENDS.ORG
“I always anticipate your very interesting nextrends with great joy. It is always an inspiring firework of ideas, new developments, and as such, a glimpse into the future.”
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PETER BÄR —
Head of Secretariat, Federal Communications Commission (ComCom) Bern, Switzerland
Events
SWISSNEX 2012 ANNUAL REPORT
Data Journalism / Apr Cognitive Robots and AI / Jan
Robots and Humans / May
Types We Can Make / May
Think Art—Act Science in Salt Lake City / May
107 Scan What You Can / Feb
Swiss Alumni Gathering / June
Events in 2012 gained visibility for Swiss innovators and ideas. Topics ranged from particle physics to video game design; high tech materials to typography.
“It was an extremely exciting audience in one of the most innovative areas of the world. I was very much looking forward to this talk in order to get feedback… it was extremely positive and there is interest in teaming up with our project.”
DIRK HELBING —
Chair of Sociology, Modeling and Simulation; Speaker at “FuturICT: New Era of Participatory Global Computing”; Scientific coordinator of the FuturICT project, ETHZ, Zurich, Switzerland
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â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Dr. Jai Ranganathan, organizer of the #SciFund Challenge and speaker at Crowdfunding Science event in June. / 12
People
SWISSNEX 2012 ANNUAL REPORT
Christian Laura Natasha
Liliane
Ilona
Sophie
UNIVERSITY AFFAIRS
PUBLIC PROGRAMS
Luc
MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS
Aurélie
Florencia Andréa
COMMUNICATIONS Julia
Vanessa Megan
John Gioia
ENTREPRENEURSHIP & INNOVATION
Birgit
Cyril
Management and Operations Christian Simm, Executive Director Laura Erickson, Associate Director, Head of Finance and Operations Ilona Tschopp, Facilities and Operations Manager Natasha Feiger, Facilities and Operations Manager *
Communications Florencia Prada, Head of Digital Marketing Julia Kuhn Mirza, Senior Communications Manager Megan Williams, Head of Communications John Cannon, Communications Specialist *
Public Programs / University Affairs Aurélie Coulon, Head of Life Sciences Andréa Muller, Project Manager
* Have since moved on;
Public Programs Sophie Lamparter, Head of Interdisciplinary Projects Luc Meier, Associate Director, Head of Public Programs * Liliane Ackle, Project Manager *
University Affairs Vanessa Drigo, Head of University Affairs *
Entrepreneurship & Innovation Gioia Deucher, Head of Startup Services Birgit Coleman, Connections Explorer Cyril Dorsaz, Startup Services Project Manager
Temporary Interns and Credit Suisse IT Specialists Lyly Berrut, Jr. Project Manager * Gian Gallati, Jr. Project Manager * Stefan Koller, IT Specialist * Livie Kundert, Jr. Project Manager * Jennifer Lerchbacher, IT Specialist * Hélène Montavon, Jr. Project Manager * Melanie Picard, Jr. Communications Manager Johann Recordon, Jr. Project Manager Nathalie Schmidlin, Jr. Communications Manager *
they are missed but remain an important part of our network!
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Financials Cost-Sharing 1%
TOTAL BUDGET 2012
Mandates 28%
SER PROJECTS
$250,000
SER COMBINED OPERATING
$728,778
GENERAL THIRD PARTY
$360,250
EVENT PARTNERS
$450,526
MANDATES
$694,335
COST-SHARING TOTAL
SER Combined Operating 29%
$14,804 $2,498,693
Event Partners 18%
ACTIVITIES 2012: 3RD PARTY VS. SER PROJECTS
SER PROJECTS THIRD PARTY CASH THIRD PARTY IN-KIND
SER Projects 10%
Third Party In-Kind 22%
General Third Party 14%
SER Projects 14%
$250,000 $1,130,470 $389,444
Third Party Cash 64%
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Partners and Sponsors
SWISSNEX 2012 ANNUAL REPORT
Gebert Rüf Foundation Swiss Federal Office for Building and Logistics (BBL) Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI) Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia Credit Suisse École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Presence Switzerland (PRS) ThinkSwiss Program Dwell Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) The Leonardo - Utah’s Science & Technology Museum University of Geneva (UNIGE) Canton of Vaud Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) View the full list of 209 impressive partners:
WWW.SWISSNEXSF.ORG/2012PARTNERS
Media Mentions LE TEMPS
DWELL
RTS RADIO TÉLÉVISION SUISSE
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
SAN FRANCISCO BUSINESS TIMES
WIRED
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
L’HEBDO
PAUL PREUSS —
Communications and Media Relations Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, Event Partner, “Hunting for the Higgs Boson”
“LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LAB HAS WORKED WITH SWISSNEX FOR YEARS, AND EVERY COLLABORATION IS A DELIGHT. THEIR TOP-NOTCH CREATIVE CREW CARES DEEPLY ABOUT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND THEY KNOW HOW TO SPREAD THE WORD TO THE BAY AREA’S HIPPEST MOVERS AND SHAKERS.”
24 HEURES
swissnex San Francisco was popular in 2012. There were 215 other notable press mentions that didn’t fit here!
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Outlook
IN 2013, SWISSNEX SAN FRANCISCO CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF CONNECTING. IN HONOR OF THAT MILESTONE, we are empowering Swiss students to help us imagine the future with a transmedia competition: young minds employing multiple storytelling platforms to envision the year 2023, a decade from now. WWW.STORY2023.COM Our Urban Data Challenge asks international participants to dream up better transportation for tomorrow by creating a data visualization based on data sets from the cities of Geneva, Zurich, and San Francisco (WWW.URBANDATACHALLENGE.ORG). Cities are also at the center of upcoming programs on green roofs, living walls, street parks, and more. We build communities through our activities, such as the numbers of Swiss startups in Switzerland who are now aligned thanks to our expanded startup services, including our expert webinars on US market entry. And Swiss communications specialists from higher education are maintaining connections we forged through our social media program. It lives on as the Digital Campus, offering tools to best leverage new communication technology. WWW.SOCIALMEDIASWITZERLAND.ORG So keep listening, keep watching, keep reading, and keep connecting with us. Together, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s imagine the future . WWW.SWISSNEXSF.ORG
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swissnex San Francisco 730 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA 94111, USA t: (415) 912-5901 f: (415) 912-5905 www.swissnexsf.org