The Swiss Formula: From Concept to Commercialization. Innovation. Fall Photocredit: Empa / Gramazio & Kohler

Transcription

1 The Swiss Formula: From Concept to Commercialization Innovation Fall 2014 Photocredit: Empa / Gramazio & Kohler

2 Welcome Interview The Greater Zurich Area: A Knowledge Hub with a Future The Greater Zurich Area is recognized worldwide as a leading center of research and knowledge. The institutionalized exchange between academic institutions and industry make this location especially attractive for research-intensive companies. Academic innovations need companies in order to successfully establish themselves on the market. To facilitate this, the Greater Zurich Area offers a variety of technology transfer points that form networks between universities, colleges, technical universities, spin-offs, start-ups, investors and private companies. In Switzerland, the protection of intellectual property is given the highest priority. Switzerland has an extensive system of patent, brand, design and copyright protection and is a member of the most important international conventions. This means that your intellectual property is protected all over the world. Innovation, by definition is the action or process of innovating; also: change, alteration, revolution, upheaval, transformation, breakthrough, originality, inspiration and inventiveness. Commercialization, by definition is the process by which a new product is introduced into the general market. This process includes all aspects of production, distribution, marketing, sales and customer support, when done properly, this process results in commercial success. Today s competitive world is driven by two things---innovation and commercialization. The ability to integrate these processes successfully is crucial for the survival of any business. The Swiss Formula not only keeps companies one-step ahead of the competition, it is a formula for success. Marrying first class, world renown academic institutions with strategic investors, management friendly regulatory agencies, and leading IP protection strategies results in unbeatable market advantage. Join the growing number of companies who have discovered this formula for success Welcome to the Greater Zurich Area. Prof. Dr. Gian-Luca Bona, CEO Empa Photocredit: Jean-Luc Grossmann Mr. Bona, Empa is known as a real hotspot for inventors and a driver of innovative ideas. What do you and your specialists actually do? Empa is a research institute of the ETH Domain. We try to encourage new developments on the basis of strong basic research in the field of materials so that business owners can make marketable applications out of them. We are therefore the ones who kick off innovations. We do this in our approximately 30 research departments. We are very diversified and try to cover Switzerland s needs as comprehensively as possible, from materials sciences, for example in nanotechnology, through to medical and biotechnology. Another major area is energy research, which touches on almost 50% of our R&D activities. How would you characterize the institution that you lead? Quite simply: The place where innovation starts. That means we try to push innovations onto the market by showing that basic research can and must be implemented and extended. Is there a technology behind it, is there a process window, is it sustainable, can we demonstrate the feasibility of a specific technology? At our academy, we regularly hold information events for companies, for example in the chemicals, metal and pharma industries. This exchange of information can set sustainable innovations in motion. New products are created when know-how from one area can be transferred to another. Do you have an example of that? Our new photovoltaic solar cells on plastic substrates, for instance. They convert the sun s energy into electricity. This can then be stored in a new type of battery manufactured with nanomaterials. But also the entire construction sector with new types of insulation materials based, for example, on aerogels small nanoparticles with air that insulate particularly well. Or energy or heat stores that work seasonally, i.e. conserve summer energy for winter. That s why we re building a new experimental guesthouse here on our campus to demonstrate and implement all these technologies. Sonja Wollkopf Walt Geschäftsführerin Greater Zurich Area AG

3 The research and industry sectors are supposed to push innovations by exchanging information. How does that work? At Empa, we concentrate on five areas of research in order to pool our strengths and make relevant contributions for Switzerland. In addition, we re seeing new products arise particularly in the border areas between the disciplines, i.e. when researchers and engineers from various fields work together. This is a strength of Switzerland that we need to put into action. For example, as part of the Switzerland-wide monitoring system for trace gases which is one of the things we look after with the research station on the Jungfraujoch we ve developed a completely new, highly sensitive method of analysis. Today there s also an industrial application for this method of measurement testing spray cans for leaks. Previously, this had to be done in a bath of warm water, which was time-consuming; so the new method is much quicker and cheaper. And now we even know that you can also use exactly the same technology to analyze someone s breath and identify whether certain gases have been exhaled, for example those that occur if a person has stomach cancer. This means the measurement can also be used as an early warning system. The example shows that if you transfer know-how from one sector to another, this can bring enormous benefits that industry can build on. Do companies actively seek you out to enter into collaborations with you or do they need motivation? It varies. For example, Toyota knocked on our door four years ago and said: We think you can solve our problem. And in fact we were able to work out a proposal for improving the electronics of its hybrid vehicles that Toyota successfully put into practice. But, as mentioned, we also send targeted invitations to industry to come and look at particular research results, and then enter into a dialog with the people who come. How s it going with Swiss SMEs? The SMEs sometimes have concerns about coming to us; they may think that our only commitment is to the ETH Domain. That s why we actively approach these companies too. For example, I was at the Swiss Economic Forum in Interlaken and met representatives of a small SME from the micro-precision sector that makes precision seals. We have know-how that could be of use for the company; that s why I invited them to come and see us. So there s push and pull, and I think both are needed. Switzerland and other industrialized countries are under major competitive pressure internationally. Is increasing the research and technology intensity a solution for Switzerland? The most important thing for me is the fact that we re trying to drive innovations. This means that what we need first and foremost is strong, competitive basic research we have that in Switzerland. However, we have to think beyond that too. It doesn t just take invention in the laboratory, you also need corresponding ideas on how this can be put into practice or developed into new business models. For example, coffee from filter coffee to hermetically sealed capsules is an example where a commodity and high-tech come together. I believe that we have an excellent opportunity in Switzerland to make something of the cutting-edge technology available here because we have well-educated people in all areas. Switzerland s multicultural structure, which is also reflected at Empa with around 55 nationalities in over 1000 employees, helps us here. Thanks to the high level of automation and robotics, in Switzerland it s even possible to manufacture certain standard products and still be more profitable than elsewhere. We are only uncompetitive if something is very labor-intensive, for example if a product needs to be put together by hand. However, it must also be said that we ve completely missed the boat in certain areas. My job at Empa includes making sure that we don t miss opportunities in newly emerging areas again. In what areas has Switzerland missed the boat? We were out in front in silicon semiconductor technology at the start. Today silicon is off the table in Switzerland except in small niches. Silicon high-tech is primarily happening in Asia in Korea, China and Taiwan. Whereas, in ICT, we were and still are in a pretty strong position. We were also out in front in software and in spite of that we didn t implement or achieve a lot in the end. We should make sure that it doesn t happen to us again. At the moment, there are a number of areas with new opportunities. The Swiss innovation parks can also contribute to turning new developments into innovative products more quickly and efficiently. I m completely confident of that. Because when I look at hightech products coming out of Korea or other Asian countries today, I keep seeing technologies from Swiss suppliers and SMEs we have a strong position internationally there because we re so strong in the area of R&D and in implementation, and have a very good grasp of certain technologies. Take coating technology, for example: Every car in the world has coating technology from Switzerland that comes from OC Oerlikon or Sulzer. Continuation on next page»

4 Interview But Silicon Valley also has something similar to offer. That s right. I often compare them because I lived in Silicon Valley myself for several years. We have 8 million inhabitants and the mountains, Silicon Valley has 7 million and the Bay Area. We re very similar in many respects. Silicon Valley is also very multinational and multicultural. Perhaps it exchanges information somewhat more openly than we do in certain areas. But we also have advantages and can use them just as well. Moreover, we have a longer tradition in industry and the financial and services sectors. We actually ought to play that card more actively and more confidently. Do you also see a future industry in precision goods? Absolutely. We generally have a strong MEM industry. There is an extremely high level of precision know-how at some locations in Switzerland. Traditionally, the Huguenots probably brought the watchmaking industry to Switzerland when they had to flee France. That s why the area in the Jura Mountains around Biel/Bienne is still very strong today. Not just in the field of watches, but also in medtech and innovative injection molding technologies. I see the same in the Zurich area and in Eastern Switzerland right across to Austria. The Lake Constance region also has enormous advantages with lots of both small and large companies in the precision sector. However, we must be aware that international competition is high; Asia in particular for example the Shanghai area is a region with immense innovation potential. The same applies to Taiwan and South Korea, and Japan is still very strong. But the large growth markets such as China will make things difficult for us in the future. We will have to make a real effort to stay ahead. Asia is hungry for success. Is this hunger and ultimately the strength of innovation actually still great enough in the West and in the Greater Zurich Area? It s true that the hunger isn t quite as pronounced here any more. To put it simply, anyone who has to live on one to two dollars a day is forced to find food for that. That s the case for billions of people in the world. Nowadays, a lot of people in Asia are doing well, but they also want greater prosperity this development means more international competition. On the other hand, I am always delighted when I see young students here who devote themselves to scientific topics with the greatest interest, who want to create something, who playfully build new robots, who use the new possibilities of ICT and who program apps. I wish we could direct even more of this playful energy towards the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). And let s not forget, we have a strong scientific basis and a strong financial industry in Switzerland. What I d like is for these two disciplines to grow back together. Because what people often forget nowadays is that the founders of ETH Zurich also set up the current Credit Suisse just a short while later. Later came good business owners, who then founded ABB and Sulzer. This interplay between the financial world, creative sciences and engineers, and the opportunity to create something in a politically stable environment is the substrate necessary to remain at the top worldwide. Is the Zurich region predestined to remain successful with innovation? The Zurich region has enormous advantages. It has an excellent school and education system at all levels. It has international transport links through airports, roads and train services. It is situated in the heart of Europe and is very attractive in terms of its landscape and intact environment not to mention in terms of its extensive cultural offering. All these elements are needed to make a region capable of innovation. The Greater Zurich Area has a lot that it can build on and has the ability to be an innovation leader. About Prof. Dr. Gian-Luca Bona Gian-Luca Bona was born in 1957 in St. Gallen. He received his Ph.D. in physics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich in Subsequently he was doing a postdoctoral fellow at the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory in Rüschlikon, Switzerland, where he also served as Research Project Leader and Research Manager, Phototonics. Dr. Gian-Luca Bona has led various research divisions at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California from and was appointed afterwards IBM Director Tape Storage Solutions in Arizona, USA. Gian-Luca Bona has been Director of Empa since 2009.

5 ANALYsis Success builds on constant innovation especially in the Greater Zurich Area and in Switzerland Innovation is the engine of our regional and national economy. The Zurich business region and Switzerland recognized this at an early stage. This is because in the Greater Zurich Area and Switzerland our jointly created prosperity only exists thanks to constant innovation. Switzerland is a small country with a large economic center at its heart. This center is regarded internationally as one of the most successful economic regions and one of the most livable regions there is. Neither of these facts was a natural inevitability nor a coincidence. There are relatively simple reasons why Switzerland and the Greater Zurich Area have trodden the path to permanent innovation: They essentially have to do with history, the nature of the region and Switzerland itself. Countries, regions and their business owners are not innovative because constant innovation would be the most obvious way to financial success. People who have no alternative become innovative and act innovatively. That was and is the case for Switzerland and the Greater Zurich Area. There are no commodities that could be exploited at any time and exported for good money here. There are few cultivatable products that could conquer the world market and create sufficient national prosperity. And finally, the country and the Greater Zurich Area are so small that even the human potential is only just enough to keep the domestic economy going but not the economic power to which Switzerland has worked its way up in a few decades. The Swiss represent only 0.1% of the global population. But the list of the 500 largest companies in the world includes 12 Swiss companies which emphasize research and development and hence innovation, and thus supply the international market with high quality services and products. The Zurich business region and Switzerland would quickly lose their top place in innovation if they couldn t count on highly innovative Swiss people and international companies. Learning entrepreneurship and innovation abroad The Swiss economic centers could also have remained regions of a nation characterized by farming and tourism. Instead, Switzerland leads the international innovation ratings year after year. The decisions in favor of investments and partnerships with international companies were historically always pragmatic. The people of Zurich, Glarus, Bern or Geneva the Swiss set out at the right time in the pivotal period of industrialization to learn crafts such as entrepreneurship in neighboring countries. One of the most striking examples of what innovation can do is in fact Swiss chocolate. Long before the combination of cocoa butter, cocoa and milk was worked out as a recipe here in Switzerland and Swiss chocolate became our international brand, Swiss chocolate pioneers learned the fundamental craft of chocolate production in Italy, France and Belgium. They returned home and refined and perfected production in Switzerland with such innovative inventions as, for example, conching the chocolate mass. It was similar with watches, where Switzerland is nowadays again the leader in the high-price segment. The precision flagship sector did not become a leader because Swiss people wanted to be pioneers. The leaders in the 14th/15th century were Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain and Holland. Swiss people learned watchmaking there and brought it to Switzerland via Geneva and the Jura Mountains. Then innovation happened: Business owners increasingly led the watchmaking industry to develop and produce particularly high quality mechanical watches responding at the right time to the growing demand for luxury goods. Multinationals in the network with SMEs Thus, in the period following industrialization and after the two world wars, there was a noticeable increase in prosperity largely due to immigrants, visionary Swiss people and finally international companies that recognized the power of the new and the necessity of a deep regional network of resources available in all businesses. Today, Switzerland benefits from the fact that it has a lot of companies compared to other countries around the world and that these invest a great deal of money in research and development. Companies based in Switzerland spend the most money in the world per employee on research and development for new products and creative ideas. The fact that these companies want to ensure permanent innovation by acting anti-cyclically and possibly even increasing their research and development budgets when the economy is in decline ultimately has a stabilizing and pivotal effect. This in turn helps to keep the thousands of Swiss SMEs in innovation mode. Continuation on next page»

6 ANALysis SUCCESS STORIES That s why Switzerland is internationally renowned the combination of innovative multinationals in the network with Swiss SMEs represents a (so far unbeatable) strength a real innovation system. This excellent interplay between the international companies and the SMEs surrounding them in each regional network is one of Switzerland s fundamental recipes for innovation. Thus, the Greater Zurich Area as the most important economic region, and with it Switzerland as a whole, can gear its inventions and products to the world market. This keeps an international scientific community alive and education and excellent research can thus be cultivated as cornerstones. The fact that the other continents and countries are catching up extremely fast, technological knowledge is regularly conquered and all production is globally fragmented certainly represents a massive challenge. However, the state in Switzerland rightly does not create innovation master plans, as might happen in Germany or France. The state restricts itself to ensuring the most favorable framework conditions. That forces industry and the private sector to (continue to) work with as many ideas as possible and network as much as possible, because innovation and investment can only come from industry and the private sector themselves the main players. If the Greater Zurich Area can offer the framework conditions that such companies and their networks need, innovation can take place for everyone s benefit. Google s engineering headquarters for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Google Zurich brings Googlers together from 75 countries. As a major engineering hub for EMEA, Google s hardware and software engineers use every aspect of computer science to push technology forward. Photocredit: by leistungsfotografie.ch Google The internet giant Google capitalizes on the internationality and wealth of innovative ideas offered by Zurich as a business location. Google is the world s best-known firm for internet services, advertising and software development. The US company Google Inc. earned a net profit of billion dollars in Its Zurich location is Google s largest technological corporate headquarters in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and is mainly involved with its Maps, Search, Gmail, Calendar and YouTube divisions. Google sets great store by the creative development of its employees (Google Zurich employees are called Zooglers Google + Zurich). The American company operates according to the premise that great ideas are born only when a creative working atmosphere is provided. The Google Switzerland office in Zurich specifically encourages this type of open corporate culture to ensure that there are no obstacles to innovation. Google develops and improves diverse tools at its Swiss location which are then used around the world. With its central location in Europe, Switzerland offers a setting in which Google employees can feel at ease and develop themselves creatively. Furthermore, the ideal conditions for local research and development work can be found in the Greater Zurich Area. The central location, excellent infrastructure and high quality of living make Zurich extremely attractive for Google employees. The close proximity to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) and the EPFL in Lausanne is also decisive for Google. The ideal conditions for research and development work can be found in the Greater Zurich Area. Google Inc.

7 Hamilton is a global leader in laboratory automation, sensor and medical technology. Since 1966, the company has run product development and manufacturing operations in Bonaduz (Graubünden). One third of the 600 employees in Bonaduz are university graduates. Business unit headquarters are located in Reno, Nevada; Franklin, Massachusetts; and Bonaduz, Switzerland. Photocredit: Hamilton Bonaduz AG Hamilton This region is ideal for innovation-oriented technology companies, Andreas Wieland, CEO and board member of Hamilton AG, declares. The American company Hamilton is a worldwide leader in the areas of laboratory automation, sensor and medical technology. Since 1966, the company has been operating its product development and assembly in Bonaduz and also manages its marketing activities for Europe, Asia and Africa from this base. Hamilton Bonaduz is committed to organic growth through ongoing further development and innovation. It is one of the companies with the strongest expansion in the canton of Grisons. During the last three years, more than 150 additional jobs for highly qualified employees have been created. According to Hamilton, Grisons has numerous advantages in its favor: attractive tax conditions, affordable prices for land and real estate and highly qualified, very well trained employees. Grisons also offers an outstanding setting for international trade companies, mechanical engineering and toolmaking, as well as mechatronics and automation, CEO Andreas Wieland comments. The global players in the sectors of chemistry and plastics, life sciences, information and communication technology (ICT), and electronics and sensor technology that are based in the canton are another source of added value. The business-friendly, unbureaucratic climate of the cantonal office of business and tourism encourages industrial development and thereby the companies based there as well, Hamilton comments. Thanks to the uncomplicated and direct access to government and public authorities, companies can find efficient and suitable solutions for their business needs at all times.

8 About Greater Zurich Area Greater Zurich Area Industry Map Explore the Greater Zurich Area s top technology companies and headquarters on the interactive industry map at com/en/why-greater-zuricharea/industries Headquarters Life Sciences ICT Cleantech High-Tech Machinery Financial Services All industries About Greater Zurich Area The Greater Zurich Area is one of the most vibrant economic centers in Europe and covers the cantons of Glarus, Grisons, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, Zug and Zurich, the city of Zurich and the region of Winterthur. We assure a confidential and free advisory service, assisting foreign companies in evaluating our region for their expansion and relocation projects. We provide a useful analysis of the Swiss business environment and step-by-step assistance in establishing an operation in Switzerland. Our services include advice on taxes and corporate structures, labor laws, recruitment, infrastructure and real estate. In addition, we facilitate contacts with government officials, business networks and service providers in the Greater Zurich Area. Greater Zurich Area AG Limmatquai Zurich Switzerland Phone Fax info@greaterzuricharea.com