Swiss Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Creating an environment for Swiss Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
The Mission
The goal of this site is to help solve the problems faced by innovators
and entrepreneurs in Switzerland. It will do so by acting as a clearing house
for information and links to organizations, in Switzerland and elsewhere,
that have similar goals.
The Problem
The first step in solving a problem, is recognizing that there is a problem
to solve. Due to their relative wealth and healthy economy, the Swiss do not
generally recognize that they have a problem with innovation and
entrepreneurship. The average person leads a good life and is more or
less satisfied with their situation.
Unfortunately, with the rise of globalization, Switzerland is losing ground.
In the rankings of global competitiveness, Switzerland is predicted to fall
by ten places in the next five years. The historical values,
that brought Switzerland to the fore are no longer appropriate weapons
against economic stagnation. Working
harder will not solve the problem. Success in the world of globalization
requires an innovative response. While there are many examples of Swiss
innovation, there are also many barriers, which prevents Switzerland's best
and brighest from succeeding.
The Solution
This problem is at the same time both extremely easy and extremely difficult
to solve. The easy solution is unpleasant. It consists of merely waiting
until economic pressures make the Swiss innovative through necessity.
This is what will happen if we sit back and do nothing. That said, success
though inaction is guaranteed. The Swiss are resourceful when faced with a
challenge and have overcome many hardships in the past. But why face hardship
unnecessarily?
More difficult is to proactively take steps to change the local environment
to stimulate the creation of new businesses. This requires recognizing
the barriers, recognizing what can and cannot be changed and taking steps
to cause the change. Ultimately, the process of promoting innovation and
entrepreneurship is one of providing an environment in which innovators
and entrepreneurs can succeed. That is the goal of this site and its
sponsors.
The Next Step
In the meantime we have assembled a group of experts and held a brainstorming
session exploring the barriers to innovation in Switzerland. The following major
barriers to innovation were identified:
- Education does not create innovators or entrepreneurs.
- Lack of entrepreneurs as role models. Innovation is not highly valued.
- Risk adversion and complacency.
- Access to appropriate financing not generally available.
- Excessive regulation and barriers to entry. No public policy for
entrepreneurship.
The Reports
Avenir-Suisse and the MIT Enterprise Forum of Switzerland have
written a report that summarizes and analyizes the results
of the brainstorming session held on 16 March 2002.
Preliminary results from the second Innovation Forum event held in
Genthod on 24 August 2002:
The next stage is to develop an action plan that can effectively
combat the barriers to innovation that have been identified.
In the coming months this site will be expanded with links and additional
contact. If you would like to be informed after each update, please contact
the webmaster, who will inform you after each update. Stay Tuned.
The Sponsors
This site been created by:
Please visit these sites to learn more about programs promoting innovation
and entrepreneurship in Switzerland.
The Webmaster
Alan Hodgkinson
is interested in entrepreneurship.
He has participated as co-Chairman of the MIT Entreprise Forum of
Switzerland since its inception in 1998. He arrived in Switzerland in 1986
and since 1994 has been an independent consultant in the Information
Technology industry.
Last updated: $Date: 2005/07/13 13:11:27 $
Copyright 2002,
Alan Hodgkinson
All rights reserved.