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Switzerland’s Silicon Valley calls for big innovative ideas

Switzerland’s Silicon Valley calls for big innovative ideas

Tokyo (SCCIJ) – The “Switzerland Innovation” foundation has launched an initiative for innovation proposals as an answer to the coronavirus challenge. The foundation runs the five young parks of “Switzerland Innovation” often nicknamed as the “Swiss Silicon Valley”.

Switzerland’s Silicon Valley calls for big innovative ideas

The Switzerland Innovation Park in Biel / Bienne expands with a new building (© SIP Biel/Bienne via Facebook)

Quick go-ahead

Health, climate protection, or sustainable growth – these and other fundamental economic, environmental, and societal topics of the UN Agenda 2030 are the starting point of the first call for proposals of “Switzerland Innovation”. Funding will be provided for innovation projects that address the most pressing problems of our time.

“Innovation is the cornerstone of our country’s economic success and prosperity,” says Ruedi Noser, President of the Foundation Board of “Switzerland Innovation”. “Especially now, in times of Corona, one must think long-term and invest in promising innovation projects”.

“The current pandemic is having a severe impact on Switzerland as a business location. That is why it is particularly important to invest in innovation now”, the foundation said in its call. With this in mind, “Switzerland Innovation” has launched its first major initiative not alone, but together with renowned partners from the Swiss economy.

Technologies with impact

The “Switzerland Innovation Tech4Impact” initiative aims to help pioneering innovation projects achieve a breakthrough by addressing one of the six highlighted UN Sustainable Development Goals. To qualify for a grant, the proposed project must be based on an advanced technology that will reach maturity and application within the next three years.

The “SI Tech4Impact” initiative will award 5 to 7 selected projects with a one-year project grant of up to CHF 100,000 each. The grants are financed by ABB, Credit Suisse, Die Mobiliar, Economiesuisse, Interpharma, Schindler, Swiss Re Foundation, Swisscom, UBS and Zurich Insurance. The operational implementation is carried out in cooperation with the Tech4Impact Initiative of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL).

The program is open to project teams from Swiss universities, research institutions, or universities of applied sciences, but also to start-ups or small and medium enterprises with an innovation project in collaboration with a research partner. One of the conditions is that the projects must have a location or a strong relationship with one of the five parks of “Switzerland Innovation”. The first call for proposals ends on 31 July 2020.

“Innovation Parks”

The intention behind the foundation and the “Swiss Innovation Park” is to reinforce Switzerland’s leading position as a location for innovation and maintain the country’s economic competitiveness, the Swiss federal government says. The innovation park began operations in early 2016, with two hub sites centered on the two federal institutes of technology in Zurich and Lausanne and three network locations in Aargau, Northwest Switzerland, and Biel. The Confederation plays a subsidiary role in the innovation park.

The Swiss Innovation Park aims to secure and develop private research and development investment in Switzerland. This represents a valuable addition to the established funding instruments in Switzerland. The new approach seeks to make Switzerland attractive to international research and development players by providing developed parcels of land and floor space with expansion potential in the vicinity of existing higher education institutions and businesses.

Text: SCCIJ with edited material of “Switzerland Innovation” and SERI

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