Tokyo (SCCIJ) – 17 companies from Switzerland have exhibited their innovative products and services within the scope of the first “Swisstech Pavilion” at Japan’s most significant technology fair. This year, the Ceatec event in Makuhari dedicated itself to roads leading to a super-smart society. At a separate event outside of the trade show, some Swiss start-ups actively pitched for potential Japanese partners and excited the audience with their visions. The Swisstech Pavilion was part of the “Doors to Switzerland in Japan 2020” campaign of the Embassy of Switzerland in Japan, an event series in the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
At the opening ceremony of the Swisstech Pavilion at CEATEC 2019 (© Karine Grace)
A country of technologies
The first ever Swiss Pavilion at the fair aimed to showcase Switzerland as a country of great innovation because its image abroad is often overshadowed by its infamously beautiful landscapes and renowned watches, cheese, and chocolate, the Swiss foreign ministry said. The pavilion successfully built bridges between Switzerland and Japan, two countries that can benefit from each other’s groundbreaking innovation and technology, the ministry added.
The Embassy of Switzerland in Japan, the Swiss marketing organization Presence Switzerland in charge of Swiss Pavilions globally, the Swiss Business Hub Japan (representing Switzerland Global Enterprise), as well as Science and Technology Office Tokyo (State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation) realized the pavilion as a joint project.
Prominent speakers at opening
The official opening ceremony included speeches by the Ambassador of Switzerland in Japan, Mr. Jean-François Paroz, the CEATEC Executive Board and NEC Chairman, Nobuhiro Endo, as well as the Deputy Director-General for IT Strategy of the Commerce and Information Policy Bureau at METI, Yoichi Ogasawara. In addition to their individual booths, the 17 exhibitors introduced themselves on the pavilion stage and presented drone shows.
The joint project belonged to the “innovation pillar” of the current communication campaign “Doors to Switzerland in Japan 2020”. The other pillars are discovery and inclusiveness. Just like the Olympic torch travels through the country before the opening ceremony, the program intends to present Switzerland in Japan until July 2020, when the House of Switzerland opens its doors in Shibuya.
Four Swiss start-ups and a research organization participated in a pitching and demonstration session at the Venture Café Tokyo (© STOT)
Amazing pitches of Swiss start-ups
As a side event to the technology fair, the Science & Technology Office Tokyo of the Swiss Embassy initiated a pitching session for four Swiss start-ups and a research organization. The young companies Asyril, CREAL3D, Nomoko, and Somniacs, as well as the non-governmental organization Mandat International, also showcased their products. The presentation attracted more than 80 people.
CREAL3D demonstrated its mixed and virtual reality technology. CEO and co-founder Tomas Sluka amazed the audience because CREAL3D’s light-field technology does not rely on eye-tracking. Next, Mr. Jonathan Cobas presented Asyril’s flexible feeding system for miniature parts developed for smart factories. By combining vibration technology, industrial vision, and precision robotics, their system offers optimized speed, accuracy, and flexibility.
Impressive food for thought
Mr. Lazar Tosic, head of sales and marketing at Somniacs, stressed the benefits of its bird flight simulator Birdly in a multitude of areas, exemplified by its current employment for educational purposes. The simulator integrates virtual reality and robotics. The virtual city map Birdly uses is one of the various applications of Nomoko, the following start-up presented by its fundraising manager Mr. Loic Nouar. Nomoko specializes in exact 3D maps that enable simulations through an overlay of Internet of Things (IoT) data.
A presentation by Sébastien Ziegler, director of Mandat International and its IoT Lab, concluded the pitching part of the event. The lab offers certification schemes that help partner companies and legal advisers to align data services with GDPR licensing. The five presentations generated enough food for thought for lively discussions between the Swiss representatives and their guests. The evening created a very positive note for Swiss technological innovation, the Science & Technology Office Tokyo reported.
Text: SCCIJ with material of the Swiss Federal Government and the STOT at the Embassy of Switzerland in Japan
