Following the successful collaboration between Switzerland and South Africa in the innovation space, which spans nearly ten years, Switzerland aims to expand and intensify the Swiss-South Africa collaboration, says Swiss ambassador to South Africa Helene Budliger.

“Innovation is key for creating job opportunities and growth. We are here to engage, and we can share our experience and our expertise,” Budliger tells Engineering News, suggesting that both countries can gain from the partnership.

Switzerland ranked first on the 2015/16 Global Competitive Index, scoring 5.8 out of 7 in the innovation category. The country also ranked first on the 2016 Global Innovation Index, while South Africa ranked fifty-fourth.

“When South Africans dig in the ground, they are likely to find something of value, but if [the Swiss] dig in the ground, they find nothing; therefore, Switzerland must rely on [its] innovation capacity,” Budliger reiterates, recounting that, owing to the lack of natural resources, the country has to rely on innovation and knowledge for economic growth.

Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI) startup head coach Nanci Govinder adds that, in turn, the cross fertilisation of ideas, technology and knowledge between the private and public sectors is paramount to innovation in each country.

To support the drive in innovation collaborations, the South African Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) is currently on an exploratory visit to the CTI, in Switzerland, to strengthen the current collaboration. Govinder also met with relevant South African stakeholders in the innovation space to explore collaborative opportunities between Switzerland and South Africa in accordance with her mandate from the CTI.

According to Budliger, successful initiatives between the countries include the Swiss South Africa Business Development Programme (SSABDP), which strengthens the entrepreneurial capacity of researchers and innovators towards the commercialisation of their research projects.

The programme also recognises the importance of initiatives that contribute to scientific and technological innovation in South Africa and Switzerland.

The TIA and the University of Basel are the leading agencies for the implementation of the SSABDP and are supported by the South African Department of Science and Technology, the National Research Foundation and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation.

Similarly, private-sector Swiss organisation Seedstars World connects entrepreneurs with media and corporate investors, and provides them with the necessary support to help grow their business and to succeed.

Budliger highlights that, in 2016, at the organisation’s yearly summit and worldwide competition, the winner was Gauteng-based startup Giraffe. The company presented a recruitment tool that uses text messages where users can create profiles which are then matched to certain job opportunities based on a sophisticated algorithm.

believes that there is no specific recipe, or “copy and paste” strategy that can be applied to South Africa to ensure and expand on innovation. She stresses, however, that there is no government top-down innovation strategy based on planned points in Switzerland. Rather, a grassroots, or bottom-up, strategy is used to create an innovation ecosystem, while government, at national and provincial level, plays a key role in efforts to create an innovation-friendly environment.

Also key to creating a successful innovation ecosystem are political stability “and the certainty that the rule book doesn’t change constantly”. Other advantages include an open market and good infrastructure.

She also underscores the need for vocational educational training, as she believes that it has a direct link to the establishment and advancement of a good innovation ecosystem. “Education is the game changer,” she says, advancing the need for high-technology research laboratories academia and big business, as well as input from small and medium-sized enterprises.

While Govinder believes that South Africa has “wonderful” infrastructure in the innovation space, she suggests that the infrastructure should be ringfenced.

Her suggestions include innovators, having increased access to the private sector, including small and medium-sized engineering companies, for engineering support; creating prototypes and testing their technology, for example; as well as access to other types of investors instead of traditional venture capital entities, such as business angel investment and corporate venture funds. In turn, these investors can have access to innovations and talent, she says.