When it comes to developing technology, the Swiss think small

When Swiss watchmakers were attacked by cheap electronic imports, one canton responded by developing advanced technology

Think Switzerland. Think small. The Swiss have long excelled at things small ever since the late 13th century. That's when three small cantons banded together, mounted a joint army, and threw the marauding Hapsburgs out of their territory for good.

Since then, some 23 other cantons have joined the Confederation Helvetique (hence the CH on Swiss licence plates) but they gave up their independence grudgingly and in small amounts. Yes, Bern, the capital, now controls the army, but the cantons remain in control of their own immigration, education, health and technological development.

"The federal government funds basic scientific research directly and gives only a small amount of money to the cantons strictly for applied research," explained M. Pierre Comte, head of economic development for the Canton of Neuchatel, to a group of visiting journalists recently. "So it is through private partnerships that most of our technological innovation comes from."

In the 1980s, Neuchatel was in desperate need of innovation. The home to most of Switzerland's famous watchmakers including Rolex, Tissot, Cartier and Swatch, the canton was under siege from Japanese and other Asian manufacturers that could make electronic watches at a fraction of the cost of the Swiss mechanical versions.

The response was small but significant. The canton combined three small research centres into what's now dubbed the CSEM (Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique). Working via small, privately-- funded projects, CSEM developed the world's first electronic quartz watch and the first watch-- size printed circuit boards.

Those small innovations had the huge effect of saving the Swiss watch industry. But the cantonal authorities knew that watchmaking alone could no longer keep unemployment small. So, CSEM focused on applying local skills to the needs of other industries. Today, Neuchatel companies, several spun-off from CSEM projects, are producing tiny parts, pieces, tools and systems for virtually every industry where small is good. Among them: micro-machining, microscopy, nanotechnology, ophthalmology, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and automated sensors. Canadians and other non-Swiss are part of the scene.

"We've used chip-making techniques to make micro-channels in silicon and glass," says Sabeth Verpoorte, an Alberta native and analytical chemist who is a team leader at the Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Laboratory at the University of Neuchatel. "It means we can do analysis of fluids on a very small scale, very fast, and with a very small sample."

Dutchman Bart van der Schoot, Verpoorte's partner, is vice-president and co-owner of Seyonic SA, a spin-off of the university's Institute of Microtechnology that houses Verpoorte's lab. "While I was at the institute we helped an American company develop part of a laboratory automation instrument, but then they wanted production."

Incubation of such high-tech toddlers, of course, is not unique to Switzerland. Canadian universities similarly encourage the transfer of their innovations to industry. What sets Switzerland apart, though, is how localized government participation is in this process. The Canton of Neuchatel numbers only about 170,000 people - roughly the size of St. John's, Nfld. Yet it, like many other Swiss cantons, provides a highly co-ordinated effort to grow and attract high-tech companies, offering tax and financial incentives, work permits, access to local research projects, local red-tape cutters and other long-term handholding for start-ups.

We in Canada should think so small.

By Andy Shaw

Andy Shaw is a contributing editor to Technology in Government. Please contact him at andy@biznewsbureau.com.

Copyright Plesman Publications Ltd. Jul 2001
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