A delegation of Danish engineers draws inspiration from Swiss technological and scientific excellence
The Danish Society of Engineers, a professional association of over 100,000 Danes dedicated to qualified technical and scientific professionals as well as students, was visiting Geneva and Lausanne on September 28 and 29, 2017 to meet with players in the Swiss tech ecosystem.
A 14-strong delegation met teams from Alp ICT, Fongit, CERN, DG DERI, Campus Biotech and EPFL, with the aim of gaining a better understanding of Swiss technological and scientific excellence, and gaining inspiration for building on the Danish model.
Our Alp ICT team was happy to mobilize and coordinate with other local players to open our doors and promote local innovation to the Danish delegation.
Below are the reasons for the visit, as presented by the Danish Society of Engineers:
" Switzerland is a very interesting place for the Danish Society of Engineers to visit for a number of reasons. First of all, various innovation studies always place Switzerland in first place, and Denmark was also in first place for a few years, but this is no longer the case. So it's interesting for us to know the reasons why Switzerland always manages to succeed. We believe that among them is the Swiss education system and its universities with high international standards, and a good balance between teaching in academic theory and practice. For example, Switzerland attracts many foreign students because of the quality of its education. You have universities in the international top 10. In the field of research, Switzerland is well known for its top-level research in technical fields such as biotechnology and ICT. Switzerland also has a good tradition of bottom-up research on priority topics and a high level of corporation between universities and private companies."
The delegation was made up of committee members who are engineers working in universities and companies on a daily basis. But they are also responsible for the public affairs of the Danish Society of Engineers - for example, organizing meetings with the Danish parliament on future priorities and strategies for the Danish education and innovation system. Switzerland and Denmark have many similarities - i.e. we are small countries, we have a technology and knowledge-based economy, we prioritize education, research and innovation; but we are also very different - i.e. Denmark is very centralized and Switzerland is more decentralized. What effect does this have on the way we organize our education, research and innovation?
Switzerland and Denmark already have scientific exchanges, not least in the Smart Cities sector, and this kind of visit extends the potential for cooperation in business and scientific intelligence.
