Measures to prevent a digital brain drain
Swiss Federal Councillor Johann Schneider-Ammann invited the economics ministers of Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein to attend the traditional quadripartite meeting in Switzerland yesterday. ETH Zurich hosted the event. During a podium discussion in the run-up to the main meeting, ETH students exchanged viewpoints with the ministers on the challenges presented by digitalisation.
Digitalisation is causing many major companies, researchers, innovations and jobs to relocate outside Europe. What are Switzerland and its neighbours doing to counteract this trend? Economics ministers from Europe’s German-speaking countries addressed this topic and others during a discussion at ETH Zurich. Johann Schneider-Ammann, Swiss Federal Councillor and Head of the Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, invited his counterparts from Austria, Germany and Liechtenstein to Switzerland to take part in the traditional quadripartite meeting.
Fostering entrepreneurial spirit
A podium discussion in the Semper Aula served as a prelude to the main meeting. ETH President Lino Guzzella opened the discussion by listing some key figures on companies that have arisen out of ETH research. Around 25 spin-offs having been established each year for the last three years. “This includes both very large companies and smaller ones. What they all have in common is that they are key driving forces in the Swiss economy. We want to create jobs. That’s one of our main sources of motivation,” he said.
To prevent the brightest minds and ideas from migrating further afield, Johann Schneider-Ammann is seeking to make Switzerland a more attractive country in which to establish a company. A new foundation established under his patronage is aiming to make it easier for start-ups to gain access to risk capital. As Schneider-Ammann stated: “We want people to be able to get their idea from the laboratory to the implementation stage without having to rely on money sourced from California or Moscow.”
The race to develop artificial intelligence
Peter Altmaier, Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy in Germany, also highlighted the significance of the digital transformation, stating that it will change the global landscape as far as job creation is concerned. He went on to say that if European companies are able to work together and can rely on support from the state, they may be able to develop AI applications and market them worldwide.
Austria currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Margarete Schramböck, Minister for Digital and Economic Affairs, stated that Europe is seeking to reclaim industries that were previously thought lost. She asserted that research and educational institutions such as ETH are there to give impetus to these efforts, as they provide Europe with the skills required to make strides in the field of artificial intelligence. According to Daniel Risch, Deputy Prime Minister of Liechtenstein, the principality is planning on introducing new legislation for blockchain applications.
The four ministers also took questions from computer science students, who used the opportunity to shine the spotlight on unresolved issues. On question asked was how the requisite amounts of data are expected to be collected in the fragmented European landscape without violating the right to personal data protection. They also questioned whether data can actually be anonymised, and how Europe is intending on joining forces without creating inert structures that are unable to keep up with the pace set by China and the US.
Plea for a fifth European freedom
Federal Councillor Johann Schneider-Ammann called for individual initiative, comparing the situation to setting up a trust account on behalf of someone else: if a person has a good idea, he said, they should approach an “uncle in America to get things up and running”. By this, he meant private financial backers rather than major US companies. In return, he expects that talented people, value creation and jobs will remain in Europe.
To round off the discussion, the ETH President called for the European community of states to create a fifth freedom, "the freedom of data traffic", in addition to the four existing freedoms of movement of persons, goods, services and capital. “By this I mean a well-regulated but nevertheless free movement of data. One of the goals would be to create a critical mass of data in Europe that would be sufficient to make productive use of this data."
In response to the economic opportunities presented by digitalisation, Lino Guzzella warned that it was important not to forget what began this dynamic in the first place: “fundamental research. This should continue to be promoted and supported due to the huge value that it provides.”