Zurich economic region becomes international hotspot for digital innovation

The Greater Zurich Area is an international leader in future technologies. The traditional GZA Lake Side Talk with over 400 guests as well as presentations and discussions on the future viability of the economic area in times of digitalization and automation provided the framework.

Over the past year and a half, the GZA organization, together with the research and consulting firm BAK Basel Economics, has conducted a comparative analysis that compares the competitiveness of the Zurich economic area with ten leading regions worldwide. For the first time, business locations were not compared at the level of nation states or cities, but at the level of metropolitan regions, i.e. functional regional economic areas, which are really relevant for location competition. To this end, data material on numerous location factors from the areas of performance, innovation, skilled workers, regulation, taxes, accessibility, quality of life and costs was evaluated.

"GZA is breaking new ground in location marketing with its innovative data-based benchmarking approach," explained Sonja Wollkopf Walt, Managing Director of GZA. "The more detailed knowledge about our own location and key competitors allows us to respond very specifically and quickly to inquiries from companies interested in relocating here." The results of the analysis will be incorporated into GZA's market development and communication; there are no plans to publish the overall results.

At the GZA Lake Side Talk on Tuesday, Kai Gramke, Head of Division at BAK Basel Economics, presented the innovative strength of the Greater Zurich Area in future technologies such as life sciences, process automation, robotics, drones & autonomous vehicles, sensor technology, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. "If you look at world-class research, Switzerland and the Greater Zurich Area in particular play in the top league worldwide - even at the top in Europe. The Greater Zurich Area stands out in particular for its technological diversity, research efficiency and dynamism in future technologies," Gramke summarized.

Digitization as a major opportunity for Zurich as a business location

The topic of technology was also at the heart of the other presentations and discussions at this year's GZA Lake Side Talk entitled "The fourth industrial revolution in the Greater Zurich Area". The question of the dangers and opportunities of digitalization, automation and robotization was examined from various perspectives.

Remo Lütolf, CEO of ABB Switzerland, said: "The fourth industrial revolution has long since begun and offers us in Switzerland in particular great opportunities. With modern automation solutions and the digitalization of processes, manufacturing in this country can be worthwhile again. This can further improve the quality of products, increase efficiency and enhance flexibility. This trend will accelerate - which will help to ensure our competitiveness."

Lino Guzzella, President of ETH Zurich, also primarily sees the opportunities: "Digitalization is reshuffling the cards in the international division of labour. Switzerland has a number of trump cards in its hand to remain a country with a technological edge and prosperity in the age of networked things. One of these trump cards is the bright minds that ETH is training."

Taking care of the site conditions

For Government Councillor Carmen Walker Späh, Director of Economic Affairs of the Canton of Zurich and President of the Board of Trustees of the Greater Zurich Area, digitalization offers enormous opportunities for the Zurich economic region: "The Greater Zurich Area is very well equipped to emerge stronger from the megatrend of digitalization and to assert itself as an internationally important location for digital innovation." At the same time, regulation must not hinder digital change and the effects and opportunities of digitalization must be better communicated to the population, said Walker Späh.

Balz Hösly, Chairman of the Board of Directors of GZA, appealed to the decision-makers from politics and business: "To ensure that the Zurich economic region remains one of the world's leading technology locations in the future, we must also consciously cultivate intangible locational advantages such as reliability, legal certainty, openness and internationality as well as a business-friendly environment." The statements of all speakers as well as the results of the benchmarking developed with BAK would confirm and further sharpen the GZA's strategy. At the same time, the metropolitan comparison creates new tools to identify suitable companies and convince them to expand into the Zurich economic area. "Modern location marketing must focus on innovative and high-value-added companies and technology sectors. This creates the most added value in the form of innovative strength, jobs and ultimately crisis resistance," explained Hösly.