Out of a curious blend of being similar yet different, Singapore and Switzerland have multiple flourishing partnerships in the spheres of innovation and education.

Both countries prize a good education for their people and invest heavily in innovation – emphases which arise from a common lack of natural resources. People – human capital – are thus a key resource for both Singapore and Switzerland, observes Frank Grutter, the Swiss ambassador to Singapore.

But what makes Swiss-Singapore cooperation particularly fruitful are their contrasting approaches, he says.

“You have the bottom-up approach and freedom of innovation and research of Switzerland – and at the same time you have the more structured top-down approach of Singapore, which has a strategy, pulls in resources to implement the strategy and makes sure that all actors are aligned and working toward the same goals,” Grutter explains.

Both have excelled, going by rankings such as the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Global Innovation Index (GII). Switzerland topped the GII’s ranking as the world’s most innovative country for a 12th straight year in 2022, while Singapore has consistently come within the top 10, placing seventh in 2022.

“Dual-hub” research approach

This is exemplified well, he believes, by the Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC) – set up in 2010 as the Future Cities Lab by ETH Zurich – which ranks among the world’s top universities for science and technology – and Singapore’s National Research Foundation (NRF) as part of NRF’s CREATE campus.

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Now in its 13th year, SEC remains the sole research centre that ETH Zurich has outside of Switzerland and has grown into a research hub for over 350 principal investigators, researchers and staff from disciplines as diverse as architecture, data science, engineering, physics and health sciences.

It has over 50 projects – funded through research grant calls, partnerships and sponsorship – on which its researchers work with local universities, industry players and government agencies to translate knowledge into practical solutions to tackle critical challenges in the areas of urban sustainability, resilience and health.

Thomas Meyer, SEC’s managing director, agrees that the convergence of contrasting approaches has been profitable. “In Switzerland, research is conducted differently, at grassroots, municipal, and canton-levels. Both ways of doing research have their strengths, and for the SEC in Singapore, we benefit from this centralised approach to conduct research that solves pressing issues in both Switzerland and Singapore.”

He sees several advantages to doing research in Singapore. “First, Singapore has a centralised, five-year national strategy for research, defined by the current Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 plan to develop Singapore into a knowledge-based, innovation-driven economy and society,” says Meyer.

“Research that aligns with this strategy is a key priority for both the public and private sectors.”

Another key advantage, in his view, is the potential for research that requires large data sets. In its Cooling Singapore project, for instance, SEC models a “digital twin” of Singapore to play out what-if scenarios and address urban heat.

“We can simulate the impact of a million additional trees, or if there are only electric vehicles on the roads, on urban climate, thanks to access to large data sets of real-life data from various government agencies, which would be difficult to obtain in Switzerland,” Meyer explains.

What makes the centre unique is its “dual-hub approach”, which will be implemented across all research after the Future Cities Lab Global programme pioneered the approach in 2020, he says. “Ideally, any research conducted in Singapore is mirrored in Zurich. While there are differences in research focus and application in Singapore and Switzerland, both countries face broadly similar issues: dealing with urbanisation, the impact of climate change and building sustainable settlement systems.”

In addition to the original Future Cities Lab, which focuses on using science and design to develop technologies and solutions for urban sustainability, the centre now has two other streams of research. The Future Resilient Systems programme seeks ways to make interconnected infrastructure systems more robust and resilient, while the Future Health Technologies programme aims to make healthcare more patient-centric with mobile digital health technology.

These are slated to end in 2025 and SEC is in discussion with NRF over succession programmes.

Tie-ups in education

Apart from the SEC, there are three other Swiss institutions of higher education in Singapore – St Gallen Institute of Management Asia, EHL Campus (Singapore), and IMD Lausanne.

“There is no other country where we are present with four leading Swiss higher-education institutions; Singapore is the only one,” notes ambassador Grutter.

Vocational education and training is another area in which the two countries’ collaboration has taken off in recent years.

Switzerland – alongside Germany and Austria – and its universities of applied sciences are experienced in offering practical education geared towards the labour market’s needs.

Singapore’s polytechnics are now tapping on that experience in broader ways. Nanyang Polytechnic, for instance, partnered the Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education and Training and the Chamber of Industry & Commerce for Munich and Upper Bavaria, to establish the National Centre of Excellence for Workplace Learning (NACE) in 2018. By adapting Swiss and German methodologies, it aims to equip Singapore companies – especially small and medium enterprises – with the capabilities to train and develop their own workers.

NACE has also led overseas trips – including a learning trip to Bern, Switzerland in April 2023 – which offer leaders, educators and policymakers from Singapore the opportunity to visit and learn from organisations and leaders abroad with top-notch workplace learning practices.

Beyond vocational and workplace focused training, examples abound of Swiss-Singapore exchanges within higher education circles. This year alone, the embassy expects visiting delegations from the MBA programmes of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, the University of Applied Science in Business Administration Zurich, and master’s students of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and the University of St Gallen.

Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said at the Swiss Chamber of Commerce’s gala dinner last year: “As small, innovative, advanced economies, Switzerland and Singapore can do more to strengthen interlinkages, including in innovation.”

In that vein, education, research and innovation are key prongs of the Swiss embassy’s activities. They fall under the purview of science counsellor Joel Henri Brunner, who is part of the global Swissnex network, the Swiss government’s effort to lead international exchange of knowledge, ideas and talent.

Through the embassy, researchers and artists from Singapore can also apply for Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships, which are awarded to foreign scholars annually with the aim of promoting international exchange and research cooperation between Switzerland and other countries.

Innovative global companies

As Swiss research and higher-education institutions uncover value in being part of Singapore’s innovation landscape, companies have begun to do so as well.

For instance, SEC’s urban microalgae-based protein production project collaborates with Swiss companies such as Buhler, Givaudan and Nestle. This dovetails with Singapore’s “30 by 30” plan to grow 30 per cent of Singapore’s food needs locally and sustainably by 2030.

Givaudan and Buhler jointly run the Apac Protein Innovation Centre, a 400-square-metre facility at Givaudan’s Woodlands site that has a pilot scale wet and dry extruder, a product development kitchen, storage facilities and other meeting amenities.

This combines Givaudan’s expertise in innovating scents and tastes with Buhler’s food production technologies to offer businesses end-to-end support in prototyping plant-based protein alternatives.

Since its launch in April 2021, the centre has worked with 100 organisations, from large consumer packaged goods companies to startups and academia on various plant protein sources. These range from mainstream ones such as soya and pea, to the lesser-known mung beans, mushroom and microalgae.

Singapore was ideal, being a hotbed for food-tech innovation at the moment, says Michele van der Walt, head of regional innovation, Apac Taste & Wellbeing, Givaudan.

“This is a diverse country at the heart of South-east Asia with strong ambitions for the future of food. Singapore also has a skilled workforce and an advanced infrastructure that supports innovation and entrepreneurship,” she says.

“We are constantly experimenting with many interesting formats to mimic the texture and taste of chicken, beef, pork and seafood, focusing on authenticity of visual appeal, taste and bite for a wide range of consumer products,” says van der Walt.

For global companies, the innovation they undertake in Singapore is driven by regional growth prospects too.

Nestle’s Apac Innovation Centre – opened here in February 2023 – focuses on advanced raw material research and related technologies to support its growth in the region.

Swiss innovation and technology consultancy Zuhlke is another that has found success using Singapore as a launch pad for rapid regional growth. From a sole employee starting its office here in 2017, it has grown to a team of 190 in Singapore and 260 in the region as it helps clients transform business models.

Says Givaudan’s van der Walt: “Our focus here in Singapore is enabling our customers to bring to market products that are relevant to the Asian consumer, and the best way to do that is to develop products in the region, for the region.”