Zurich has strong innovative capacity. A comparison of 250 European regions on their capacity to develop and bring to market new products ranks Zurich in 51st place, just shy of the top 20%.
Innovation cannot happen without well-educated and creative minds. Zurich’s universities and university-based research are among the best in Europe.
Zurich comes in at number 24 of 250 European regions in the ranking for number of successful patent applications. The Canton of Zurich also performs very well in terms of protection of intellectual property.
The Canton of Zurich distinguishes itself with the highest innovation expenditure per employee in Europe. It also takes a top spot in number of joint public-private publications. This is a reflection of how well universities and business enterprises work together in Zurich.
A large part of innovation is attributable to start-ups. Zurich takes the 14th spot for quantity of start-ups and ranks 15th for quality of start-ups, placing it in the top 10% of all European regions.
The Canton of Zurich achieves top marks for infrastructure ― for both its physical infrastructure, offering above-average accessibility thanks to its airport, and its digital infrastructure: Zurich surpasses all other regions in Europe in the domain of per capita broadband internet connections and broadband transmissions.
The full survey on innovation in Zurich is available here (only in German).
With Innovation Zurich, we aim to promote networking, offer guidance and provide an overview of news and events relating to innovation in the Canton of Zurich.
We work in close collaboration with a range of partners in the respective ecosystems, serving in a neutral capacity and without any commercial intent.
This is how we strive to contribute to the innovation ecosystem in Zurich as a business location, and to initiate future projects in seminal technologies and key industries.
The Division of Business and Economic Development boosts Zurich’s innovation ecosystems through networking and by initiating collaborations. It is committed to strengthening regional entrepreneurship, thus empowering industrial diversity in the canton. The Division further focuses on fostering an open dialogue between industry, academia, politics and administration, so that joint strategic approaches to tackling challenges such as the shortage of skilled labour can be devised and implemented.
Walchestrasse 19
8090 Zürich
+41 43 259 49 92
standort@vd.zh.ch
The Greater Zurich Area Ltd (GZA) is the investment promotion agency of nine Swiss cantons. GZA helps forward-looking companies devise a convincing business case for strategic expansion in Switzerland, helping pave the way through the Greater Zurich Area’s technology ecosystems and connecting them with relevant business enterprises, universities, research institutes, incubators, service providers and public authorities.
Limmatquai 122
8001 Zürich
+41 44 254 59 59
info@greaterzuricharea.com
Switzerland Innovation Park Zurich connects science with industry. It is where researchers meet and collaborate with developers, and where everyone believes in the idea of a campus on which spatial proximity is conducive to accelerating the development of ideas into marketable products. 173 acres of special areas and infrastructure for testing are being created on the Dübendorf airfield that cater to user requirements and needs – a unique innovation ecosystem.
Wangenstrasse 68
8600 Dübendorf
+41 44 527 20 20
zurich@switzerland-innovation.com
Markus Müller
Head of Smart Systems
Division of Business and Economic Development,
Canton of Zurich
markus@innovation.zuerich
Urs Stender
Managing Director of Swiss Autonomous Valley
urs@innovation.zuerich
Danielle Spichiger
Head of Digital Health and MedTech
Division of Business and Economic Development,
Canton of Zurich
danielle@innovation.zuerich
Stefan Lienhard
Managing Director of digital health center bülach
stefan@innovation.zuerich
Beat Rhyner
Head of CleanTech
Division of Business and Economic Development,
Canton of Zurich
beat@innovation.zuerich
Kuno Sprig
Managing Director Lifefair
kuno@innovation.zuerich
Eva May
Head of FinTech
Division of Business and Economic Development,
Canton of Zurich
eva@innovation.zuerich
Christina Kehl
Co-Founder and Board Member of SWISS FINTECH
christina@innovation.zuerich
Anne Schmidt
Head of FoodTech
Division of Business and Economic Development,
Canton of Zurich
anne@innovation.zuerich
Marina Helm Romaneschi
Marketing & Strategy at Swiss Food Research
marina@innovation.zuerich
Danielle Spichiger
Head of MedTech and Digital Health
Division of Business and Economic Development,
Canton of Zurich
danielle@innovation.zuerich
Stefan Leuthold
Managing Director of Healthtechpark Zürich-Schlieren
stefan.leuthold@innovation.zuerich
Matthias Inauen
Director New Business Units
Division of Business and Economic Development,
Canton of Zurich
matthias@innovation.zuerich
Beryl Kern
Senior Project Manager
Greater Zurich Area
beryl@innovation.zuerich
Isabell Metzler
Head of Communications
Division of Business and Economic Development,
Canton of Zurich
isabell@innovation.zuerich
Ramona Sutter
Communications
Division of Business and Economic Development,
Canton of Zurich
ramona@innovation.zuerich