Tom Russi | Innoscape Talk #12
June 2025 by Christian Rutzer (Interviewer). CIEB | University of Basel
Innosuisse – The Swiss Innovation Agency
Switzerland is consistently ranked among the most innovative countries in the world. But what explains this success? And what role does Innosuisse, the Swiss Innovation Agency, play in it?
In our 12th Innoscape Talk, we sat down with Tom Russi, Head of Division Project and Programme Funding at Innosuisse, to explore these questions. The conversation sheds light on how Innosuisse supports innovation across sectors, how it measures the impact of its funding programmes, and how it ensures that public funding complements private R&D investment.
Tom Russi discusses key instruments such as BRIDGE, explains how Innosuisse balances support for incremental and breakthrough innovation, and reflects on Switzerland’s strong collaboration between academia and industry.
With AI, digitalization, and the green transition reshaping the global economy, Innosuisse plays a central role in helping Switzerland stay ahead. We also ask the tough question: Is Europe falling behind in the digital race against China and the USA?
This episode offers an inside look at the strategies, challenges, and opportunities driving Switzerland’s innovation policy today.
Content of the Interview
00:27 Could you briefly introduce yourself and outline the role of Innosuisse?
02:14 How does Innosuisse measure the impact of its funding programs? What key performance indicators do you use to evaluate success?
04:41 With strong private R&D in Switzerland, how does Innosuisse avoid crowding out private investment?
06:40 Switzerland ranks top in global innovation scores. What’s behind this success?
09:46 What are the key funding instruments of Innosuisse?
12:00 What makes the BRIDGE program unique? Why was it created?
13:19 What trends are currently shaping the Swiss innovation ecosystem?
15:43 How does Innosuisse balance funding between incremental innovation and breakthrough technologies?
17:41 How does the funding application process look like in practice?
19:38 How strong is academia–industry collaboration in Switzerland today?
21:37 Where is collaboration still lagging? What barriers remain to effective knowledge transfer?
23:12 How does Innosuisse compare to other innovation agencies? Are there best practices worth adopting?
24:32 Can you elaborate on these thoughts with a concrete example?
26:33 How is Innosuisse positioning itself around AI, digitalization, and the green transition?
28:55 Are Switzerland and Europe losing the digital race against the US and China? What role does venture capital play?
Interview: Christian Rutzer
Question Script: Rolf Weder, Dragan Filimonovic, Christian Rutzer, Till Schmidlin
Production: Dropzone Productions Studio
Edited: Studio Frich
Disclaimer: The Innoscape Talk series exclusively conveys the opinion of its interviewed experts. It is not intended to represent the position or opinion of the University of Basel or the CIEB. Nor is it the official position of any staff.
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Center for International Economics and Business | CIEB University of Basel