nex20: #ConnectingTomorrow

The Swissnex Network celebrates its 20th anniversary!

It has been 20 years since the founding of swissnex in Cambridge, USA. Driving this adventure was a vision for the future of Switzerland and its formidable innovation potential. Today, swissnex represents an unparalleled platform for connecting tomorrow: a global network which, through the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and talent, is dedicated to unlocking the imagination needed to create a different world.

Through a network of outposts in Bangalore, Boston, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai and San Francisco, along with Science and Technology Counselors around the world, we work on behalf of Switzerland to expand education, research, and innovation.

Science calls for action: the human and planetary challenges ahead of us will require a burst of creativity and innovation. More than ever, our future depends on our capacity to inspire each other beyond traditional boundaries and collectively forge new paths ahead.

Check-out the nex20 website

Connecting Tomorrow

For its 20th anniversary, the swissnex Network engages researchers, entrepreneurs, and visionary leaders to imagine the role of Switzerland on the global stage in 2040. What vision of Switzerland can propel the next 20 years of swissnex? Called nex20, the core of the program consists of various activities in different formats across five themes:

Working Tomorrow

There is little doubt that the way we work is about to change dramatically. The driver behind the 4th Industrial Revolution, a term coined by the founder of the WEF, Klaus Schwab, are technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence and automation. All of these breakthroughs are expected to bring about significant economic benefits like higher productivity and efficiency, a rising GDP and greater wealth overall. However, the 4th industrial revolution will require people to achieve the transition into both new and altered job roles.

Learning to work amidst this new context will be essential.

Living Tomorrow

Rising urbanisation, scarcer resources and climate change are some of the challenges mankind will be facing in the near future. To respond to this, innovative solutions are being designed and implemented as we speak: Artificial intelligence improves our commute, renewable energy makes our travels greener, new materials keep our houses warmer and robotisation enhances our harvests. Education, research and innovation are pivotal in defining how we will be living tomorrow.

Meeting Tomorrow

In a globalised world such as ours, a prosperous future is dependent on global governance. Switzerland, hosting International Geneva and its numerous NGOs & international organisations, will continue to be a key platform in defining solutions to current issues, such as climate change, but also emerging ones, such as data protection.

Swiss Education, Research and Innovation has a big interest in continuing its deep collaboration with global governance, and so does the swissnex Network, offering efficient frameworks for this collaboration to keep thriving.

#Meeting Tomorrow also refers to the current post-pandemic situation, where our social interactions have changed. This is obviously the case for our day to day lives but also for the encounters of decision-makers. Can digital solutions fully replace physical exchanges?