Keystone
According to Martin Vetterli, President of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), the corona pandemic has revealed Switzerland’s deficits in digitization. Switzerland has a problem and was caught off guard during the crisis.
A pandemic shows the weaknesses of a society as if under a magnifying glass – not only socially, politically and medically, but also technologically. “We have to be honest now, name the deficits and get better,” said Vetterli in an interview with the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung”.
Money only plays a role to a limited extent. Switzerland refuses to accept reality out of convenience. «We are rich, traditional and sluggish. If we have an IT problem, we get help, for example from experts abroad. These are bad prerequisites for breaking new ground digitally, ”Vetterli continued.
Estonia, a relatively young state, has shown how a society can be digitized in no time. Switzerland should therefore also see the crisis as an opportunity. It starts with a small one. As an example, Vetterli mentioned the introduction of an electronic signature, which had lasted for years with no countable result, but which suddenly became possible with the first lockdown.
Vetterli also commented on the framework agreement between Switzerland and the EU, which is of central importance for Switzerland as a research location, but threatens to fail. «We shouldn’t be naive. The EU has now had enough of our special requests. It will not be ready for concessions a second time. Switzerland’s negotiating position is significantly weaker than it used to be. “
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