Innosuisse – The Swiss Innovation Agency | Tom Russi | Innoscape Talk #12

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? For more information check out our website and follow us on social media: https://innoscape.ch https://cieb.unibas.ch   / cieb-unibas   Interview: Christian Rutzer Question Script: Rolf Weder, Dragan Filimonovic, Christian Rutzer, Till Schmidlin Production: DropZone Productions 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. ©2025 All Rights Reserved Center for International Economics and Business | CIEB University of Basel