171–180 of 194 posts
I’m Swiss, did CS at the University of Geneva and work at AWS in New York. “The lake is not burning” is my favorite way to describe Switzerland when it comes to software and startups. And everything else, in fact.
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This is not necessarily because Switzerland is high-tech friendly. There is an absolutely massive pharma industry in the country. Lots of innovation comes from there.
And you really don't think pharma qualifies as high-tech? Check e.g. for the OECD definition.
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I fully agree, love your country, have spent two years of my life there and come every time an opportunity pops up. I speak fluently French, Italian, German and can manage plenty of Swiss German common expressions as well. Yet, the rules, oh boy, not sure how you will take this, but from my point of view Swiss world of rules makes the northern Germany feel as flexible as a South American country. When something must…
> Swiss world of rules makes the northern Germany feel as flexible as a South American country That is quite unworldly. I worked on large projects both in Switzerland and in Germany. These are totally different cultures. The number of laws and the degree of bureaucracy in Germany is many times greater than in Switzerland (only surpassed by Italy). In Germany everything is forbidden that is not explicitly allowed, in…
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As south European, I think it is a personal matter, it basically boils down to how much one can adapt to living by rules, without the flexibility to bend the rules one is used to in other countries. There are plus and minus to both approaches, the rules approach favours more the society overall as everyone gets the same, while the flexible approach kind of favours the individual.
Well, drive half an hour by car from southern Switzerland to Italy and you will notice that the road will be lined with garbage heaps on both sides. There are definitely some advantages if people are a bit tidy. And then try to achieve something at an Italian office without losing your mind. You can always negotiate with the Swiss, and there are always compromises.
And as mentioned in other answers I enjoyed my time in Switzerland, and come back every time I manage to, so trying to make my point of view without attacking anyone.
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And you really don't think pharma qualifies as high-tech? Check e.g. for the OECD definition.
We are talking about Silicon Valley though. A specific kind of "high-tech". Regardless of what the OECD definition is, we are talking about computers/software/internet/etc.
That would be impressive indeed, given that it only has a population of 430,000.
Given that the article also mentions a "city of Vaud", I have my doubts...
Having spent several years in Silicon Valley, and moved back to my native Zürich, I find much to like in either place, I have reasons to prefer the latter, but I would NOT recommend coming to Zürich if you're looking to replicate a Silicon Valley experience.
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We are talking about Silicon Valley though. A specific kind of "high-tech". Regardless of what the OECD definition is, we are talking about computers/software/internet/etc.
No, it's about whether Switzerland is "Not much for developers who are looking for interesting challenges". Maybe you know that life science is one of the big computer, software and internet users and contributors; a lot of ground breaking machine learning developments happens in life science today.
"Switzerland – Europe's Silicon Valley for Developers..."
> Maybe you know that life science is one of the big computer, software and internet users and contributors; a lot of ground breaking machine learning developments happens in life science today.
Great. That's tech moving into life sciences, like tech is moving into every aspect of society. But that doesn't make life sciences a "tech field". The news industry is bringing in tech too. Doesn't make the news industry a tech field.
But whatever I'm happy that tech is making inroads in switzerland.
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This is not necessarily because Switzerland is high-tech friendly. There is an absolutely massive pharma industry in the country. Lots of innovation comes from there.
And you really don't think pharma qualifies as high-tech? Check e.g. for the OECD definition.
The high innovation ranking of Switzerland is most certainly not due to its computer/IT-related innovation. That's the point.
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No, it's about whether Switzerland is "Not much for developers who are looking for interesting challenges". Maybe you know that life science is one of the big computer, software and internet users and contributors; a lot of ground breaking machine learning developments happens in life science today.
> No, it's about whether Switzerland is "Not much for developers who are looking for interesting challenges" "Switzerland – Europe's Silicon Valley for Developers..." > Maybe you know that life science is one of the big computer, software and internet users and contributors; a lot of ground breaking machine learning developments happens in life science today. Great. That's tech moving into life sciences, like tech is…
It then refers to the article "Here’s why Switzerland is a world innovation leader" (https://www.wearedevelopers.com/blog/heres-why-switzerland-i...).
> that doesn't make life sciences a "tech field"
Where does all this wisdom come from?