Switzerland and Europe in the conscience

The two-day knowledge event, which took place on January 12 and 13 in Interlaken, offered a wide range of political opinions and many useful inputs for entrepreneurs, CEOs and innovative entrepreneurs. This year, organizer Oliver Stoldt once again succeeded in attracting renowned personalities to the Bernese Oberland, who were able to make the audience think with thoroughly provocative statements.

No democratic deficit in Europe
Thus, the Greek ex-finance minister Yanis Varoufakis stated that there are no democratic deficits in the Eurozone, but a deep disregard for the democratic process. In a historical review of the creation of the Eurozone, Varoufakis tried to show that the developed system is not up to a crisis situation. He called for a pan-European political effort to find common answers to common challenges. The dream of prosperity can only be achieved with more transparency and democracy, he said. Former Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey also sees the world increasingly confronted with international challenges, risks and problems. Europe has reacted to these conditions with integration, whereas Switzerland is already a transnational democracy that can master such challenges despite different cultures, Calmy-Rey explained in a comparison of the EU and Switzerland.

Criticism of development aid
In order to be able to use intellectual capital economically as collective knowledge, one must know that one has it. The African child activist Dr. Auma Obama thus criticized conventional development aid at the Alpine Symposium in Interlaken on Tuesday, which primarily promotes a victim mentality. "Development aid" should not be explained by a question of conscience, warned the sister of the American president, who with her organization Sauti Kuu wants to build social, communicative and professional skills among children in Kenya in order to develop personal responsibility and awareness of their own potential. Obama wants to make better use of local resources in order to be less dependent on the know-how of Western development aid.

Fantastic or terrible Europe...
The two German opponents Wolfgang Bosbach (CDU) and the former opposition leader Gregor Gysi also inspired the audience with their rhetorical plain speaking. While Wolfgang Bosbach noted that the European idea is increasingly moving in the direction of national and regional political considerations, Gregor Gysi wished for more democracy in the economy: "We only have democracy in politics, but not in the economy." Gysi concluded his presentation on the most serious world problems with much irony and two sketches of a Europe: "In a fantastic Europe, planning and organization come from Germany, the police from Great Britain, cuisine from Italy, love from France and technology from Switzerland. In a terrible Europe, on the other hand, the planning and organization come from Italy, the police from Germany, the cuisine from Great Britain, the technology from France, and the love from Switzerland."

The path to becoming a "digital leader
In addition to a lot of politics, however, it was also about entrepreneurial challenges. The focus was on digital transformation. The German Mr. Creativity and backward speaker Bernhard Wolff promoted intelligent entertainment, Manuel P. Nappo (Digital Transformation) and the brand specialist Dietmar Dahmen (The Digital Wolf) took the audience into the digital world. Nappo gave the audience the following tips on how they as entrepreneurs can become a "digital leader" themselves:

• Always see the "big picture" but don't lose focus
• Putting "First Class user experience" above all else
• Building networks: "The time of the ego is over".
• Attack is the best defense: So don't wait for the competitor to attack, but roll up the market yourself
• Never underestimate small players
• Stay curious
• Create a collaborative work environment
• "Credit where credit is due"
• Less "yes, but..." and more "yes, why not..."

Economiesuisse President Heinz Karrer also called on politicians to uphold the bilateral agreements with the EU and to guarantee access for the Swiss economy through free trade agreements. Karrer also considered corporate tax reform III and a regulatory freeze to be essential in order to ensure the innovative and competitive ability of the Swiss economy in the future.

Entrepreneurial strategies
On Wednesday, "White Shaolin" Marc Gassert awakened willpower with an impressive show. The inquisitive audience benefited from the personal and professional experiences of aviation pioneer Bertrand Piccard, FC Basel president Bernhard Heusler and innovative Swiss ski producer Benedikt Germanier. Glice founder Viktor Meier, wooden toy manufacturer Marc A. Trauffer, Schwob CEO Stephan Hirt and Volker Schmidt (CSS Versicherung) provided information about their strategies in the entrepreneur talk. As always, the speakers were skillfully presented by SRF presenter Stephan Klapproth with a great deal of humor.