From raclette to zippers to direct democracy

Can we imagine a world without zippers? Or the famed mouth-watering melted cheese dish called raclette that is served best with boiled baby potatoes? Or how about the triangular-shaped Toblerone that fits our mouth perfectly?

It would, indeed, be difficult to imagine today’s world without these seemingly mundane stuff, which were all invented by the Swiss.

But wait, there’s so much more – the multi-use Swiss Army knife, invented by Swiss cutler Karl Elsener; the velcro, created by Swiss engineer George de Mestral who went out hunting one day and came home to find seed pods attached to his clothes; and the aluminium foil invented by Swiss business man Heinrich Alfred Gautschi.

The more important application of direct democracy, although the concept came from the ancient Greeks, is credited to the Swiss during the founding of the Swiss Confederation in 1921.

It is truly jaw-dropping – the Swiss’ mind to create and recreate.

The raclette, for instance, was recreated into a sophisticated version of roasted cheese originally consumed by shepherds in the mountainous Swiss Alpine regions. The idea of the velcro was a manna from nature that engineer de Mestral perfected. Even the design of Toblerone, which has the famed Matterhorn mountain, is so innovative that there’s a hidden bear within the logo.

65 years of diplomatic ties with the Philippines

I spent some time researching Swiss inventions after attending a reception at the Swiss residence in Makati hosted by Ambassador Alain Gaschen to celebrate the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Switzerland.

Ambassador Alain said the Swiss Embassy in Manila is celebrating the 65th year through 65 stories that will best illustrate the relationship between the two nations.

“We will launch our 65 stories...We want to illustrate this relationship through individuals that have shaped this relationship and we will do that throughout this year,” he said.

Congratulations to the Philippines and Switzerland for this new milestone in our two countries’ history.

Innovation and sustainability

Ambassador Alain then talked about two keywords that will guide this year’s celebration -- innovation and sustainability.

“Innovation, because we are the most innovative country in the world for the last 10 years or so,” the ambassador said.

Innovation got me very interested because I thought about what we, in the Philippines, can learn from the Swiss’ innovative minds.

Indeed, Switzerland has been deemed the most innovative country in the world by the Global Innovation Index (GII) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) every year since 2011.

The index uses a giant dataset made up of 81 indicators to determine the rankings of 132 world economies, including social, business model, and technical indicators, as well as research and development (R&D) laboratories, contributions to scientific journals, etc.

According to the EU Business School, Switzerland relies on the science and technology sectors for growth. Its culture is founded on creativity, individualism, and equality, values reflected in the country’s thriving tech and startup scenes.

Switzerland also used its lack of natural resources to focus its attention on R&D to compete in the global market. It spends the equivalent of $17 billion on R&D every year, according to the EU Business School.

“What is more, Switzerland has long been committed to protecting intellectual property. The Swiss government introduced the world’s first Federal Patent Law in 1906. Still in effect today, this law encourages Swiss companies to come up with new technologies and file for patents by rewarding patent holders with financial grants. In the 21st century, this has led to the establishment of a robust Swiss startup scene,” it said.

Isn’t this just mind-blowing?

We can do that here in the Philippines. While we cannot afford to spend the same amount on R&D, we can start somewhere. We can encourage more innovations. We should provide more scholarships to students who excel in science and technology. We should provide more government support for R&D and improve the legal framework for intellectual property rights and patents.

The Filipino mind, after all, is naturally innovative, creative, and brilliant. Given the right support, I’m sure Filipino inventors can do so much more and thrive in today’s fast-moving world, instead of feeling isolated, out-of-this world or in some cases, dismissed as a bunch of outcasts with hilarious ideas.

Moving forward, we can learn so much from Switzerland’s innovative mindset and the way they protect their creations.

Isn’t it sad that a Filipino, Dr. Abelardo Aguilar, who worked for a US pharmaceutical company, discovered the antibiotic erythromycin? Unfortunately, he did not get his share of the fruits of his discovery because of international patent laws, according to Flipscience.ph.

Our National Scientist Ramon Barba also invented the concept of mango flowering, while Diosdado Banatao developed the first single-chip 16-bit microprocessor-based calculator in the 1970s, the article also said.

I’m sure there are more big ideas out there from Filipinos, but the government and perhaps the private sector should provide bigger support to put these ideas into reality.

Who knows, maybe someday soon, the next big thing that will change the world for the better will come from a great Filipino mind.

Iris Gonzales’ email address is [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at eyesgonzales.com