SLN: CTI R&D consortia

Excellence through cooperation and competition

CTI has the mandate and the budget to promote innovation (see KTI_Botschaft (178 KB)).

The CTI has determined that the collaboration between research institutes and industrial companies, is producing promising and above average innovation achievements.

Pure R&D consortia between institutes have been successful for basic research efforts (excellence cooperates). Michael E. Porter has discovered "5 forces analysis" that, in addition to cooperation, also competition drives the innovation (excellence competes).

SLN has decided to promote innovation by incubating through workshops within the photonic cluster a series of bilateral (collaboration of ONE industry partner and ONE academic partner) CTI projects (in competition among each other) concentrated around a few specific topics.

CTI has charged the SLN to promote the innovation of the Swiss photonics cluster ( Rahmenvertrag_2009(PDF, 349 KB) ) within the framework of the CTI R&D consortia drive.

A document to define the exact goals and the key performance indicators is mutually agreed upon each year ( 2009leistungsvereinbarung (53 KB) , Kundenzufriedenheit (119 KB), Excellence in cooperation (158 KB) ).