How to find the appropriate NTN Innovation Booster and further information

Additive manufacturing, such as 3-D printing, can revolutionise manufacturing processes and business models. It enables new designs, personalised mass production, optimised material usage and shortened supply chains. The NTN Innovation Booster – Additive Manufacturing seeks to harness this potential for stakeholders from industry, research and society. It gives them the opportunity to create, test and validate promising applications and product ideas using existing and new technologies and materials.

The NTN Innovation Booster – Blockchain Nation Switzerland develops ideas and helps launch start-ups for blockchain-based applications across all regions of Switzerland. It is based on a four-stage process, including the phases of ideation, hackathons, incubation and corporate innovation. Its goal is to position Switzerland as a pioneering nation of decentralised economy. Acting as the Leading House, the Swiss Blockchain Federation has over 70 members and is supported by three cantons.

The NTN Innovation Booster – Energy Lab is a Swiss innovation eco-system consisting of over 200 partners from economy, research and politics with a networked vision for a socio-political and economic energy future. In a bottom up approach, based on challenges from practice we merge expertise, research and economy. As a flexible organisation employing agile processes, we strive for science-based value creation in practice.

Microtechnology has a long and successful tradition in Switzerland, involving industries that make a significant contribution to the nation's value creation and prosperity such as watchmaking, medical technology, mobility, electronics, machine tools and metrology. Structural change in these industries is forcing many suppliers and subcontractors to adapt their offerings. The NTN Innovation - Booster Microtech Innovation Booster aims to help them transform their offerings, diversify their positioning, facilitate collaboration and improve knowhow.

Sport is a major contributor to the Swiss economy and innovation in sport is making rapid progress. In this context, the NTN Innovation Booster – Sport & Physical Activity will help to foster collaboration between different sectors focusing on sport, thus initiating new partnerships and projects – e.g. sport and tourism, health, tech – and using innovative methods to drive progress in sport. ThinkSport will act as a Leading House of the consortium, which also comprises EPFL and UNIL.

People with disabilities have needs in terms of autonomy, inclusion and social participation. Technological and social innovations – products and services – in the fields of communication, mobility or care will allow Switzerland to be inclusive and to catch up with the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Experts in Service Design and Anthropotechnology support the participants of the NTN Innovation Booster – Technology & Special Needs to develop products and services with and for people with special needs.

The NTN Innovation Booster – Applied Circular Sustainability focuses on the pre-development of circular products and business models. Experts from research, education, society and business development generate ideas, concepts and prototypes for completely circular solutions. All industries and economic sectors in Switzerland are invited to join the NTN Innovation Booster and contribute their needs, ideas and expertise.

The aim of the NTN Innovation Booster – Databooster is to generate Swiss innovation using data-based value creation. Databooster fosters innovation in data-based services for the manufacturing and service sector, combining new methods and technologies in data science with innovative business and service concepts.

The NTN Innovation Booster – Living Labs for Decarbonisation carries out activities to promote technological and social innovation in the field of energy through a public-private people partnership, transferring knowledge and co-design solutions by using open innovation and design thinking methods.

Ten Living Labs throughout Switzerland work with local implementation partners, researchers and citizens on topics such as mobility, digitalisation, energy efficiency and circular economy. We use our ideas platform, e-learning, open lab days and innovation camps to boost innovative projects for the decarbonisation of energy.

Photonics is one of the key-enabling technologies of the 21st century. It holds similar potential to that of electronics around 80 years ago and will penetrate all modern applications and business areas. Photonics technologies offer tremendous potential for many of the challenges facing modern society: digitalisation, communication, mobility, decarbonisation, health and sustainability. The NTN Innovation Booster – Photonics contributes disruptive, attractive innovations and USPs for Swiss companies based on cross-technological approaches and utilising modern ideation methods.

The agro-food segment faces significant societal and environmental challenges that require far-reaching changes from all stakeholders. Innovative solutions to complex challenges can only be achieved by pursuing a collaborative approach, involving cross-functional competences and stakeholders. The NTN Innovation Booster – Swiss Food Ecosystems tackles the challenges of the next generation of food ecosystems, capitalising on its broad innovation experience and network of SMEs, start-ups, corporates and academic institutions.

Innovation in MedTech and Digital Health can increase patient benefits if all user groups are involved in the development process. The NTN Innovation Booster – User-Centred HealthTech adopts a user-centric approach and enables exchange between experts from business, academia and the clinical environment while still at ideation phase.