Swiss Review 5/2018

Swiss Review / September 2018 / No.5 31 Switzerland – world champ in innovation Switzerland is the most innovative country in the world – for the eighth time in a row. That’s according to the annual ranking published by the World Intellectual Property Or- ganization. What determined the top ranking was, in part, Switzerland’s high investment in research and develop- ment as well as its technological excellence. Switzerland did well primarily in the area of patents and intellectual property. Following right behind Switzerland in the ranks are the Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain and Singapore. (JM) More modern, colourful and balanced All thosewho voted on 23 September noticed it: the Federal Council has changed the way it informs the public about proposals submitted to the vote of the people. The voting booklet it issues has a new, more colourful layout and the content has been changed. Anewelement is the column for readers in a hurry who want to be informed at a glance. In- itiative and referendumcommittees are nowgiven the same amount of space as the Federal Council to present their ar- guments: the information is thusmore politically balanced. Bymaking these changes, the Federal Council is taking new reading habits into account and attempting to improve the knowledge of voters. (MUL) Tiger mosquito invades Switzerland The tiger mosquito was originally a native of the tropical areas of South and Southeast Asia. In the meantime, how- ever, the mosquito has spread worldwide – including to Switzerland – through the transport of goods and tourist travel. More than 20 years ago it established itself in Ticino. Now it can also be found north of the Alps. Most recently it was sighted in the Basel area. The tiger mosquito is feared because it can transmit the Zika virus or dengue fever, among others. Since these diseases are rare in Switzerland, though, the risk of infection is low. (JM) Switzerland sweats For Switzerland, this summer which is drawing to an end has been one of the most problematic on meteorological re- cord. Inmany places temperatures rose above records set in 2003. Lack of precipitation aggravated the situation. Mete- orologists spoke of it being the summer with the lowest amount of precipitation in 100 years, which brought with it a high risk of wildfire. The consequences for Swiss agricul- ture cannot yet be assessed. Water temperatures rose in manyplaces to a life-threatening level for nativefish. Inview of the high temperatures, riverwater-cooled nuclear power plants had to scale down their operations. (MUL) Dimitri Rougy Young activist sparks small revolution: that is the canned version of 21-year-old Dimitri Rougy’s life story. Since March 2018, the inde- pendent campaigner and student of cultural studies, who was previ- ously little known on the national scene, has risen to become a Swiss political star. Almost singlehandedly, he organised the referendum against social detectives that will be put to the vote on 25 November 2018 (see page 12). Here is how it came about: multi-prize-winning au- thor Sibylle Berg ranted on Twitter about the social detective law passed by parliament inMarch 2018. Rougy chimed in. He contacted parties and organisations but with no success – none of themwanted anything to dowith a referendum. Thenwewill just have to go it alone, Rougy and Berg told themselves. Rougy orchestrated it all online. Within threemonths 50,000 sig- natures had to be collected. The two-person democratic guerrilla shock troop searched for donations and signature collectors via an online collection platform. Soon therewere 11,000 online supporters. In July 2018, 55,861 signatures were submitted. For the first time, a ref- erendumpetition that had its origin in social media had become a suc- cess. Political analysts speak of a possible sea change if it is no longer only the big parties and organisations who can call for a referendum, but thanks to digital democracy, also small, spontaneous citizens’ movements. Dimitri Rougy’s political engagement is nothing new. With a col- league he founded the Berner Oberland Youth Parliament and sits for the Social Democratic Party (SP) on the Interlaken Municipal Coun- cil. Always on the go, he organised, among other things, the demon- stration against Donald Trump at theWorld Economic Forum2018 in Davos. And following the November 2015 Paris attacks, he virtually singlehandedly organised the illumination of the parliament build- ing in Bern in the colours of the French tricolour. Now he is giving Swiss domestic politics a few striking splashes of colour. JÜRG MÜLLER Top Pick News