How Ticino Reinvented Itself Through Innovation

Ticino, the Italian-speaking canton in southern Switzerland, is working to replace its historical dependence on banking. According to the article, the end of Switzerland's banking secrecy regime in 2017 forced the canton to rethink its economic model. Nearly a decade later, it is building an economy centred on startups, scientific research, venture capital, artificial intelligence and technology transfer. The European Commission's Regional Innovation Scoreboard 2025 ranked Ticino sixth among Europe's most innovative regions, behind only Zurich within Switzerland. Lugano remains Switzerland's third-largest financial centre and continues to supply capital and networks to the emerging technology sector.

The ecosystem rests on two universities, the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) and the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI), both founded in the second half of the 1990s. Research institutions include the Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence Research (IDSIA), founded in Lugano in 1988 by philanthropist Angelo Dalle Molle and now employing more than 100 researchers. Lugano also hosts the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre, operated by ETH Zurich. Life sciences are concentrated in Bellinzona within the Bios+ cluster. The AGIRE Foundation, the canton's innovation agency established in 2011, coordinates the system and manages Tecnopolo Ticino in Manno and the Boldbrain Startup Challenge accelerator. Its director, Lorenzo Ambrosini, describes Tecnopolo as a space for scale-ups rather than a conventional incubator.

The Switzerland Innovation Park Ticino, launched in 2024, focuses on drones, life sciences and fashion technology. The drone programme uses Lodrino Airport, a former military airfield, to test unmanned systems in Alpine conditions, with a planned BVLOS corridor that Dario Corica, the park's manager, says would substantially enhance its appeal. In Bellinzona, a biofabrication cluster is developing organ-on-a-chip and organoid technologies, a field expected to benefit from regulatory moves in Europe and the United States favouring alternatives to animal testing. Andrea Moroni Stampa, president of the Life Sciences Competence Center, says the model links USI, SUPSI, the Cantonal Hospital Authority and private firms.

Technology transfer is led in part by the USI Startup Centre, which has been restructured since 2020 to focus on early-stage, deep-tech ventures. Its director, Francesco Lurati, says the centre is increasingly recognised across Switzerland as deep-tech focused. Its Lab to Market programme works with researchers and PhD candidates to identify commercial opportunities early. The article also cites Humabs, a biotech company later acquired by US-listed VIR Biotechnology, as an example of the research base producing companies that attract international capital.

Despite these gains, the article identifies challenges around capital, coordination and global reach. Fabrizio Rossini of USI and Lyra Partners argues that Ticino's position between Milan and Zurich must be converted into investment, talent and international partnerships, while Silvia Dal Molin notes the need for a more international outlook beyond the domestic market.