Protection is a double-edged sword. Securing critical infrastructure is a core responsibility of any government. But when the goal is to support an industry or promote a particular technology, the line between protection and protectionism can be crossed very quickly.
Andy Yen, the CEO of the Swiss email provider Proton, recently called on the Swiss federal government to give preference to domestic technology companies. Doing so, he argued, would reduce Switzerland’s dependence on foreign countries and strengthen its technological sovereignty. But whether such a policy of digital protectionism would actually make the country more secure is questionable for three reasons:
1) Resilience comes not from shutting oneself off, but from diversification.
Switzerland is not resilient because it does everything itself. It is resilient because it can absorb disruptions, supply shortages, and political risks by relying on alternatives. Choosing a small number of domestic providers for political reasons would create an unhealthy dependence on a handful of companies at home.
2) Protectionism weakens the pressure to innovate.
Companies do not become better when they are shielded from competition. They improve when they must repeatedly hold their own against the best providers in the world. Domestic customers – businesses and government agencies alike – would also suffer. They could ultimately be forced to rely on solutions that are more expensive or less technologically advanced.
3) Protectionism would hurt a small export-oriented economy in particular.
For years, Switzerland has promoted open markets and the removal of protectionist measures around the world. Discriminating against foreign providers would put that reputation at risk and could invite retaliation. A government preference for Swiss technology companies might generate domestic contracts in the short term, but it could jeopardize access to foreign markets.
The right response to a world that is becoming increasingly closed off is therefore not to retreat into protectionism – quite the opposite. The government should do three things instead: negotiate free-trade agreements with additional countries to diversify Switzerland’s sources of technology; avoid prematurely constraining new technologies with regulations before they have had a chance to develop; and direct more funding for basic research toward STEM and life-science fields, since they produce a particularly large number of startups.
Openness and innovation: That is the strategy that can make Switzerland resilient in an increasingly disorderly world.
This article appeared in slightly abridged form on September 1, 2026, in the research magazine “Horizonte”.
