A flag­ship ecosystem

Phil­an­thropy is an important part of Geneva’s stra­tegy’, says Pierre Maudet, a senior govern­ment offi­cial in Geneva. In contrast to other cantons, the sector is still expe­ri­en­cing double-digit growth in Geneva. Geneva has laun­ched an inter­ac­tive map, supported by StiftungSchweiz, with the aim of respon­ding to this dyna­mism and making the stake­hol­ders in the sector iden­ti­fia­ble at a glance. ‘We iden­ti­fied more than 1,200 chari­ties with phil­an­thro­pic aims, divi­ded into ones using funds to support their own work or to finance exter­nal projects, and ones which do a mixture of both. In addi­tion, there is an entire network of experts and specia­lists in phil­an­thropy.’ The plan is to expand the map to include stake­hol­ders from associations.

The map is in high demand

In line with the importance of phil­an­thropy in the city, Geneva has run a website for the sector for many years, but an over­view of this nature is new. Pierre Maudet is plea­sed with his initial expe­ri­ence, as the map has met with a posi­tive recep­tion from experts. ‘We’ve recei­ved lots of spon­ta­neous respon­ses that reite­rate this. The map has had almost 2,100 hits since it went live, an average of 25 sessi­ons a day, so it is clearly meeting a tangi­ble need in this sector.’ The map is embedded within a cata­lo­gue of inter­ac­tive maps. One of them, for exam­ple, provi­des an over­view of orga­ni­sa­ti­ons who offer funding for inno­va­tions – and the maps are in high demand. ‘With a little distance, we obser­ved that the specia­lists in this field made use of the tool almost imme­dia­tely. It helps us to visua­lise a parti­cu­lar ecosys­tem extre­mely quickly,’ says Maudet.

The poten­tial of digitalisation

The inter­ac­tive digi­tal map aligns with Geneva’s stra­tegy of offe­ring addi­tio­nal support to the sector. It is not only of importance to phil­an­thro­pists: it is also of value to Geneva, and it reve­als the oppor­tu­ni­ties asso­cia­ted with digi­tal solu­ti­ons. As the state offi­cial respon­si­ble for the promo­tion of the economy, Pierre Maudet goes on to encou­rage Geneva’s resi­dents, compa­nies and insti­tu­ti­ons to engage with digi­tal change. ‘This is a major chall­enge facing our society. We can’t imagine a future without phil­an­thropy, and the present day is shaped just as stron­gly by the digi­tal sphere. And the future is alre­ady part of the ‘post-digi­tal’ age, with block­chain tech­no­lo­gies, arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence, expan­ded reality (both virtual and augmen­ted) and quan­tum computers.

see map