Monterey Bay DART capped a week-long delegation to Switzerland (August 29–September 6) that extended the organization’s growing role as a bridge between California’s low-altitude economy and leading innovation ecosystems abroad. The trip, which built on DART’s existing relationship with the Greater Zurich Area (GZA), brought DART’s Executive Director and Co-Founder into direct conversation with Swiss cantonal governments, research institutions, regulators, and aerospace companies.

The visit follows the same model DART has used to build its international partnerships since 2023: lead with workforce development and shared technical challenges, then move toward formal agreements as trust and specific projects take shape. It’s the same arc that produced DART’s June 2026 Letter of Intent on Smart Air Mobility Cooperation with Den Helder Airport and the Coast to Coast Foundation in the Netherlands — an agreement that positioned DART as an ambassador for Smart Air Mobility on the U.S. West Coast. Switzerland is now the second country following that same path.

A Week of Purposeful Conversations

The delegation’s agenda was dense and deliberately varied, moving from private industry to cantonal government to academic research over the course of five working days:

Meteomatics AG (St. Gallen) — The trip opened with a meeting hosted by the company’s founder and CEO, exploring Meteomatics’ interest in an expanded California presence.

Innovation Park Zurich (IPZ) and Empa/NEST (Dübendorf) — At IPZ’s Hangar 1, the team met with members of IPZ’s business expansion leadership to discuss how the two organizations’ business networks might connect over time. The visit continued at Empa’s NEST building with the director and program manager of the Laboratory of Sustainability Robotics — a conversation that pointed toward interesting shared research territory, and one of the clearest personal connections of the week.

KoKo Cantonal Retreat (Zug) — DART’s presentation to the KoKo retreat, hosted by the Greater Zurich Area, drew a strong and encouraging response. Several cantonal representatives reached out in the days that followed to learn more, a reflection that DART’s workforce-first message — apprenticeships, applied training, and community-based career pathways — resonates as strongly with Swiss audiences as it does at home.

Alpine Drone Consortium (Altdorf, Uri) — Hosted by ADC’s leadership team, this stop focused on Alpine-domain drone operations. The conversation surfaced real common ground — from knowledge-sharing on Alpine-domain operations to the kind of network-to-network exchange that could, over time, grow into a shared “living laboratory” for Alpine operating conditions — and both organizations are continuing to explore what a closer working relationship could look like.

Federal Office of Civil Aviation (Zurich Airport) — A meeting with FOCA’s UAS authorization, technology and innovation, and digital transformation leads offered a close look at how Swiss regulators approach UAS authorization and airspace innovation — directly relevant to DART’s own work on multi-jurisdiction airspace governance back home.

Swiss Drone Competence Center (Lodrino, Ticino) — The delegation toured SDCC’s test range and control tower with the Center’s Ticino-based scientific team, examining how Ticino has built out a regional testing and certification hub.

ETH Zurich — The week closed with a meeting with a senior researcher and lecturer whose work on vocational education and apprenticeship systems overlaps closely with DART’s own workforce model. The conversation pointed toward future collaboration once she relocates to Stanford later this fall.

With Thanks

None of this would have been possible without the generosity of our hosts throughout the week. Special thanks to the entire Greater Zurich Area team, whose years of relationship-building made this delegation possible and who welcomed us at every turn — and to the leadership and staff at Meteomatics; Innovation Park Zurich; the Laboratory of Sustainability Robotics at Empa/NEST; the KoKo cantonal retreat organizers and attendees; the Alpine Drone Consortium; the Federal Office of Civil Aviation; the Swiss Drone Competence Center; and ETH Zurich. Their time, candor, and hospitality made this one of the most substantive weeks in DART’s international work to date.

What Comes Next

The trip opened several promising conversations — on Alpine-domain drone operations, research collaboration, workforce and apprenticeship models, and cantonal-level interest in California’s approach to the low-altitude economy. DART is continuing those conversations in the weeks ahead, with an eye toward identifying the specific, mutually beneficial projects worth pursuing together. As with any relationship at this early stage, the shape of that future collaboration is still being worked out with our Swiss partners, and we’ll share more as things take form.

DART also plans to build on the trip’s momentum at the 2027 LIFT Summit, taking place March 23–25, 2027, in Monterey, California — where Swiss partners, alongside DART’s broader network of workforce, infrastructure, and industry collaborators, are warmly invited to continue the conversation in person.

As with DART’s Netherlands relationship, the Switzerland engagement reflects a consistent philosophy: California’s low-altitude economy grows stronger not by exporting a finished model, but by building genuine, reciprocal relationships with the regions best positioned to teach — and learn from — us. Swiss cantonal governance, FOCA’s regulatory framework, and Alpine operational experience all offer real lessons for California’s own multi-jurisdiction challenges.

Learn more about the 2027 LIFT Summit at liftsummit.org.