Innovation
Austria is a country of research and innovation with great innovative capacity, ranking among the leading countries in Europe with another record research spending ratio of 3.19 per cent in 2018.
Austria has set itself the ambitious goal of increasing the research spending ratio to over 3.7 per cent of GDP. Throughout 2012-2016, the R&D expenditure to GDP ratio in Austria was higher than in Germany and most other EU Member States.
Funding
A major task of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy is to provide funding for areas that are specifically in need of such support. These funding programmes are devised and managed in close cooperation with other ministries, the Austrian Council for Research and Technology Development as well as other funding entities. In addition, they are subject to periodic evaluation by independent experts to better focus the programmes on their relevant target groups.
Framework for RTI in Austria
A successful research and technology policy consists not only of funding measures. Rather, it requires a number of accompanying actions to inform potential beneficiaries and help them implement innovative ideas, while supporting policy-makers in efforts to improve the RTI framework.
Innovation and Technology Policy
The competitive strength of companies and thus their potential for employment are a central subject in both Austria and Europe as a whole. These factors greatly depend on the quality of activities in research, technological development and innovation. Consequently, it is important for the Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy to further enhance investment in research, development and innovation and to establish the appropriate framework for strengthening Austrian businesses, in particular small- and medium-sized companies.
For this purpose, a coordinated portfolio of programmes, initiatives and networks has been made available.
Austrian Research and Technology Report 2023
The Austrian Research and Technology Report (FTB) is the annual status report on federally funded research, technology and innovation in Austria and is prepared on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF), the Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK), and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy (BMAW) pursuant to Section 8 of the Research Organisation Act (FOG).
The current report provides an overview of the implementation of the RTI Strategy 2030 via the RTI pacts 2021-23 and 2024-26 as well as RTI-relevant sub-strategies and initiatives. Austria's position in research, technology and innovation policy is presented on the basis of current data. Another key component is the monitoring of the central research institutions and research funding institutions pursuant to Section 8 of the Research Financing Act (FoFinaG).
According to the global estimate of Statistics Austria, the R&D ratio will rise to 3.22% of GDP in 2023 with EUR 15.5 billion in R&D spending, exceeding the EU target of 3% for the 10th time in a row. About 67% of R&D spending can be allocated to the business enterprise sector, comprising the research premium and R&D funding from abroad, by foreign companies on behalf of their Austrian subsidiaries. The crisis-induced decline in business R&D spending has been compensated by stronger public R&D funding.
A focus chapter of the FTB 2023 is dedicated to the support of the Green Transformation in research and the economy. Multiple crises reinforce concepts such as technology sovereignty and resilience in RTI policy. With the Climate and Transformation Initiative, the BMAW will also provide €600 million from 2023 for the transformation of the research and business location, allocated for sustainable, technology-open transformation projects (research and technology development funding, location and investment funding as well as qualification measures) with a specific focus on the automotive, semiconductor and life science sectors.
As a supplement to the FTB, a "FTB-Factsheet" offers a compact overview on six pages.