Austria is not yet an innovation leader in research and technology

This is the result of the RTI Monitor 2024, which was presented on Monday evening by the Council for Research, Science, Innovation and Technology Development (FORWIT). In some areas, Austria already occupies a leading position. However, in order to develop into an “innovation leader” overall by 2030, “decisive, systemically effective action and a strong role for Austria in Europe are still needed,” said Council Chairman Thomas Henzinger in a press release on Tuesday. Overall, not much has changed compared to the previous year: Austria is already well positioned in terms of financing, location attractiveness and the circular economy, while there are still weaknesses in start-ups, digitization and gender equality.

Since 2022, the Research Council has been measuring the performance of the domestic RTI (research, technology and innovation) system in a total of 16 areas on an annual basis using almost 250 indicators. It also examines the achievement of the federal government’s strategic goals, such as the RTI Strategy 2030 and the circular economy strategy. In the European Innovation Scoreboard 2023 (EIS) published by the EU Commission, Austria is in sixth place, leading the group of “Strong Innovators”. The federal government’s research strategy from 2020 sets the goal of moving up to fifth place in the EIS by 2030 and thus into the group of “Innovation Leaders”.

This year, the funding of research and development (R&D), and in particular the promotion of companies, is once again a positive feature. In this area, Austria is among the top 3 countries for the first time. This contributes significantly to the location’s attractiveness, which is rated above average compared to the “Innovation Leaders”. The strong regulation of intellectual property and the availability of green electricity are also positive. According to the monitor, corporate taxation, the quality of publications and the number of tertiary degrees in scientific and technological subjects are dampening factors. Austria is at the forefront when it comes to international integration and the circular economy.

Homework on gender equality

In the area of ​​gender equality, Austria’s RTI policy still has some homework to do, especially in view of the increasing demand for qualified specialists: the proportion of female researchers in companies and the number of female graduates in the field of information and communication technology (ICT) are low, and the performance difference between girls and boys in the international PISA test in mathematics is large. In terms of start-ups – here the proportion of women is 17 percent – there is a certain dynamism in terms of venture capital. Overall, however, the country has not yet caught up with the EU average. The new spin-off guidelines for universities presented in April could, if implemented quickly, have positive effects on the start-up ecosystem.

Despite slight improvements, Austria has not yet caught up with the frontrunners in terms of the level of digitization. There are therefore deficits in infrastructure, i.e. the low broadband penetration and availability of fiber optic connections. Too few ICT graduates would further exacerbate the shortage of skilled workers, which in turn would affect the skills needed to develop and use artificial intelligence (AI).