Austria - country profile

Country Outline

• GDP: 369,686 mil. euros (Eurostat 2017)
• GDP per Capita: 42,000 euros (Eurostat 2017)

Contact Information

• Organisation: Austria / Embassy of Austria Commercial Section
• Name / Position: Ms. Caroline Adenberger / Commercial Attaché
• Phone no. / e-mail: (+82) 2 732 7330 / seoul@advantageaustria.org

With research and development accounting for 3,16% (2017) of the country’s economic output (GDP), Austria is performing well above the EU and OECD average. Over the last decade, Austria has built a mature and modern innovation system. One of its pillars is its educational system: there are currently 22 state universities in Austria (including six universities of the Arts and three technical universities), 21 universities of applied sciences and 13 private universities – with a total of around 370,000 students (2016), of which more than 102,000 come from abroad. Austrian universities are also strongly advancing internationalization in the field of research: this is impressively demonstrated by aboveaverage participation in the EU funding framework programme, with Austria ranking 5th in the success rate of the prestigious and highly competitive ERC grants.
Austrian researchers and scientists are among the world’s elite in numerous areas, such as quantum physics, mathematics and medicine, as well as the humanities and social sciences. In addition to higher education institutions, Austria’s educational system is also aligned with the needs of companies by having a longstanding tradition of dual vocational training for young adults, which operates in parallel in apprenticeships and vocational schools. 
Furthermore, for all technical disciplines, Higher Technical Colleges (HTC) offer highly qualified training courses that are often equivalent to international Bachelor levels. The Austrian business landscape is characterized by innovative small and medium sized enterprises, which form the backbone of Austria’s innovation economy. In terms of R&D expenditure, which currently stands at EUR 11.68 billion, it is the business enterprise sector that accounts for the biggest share of R&D expenditure in terms of total expenditure at approx. 49,5% (or EUR 6.11 billion), with a - by international comparison - high share of foreign investment at 15,8% (or EUR 1.95 billion). 
Also, innovative companies in Austria can make use of a research financing support system that is recognized as a global model. The funding quota for company research projects ranks at the top end of the international scale. From basic to applied research, the entire innovation process is supported generously in Austria by public financing, with three agencies being mainly responsible for administering those funds: the Science Fund “FWF” makes available almost EUR 200 million per year for basic research projects; the Austrian Research Promotion Agency “FFG” supports industry-oriented research with an extensive programme of grants (incl. with Korea) and services. Over EUR 400 million are invested annually for application-oriented projects. Thirdly, the Austrian Federal Promotional Bank “AWS” supports companies as a financing partner in all stages, from pre-seed to company creation and international growth projects.

1. Policies and Strategies in Science, Technology and Innovation

Austrian RTI Strategy “Becoming an Innovation Leader” (2011)

The Federal Government of Austria formulated its first Research, Technology and Innovation Strategy in March 2011. This strategy (which covers the period until 2020) is intended to “push Austria forward from the group of Innovation Followers to the group of Innovation Leaders, i.e. to be among the most innovative countries in the EU.” Before the formulation of the strategy in 2011, the Austrian Government had already taken since 2000 comprehensive measures to strengthen the competitiveness of the Austrian economy. Several processes and institutions have come into being since the decision was taken to implement the strategy, including the “RTI Task Force”, an inter-ministerial steering committee with constituent working groups. A variety of initiatives have been launched and some have already been implemented. One of the RTI strategy’s particular strengths is that it offers a broad, integrative and systemic overview of the constituent parts (education, research and industry), especially regarding the educational system as an integral part of the innovation system.

Open Innovation Strategy (2015)

The Austrian Federal Government was tasked by the National Council in July 2015 with developing an Open Innovation Strategy for Austria. This was delegation to the Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT) and to the Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy. This makes Austria one of the first countries in the world to develop its own national open innovation strategy. The goal of creating such a strategy is to deploy open innovation as a guiding concept for further development of the national innovation system and thereby also to reinforce Austria’s international competitiveness as a location for knowledge and business.

The strategy was adopted in July 2016 by the Austrian Government. In addition to accompanying studies concerning specific aspects of open innovation, particular attention was given to intensive and long-term participation by members of the public and relevant stakeholder groups. The most important tool in this participation process was the online portal openinnovation.gv.at. From the middle until the end of 2015 stakeholders, interested members of the public and experts all had the opportunity to discuss their ideas for the Open Innovation Strategy and to publish existing Best Practice examples. Parallel to the digital options a stakeholder workshop was organised in January 2016 and also provided an opportunity to participate in the process of drawing up the strategy and contributing specific content. The fact that 470 people from science, business and government took part in this process demonstrates the high level of stakeholder interest in open innovation. This was followed in spring 2016 by an online consultation in which the general public was invited to submit comments on the key elements of the Open Innovation Strategy, Vision 2025 and the proposed measures, and to suggest changes. This formed the basis for the drafting of the final text of the strategy. In July 2016 the Open Innovation Strategy was adopted by the Austrian Government.

National Programmes and Initiatives

List of National Programmes open to the world

Joint Activities with Korea

List of Joint Programmes or Activities with RoK in 2017

List of Planned Programmes or Activities with RoK in 2018