Austria's Innovation Performance in International Comparison Based on the STI Monitor

Over decades, Austria has increased its expenditure on science, technology and innovation (STI) to a level above that of the leading innovation countries in the EU. The STI Monitor of the Austrian Council for Research, Science, Innovation and Technology Development (FORWIT), for which WIFO provides the data, allows an indicator-based evaluation of the entire STI system over time. It shows that system performance has hardly changed since 2015: Austria is well above the level of the Innovation Leaders only in terms of funding, but well below in terms of graduates, publications, patents and start-ups. Possible causes are an overestimation of inputs, a low impact of the largest funding instruments and a one-sided focus of STI policy on upgrading existing firms. More structural change would above all require growth capital for start-ups and better-performing technical universities.