07.07.2025

Research, Technology and Innovation Strategy: Setting Priorities

Mid-term Evaluation of the Federal Government's RTI Strategy 2030
In 2024, 70.1 percent of employees in Austria experienced sickness-related absences. On average, they took 15.1 calendar days of sick leave, resulting in a loss of 4.1 percent of annual working time. This figure is slightly lower than the peak value recorded in 2023. On average, sick leave lasted 9.2 days, though the duration varied greatly by sickness group.

Artificial intelligence, supply chain difficulties in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's attack on Ukraine, high inflation, the election of a USA government that is strongly in favour of international self-isolation – all of these points lead to new challenges for RTI activities in Austria, even though the economic situation and public funding capacity have deteriorated significantly. In the second half of the RTI strategy, efforts should therefore be focused on core challenges in order to maximise the benefit of public funds.

The impact of the public funds used should be increased through evaluations, structural reforms and increased mobilisation of private funds. "Austria has been spending more on research and development than the leading EU countries for more than ten years, but does not reach their level of performance", says study coordinator Jürgen Janger (WIFO).

Among the core structural challenges, the team of authors sees the promotion of human resources with a particular focus on gender and STEM, improving the excellence of the research system, e.g. through structural reforms of universities and increasing private venture capital investment. A specific core challenge is to support the research, application and diffusion of key technologies, in particular artificial intelligence and green tech for tackling climate change. A broad evaluation of the entire RTI system could provide an evidence base for reforms.

Study
07.07.2025
Finalization: June 2025
Contractor project: Federal Chancellery, Federal Ministry of Finance, Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy, Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research, Federal Ministry of Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology
Austria's GDP Falls by 0.23 Percent in the Short-term and by 0.33 Percent in the Medium- to Long-term
04.04.2025
Recent Study for FWF and Opinion Piece in the Daily Newspaper Kurier
03.12.2024
WIFO Study in Cooperation with Joanneum Research Analyses Performance and Identifies Policy Options
25.11.2024