Styria is in economic and scientific competition with regions throughout the world.
In the 1990s Styria initiated a successful catch-up process and has since then executed an economic structural transformation.
Competitiveness and catch-up speed of the low wage countries and growth markets in Eastern Europe and Asia are increasing enormously and pose a serious challenge.
The high social and environmental standards and the welfare in our province can only be maintained via high-level economic dynamics, which will pivotally depend on the „future factors“ of research, innovation, technology and qualification.
Thanks to the EU expansion, new options of international cooperation in the „EU Future Region“ have opened up for Styria. The location at the interface of the new EU member states also means increased competitive pressure by neighbouring development areas.
Compared with the other federal provinces, Styria now already occupies a leading position in the research field and, due to its excellent R&D structure (numerous academic and non-academic establishments, corporate R&D), exhibits very high potential for further development.
As the most important research node in Styria, the City of Graz has developed a creative, young and innovative image due to the „Cultural Capital 2003“ project. This image needs to be further developed as a synthesis of culture, high-tech and quality of life.
Within the framework of the „Lisbon and Barcelona Process“ Europe is to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economic area in the world by 2010.
The objective is a research quota of 3% of the GDP. With a research quota of 3.55%, Styria is already above this target value now.
In the field of educating the up and coming new scientists some of the new EU countries are attaining an excellent standard, both qualitatively and quantitatively, which will in turn further intensify the competition.
Numerous highly qualified scientists and researchers emigratefrom Europe to the USA due to the lack of attractive conditions.
Styria needs a reconciled technology, innovation and qualification policy.
A challenge for everyone:
The stronger concentration on the „future factors“ of research, innovation, technology and qualification is the prerequisite for Styria’s continued positive development.
Professional lobbying for the research and high-tech location of Styria is needed in Vienna and Brussels.
Due to having the second largest research potential after Vienna, Styria needs to function as the key player in attaining the Austrian targets within the „Lisbon Strategy“ framework.
A political strategy to internationally profile Styria as an „innovation region“ with tangible and quantifiable goals should be defined.
To this end a binding provincial government resolution on coordinated efforts, which are also reconciled with Austria’s policy on research and subsidies (current innovation policy measures of the federal government, Federation-Styria cooperation) and the European Union (European Research Area), is needed.
The gauges for Styria are internationally leading R&D regions rather than the inner Austrian comparison between the federal provinces.
Simple and reconciled areas of competence and responsibility are needed to break down the competences within the province for research, innovation, technology and qualification, in order to avoid unnecessary repetitions.
The target needs to be an integral and integrated approach in the political area of responsibility.
Main focuses of research and technological policy based on the analysis of Styria’s economic and scientific fields of strength should be defined.
The very good corporate R&D peak in Styria needs to be spread via an innovation offensive among SMBs and by the intensification of the (cross-border) cooperation between major companies and SMBs.
The existing technological leadership of Styrian operations in niche areas needs to be assured and expanded to new growth sectors.
Economic R&D indicators of Styria (patents, R&D employment quota in the in-house area, R&D subsidies for the corporate sector) are currently only average when compared with the rest of Austria and need to be perceptibly improved.
The awareness to strengthen company-related R&D activities needs to be provided via incentives (PR work, subsidies, focus on economically oriented R&D).
The maintenance and expansion of headquarters and centres of competence as well as of small and medium-sized high-tech operations as motors for innovation are a priority of economic policy.
Business set-ups in the high-tech area and corporate spin-offs around Styrian control operations and research organisations should continue to be promoted.
The innovative force of Styrian universities is to be used even more in the future.
The objective is to build up international centres of excellence in selected faculties within the universities.
The intensification of the cooperation between economic and research organisations requires an institutionalised procedure. The UG 2002 allows new cooperation models with the universities, requiring an offensive distribution of the know-how of Styrian universities.
Research and innovation at the universities of applied sciences should be promoted with a practical orientation in special niche areas and in coordination with the universities.
The assurance of the availability of highly qualified scientists and excellently educated university graduates is the prerequisite for the intensification of Styrian research activities.
The internationalisation of the research activities in the universities should be further promoted (international projects, mobility of the researchers, appeal of the universities to foreign researchers).
Studies emphasise the need to separate the subsidy system into a strategic level (policy departments, provincial administration) and an operational level (outsourced sponsoring establishments), as well as to concentrate sponsoring initiatives and standardise sponsoring guidelines as a basis for the allocation of subsidies.
A modern policy on subsidies needs to orient itself accordingly.
To assure the future innovation needs to be a budgetary priority:
Subsidies by the public authorities need to be increased by 12% per annum, in order to achieve the nationwide target research quota of 2.5% by 2006 and 3% by 2010. As a key player, Styria needs to make an above-average contribution towards achieving this.
Styrian research resources need to be used more vigorously, taking into account the economic significance of research projects and the maximum leverage effect of such resources.
The Styrian research budget should be reviewed as regards efficiency and effectiveness of the use of resources, reoriented accordingly and evaluated on a revolving basis.
The research promoting activities of the responsible specialised departments, as well as funds (future funds, scientific and research funds of the Province of Styria), should be coordinated and/or merged in a reconciled strategy.
Both project (bottom-up) and programme (top-down) subsidies are still needed.
The decisive factor for the economic and scientific sectors is the reliability of planning with public financing resources.
In the competition between the regions the aim is to market Styria offensively as an appealing location, taking into account positive nationwide developments:
Styria: province of innovation
Presentation of Styria as an innovative region, portrayal of the conversion (from technology recipient to technology provider, from province of suppliers to province of brands), creation of an innovative climate (creativity, dynamics, youthfulness), mediation of the high level of educational competence in Styria („province of the bright minds“), improvement of the image of scientific/technical training, etc.
Graz: city of innovation
International positioning of the City of Graz in public communication of its potential in accordance with the „City of Innovation“ umbrella brand for culture, science and technology.