Evaluation of Government Funding in RTDI from a Systems Perspective in Austria. Synthesis Report

In the spring of 2008, WIFO, KMU Forschung Austria, Prognos AG in Germany and convelop were jointly commissioned by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth to perform a systems evaluation of the country's research promotion and funding activities. Based on their findings, six recommendations were developed for a change in Austrian RTDI policy as outlined below: 1. to move from a narrow to a broader approach in RTDI policy (links to education policy, consideration of the framework for innovation such as competition, international perspectives and mobility); 2. to move from an imitation to a frontrunner strategy (striving for excellence and market leadership in niche and high-quality segments, increasing market shares in advanced sectors and technology fields, and operating in segments of relevance for society); 3. to move from a fragmented approach to public intervention to a more coordinated and consistent approach(explicit economic goals, internal and external challenges and reasoning for public intervention); 4. to move from a multiplicity of narrowly defined funding programmes to a flexible, dynamic policy that uses a broader definition of its tasks and priorities (key technology and research segments as priority-action fields, adequate financing of clusters and centres of excellence); 5. to move from an unclear to a precisely defined allocation of responsibilities between ministries and other players in the field (high-ranking steering group at government level, monitoring by a Science, Research and Innovation Council); 6. to move from red-tape-bound to a modern management of public intervention (institutional separation between ministries formulating policies and agencies executing them, e.g., by "progressive autonomy").