Research is an investment in the future, in competitiveness and in resilience. On the occasion of the Technology Talks Austria 2026, Forschung Austria puts the spotlight on Research and Technology Organisations, or RTOs for short. As non-university, application-oriented research and technology organisations, they combine scientific excellence with industrial practice. Together with companies, public institutions and other science organisations and universities, they help to translate research results into applications, to develop innovation ecosystems further and to support companies through technological transformation. Innovation ecosystems are European in scope, and many partnerships between science and industry are European too.
“Research is an investment in the future viability of our country. RTOs help to turn it into concrete technological, economic and societal solutions. They combine cutting-edge research with industrial practice, develop innovation ecosystems further together with their partners and support companies through transformation. In doing so they make an important contribution to a competitive Austria and to a technologically capable Europe,” says Brigitte Bach, President of Forschung Austria.
Research is an investment in the future with high leverage
In the view of Forschung Austria, investments in research are among the most productive forms of public spending. They create new knowledge, technological capabilities and highly qualified jobs. They strengthen companies, secure industrial value creation and establish the conditions for meeting societal challenges with new solutions.
Depending on the study and the impact dimension examined, European impact analyses report leverage in the order of roughly one to five up to one to six. Because the methods and observation periods differ, the individual calculations are not directly comparable with one another. They do, however, consistently show that research investments generate economic, societal and employment effects that reach far beyond the immediate funding.
At regional level the effects can be considerably higher still. RTOs create high-quality employment, work together with regional companies and suppliers, attract talent and strengthen the technological specialisation of regions through research infrastructures, cooperation and spin-offs.
To achieve this, research needs reliable and long-term framework conditions. Whoever invests in skills, infrastructure and talent today creates the basis for tomorrow's products, services, companies and value creation. Research funding is therefore not merely an item of budget expenditure, but a strategic investment in the future viability of Austria as a location.
RTOs are important nodes in innovation ecosystems
RTOs are not only part of the research and innovation system. They are important network nodes and develop innovation ecosystems further together with their partners. They bring together universities and basic research, companies and start-ups, public institutions, funding bodies as well as national and international partners.
A particular strength lies in their continuous proximity to industry. RTOs are in constant exchange with companies and sectors. This allows them to recognise at an early stage which technological needs are emerging, how requirements are changing, and which competences, infrastructures or cooperation arrangements will be needed for the next development steps.
Internationally competitive companies and excellent research depend on and reinforce one another. Companies contribute concrete challenges, market knowledge and industrial experience. Research institutions contribute scientific expertise, new technological approaches and specialised infrastructures. RTOs help to bring these different perspectives together.
“RTOs connect, accompany and enable innovation. We are in continuous exchange with companies, we recognise early on where technological needs are heading, and we bring together the necessary competences and partners. In this way research questions lead to new technologies, and concrete applications emerge from technological possibilities,” says Heinz Mayer, Vice President of Forschung Austria.
From research into application
The particular strength of RTOs lies at the decisive transitions between scientific insight and practical application. Together with universities, companies, public institutions and further partners, they bring together technological expertise, specialised infrastructure and an understanding of concrete economic and societal requirements.
Many development steps lie between a research result and a successful application. Technologies have to be developed further, tested, demonstrated, validated and trialled under real-world conditions. Norms and standardisation are also important preconditions for new solutions to become safe, interoperable and widely usable.
Depending on the technology field and the project, RTOs contribute research and development expertise, test and demonstration environments, pilot plants as well as input on validation, norms and standardisation to these processes.
Smaller and medium-sized enterprises in particular are often unable to maintain the corresponding competences and infrastructures entirely in-house. Working with RTOs gives them access to technologies, specialist knowledge, partner networks and specialised facilities. Technical risks can thus be identified early and new solutions brought step by step towards application.
How varied the routes from research into application can be is shown by cooperation projects such as the AI Factory Austria AI:AT, which is embedded across Austria and in Europe, research and infrastructure initiatives in the field of quantum technologies, or technology-intensive spin-offs. They stand as examples of different models – from shared infrastructure and long-term research cooperation through to the development of new entrepreneurial perspectives.
What characterises them in each case is the interplay of numerous participants from university and non-university research, industry, the public sector and European networks. RTOs contribute different competences to these efforts, depending on the project in question. They accompany technological developments without claiming the achievements of broad consortia or individual partners for themselves.
Industrial strategy: focus provides orientation
Forschung Austria welcomes the Industrial Strategy Austria 2035 and its clear prioritisation. The focus on nine key technologies and fields of strength provides orientation and starts where Austria already has particular competences or promising development potential.
For long-term economic and societal strength to grow out of technological priorities, a coordinated policy mix is required. This includes reliable research funding, high-performance research and technology infrastructures, suitable funding and financing instruments, skills development and qualification, innovation-oriented public procurement as well as framework conditions for norms, standardisation and scaling.
Equally decisive is the connection between research, technology, industrial, education and location policy. Individual measures can only take full effect if they are aligned with one another and extend from research through technological development to application and industrial implementation.
RTOs are important implementation partners and companions in this. They combine technological expertise and specialised infrastructure with industry contacts, knowledge of concrete fields of application and European networks.
“Setting priorities on nine key technologies is right and important. What matters now is that the various instruments mesh with one another. Research, technology, industrial and education policy must work together. RTOs are important implementation partners in this, because they connect competences, infrastructures, industry contacts and European networks with one another,” says Bach.
RTOs create connections to Europe
For Austria, the European dimension is of particular importance. Many key technologies can only be developed in larger partnerships, with shared infrastructures and sufficient critical mass. This applies in particular to research fields that require high investment, specialised facilities and long-term cooperation.
In the field of applied research, Austria is successfully integrated into European programmes. Collaborative research and innovation projects enable domestic companies and research institutions to pool competences, gain access to European infrastructures and jointly develop technological solutions.
RTOs support Austrian companies – small and medium-sized enterprises in particular – in gaining access to European research and innovation ecosystems. They can identify suitable programmes, bring partners together, contribute to building consortia and, depending on the project, take on research, development or coordination tasks. In this way they help to make European knowledge, partnerships and research and innovation funding usable for Austria as a location.
“RTOs create connections to Brussels and into European innovation networks. They support Austrian companies in becoming part of consortia and technological value creation networks. At the same time they bring knowledge, partnerships and new opportunities for cooperation back to Austria. In many areas, technological capability today emerges from European interplay,” emphasises Mayer.
European initiatives – from the Chips Act through joint undertakings in artificial intelligence and quantum technologies to Europe's Rail and the Important Projects of Common European Interest, the IPCEIs – show how closely research, infrastructure, industrial implementation and public strategy are connected.
Brigitte Bach, President of Forschung Austria, adds: “This autumn the negotiations on the MFF (Multiannual Financial Framework) are under way, and in parallel the governance and the substantive design of the 10th European Research Framework Programme and of the European Competitiveness Fund will be determined by the end of 2027. Despite tight budgets, it is of the utmost importance for Europe and Austria as locations that investment in research and technology development in particular is increased!”
Undertakings of this kind are collective achievements. Companies, universities, non-university research institutions, public institutions and further partners each contribute different competences. RTOs participate in these alliances as research, technology and implementation partners and help to bring Austrian strengths into European cooperation.
Forschung Austria is committed to making these contributions more visible and to raising awareness of the strategic importance of applied research. Strong RTOs are an essential component of high-performing innovation ecosystems and, together with their partners, help to secure Austria's competitiveness, technological capability and future viability.