Research in the field of artificial intelligence has a long tradition in Austria, for example in the areas of logical systems, neural networks, robotics and the understanding of natural language. New focal points have emerged in the area of Industry 4.0, e.g. predictive maintenance. In addition to science-based and learning systems, robotics and autonomous driving are among the most important research fields of AI in Austria.
A crucial factor for progress and success is the diverse ecosystem for AI in Austria and the strong networking between research and business communities. More than 50 universities and research institutions (e.g. Johannes Kepler University Linz, Know-Center Graz, Institute for Advanced Research in Artificial Intelligence in Vienna), over 270 established companies and startups (e.g. brantner, medicus.ai, Atlas, mostly ai, blackshark.ai) as well as at least 30 international players (Canva, Magna, dynatrace) are intensively focusing on AI in Austria. Events such as the startup festival ViennaUP’23 and Startups meet Industry in Linz also contribute to an (international) exchange of views and experiences. The startup festival was attended by 14,000 people from 96 countries, while the event in Linz brought together 60 domestic companies as well as 25 international and national startups to drive open innovation.
Public funding programs such as the “AI Mission Austria” initiative make an important contribution to the development and expansion of this ecosystem, as they promote both basic research and applied research and the commercial implementation of research results. The second round of calls for proposals for “aws digitization | AI companies and growth” by Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws) is currently underway. This is the development bank of the Austrian federal government, which provides the funding for the initiative in cooperation with the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). The topics of “greening” and “human capital” are the focus of this round of calls for proposals. Investors and independent platforms such as AI Austria, which enable and support these exchange initiatives, also play an important role.
