Austrian Research and Technology Report 2020

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Austrian Research and Technology Report 2020
• ÖIAT – Österreichisches Institut für angewandte 
Telekommunikation (Austrian Institute for Applied 
Telecommunications)
• VG – Versuchsanstalt für Getreideverarbeitung 
(Cereals Processing Testing Agency)
• VÖZ – Vereinigung der Österreichischen Ze-
mentindustrie (Association of the Austrian Ce-
ment Industry)
• V-Research – Industrielle Forschung und Entwick-
lung (Industrial Research and Development)
• ZFE – Austrian Centre for Electron Microscopy & 
Nanoanalysis.
The Austrian Cooperative Research (ACR) office is 
mainly involved in managing the association, organis-
ing internal networking and training measures, coor-
dinating funding, representing its members’ interests 
in Austria and abroad, and handling press and public 
relations work. The advisory board is an independent 
committee that advises Austrian Cooperative Re-
search (ACR) on its strategic development and con-
tributes an “outside perspective” – that of experts 
from the worlds of industry and innovation – to the 
association’s work.
Services and key indicators of ACR
The Austrian Cooperative Research (ACR) institutes 
provide a wide range of innovation-focused services 
and play a major role in the country’s innovation sys-
tem, generating total sales of €64 million. They sup-
port SMEs as a form of outsourced RDI department 
that the company can call on as and when required. 
There are currently 770 people working in the Austri-
an Cooperative Research (ACR) network, serving 
some 10,700 customers every year. More than three 
quarters of the Austrian Cooperative Research (ACR) 
institutes’ work – some of which is carried out on a 
non-profit basis – is done for SMEs.
98
In addition to the Austrian Cooperative Research 
(ACR) institutes’ focus on RDI, the areas of testing, 
98 See Austrian Cooperative Research (ACR) (2019).
99 See Austrian Cooperative Research (ACR) (2019).
inspection and certification as well as technology 
and knowledge transfer also feature particularly 
heavily in Austrian Cooperative Research (ACR)’s 
portfolio of services in line with the SMEs’ require-
ments. By working together with leading firms and 
large enterprises on the one hand and with univer-
sities, universities of applied sciences and private 
research institutions on the other, the Austrian Co-
operative Research (ACR) institutes generate exper-
tise that they share with the companies and thus 
also with industry through events, talks, presenta-
tions, training sessions, publications and teaching 
assignments.
99
Measurement, testing and certifica-
tion assignments for SMEs often form the starting 
point for both defining and carrying out research 
projects by the Austrian Cooperative Research 
(ACR) institutes, frequently in the form of coopera-
tive follow-up projects with industry that introduce 
SMEs to RDI activities.
In addition, Austrian Cooperative Research (ACR) 
institutes also play a key role in helping to devise 
and shape technical standards via various working 
groups, boards and committees. These standards 
are just as important as a basis and common frame-
work for innovation and economic development as 
they are for protecting consumers. Alongside indus-
try representatives, research institutions and, more 
importantly, many Austrian Cooperative Research 
(ACR) institutes and their experts are on board, 
thus making a significant contribution in the inter-
ests of industry and society. Standards also play a 
crucial role in the context of the Austrian Coopera-
tive Research (ACR) institutes’ RDI projects. Firstly, 
standards often provide the impetus for a new co-
operative RDI project involving Austrian SMEs, 
which may be geared towards the joint develop-
ment of new products or materials that need to 
comply with revised or more stringent standards, 
for instance. Secondly, the Austrian Cooperative 

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