Austrian Research and Technology Report 2020

Number
Share
Number of project managers and share of women in project 
management of all funded projects
740
20%
1,100
23%
Number of female founders and share of women in all funded 
enterprise creations 
390
25%
240
20%
Evaluating bodies 
aws Supervisory Board
5
33%
5
33%
ERP Credit Committee
2
20%
2
20%
ERP Expert Committee on Tourism Industry
3
43%
3
43%
ERP Expert Committee on Agriculture and Forestry
3
43%
3
43%
ERP Committee on Transport
3
43%
3
43%
Processing, Marketing and Development
3
27%
4
36%
Digital Innovation Call
-
-
3
30%
Film Industry Support Austria (FISA)
7
78%
7
78%
”Impulse” (Stimuli)
11
52%
11
52%
Seed
6
29%
6
29%
“Gründung am Land” (Rural Enterprise Formation)
2
33%
2
33%
kit4Market 
5
60%
5
40% 
Source: Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws).
2.5.3 New initiatives and instruments 2019 and outlook
New instruments and highlights 2019
Once again in 2019, the Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws), acting as the promotional bank of the Republic 
of Austria, provided loans, guarantees, grants and investments as well as services and consulting to es-
tablish a solid foundation for many successful projects and provide valuable stimulus for Austria as a lo-
cation for doing business, especially in the areas of digitalisation, growth and innovation.
Outlook for the coming years
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, the Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws) is awarding fixed cost grants
119
and stop-gap guarantees
120
within the framework of the COVID-19 aid fund in order to secure the liquidity 
of companies. Because innovation activities in particular are financed with liquid resources, these support-
ing measures benefit research and development work. 
On the basis of a comprehensive analysis of economic policy objectives and strategies, socio-econom-
ic and technological developments as well as trends among the entities addressed by the promotional 
efforts, the Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws) worked with owners, clients and stakeholders within the 
context of its multiannual programme for 2020-2022 to define three impact goals for the coming pro-
gramme period:
1. Impact goal: facilitate enterprise creation;
2. Impact goal: support innovation;
3. Impact goal: finance investments in growth.
119 See
https://www.aws.at/fixkostenzuschuss-1/
 
120 See
https://www.aws.at/aws-ueberbrueckungsgarantien/

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