Slovakia accepted new Strategy for research, development and innovation 2030
“Slovakia that trusts itself.”
Thanks to reforms and new investments in research and innovation, Slovakia will transform its industry, accelerate economic growth, instead of stagnation, it will start to converge again and become an attractive destination for highly qualified talent and companies creating high added value.
The national strategy for research, development and innovation 2030, approved at the end of March, will see public R&I spending increase by an average rate of 14% per year until 2030, reaching around €1 billion by the end of the decade.
Along with private investment in research, the goal is to get the country’s R&D intensity – the total R&D expenditure as a percentage of a country’s gross domestic product – up to the EU average of 2%. Currently, R&D intensity hovers around 0.9%, one of the lowest in the EU.
“This might not seem ambitious, but from the baseline we’re at it would be quite an achievement. It would be one of the fastest increases of any country,” said Michaela Kršková, recently appointed as the government first chief innovation officer.
Goals of the strategy:
1. Move Slovakia from 24th to 14th place in the European innovation ranking
2. Increase the share of private sector investments in science, research and innovation from 0.5% to 1.2% of GDP
3. Increase trust and collaboration across the research and innovation ecosystem
How do we achieve this?
1. We will move from a cost-effective country to an economic model of an innovative country
- State revenues will increase by €150 million in 2030
- We expect a long-term GDP increase of 2%
- 2.2 times the investment volume will be returned to the state budget in the long term (until 2048)
2. We will reverse the outflow of human capital and attract highly qualified people and companies
- The number of highly qualified workers from abroad will increase by 25,000 by 2030
3. We will reduce the level of mistrust thanks to a better quality of life
- Highly innovative countries also have a high level of social trust
This article was adopted from Science Business and the official webpage of the Slovak Innovation Authority.
Find the full strategy in Slovak here.