brandannual 2019

Municipal Department 23 _ Economic Affairs, Labour and Statistics
Vienna
An Innovative
Metropolis
Elisabeth Unger - Research, Technology and Innovation Section
Municipal Department 23 – Economic Affairs, Labour and Statistics
Vienna City Administration
Vienna is an excellent business location. This is not only confirmed by international rankings, but
also by hard facts: Every 55 minutes a new enterprise is founded in the city, productivity is 35%
above the EU average, Vienna achieved a new employment record in 2018 and the city specialises
in knowledge-intensive services.
As a metropolitan region, Vienna is not only a
headquarters location for Austrian and international
companies, but also a place where
research and development activities converge
in universities, extra-mural research institutions and
enterprises. No less than 3.7% of the regional product in
Vienna is invested in private and public research - this
percentage is well above the EU average (2.04%). Vienna
is one of the most successful cities in the world when it
comes quality of life, infrastructure and innovation, and
Vienna is also one of Europe's top IT locations.
Vienna is a growing, multicultural and young city;
with a population of 1.9 million, it is the sixth largest
city in the EU. Its historical background, combined
with its location in the heart of Europe, makes the city
an appealing business location and an attractive place
for people from Central and Eastern Europe and German-speaking
countries.
Demographic and technological developments
call for comprehensive solutions. Vienna is banking
on the concept of the "smart city", i.e. a city which
is intelligent, sustainable and opportunity-oriented .
The central objective is to ensure and improve environmental,
economic and social performance. In this
context, Vienna traditionally focuses on a broad concept
of innovation which not only includes technology
but also cultural, social and artistic innovations.
Innovation is not an end in itself; it must at all times
benefit the inhabitants of Vienna.
Vienna – A Service-Oriented City Administration
With the RTI strategy "Innovative Vienna 2020", the
city has not only set itself the goal of creating optimum
conditions for the development of innovation potential
in the companies and universities located in the metropolitan
area; it has also committed itself to taking on
the role of designer, consumer and user of innovations.
The city administration itself has a duty to act both as
an innovator and as an enabler of innovation.
Every year a "Vienna Innovation Conference" is
held for this purpose - most recently, the author Wolf
Lotter was invited as a keynote speaker – and on this
occasion, the current work programme is presented.
Specific measures include “Start-up Labs”, “Dual
Career Service Support” and “Green Building”.
For example, "Start-up Labs" were set up in a
former research centre in 2018. Approximately 1000
m² are available for short-notice single-workplace
50 brandannual The Business and Investment Magazine