RIO country report 2017 : Czech Republic.
Date: 2018-03-26
Institutions: Joint Research Centre
Subjects: Czechia, EU research policy, financing, innovation, knowledge management, labour market, organisation of research, public financing, research and development, research budget, research policy, research report, research staff

RIO Country Report 2017: 
Czech Republic 

Research and Innovation 
Observatory country 
report series 

Srholec, M.  

Sanchez-Martinez, M.

2018 

EUR 29164 EN 

This publication is a Science for Policy report by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s 
science and knowledge service. It aims to provide evidence-based scientific support to the European 
policymaking process. The scientific output expressed does not imply a policy position of the European 
Commission. Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is 
responsible for the use that might be made of this publication. 

Contact information: JRC-B7-NETWORK@ec.europa.eu 

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JRC111276 

EUR 29164 EN 

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ISBN 978-92-79-81235-4 

ISSN 1831-9424 

doi:10.2760/073148 

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How to cite this report: Srholec, M., and Sanchez-Martinez M., RIO Country Report 2017: Czech Republic, 
EUR 29164 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2018, ISBN 978-92-79-81235-4, 
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All images © European Union 2018 

RIO Country Report 2017 

The  R&I  Observatory  country  report  2017  provides  a  brief  analysis  of  the  R&I  system 
covering the economic context, main actors, funding trends & human resources, policies 
to  address  R&I  challenges,  and  R&I  in  national  and  regional  smart  specialisation 
strategies.  Data  is  from  Eurostat,  unless  otherwise  referenced  and  is  correct  as  at 
January  2018.  Data  used  from  other  international  sources  is  also  correct  to  that  date. 
The report provides a state-of-play and analysis of the national level R&I system and its 
challenges, to support the European Semester. 

Summary 

The Czech Republic's economy has converged back to a sustainable growth path after the 
2008-2009  crisis.  GDP  grew  year-on-year  by  2.6%  in  2016  and  it  is  expected  to  reach 
4.3%,  3%  and  2.9%  in  2017,  2018  and  2019,  respectively  (European  Commission, 
2017c). Inflation is forecast to be close to the 2% target, up from near zero for several 
years,  amid  growing  real  wages.  The  government  finances  have  improved:  the  general 
government  deficit  turned  into  a  surplus  of  0.6%  in  2016.  Regarding  innovation 
performance,  the  European  Innovation  Scoreboard  2017  classifies  the  Czech  Republic 
among the “moderate innovators”, below the EU28 average but ahead of Portugal, Spain, 
Italy  and  Greece  (EC,  2017a).  Weak  performance  exists  in  the  research  dimension  in 
areas  such  as  publication  citations,  foreign  doctorate  students,  and  public-private  co-
publications,  whereas  for  innovation  performance  weak  areas  include  innovativeness  of 
SMEs,  knowledge-intensive  services  exports,  and  venture  capital  expenditures. 

Challenges for R&I policy-making in the Czech Republic 

1. Reforming the governance of public research: Governance of the R&I system

suffers from a lack of coordination, fragmented division of competences and poor
evaluation standards.

2. Opening  the  labour  market  for  researchers:  Human  resource  management
practices in the public sector  could be improved by reducing scholar in-breeding,
intensifying competition both internally and from abroad and making careers more
attractive for young people.

3. Strengthening  public-private  linkages:  Despite  the  sustained  policy  efforts,
linkages  between  public  and  private  R&D  sectors  could  be  further  improved.
Knowledge  transfer  incentives  are  set  at  the  level  of  individual  organizations.  A
national strategy for knowledge transfer is lacking.

4. Deepening  innovation  capabilities  and  demand-driven  innovation:  the
current policy mix is dominated by R&D  subsidy programmes with limited efforts
devoted to supporting venture capital or business angels and revolving funds.

Main R&I developments in 2017 

 Action  Plan  for  Human  Resources  Development  and  Gender  Equality  in 
Research and Development in the Czech Republic for the years 2018-2020. 

 The  position  of  the  Deputy  Prime  Minister  for  Science,  Research  and 

Innovation has been cancelled by the new Government 

 The national RDI budget for 2018 and outlook for 2019 and 2020. 



Interim and ex-ante evaluation of large research infrastructures 

 New TA CR programmes launched and announced 

 Funding  from  the  OP  Research,  Development  and  Education  (OP  RDE)  is 

gaining speed. 

 New methodology for evaluation of research organizations 

Smart specialisation 

Czech  regional  authorities,  consisting  of  14  self-governing  regions  at  the  NUTS3  level, 
had  seldom  engaged  in  RDI  policy  before  the  launch  of  the  RIS  agenda.  The  only 
exception  was  the  South  Moravian  region.  Several  other  regions  are  attempting  to 
emulate  this  model  with  various  degrees  of  success  with  the  help  of  the  RIS3  agenda. 
National  Innovation  Platforms  running  under  the  Government  Office  for  Science, 
Research  and  Innovations  are  instrumental  in  identifying  applied  research  priorities. 
Since  the  Government  approved  the  updated  National  RIS3  strategy  in  July  2016 
followed  by  the  EC  in  September  2016,  it  is  too  early  to  evaluate  its  impacts  on  the 
economy and society at large.  

Acknowledgements 

This  report  benefited  from  comments  by  DG  JRC  colleague  Jessica  Mitchell  and  DG 
Research and Innovation colleague Eva Rueckert as well as from comments by Mr. Lukáš 
Levák  and  Ms.  Alena  Blažková  from  the  Czech  Republic's  Department  of  Research  and 
Development at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. 

Authors 

Martin  Srholec,  CERGE-EI,  Economics  Institute,  Czech  Academy  of  Sciences  (Prague, 
Czech Republic) 

Miguel  Sanchez-Martinez,  European  Commission,  DG  Joint  Research  Centre,  Unit  B.7, 
Knowledge for Finance, Growth and Innovation (Brussels, Belgium) 

Contents 

Contents ............................................................................................................ 7 

1  Economic context for R&I .............................................................................. 4 

1.1  Structure of the economy ............................................................................. 4 

1.2  Business environment .................................................................................. 4 

2  Main R&I actors ............................................................................................. 5 

3  R&I policies, funding trends and human resources ........................................ 6 

3.1  Public allocation of R&D and R&D expenditure ................................................. 7 

3.2  Private R&D expenditure ............................................................................... 8 

3.3  Supply of R&I human resources ..................................................................... 9 

4  Policies to address innovation challenges ...................................................... 9 

4.1  Challenge 1: Reforming the governance of public research................................ 9 

Description ................................................................................................... 9 

Policy response ........................................................................................... 10 

Policy Assessment ....................................................................................... 10 

4.2  Challenge 2: Opening the labour market for researchers................................. 11 

Description ................................................................................................. 11 

Policy response ........................................................................................... 11 

Policy Assessment ....................................................................................... 11 

4.3  Challenge 3: Strengthening public-private linkages ........................................ 12 

Description ................................................................................................. 12 

Policy response ........................................................................................... 12 

Policy Assessment ....................................................................................... 12 

4.4  Challenge 4: Facilitating access to finance for innovation ................................ 13 

Description ................................................................................................. 13 

Policy response ........................................................................................... 13 

Policy Assessment ....................................................................................... 13 

5  Focus on R&I in National and Regional Smart Specialisation Strategies ...... 15 

References ...................................................................................................... 17 

Abbreviations .................................................................................................. 21 

Factsheet ......................................................................................................... 24 

1  Economic context for R&I 

The Czech Republic is a medium size country with a population  that represents 2.1% of 
the EU28 and with GDP per capita (in PPS)  equal to 88% of the EU28 average in 2016. 
After the 2008-2009 crisis,  its economy has returned to a sustainable growth path.  The 
GDP growth rate stood at 2.6% in 2016 and is expected to reach 4.3%, 3% and 2.9% in 
2017,  2018  and  2019,  respectively  (European  Commission,  2017c).  HICP  inflation  is 
forecast  at  2.4%  in  2017,  up  from  0.6%  in  2016.  it  is  expected  to  moderate  to  2.1% 
next  year  and  to  stabilise  at  the  inflation  target  of  2%  in  2019  amid  expected  interest 
rate  hikes.  The  government's  finances  have  also  improved:  the  general  government 
deficit  declined  from  1.9%  in  2014  to  0.6%  in  2015,  turning  into  a  surplus  of  0.7%  in 
2016. It is predicted to achieve an even higher surplus of 1.2% and 0.8% of GDP in 2017 
and  2018,  respectively.  Government  debt  stood  at  a  36.8%  of  GDP  in  2016,  continuing 
on the downward path initiated in recent years. At 2.9% in July 2017, the unemployment 
rate is the lowest in the EU, mainly reflecting relatively high employment levels. In yearly 
terms,  it  is  expected  to  reach  3%  and  2.9%  in  2017  and  2018,  respectively.  However, 
the  labour  market  remains  tight  and  skill  shortages  represent  an  important  issue.  The 
economy is highly open  in terms  of foreign direct investment and trade, and hence it is 
rather  dependent  on  the  recovery  of  the  main  trade  partners.  The  Czech  National  Bank 
removed the floor of CZK to EUR in April 2017, but the currency's appreciation has so far 
been limited.  

1.1  Structure of the economy 

The Czech Republic is one of the most industrialized Member States with manufacturing 
contributing  to  27%  of  value  added  and  26%  of  employment.  The  high-  and  medium-
high-technology  manufacturing  sector  is  large,  due  mainly  to  the  weight  of  the 
automotive, mechanical and electrical engineering industries. Conversely, employment in 
knowledge  intensive  services  remains  far  below  the  EU28  average.  The  business  sector 
primarily  consists  of  relatively  small-sized  firms.  Large  companies  with  thousands  of 
employees  are  scant,  and  the  vast  majority  of  them  are  either  foreign  affiliates  or 
publicly-owned  companies 
the  service  sector.  Large  domestic  multinational 
corporations  (MNCs)  with  a  wide  and  extensive  network  of  operations  worldwide  are 
lacking; however, there is  a small number of growing SMEs that found profitable niches 
in the global markets (e.g., software industry). There exists a lingering productivity and 
technological  gap  between  domestically  and  foreign-owned  firms.  The  country  is 
integrated in the global value chain but domestic-owned firms are mainly concentrated in 
low value added segments (OECD, 2016). 

in 

1.2  Business environment 

In 2017 the Czech Republic was ranked 13th among the EU28 (27th in the world) in the 
Ease of Doing Business Index (World Bank, 2017a), below Poland and Portugal but ahead 
of  the  Netherlands,  France  and  Slovenia.  Its  rank  among  the  EU28  countries  has 
significantly  improved  from  the  19th  position  (27th  worldwide)  reached  in  2016. 
According  to  the  Global  Competitiveness  Report  (WEF,  2016),  the  Czech  Republic  is 
ranked 29th in the world in terms of the technological readiness index and 32nd in terms 
of the business sophistication index, hence not too far  from advanced economies. While 
the main strengths lie in the local supplier quality and production process  sophistication 
indicators  as  well  as  the  use  of  ICT  in  the  business  sector,  weaknesses  remain  in 
controlling  the  international  distribution,  developing  clusters  and  innovation.  The  World 
Bank  Enterprise  Survey  (World  Bank,  2017b)  indicates  that  the  top  three  obstacles  to 
running  a  business  are:  (i)  access  to  finance;  (ii)  high  tax  rates;  (iii)  inadequately 
educated  workforce.  While  the  government  has  agreed  on  reforms  to  support  product 
market  competition  and  a  dynamic  industry,  the  tax  system  still  appears  complex,  with 
relatively  high  taxation  levels  on  labour.  The  DESI  analysis  (European  Commission, 

4 

 
 
 
2017d)  shows  that  the  Czech  Republic  excels  in  e-commerce,  but  falls  behind  in  the 
provision of digital public services. 

2  Main R&I actors 

The  Council  for  Research,  Development  and  Innovation  (CRDI)  is  the  main  advisory 
government  body  for  RDI  policy.  The  CRDI  is  spearheaded  by  the  Prime  Minister  and 
administratively  supported  by  the  Government  Office  for  Science,  Research  and 
Innovations.  The  Ministry  of  Education,  Youth  and  Sports  (MEYS)  is  the  central 
administrative  authority  for  R&D  in  the  public sector,  funding  the  HEIs  sector,  financing 
the  “large  research  infrastructures”  and  promoting  international  R&D  collaboration.  The 
Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) administers policies in the domain of business RDI. 
The  Technology  Agency  of  the  Czech  Republic (TA  CR)  provides  competitive  funding  for 
applied  research,  experimental  development  and  innovation.  The  Czech  Science 
Foundation (GA CR) provides funding for competitive grants in basic research.  

The  Czech  Academy  of  Sciences  (CAS)  consists  of  54  formally  independent  public 
research  institutes  (PROs).  CAS  is  a  major  funding  provider  and  the  single  most 
important  research  performer  with  about  5  thousand  full-time  equivalent  (FTE) 
researchers.  The  academic  sector  consists  of  26  public,  2  state  and  44  private  higher 
education  institutions  (HEIs).  The  HEIs  sector  employs  about  11  thousand  (FTE) 
researchers, most of which in public universities (Eurostat, 2017). All of the major  HEIs 
are public. These include Charles University (Prague) and Masaryk University (Brno) with 
up  to  50  thousand  students  each.  The  main  HEIs  with  science,  technology,  engineering 
and math (STEM) focus include  Czech Technical University in Prague, Brno University of 
Technology,  VŠB  -  Technical  University  of  Ostrava,  Technical  University  of  Liberec, 
University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague. 
The  Council  of  Higher  Education  Institutions  (CHEI)  and  the  Czech  Rectors  Conference 
(CRC) coordinate and represent the HEIs sector in interactions with the government and 
other stakeholders. 

The  business  research  sector  consists  of  about  2,300  actors,  of  which  25%  are  foreign 
affiliates  and  80%  are  SMEs.  The  main  R&D  performing  sectors  are  the  automotive, 
machinery,  electronics  and  information  and  communication  industries,  with  a  share  of 
about  50%  in  R&D  employment  and  expenditure  (CZSO,  2017a).  The  largest  single 
private  R&D  performer  is  Škoda  Auto,  a  part  of  the  Volkswagen  Group.  Other  major 
business R&D performers include ABB, ČEZ, Bosh, FEI, Honeywell, Škoda Transportation, 
Visteon-Autopal  and  Zentiva,  most  of  which  are  also  foreign  affiliates  (Kejhová,  2015). 
The  EU  Industrial R&D  Investment Scoreboard enlists only  three  Czech companies: ČEZ 
in  electricity,  Aero  Vodochody  in  aerospace  and  defence  and  České  dráhy  in 
transportation (European Commission, 2016g).  

Given  the  historical  separation  of  science  and  business,  knowledge  transfer  is  limited. 
The  TA  CR  launched  support  programmes,  such  as  ALFA,  Competence  Centres,  DELTA, 
GAMA,  EPSILON  and  ZETA  to  improve  public-private  circulation,  collaboration  and 
transfer  of  scientific  knowledge.  Additionally,  42  science  and  technology  parks,  17 
technological platforms, 13 business incubators and 15 Technology Transfer Offices have 
been  established  according  to  the  Technological  profile  of  the  Czech  Republic  database 
and CzechInvest. In addition, the Association of Research Organizations, the Association 
of  Innovative  Entrepreneurship,  the  Association  of  Small  and  Medium-Sized  Enterprises 
and Crafts, the Association for Foreign Investment and the Confederation of Industry of 
the  Czech  Republic  provide  platforms  to  discuss  the  governance  of  the  innovation 
system. 

So  far  RDI  policy  making  has  been  fairly  centralized  in  terms  of  level  of  governance 
geography.  Regional  authorities  do  not  have  any  legally  binding  responsibilities  in  RDI 
policy  and  their  main  role  has  been  in  catalysing  the  EU  Structural  Funds.  Nonetheless, 
the  law  does  not  prevent  regional  authorities  from  launching  their  own  RDI  policy 
initiatives.  Several  have  done  so  in  recent  years,  for  example,  by  launching  innovation 
voucher  programmes.  Coordination  between  the  national  and  regional  level  innovation 

5 

 
 
strategies has traditionally been weak, although it has begun to improve recently due to 
the implementation of the national RIS3 strategy. 

3  R&I policies, funding trends and human resources  

Main R&I policy developments in 2017 

Plan 

Action 
for  Human 
Resources  Development  and 
Gender  Equality  in  Research 
and  Development  in  the  Czech 
Republic  for  the  years  2018-
2020 (01/2018) 

The  Action  Plan  was  drafted  by  the  Ministry  of 
Education,  Youth  and  Sports  and  approved  by  the 
the  Government  in  January  2018.  The  Action  Plan 
addresses  a  wide  range  of  topics  related  to 
development  of  human  resources  in  RDI,  including 
gender  equality  and  gender  mainstreaming,  the 
quality  of  institutional  environments,  promotion  of 
Ph.D.  students  and  early  career  researchers,  inter-
and 
and 
sectorial 
popularisation of RDI results.  

international  mobility 

The  position  of  the  Deputy 
Prime  Minister  for  Science, 
Research  and  Innovation  has 
been  cancelled  by  the  new 
Government (12/2017) 

that 

after 

took  office 

The  new  Government  of  the  Prime  Minister  Andrej 
the  general 
Babiš 
parliamentary  elections  in  October  2017  cancelled 
the  position  of  the  Deputy  Prime  Minister  for 
Science,  Research  and  Innovation  and  superseded 
the  Section  for  Science,  Research  and  Innovations 
(SRI)  by  the  Government  Office 
for  Science, 
Research  and  Innovations.  The  proposal  of  a  new 
law  on  the  support  of  research,  development  and 
innovation  that  envisaged  a  fundamental  reform  of 
the  RDI 
the 
establishment  of  a  new  Ministry  for  Research  and 
Development,  has  been  abandoned.  The  proposal 
addressed  the  EC’s  recommendations  to  implement 
reforms  of  the  RDI  system  governance  (European 
Commission, 2017a, 2017b). 

system  governance, 

including 

The  national  RDI  budget  for 
2018 and outlook for 2019 and 
2020 (12/2017) 

The  national  RDI  budget  has  been  approved  to 
increase  in  2018  by  7%  compared  to  last  year,  to 
€1.31b (CZK 34.8b), and it is expected to be further 
expanded  to  €1.40b  (CZK  37.0b)  in  2019  and 
€1.41b (CZK 37.5b) in 2020. This budget safeguards 
infrastructure, 
the  sustainability  of 
answering concerns  expressed by the EC (European 
Commission, 2016b, 2016c). 

the  R&D 

Interim 
ex-ante 
and 
evaluation  of  large  research 
infrastructures (11/2017) 

of 

results 

recognized 

The  Government 
a 
comprehensive  evaluation  of  58  large  research 
infrastructures.  The  MEYS  organized  the  evaluation 
using  international  peer  review  and  conforming  to 
the  rigorous  evaluation  standards  of  ESFRI.  The 
results will be considered in the forthcoming decision 
on  funding  of  the  infrastructures  –  both  from  the 
national  budget  and  ESIF  -  over  2020-2022.  The 
evaluation 
concerns  on 
sustainability  of  R&D  centres  raised  by  the  EC 
(European Commission, 2016b, 2016c). 

related 

the 

to 

is 

New  TA  CR  programmes  TA  CR  launched  the  new  support  programmes  ETA, 

6 

 
 
 
 
launched 
(8/2017). 

and 

announced 

from 

Funding 
OP 
Research,  Development  and 
Education  (OP  RDE)  is  gaining 
speed (6/2017). 

the 

methodology 
of 

New 
evaluation 
organizations 
programmes (2/2017) 

for 
research 
and 

BETA2,  ZETA  and  THETA  in  2017  and  announced  a 
new  programme  called  the  National  Centres  of 
Competence.  TA  CR  programmes  pay  increased 
attention  to  national  RDI  priorities  that  respond  to 
societal  challenges  and  support  public-private 
the  EC’s 
in 
collaborative  projects, 
recommendations 
links 
facilitate 
between 
(European 
Commission, 2017a, 2017b). 

and  business 

line  with 

academia 

stronger 

to 

The  OP  RDE  administered  by  the  MEYS  has  already 
supported  nearly  4  thousands  projects  in  20  calls 
and  allocated  more  than  €0.75b  (CZK  20b).  It  is 
aimed  at  supporting  the  transition  to  an  economy 
based on education, a motivated and creative labour 
force,  and  high-quality  research  results  that  can  be 
implemented in practice.  

The  Government  approved  a  new  evaluation 
methodology  of  research  organizations  (Metodika 
2017+).  The  new  system  envisages  a  gradual 
implementation  of  informed  peer  review.  It  is 
assumed  to  guide  the  evaluation  system  from  2017 
onwards  and  to  be  fully  implemented  in  2020. Only 
increases  in  institutional  funding  will  be  allocated 
based  on 
the  new  methodology.  The  new 
the  EC’s 
methodology 
recommendations  to  strengthen  the  mechanism  for 
allocation of funding (European Commission, 2017a, 
2017b). 

responds 

partly 

to 

R&I funding trends 

In 2016, gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) amounted to €2.96b, decreasing by 
about  9%  compared  to  the  previous  year,  mainly  due  to  the  contraction  of  investment 
expenditure  in  the  public  sector.  However,  GERD's  cumulative  increase  stood  at  41% 
over  the  2010-2016  period.  Consequently,  R&D  intensity  (i.e.,  GERD  in  percentage  of 
GDP) increased to 1.68% in 2016, favourably comparing to the 1.24% at the dawn of the 
crisis in 2008, well above nearby countries (Slovakia 0.79%, Hungary 1.21% and Poland 
1.00%)  but  falling  behind  the  EU28  average  of  2.03%  (Eurostat,  2017).  The  national 
public  sources  funded  36%  of  GERD,  the  business  enterprise  sector  financed  60%,  and 
foreign public sources contributed only to 3%, down from 16% in the previous year; this 
was  mainly  due  to  a  temporary  drop  in  drawing  from  the  EU  Operational  Programmes 
(OPs) (Eurostat, 2017 and CZSO, 2017a). 

3.1  Public allocation of R&D and R&D expenditure 

Public  R&D  funding  has  been  traditionally  dominated  by  institutional  support.  However, 
this  changed  through  the  Reform  of  the  RDI  System,  during  which  the  share  of  project 
funds  increased  from  44%  in  2009  to  51%  in  2014  (CRDI  2016).  The  national  R&I 
budget for 2017 increased by €136m, about 13% year-on-year, to a total €1.2b; this is 
the largest amount ever. It acknowledges the need for a sustainable R&D infrastructure, 
thereby  answering  to  EC  concerns  (European  Commission,  2016b,  2016c).  The  multi-
annual RDI budget plans a further budget increase over the 2018-2020 period. 

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
The national 2020 target to reach 1% of public R&D expenditure of GDP has consistently 
been  met  over  the  2012-2015  period.  However,  around  29%  was  due  to  public  R&D 
funding  from  abroad,  primarily  from  European  Structural  and  Investment  Funds  (ESIF) 
outlays for the construction of several major R&D centres research infrastructure projects 
(Eurostat,  2017).  In  2016,  according  to  preliminary  figures  the  EU  funding  has  dropped 
as  already  mentioned  above  (CZSO,  2017a),  but  this  is  likely  to  be  only  a  temporary 
dive, as the figures are likely to go up again in 2017 thanks to funding from the new OP 
RDE.  Within  the  7th  Framework  Programme  (FP7)  1,153  projects  with  123  coordinators 
have been financed. This represents a sizeable increase with respect to the 890 projects 
and 38 coordinators financed under the FP6, although FP funding remains rather minor.  

The  single  largest  recipient  of  institutional  funds  is  the  CAS  with  about  a  third  of  the 
total.  In  turn,  the  CAS  redistributes  the  institutional  funds  between  member  research 
institutes  using  an  evaluation  methodology  that  involves  international  peer  review. 
Overall,  nearly  half  of  the  national  institutional  funding  is  channelled  to  the  higher 
education  sector  by  the  MEYS,  which  continues  to  distribute  the  funds  among  the 
individual higher education research organisations using results of the old formula-based 
evaluation of Metodika 2013.  

Government  R&I  funding  to  the  private  sector  increasingly  stimulates  public-private 
cooperation and commercialization of research results. At the forefront of this policy shift 
are  TA  CR  programmes,  most  notably  ALFA,  Competence  Centres,  GAMA,  DELTA, 
EPSILON  and  ZETA.  From  2017  onwards  the  MIT  was  supposed  to  transfer  the 
administration of competitive funding to business R&I from the national budget to the TA 
CR.  However,  this  was  reversed  in  2015,  when  the  Government  approved  a  new  TRIO 
programme at the  MIT.  Since 2005 the Ministry of Finance (MF) provides tax incentives 
that allow firms to deduct expenditures on R&D carried out in-house from their tax base. 
After  2014,  tax  credits  were  extended  to  the  purchase  of  external  R&D  services  from 
research organisations. In 2015, foregone tax revenue due to R&D tax credits amounted 
to  €93m  (CZK  2.5b)  of  which  69  %  accrued  to  large  enterprises.  Nonetheless,  76%  of 
firms  that  claimed  the  indirect  R&D  support  had  less  than  250  employees  and  72%  of 
them were domestic (CZSO 2017b). 

3.2  Private R&D expenditure 

Business enterprise expenditure on R&D (BERD) accounted for 54% (€1.77b) of GERD in 
2015. BERD as percentage of GDP reached 1.1% in 2014, 1.05% in 2015 and 1.03% in 
2016,  which  represents  a  significant  increase  compared  to  the  0.96%  reading  for  2012 
and  confirms  the  steady  convergence  path  to  the  EU28  average  of  1.32%  (Eurostat, 
2017). BERD is characterised by one of the highest levels of openness in the EU. In 2016 
about 64% of BERD was performed by foreign affiliates and concentrated in the medium-
high tech sector. Likewise, BERD funding from foreign business sources increased rapidly 
since 2010 to about a fifth of BERD (CZSO, 2017a).  

Domestic-owned companies concentrate more on R&D in the services sector, but overall 
their  innovation  capabilities  remain  modest  and  the  technological  lag  with  respect  to 
foreign-owned  firms  is  considerable.  Moreover,  97%  of  domestic  business  R&D  funding 
was  spent  by  the  firms  themselves,  hence  only  3%  was  contracted  out  to  the  public 
sector, which testifies to the very weak link between the business sector and other parts 
of  the  economic  system.  This  proportion  has  remained  remarkably  stable  over  the  last 
ten years. Foreign business R&D funding appears to be more diversified with 11% spent 
outside of the business sector, almost all of it going to the Public Research Organisations 
(PROs).1  

1 This is however mainly driven by the large amount of licence fees paid by a single foreign company to a single 

institute of the CAS (CZSO, 2017a). 

8 

 
 
 
                                           
3.3  Supply of R&I human resources 

Between  2011  and  2016,  the  number  of  researchers  increased  by  22%,  reaching  about 
3,500  full-time-employed  (FTE)  researchers  per  million  people,  close  to  the  EU28 
average  but  half  the  level  of  top  performing  countries  (Eurostat,  2017).  In  the  same 
year, about 51% of researchers were employed in the business sector, 28% in the higher 
education sector and 20% in the government sector. Nevertheless, the labour market for 
researchers continues to suffer from an insufficient supply of experts with an appropriate 
mix  of  skills,  especially  in  STEM  fields,  while  the  academic  labour  market  remains 
internally  oriented  (SRI  2016b).  The  number  of  PhD  graduates  has  stagnated  in  recent 
years and there is a long-term tendency for the proportion of STEM  tertiary students to 
decrease in comparison to the social sciences and humanities (CZSO 2017a). Policies to 
boost the supply of (post)graduates in STEM are lacking. 

The participation of female researchers is low, with a share of only 26.94% in 2015, far 
below  the  EU28  average  of  33.44%,  and  on  a  decreasing  trend  in  recent  years.  The 
share  of  female  researchers  is  much  lower  in  the  business  sector  than  in  the  higher 
education  and  government  sectors  (Eurostat,  2017).  Career  progression  is  difficult  in 
particular for young female scientists returning from maternity leave (NKC – ženy a věda, 
2015).  

Private-public  mobility  of  researchers  is  considered  to  be  very  weak,  albeit  no  official 
data  is  collected  on  researchers  in  public  organisations  with  experience  in  the  private 
sector  and/or  employment  of  professors  in  industry  or  academic  start-ups  (probably 
because  the  figures  are  very  low).  Circulation  of  academic  staff  within  the  public  R&D 
sector is also low. The Czech Republic  exhibits a large share  of non-mobile researchers, 
more  than  50%,  compared  to  30%  in  the  UK, Sweden  or  Belgium  and  44%  in  Slovakia 
and Hungary (Science Europe 2013). 

4  Policies to address innovation challenges 

The  European  Innovation  Scoreboard  2017  classifies  the  Czech  Republic  among  the 
“moderate  innovators”,  with  an  innovation  performance  below  the  EU28  average  but 
ahead  of  Portugal,  Spain,  Italy  and  Greece  (EC,  2017a).  The  main  strengths  are:  R&D 
expenditure  in  the  public  sector,  international  scientific  co-publications,  non-R&D 
innovation business expenditures, ICT training in enterprises and exports of medium and 
high-tech  products.  The  weak  areas  are  concentrated  in  publication  citations,  foreign 
doctorate students, public-private co-publications, private co-funding of public R&D, R&D 
expenditures 
innovativeness  of  SMEs,  venture  capital 
expenditures, opportunity-driven entrepreneurship, knowledge-intensive services exports 
and the use of intellectual asset protection. These weaknesses are closely related to the 
most pressing innovation challenges, the tackling of which needs to be at the forefront of 
the Czech RDI policy.  

in  the  business  sector, 

4.1  Challenge 1: Reforming the governance of public research  

Description 

Since 2008 the governance system has undergone a profound reform (CRDI, 2009). The 
CRDI  has  become  the  central  actor  in  policy  making,  with  the  newly  established  TA  CR 
acting to provide competitive funding for applied research, development and innovation. 
However,  the  governance  framework  continues  to  suffer  from  overlapping  roles, 
coordination  problems  and 
fragmentation  (SRI,  2015).  The  performance-based 
methodology for evaluation of R&D results and allocation of institutional funding that was 

9 

 
 
 
 
 
 
introduced  at  the  outset  of  the  reform  has  been  criticized  for  being  too  simplistic, 
stimulating  opportunistic  behaviour  and  creating  unstable  funding  conditions  (Arnold, 
2011). The Metodika 2013 evaluation methodology established international peer review 
processes  and  bonuses  for  research  excellence  but  the  original  formula-based  pillar 
remained dominant  (CRDI, 2013). Metodika 2013  was prolonged  several times until the 
end  of  2016,  despite  calls  for  a  better  solution.  National  R&I  programme  evaluations 
continue  to  suffer  from  poor  quality  and  ex-ante,  on-going,  ex-post  evaluations  and 
impact analyses are not regularly conducted according to international standards (Arnold, 
2011; Srholec, 2015).  

Policy response 

The National Research, Development and Innovation Policy of the Czech Republic 2016–
2020 (SRI, 2016a) advocates for a reform of the governance and evaluation frameworks. 
The former Deputy Prime Minister for Science, Research and Innovation proposed to form 
a new Ministry for Research and Development and the Government approved in 2016 the 
legislative  intention  of  a  new  law  on  support  for  R&I  that  clarifies  the  status  of  the 
Ministry.  However,  little  progress  has  been  made  concerning  this  proposal  in  2017.  The 
civil  service  reform,  implemented  in  2015,  aims  to  decrease  the  high  turnover  of  civil 
servants  and  enhance  the  analytical  capacities  of  the  public  administration.  The 
Government  approved  a  new  evaluation  methodology  for  research  organizations, 
Metodika  2017+,  in  2017,  which  divides  evaluation  responsibilities  to  different  levels  of 
governance  and  envisages  a  gradual  implementation  of  informed  peer  review.  It  is  not 
expected  to  be  fully  implemented  before  2020.  In  the  meantime,  the  allocation  of 
institutional  funding  is  fixed  according  to  the  latest  results  of  Metodika  2013  and  only 
budget  increases  will  be  distributed  using  results  based  on  Metodika  2017+.  New  rules 
for preparation and evaluation of R&I programmes have not yet been put in place. 

Policy Assessment 

The  policy  responses  largely  address  the  repeated  EC’s  recommendations  to  implement 
reforms  to  the  governance  of  the  R&I  system  and  strengthen  the  mechanism  for  the 
allocation  of  funds  (European  Commission,  2016b,  2016c,  2017a,  2017b).  The  proposal 
to assign all responsibility for R&I policy to a new Ministry for Research and Development 
could  have  been  a  way  to  streamline  the  governance  of  the  system.  The  new  Ministry 
was  assumed  to  take  over  executive  responsibilities  from  the  CRDI  and  partly  from  the 
MEYS,  including  GA  CR  and  TA  CR,  and  hence  become  the  central  R&D  policy  actor. 
However,  the  proposal  left  out  competences  for  HIEs  under  the  MEYS  and  for  business 
R&I  support  under  the  MIT.  Similarly,  the  administration  of  OP  RDI  and  OP  EIC  was 
supposed  to  remain  under  the  MEYS  and  MIT,  respectively.  As  a  result,  the  key 
competences  were  going  to  be  divided  into  three  ministries..  The  sponsors  of  this 
proposal  did  not  manage  to  build  consensus  across  the  political  spectrum  and 
stakeholders.  The new Government that took  office after the parliamentary elections in 
October 2017 abandoned this proposal. Likewise, the main thrust for the implementation 
of Metodika 2017+ is upon the new Government and it remains to be seen whether the 
new administration will uphold its principles and schedule.. Standards for R&I programme 
evaluations  continue  to  be  fairly  low  and  therefore  strategic  insights  for  policy  makers 
and  stakeholders  are  very  limited.  To  help  improve  the  performance  and  impact  of 
measures  more  attention  should  be  paid  to  improving  monitoring,  evaluation  and 
strategic intelligence for R&I policy-making at large.  

10 

 
 
 
 
4.2  Challenge 2: Opening the labour market for researchers 

Description 

The  labour  market  for  researchers  is  characterized  by  institutional  autonomy,  self-
governing  rights,  decentralized  decision-making  powers  and  heterogeneous  recruitment 
and promotion practices. However, the management of researchers is outdated (Arnold, 
2011).  Academic  careers  are  hierarchical  with  limited  competition  and  widespread  in-
breeding.  Opportunities  for  early  career  researchers  are  unattractive  (National  Training 
Fund,  2012).  Horizontal  mobility  of  academic  staff  is  low  with  more  than  50%  of  non-
mobile  researchers  compared  to  30%  in  UK,  Sweden  or  Belgium  and  44%  in  Slovakia 
and  Hungary  (Science  Europe,  2013).  Moreover,  the  labour  market  is  too  internally 
oriented  (SRI,  2016b  and  European  Commission  2017a).  Only  6%  of  researchers  in  the 
public  R&D  sector  are  foreign,  many  of  which  are  Slovaks  (Eurostat,  2016).  Gender 
inequality  in  research  is  high  (NKC  –  ženy  a  věda,  2015).  The  share  of  female 
researchers is far below the EU28 average and decreasing. Career progression paths are 
difficult  in  particular  for  young  female  scientists.  Even  though  preservation  of  the  same 
position  is  guaranteed  after  maternity  leave,  an  extension  of  the  contract  due  to 
maternity  leave  is  not  guaranteed  if  the  researchers  work  under  fixed-term  contracts. 
This is a significant barrier to female researchers’ career progression.  

Policy response 

The  higher  education  reform  initially  involved  ambitious  plans  for  the  modernization  of 
the  conditions  for  human  resource  development.  However,  the  drafting  process  was 
derailed  due  to  political  instability  and  disagreements  among  stakeholders.  Eventually, 
the  reform  plans  were  abandoned  and  only  the  accreditation  system  has  changed. 
Several measures are in place to attract foreign researchers. Inward flows of researchers 
are  supported  by  the  EURAXESS  network,  while  the  Scientific  Visa  Package  simplifies 
inward  mobility  of  researchers  from  non-EU  countries.  CAS  awards  the  J.  E.  Purkyně 
Fellowship    to  attract  outstanding  scientists  from  abroad.  The  NÁVRAT,  i.e.  “return", 
programme  administered  by  the  MEYS  improves  the  conditions  for  the  re-integration  of 
top  researchers  coming  back  from  abroad.  There  are  also  incentives  within  the  OP  RDE 
that motivate research organizations to strategic approach to human resources.   Gender 
issues  remained  unaddressed  for  a  long  period  in  R&I  policy.  The  SRI  (2016a),  MEYS 
(2016  and  2018)  are  the  first  major  strategic  documents  explicitly  addressing  gender 
equality and gender mainstreaming  by outlining specific targets for increasing the share 
of female researchers. 

Policy Assessment 

Human  resource  management  practices  in  the  public  sector  could  be  improved  by 
intensifying  competition  both  internally  and  from  abroad  and  making  careers  more 
attractive  for  young  people.  Horizontal  and  vertical  mobility  could  be  incentivized  by 
reducing  the  barriers  to  the  circulation  of  people 
innovation  system. 
Notwithstanding the increasing awareness of gender issues, there are still no regulations 
addressing  gender  imbalances  and  there  are  no  public  sector  funding  or  other 
instruments  targeting  female  researchers.  A  reform  of  the  higher  education  system  is 
long  overdue;  the  higher  education  act  has  been  amended  eighteen  times  and  it  is 
acknowledged that comprehensive changes are necessary. Limited availability of qualified 
human  resources  in  the  labour  market  is  likely  to  become  a  major  bottleneck  for  the 
success  of  the  new  research  centres  and  infrastructure  projects,  the  construction  of 
which was financed by  the EU Structural Funds and concerns about the sustainability of 
which have been raised by the EC (European Commission, 2016b, 2016c). 

in  the 

11 

 
 
 
4.3  Challenge 3: Strengthening public-private linkages 

Description 

Underdeveloped  public-private  research  linkages  are  a  major  weakness  of  the  national 
innovation system (SRI, 2015 and European Commission, 2017a). Only 3% of domestic 
business  R&D  funding  is  contracted  out  to  the  public  sector,  with  this  proportion  being 
remarkably  stable  over  time.  Formal  instruments  of  intellectual  property  rights  (IPRs) 
protection remain underutilized, despite the existence of state-of-the art IPRs legislation. 
The  only  exception  is  the  Institute  of  Organic  Chemistry  and  Biochemistry  of  CAS  that 
accounts  for  the  lion's  share  of  national  income  from  patents  licence  fees.  The  public 
research sector as a whole produces results with low applicability and is characterised by 
low  patenting  activity  (SRI,  2016b).  It  also  maintains  poor  performance 
in 
commercialization  of  research  outputs,  insufficient  knowledge  transfer  practices  and 
underdeveloped entrepreneurial culture (MIT 2011). The business sector lags behind the 
technology  frontier,  with  domestic  firms  mostly  absorbing  existing  technologies  rather 
than  interacting  with  academics  working  on  newer  technologies.  Poor  human  capital 
mobility between the sectors reinforces the problem.  

Policy response 

The  improvement  of  public-private  linkages  has  long  been  a  central  objective  of  R&I 
policies  (SRI,  2016a).  TA  CR  provides  a  portfolio  of  programmes,  namely  ALFA, 
Competence  Centres,  DELTA,  EPSILON  and  the  forthcoming  National  Centres  of 
Competence,  whose  main  goal  is  to  promote  collaboration  between  enterprises  and 
research organisations in the public sector.  GAMA is specifically designed to support  the 
practical  application  and  commercial  use  of  R&D  results,  whereas  ZÉTA  supports 
horizontal  mobility  of  young  researchers.  MIT  operates  the  TRIO  program,  which 
supports  applied  research  and  public-private  cooperation  and  CzechInvest  runs 
programmes  aimed  at  stimulating  knowledge  transfer  and  the  creation  of  science  and 
technological parks and technology transfer offices. The OP EI and OP RDI in the previous 
programming  period  2007-2013  also  included  several  smaller  programmes  supporting 
knowledge  transfer.  Follow-up  measures  of  this  kind  are  also  being  implemented  under 
the  OP  EIC  and  OP  RDE.  Stakeholders  initiatives,  such  Strategy  AV21  of  the  CAS,  are 
promising. Tax credits that enable enterprises to deduct R&D expenditures carried out in-
house  have  been  extended  to  the  purchase  of  external  R&D  services  from  research 
organisations. This measure is expected to deepen public-private linkages. Most regional 
governments  have  implemented  innovation  voucher  programmes,  though  funding 
channelled through this route has been limited.  

Policy Assessment 

Despite  the  sustained  policy  efforts,  linkages  between  public  and  private  R&D  sectors 
could  be  further  improved.  IPRs  continue  to  be  underused.  Policy  measures  supporting 
horizontal  mobility  such  as  traineeships  or  integration  in  the  organization  of  industry-
oriented PhD programmes are too few. More emphasis on supporting joint public-private 
research  projects  in  subsidy  programmes  and  the  new  tax  credit  provision  seem 
promising but have not yet been evaluated and thus their impacts remain unknown. Poor 
commercialisation  of  public  R&D  outcomes  requires  systematic  attention.  Public  sector 
researchers  have  low  incentives  to  commercialise  research  results.  Evaluation  practices 
at  national,  organization  and  individual  levels  rely  heavily  on  indicators  of  scientific 
output  and  incentivise  scientists  only  marginally  to  engage  in  commercialization 
activities.  Major  unsolved  problems  are  the  lack  of  supporting  institutions,  insufficient 
supply  of  mediation  services  and  shortage  of  qualified  human  resources  for  knowledge 
transfer.  The  lack  of  rules,  the  inadequate  enforcement  of  the  existing  ones  and 
ineffective  administrative  processes  create  ground  for  opportunistic  behaviour  of 
researchers  when  deciding  on  who  owns  IPRs.  Knowledge  transfer  incentives  are  set 
through  internal  regulations  established  at  the  level  of  individual  organizations  without 

12 

 
 
necessarily  following  standards  of  behaviour.  A  national  strategy  for  knowledge  transfer 
is lacking.  

4.4  Challenge 4: Facilitating access to finance for innovation 

Description 

The business sector is relatively advanced, with a large share of industries considered to 
be  high-  and  medium-high-technology  (European  Commission,  2017e).  However,  it 
specializes in low value added segments of global value chains (TA CR, 2015). Despite its 
steady  growth,  BERD  remains  relatively  low  in  proportion  to  value  added  and  tends  to 
indigenous 
concentrate  on  downstream,  close-to-market  activities,  especially 
companies. The demand for research input is limited and innovation is mainly focused on 
absorbing foreign technologies. Patenting is low and path-breaking innovations are rare. 
Domestic sources of knowledge generation have not been established as the main drivers 
of  growth  (OECD,  2016).  More  than  50%  of  BERD  is  performed  by  foreign  affiliates 
(Eurostat,  2016).  Several  MNCs  have  invested  in  R&D  centres  but  the  core  research 
activity tends to be carried out in the headquarters abroad (MIT, 2011). The birth rate of 
innovative  start-ups  is  low  (MIT,  2011  and  CRDI,  2016).  Limited  access  to  external 
private  sources  of  finance  and  venture  capital  is  an  obstacle  to  improving  the 
innovativeness of SMEs (European Commission, 2016d). Demand for innovation, as a pull 
factor, is below potential (SRI, 2016b) both  from the business sector towards the public 
sector and vice-versa (European Commission, 2013 and 2015).  

in 

Policy response 

services 

to  entrepreneurs,  with  CzechAccelerator 

R&D  in  the  business  sector  is  stimulated  via  tax  credits  and  direct  R&D  subsidy 
programmes such as IMPULS, TIP, ALFA, EPSILON and TRIO  (EY, 2014). TA CR and MIT 
subsidy  programmes  have  not  been  specifically  focused  to  support  innovation  in  SMEs. 
Nevertheless,  public  measures  are  increasingly  designed  with  the  aim  to  boost  public-
private  collaboration  and  technology  transfer  from  research  organizations,  which 
promotes  the  innovativeness  of  SMEs,  as  they  tend  to  lack  in-house  human  capital  and 
infrastructure.  Regional  bodies  support  SMEs  with  innovation  voucher  programmes. 
European  structural  funds  and  OP  EIC  also  start  to  address  these  challenges. 
CzechInvest,  an  agency  of  MIT  responsible  for  attracting  R&D  related  FDI,  provides 
specialized 
the 
internationalization  of  innovative  companies  and  CzechEkoSystem  couching  young 
entrepreneurs.  Activities  under  the  Enterprise  Europe  Network  operated  by  the 
Technology  Centre  of  CAS  provide  expert  advice  and  assistance  to  entrepreneurs  and 
SMEs.  Moreover,  there  have  been  bottom-up  initiatives  to  promote  the  emergence  of 
start-ups  by  university  students,  such  the  InovaJET,  xPort  and  Point  One  business 
incubators.  The  venture  capital  market  continues  to  be  underdeveloped  (European 
Commission 2017a). In this respect, the INOSTART programme, by the commercial bank 
Česká spořitelna and the MIT, remains the only instrument which supports start-ups with 
loan guarantees for innovative projects. Plans to boost access to venture capital through 
the  public-private  seed  fund  failed  under  the  previous  OP  EI  but  are  being  re-iterated 
under  the  OP  EIC  in  the  new  programming  period  with  the  launch  of  the  National 
Innovation  Fund.  On  the  other  hand,  public  procurement  is  not  perceived  as  an 
instrument to promote innovation. 

targeting 

Policy Assessment 

Policies  have  shifted  from  a  traditional  focus  on  science  and  research  toward  boosting 
technology  transfer  and  innovation.  Still,  the  current  policy  mix  is  dominated  by  R&D 
subsidy  programmes  with  limited  efforts  devoted  to  supporting  venture  capital  or 
business  angels  and  revolving  funds.  The  impact  of  the  existing  measures  is  hard  to 
judge.  Rigorous  evaluation  of  public  R&I  support  programmes  is  not  being  conducted, 

13 

 
 
 
thereby  hindering  policy  learning.  The  new  2014-2020  programming  period  includes  a 
larger  portfolio  of  funding  measures.  It  needs  to  be  designed  taking  into  account  the 
problems  with  the  public-private  seed  fund  and  revolving  measures  in  the  2007-2013 
programmes. CzechInvest has managed successfully to integrate the management of the 
EU  Structural  Funds  with  the  FDI's  and  innovation  programmes  but  the  creation  of  the 
new  Agency  for  Entrepreneurship  and  Innovation  may  have  an  impact  on  the 
coordination  of  those  policies.  A  larger  set  of  measures  going  beyond  direct  R&DI 
subsidies  are  desirable  in  the  future.  R&I  policies  continue  to  neglect  the  potential  of 
using  demand-side  instruments  and  remain  rooted  in  the  linear  model  of  innovation. 
Public  procurement  does  not  explicitly  consider  innovation  support  as  a  goal  in  itself. 
Moreover,  it  is  far  behind  the  EU's  best  practices  (European  Commission,  2016bc)  and 
suffers from an excessive use of the lowest price criterion for awarding contracts. Public 
officials  are  reluctant  to  deviate  from  this  mechanism  out  of  fear  of  corruption 
allegations. 

14 

 
 
 
 
5  Focus on R&I in National and Regional Smart 

Specialisation Strategies  

New policy developments 

The  Smart  Accelerator  tool  was  launched  to  strengthen  institutional  capacity  at  the 
regional  level.  The  purpose  of  the  tool  is  to  enable  the  creation  and  reinforcement  of 
appropriate  institutional  capacity  in  the  regions  in  order  to  enable  high-quality 
management  of  the  entrepreneurial  discovery  process.  The  Smart  Accelerator  is 
supported by the OP RDE. So far, the OP RDE financed Smart Accelerator projects in 12 
regions (MEYS, 2017). 

Progress on implementation 

In 2015 the responsibility for the management and implementation of the RIS3 Strategy 
moved  from  the  Ministry  of  Education,  Youth  and  Sport  (MEYS)  to  the  Office  of  the 
Government.  In December 2014 the first version of the National RIS3 was submitted to 
the  EC,  which  requested  a  revision  and  an  improvement  of  its  alignment  with  national 
funding.  The  update  includes  an  intermediate  plan  of  activities  of  the  Office  of  the 
Government and a quantification of relevant financial allocations in the public budget and 
was  sent  for  verification  to  the  EC  in  late  2015.  After  successful  verification  by  the  EC, 
the updated RIS3 strategy was approved by the Government in July 2016  as well as by 
the  EC  in  September  2016  (SRI,  2016b).  Hence,  the  RIS3  agenda  had  a  relatively 
difficult and slow start in the Czech Republic.  

According  to  the  update,  the  National  RIS3  Strategy  (SRI  2016b)  is  steering  the 
allocation  of  up  to  €8.5b  of  European,  national  and  regional  funds.  This is  implemented 
primarily  through  the  OP  RDE  (€2.2b)  and  the  OP  EIC  (€5.1b)  funded  from  ESIF  and 
partly at the national level through the programmes of MIT (€110m) and TA CR (€264m). 
Eight  key  enabling  technologies  and  non-technological  domains  have  been  identified:  i) 
Advanced  materials;  ii)  Nanotechnology;  iii)  Micro-  and  nanoelectronics;  iv)  Advanced 
manufacturing  technologies;  v)  Photonics;  vi) Industrial  biotechnologies;  vii)  Knowledge 
for digital economy, cultural and creative industries; viii) Social science knowledge base 
for non-technical innovation. According to SRI (2017b), the drawing of funds was in line 
with schedule over the 2015-2016 period.  

In line with the new National Research, Development and Innovation Policy of the Czech 
Republic  2016–2020  (SRI  2016a),  seven  national  innovation  platforms  have  been 
established under the Office of the Government   and started operation throughout 2016 
and  2017:  i)  Engineering,  energy  and  mining;  ii)  Electronics,  electrical  engineering  and 
ICT;  iii)  Manufacture  of  transport  equipment;  iv)  Pharmaceuticals,  biotechnologies, 
medical  technology  and  life  sciences;  v)  Cultural  and  creative  industries;  vi)  Agriculture 
and  environment;  and  vii)  Societal  challenges.  Similarly,  regional  innovation  platforms 
have been established in most regions except three (Hradec Králové, Plzeň and Vysočina) 
throughout 2016 (SRI, 2017b).  

Czech  regional  authorities,  consisting  of  14  self-governing  regions  at  the  NUTS3  level, 
had  seldom  engaged  in  RDI  policy  before  the  launch  of  the  RIS  agenda.  The  only 
exception  was  the  South  Moravian  region  which  represents  the  national  role-model  of 
regional  innovation  policy  with  dedicated  authorities,  a  well-functioning  innovation 
agency  and  a  well-established  dialogue  with  the  business  community  (RISJMK,  2013). 
With those elements in place, the RIS3 implementation has been smoothest in the South 
Moravian region so far. Several other regions are attempting to emulate this model with 
various  degrees  of  success  with  the  help  of  the  RIS3  agenda,  most  notably  Prague, 
Central Bohemia, Moravia-Silesia, Liberec, Zlín and Hradec Králové. Czech regions seem 
to be poorly engaged in the EC’s thematic Smart Specialization Platforms administered by 
the Joint Research Centre. 

15 

 
 
 
 
 
In line with the National Reform Programme 2017 (Office of the Government of the Czech 
Republic,  2017),  two  key  RIS3  implementation  documents,  namely  the  Implementation 
Plan of Strategy 2017-2018 (SRI, 2017a) and the Report on Implementation of National 
RIS3  Strategy  2014-2016  (SRI,  2017b),  both  including  regional  attachments,  were 
submitted to the Government in June 2017.  

Monitoring mechanisms and the feedback loop 

Monitoring reports are scheduled to be published annually by end of June. However, the 
first evaluation report was relegated to a brief sub-chapter (only in Czech) of the Report 
on  Implementation  of  National  RIS3  Strategy  2014-2016  (SRI  2017b)  because  too  little 
time has elapsed since the update of the national RIS3 strategy for a detailed monitoring 
exercise to take place. Evaluation is expected to be conducted at least every two years in 
line with the update of the strategy. The first evaluation is expected by 2018-2019. 

Evidence of impact 

Since  the  Government  approved  the  updated  National  RIS3  strategy  in  July  2016 
followed  by  the  EC  in  September  2016,  it  is  too  early  to  evaluate  its  impacts  on  the 
economy and society at large. So far the main positive impact is on boosting the capacity 
for innovation policy making in regions. Before the RIS3 agenda, RDI policy making was 
fairly  centralized  and  co-ordination  between  the  national  and  regional  level  innovation 
strategies  rather  weak.  Drafting  of  the  national  RIS3  strategy  and  the  start  of  its 
implementation  involved  a  coordinated  action  between  national  and  regional  authorities 
and  stakeholders  (particularly  academics  and  the  business  sector)  on  the  topic  of 
innovation  policy.  The  RIS3  agenda  provides  a  much  needed  platform  for  improving 
coordination between the various policy instruments, including within the supply side and 
between  the  government  and  the  regions,  and  for  better  exploiting  their  synergies 
(European Commission 2016f). 

16 

 
 
 
 
 
 
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20 

 
 
 
 
Abbreviations 

AIE 

API 

Association of Innovative Entrepreneurship (Asociace inovačního podnikání 
ČR) 

Agency  for  Entrepreneurship  and  Innovation  (Agentura  pro  podnikání  a 
inovace) 

AVO 

Association of Research Organizations (Asociace výzkumných organizací) 

BERD 

Business Expenditure on Research and Development (Výdaje na výzkum a 
vývoj v podnikatelském sektoru) 

CAS 

Czech Academy of Sciences (Akademie věd ČR) 

CHEI 

Council of Higher Education Institutions (Rada vysokých škol) 

CRC 

CRDI 

Czech Rectors Conference (Česká konference rektorů) 

Council  for  Research,  Development  and  Innovation  (Rada  pro  výzkum, 
vývoj a inovace) 

CZK 

Czech koruna (Česká koruna) 

CZSO 

Czech Statistical Office (Český statistický úřad) 

EC 

ELI 

European Commission (Evropská komise) 

Extreme Light Infrastructure (Extreme Light Infrastructure) 

ERA 

European Research Area (Evropský výzkumný proctor) 

ERDF 

European  Regional  Development  Fund  (Evropský  fond  pro  regionální 
rozvoj) 

ESF 

European  Social Fund (Evropský sociální fond) 

ESFRI 

ESIF 

European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (European Strategy 
Forum on Research Infrastructures) 

European  Structural  and  Investment  Funds  (Evropské  strukturální  a 
investiční fondy) 

EU 

European Union (Evropská unie) 

EU28 

European Union including 28 Member States (Evropská unie s 28 členy) 

FP 

FP7 

European  Framework  Programme 
Development (Evropský rámcový program pro výzkum a vývoj) 

for  Research  and  Technology 

7th  Framework  Programme  (7.  rámcový  program  pro  výzkum  a 
technologický rozvoj) 

FTE 

Full-time equivalent 

GA CR 

Czech Science Foundation (Grantová agentury ČR) 

21 

 
 
GDP 

Gross Domestic Product (Hrubý domácí product) 

GERD 

Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D (Celkové výdaje na výzkum a vývoj) 

HEI 

ICT 

IOCB 

Higher education institutions (Vysokoškolský sector) 

Information 
telekomunikační technologie) 

and 

Communication 

Technologies 

(Informační 

a 

Institute  of  Organic  Chemistry  and  Biochemistry  of  CAS  (Ústav  organické 
chemie a biochemie AV ČR, v.v.i.) 

IPR 

Intellectual Property Rights (Práva duševního vlastnictví) 

MEYS 

MIT 

Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (Ministerstvo 
školství, mládeže a tělovýchovy ČR) 

Ministry  of  Industry  and  Trade  of  the  Czech  Republic  (Ministerstvo 
průmyslu a obchodu ČR) 

MNCs 

Multinational corporations 

NIF 

OP 

OP EI 

OP EC 

OP EIC 

OP HRE 

OP PGP 

OP RDI 

OP RDE 

National Innovation Fund (Národní inovační fond) 

Operational Programme (Operační program) 

Operational  Programme  Enterprise  and  Innovation  (Operační  program 
Podnikání a inovace) 

Operational Programme Education for Competitiveness (Operační program 
Vzdělávání pro konkurenceschopnost) 

Operational  Programme  Enterprise  and  Innovation  for  Competitiveness 
(Operační program Podnikání a inovace pro konkurenceschopnost) 

Operational  Programme  Human  Resources  and  Employment  (Operační 
program Lidské zdroje a zaměstnanost) 

Operational  Programme  Prague  –  Growth  Pole  of  the  Czech  Republic 
(Operační program Praha – pól růstu ČR) 

Operational  Programme  Research  and  Development 
(Operační program Výzkum a vývoj pro inovace) 

for  Innovation 

Operational  Programme  Research,  Development  and  Education  (Operační 
program Výzkum, vývoj a vzdělávání) 

PROs 

Public Research Organisations (Veřejné výzkumné organizace) 

R&D 

Research and development (Výzkum a vývoj) 

RDI 

SRI 

Research, Development and Innovation (Výzkum, vývoj a inovace) 

Section  for  Science,  Research  and  Innovations  at  the  Office  of  the 
Government (Sekce pro vědu, vývoj a inovace vznikla při Úřadu vlády) 

22 

 
 
STEM 

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math 

TA CR 

Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (Technologická agentura ČR) 

23 

 
 
 
 
Factsheet 

Data  sources:  various,  including  Eurostat,  European  Commission  and  International 
scoreboard data. 

24 

200920102011201220132014201520162017GDP per capita (euro per capita)1420014900156001540015000149001600016700Value added of services as share of the total value added (% of total)61.4261.5460.660.4860.6259.3759.7559.94Value added of manufacturing as share of the total value added (%)22.8623.4424.4424.7324.8326.7626.8127.08Employment in manufacturing as share of total employment (%)25.324.7725.7325.8725.7525.9426.4826.61Employment in services as share of total employment (%)59.860.2759.6759.656060.2559.9960.1Share of Foreign controlled enterprises in the total nb of enterprises (%)2.412.211.531.331.331.3Labour productivity (Index, 2010=100)97.9100101.7102.1102.1103.5108.7108.7New doctorate graduates (ISCED 6) per 1000 population aged 25-341.080.981.11.221.111.161.17Summary Innovation Index (rank)1613141515151413Innovative enterprises as a share of total number of enterprises (CIS data) (%)43.942Innovation output indicator (Rank, Intra-EU Comparison)17161415Turnover from innovation as % of total turnover (Eurostat)15.313.4Country position in Doing Business (Ease of doing business index WB)(1=most business-friendly regulations)33362727Ease of getting credit (WB GII) (Rank)222729Venture capital investment as % of GDP (seed, start-up and later stage)0.0010.0070.005000.0040.002EC Digital Economy & Society Index (DESI) (Rank) 18171718E-Government Development Index Rank33465350Online availability of public services – Percentage of individuals having interactions with public authorities via Internet (last 12 months)2623423029373236GERD (as % of GDP)1.291.341.561.781.91.971.931.68GBAORD (as % of GDP)0.590.570.640.640.650.630.610.61R&D funded by GOV (% of GDP)0.620.590.650.660.660.650.62BERD (% of GDP)0.720.770.860.961.031.11.051.03Research excellence composite indicator (Rank)201919191919Percentage of scientific publications among the top 10% most cited publications worldwide as % of total scientific publications of the country6.536.496.547.196.75Public-private co-publications per million population25.3225.927.9419.5118.5417.610.25World Share of PCT applications0.150.110.090.10.110.110.13Global Innovation Index2826242724 
 
 
 
 
 
GETTING IN TOUCH WITH THE EU 

In person 

All over the European Union there are hundreds of Europe Direct information centres. You can find the 
address of the centre nearest you at: http://europea.eu/contact 

On the phone or by email 
Europe Direct is a service that answers your questions about the European Union. You can contact this 
service: 
- by freephone: 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (certain operators may charge for these calls), 
- at the following standard number: +32 22999696, or 
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FINDING INFORMATION ABOUT THE EU 

Online 
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EU publications 
You can download or order free and priced EU publications from EU Bookshop at: 
http://bookshop.europa.eu. Multiple copies of free publications may be obtained by contacting Europe 
Direct or your local information centre (see http://europa.eu/contact). 

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ISBN 978-92-79-81235-4