According to the President of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, Hungary is on track to becoming one of Europe’s innovation leaders by 2030.
Hungarian Government and EU to Provide Substantial Funding for RDI
Speaking at a conference on Tuesday at Eötvös Lóránd University, Zoltán Birkner said that the research and development system they have established in the country in recent years could bring incredibly result in the coming years – according to MTI. He believes that the domestic research-development-innovation (RDI) system can already reach full potential by 2024. The spending on RDI is also set to reach 3 per cent of the country’s GDP by the end of this decade. The state is going to support innovation by a hundred billion forints, while also giving about 121,5 billion forints to laboratories from EU funds by 2026. He added that the results are really promising, as the spending on RDI has tripled since 2010 – hitting 318 billion forints last year.
He underlined that it is a good thing that the network of innovation institutions spans the entire nation and that more and more young people are participating in RDI activities; the agency now interacts with 11,000 young people, up from 2,000 just a few years ago. He emphasized that the NKFIH’s duty is to serve as the new R&D system’s driving force, to connect with those involved, and to provide as many individuals as possible with chances in this field. One of the major tasks of the coming ten years, according to Zoltán Birkner, will be to better connect science with consumers, the economy, and society. In other words, to deepen the connection between knowledge creation and knowledge exploitation. Regarding the ministry’s structure before and after 2022, he remarked, ’Linking innovation and technology was successful in the previous cycle; now it is time to link innovation and creativity.’
Universities at the Core
The President views universities as a key component of the institutional network for innovation since their intellectual capital and national network of links keep the RDI system as a whole in motion. According to the government, their duty is to engage in social and economic collaboration that can lead to new orders in addition to providing education. The commercial exploitation of knowledge gathered in higher education institutions, which is another method of knowledge exploitation, might also be valued in the ensuing years, he noted. Through the Hungarian Startup University Program, thousands of students are exposed to entrepreneurship each year, according to Zoltán Birkner. Those who can also secure investors for their ideas will soon have access to greater opportunities, as a new program is anticipated to fund up to several hundred more ventures annually than it already does.
Prominent Innovators in Hungary
Hungarian R&D and innovation have embarked on a path of success over the last years. As the Hungarian government supports many new ideas and research projects, more and more young innovators are able to not only invent something new, but also to transform their ideas into reality. An excellent example of innovation turning into a tangible new product that is unique also at the international level is Magnus Aircraft. As Hungarian Conservative reported earlier this month, the small start-up company has managed to set records in a daring adventure, with a flight over the entirety of the Atlantic Ocean with their unique aeroplane. Magnus did not only shock the world by achieving such a wonder in the air, but they are also making headway on the ground, striking deals with prominent foreign countries to produce aeroplanes. They are also set to become the first foreign company to enter the Chinese aviation market.
Another great example is the work Bosch Magyarország is doing in the country currently. Their research into electromobility has turned into one of the most successful and innovative endeavours of the field. The company is allocating immense resources to creating more affordable and sustainable electric engines. The largest and most difficult part of the research is to find an alternative to magnets used in electric drivetrains, as they are a scarce resource on our planet and eventually, we will run out of them. However, according to the director of E-Mobility Development, Péter Gergen, there are a number of Hungarian ideas for innovation that could hit the market in about four or five years. This means that the future of electric cars could be paved with Hungarian engines. Alongside the technological and industrial inventions, Hungary is also one of the leaders in cancer research in Europe. Students of Semmelweis University, and researchers associated with the institute have shown promising results in the past years, achieving levels that no other scientists have before.
The recent innovation successes celebrated in Hungary have demonstrated that if the necessary funding is available, Hungarian researchers and young innovators are capable of striking out in their respective fields and have the potential to become leaders in Europe.
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