The Czech Republic is failing in its efforts to meet its goal of becoming an innovation leader by 2030 compared to other EU countries, despite having invested almost CZK 30 billion in research, development and innovation between 2021 and 2023, the Supreme Audit Office (NKU) said today.
NKU carried out an audit of money allocated to special-purpose support for research, development and innovation through the Czech Science Foundation (GA CR) and the Technology Agency (TA CR). It found that despite the financing, the Czech Republic is still one of the “moderate innovators” in Europe.
For example, the office reports that the number of patents in the Czech Republic has been declining since 2019, and that the number of citations of basic research results in reputable scientific publications are still less than half the European average.
“Support for basic research is not directed towards strategic areas and thus does not contribute to solving specific major societal and economic problems,” reads the NKU press release. “The two agencies, which are among the most important providers of special-purpose support for research, development and innovation in the Czech Republic, do not cooperate with each other.”
In its 2017 audit, the office already criticised the lack of cooperation between the agencies, and the fact that support was not targeted at strategic areas, said Petr Neuvirt, a member of the NKU board who led the audit.
The current audit found that the number of applied results has increased by 527 (about 31%) in six years, but the number of patents is declining. In 2019, 113 patents were created by projects supported by the Technology Agency, while in 2023 there were only 65. “Yet the number of patents is one of the key indicators of the level of applied research and innovation. They can be used to protect and commercialise original research results,” NKU notes.
The office found that the citation rate of basic research results in reputable scientific publications was still below the world average and not even half of the European average. It also stated that although the number of institutions providing support for Czech research has been reduced from the original 22 to the current nine, the system remains fragmented. This increases the cost of providing this support, the office added.
However, NKU found that the two institutions, the Science Foundation and the Technology Agency, had spent the money for support efficiently and in accordance with the law. In addition, they selected projects transparently, thus eliminating one of the shortcomings identified in previous audits.
