The Land of Lower Austria (Niederösterreich) is the largest of Austria's nine provinces and is located in the north-east of the country, surrounding the Austrian capital city and province of Vienna. Benefiting from a well-developed infrastructure (the River Danube as the central link, Austria's largest airport, rail and road connections) has meant that the region has traditionally had a high level of influence on the political and economic development of the whole of Austria. Lower Austria is bordered to the north by the Czech Republic and to the east by Slovakia, together covering a distance of about 418 km. A high standard of living in combination with a low unemployment rate (compared to other European regions) and several excellent companies characterise the region. The economic relevance of the agricultural sector, which still makes up 7% of economic activity, is decreasing.

Structural problems remain, however, in the old industries and in the large rural area. The region is deficient in the field of technology mainly due to the under-representation of future technology sectors and corresponding small and medium sized enterprises. Lower Austria endeavours to adjust this imbalance through increased collaboration with Vienna in terms of facilitating firms' access to educational institutions and technology providers, as well as to services and markets (1.6 million inhabitants in Vienna with high population density). Therefore, Lower Austria and Vienna have joined their innovation forces and their markets under the common label "Vienna region".

Several universities and research institutions are located in Lower Austria i.e. the Donau University Krems, the Fachhochschule Wiener Neustadt, Krems, St. Pölten, Wieselburg and Tulln, the Academy of the Land Niederösterreich in Krems, and the Austrian Research Centre Seibersdorf, the country's largest industrial research institute. The inter-university research centre for agro-biology, IFA Tulln, ensures scientific co-operation between three universities in Vienna.

The regional development with special focus on the regional innovation support structure is taken very seriously by the regional government as documented and practised in the form of the "Regional Innovation System of Lower Austria" (see www.ris-noe.at). ECO Plus, the Land's regional development agency, promotes business creation and cluster management, co-ordinates the management of industrial and business parks, and is responsible for cross-border projects and EU enlargement. Together with the Land, it holds shares in various regional development infrastructures, such as the Regional Innovation Centres. The TIPs, Technology and Innovation Partners, which are a common initiative of the Land and the Chamber of Commerce, are local contact points for innovation and R&D in enterprises. Other regional or local contacts include The 'regional management' units as local contact points and NÖBEG providing start-up capital for innovative businesses, together with further institutions, complete the economic support infrastructure of Lower Austria.

More information on IRE website: Lower Austria

Regional Profile (.pdf)