ERA meets OECD

The traditional spring meeting of the Austrian ERA Stakeholder Forum this year was dedicated to the idea of looking at the synergies between STI activities of the OECD and work carried out under the framework of ERA. The 'ERA meets OECD' event took place on 20 March 2026 at the the premises of the Austrian Ministry for Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure in Vienna. The programme started with an update on the state of play of the new Austrian national ERA Action Plan (ERA-NAP) 2026-2028, provided by the three Directors-General who jointly chair the Stakeholder Forum (Barbara Weitgruber (Science and Research), Henriette Spyra (Technology/Innovation) and Elmar Pichl (Universities)). The implementation of the 15 ERA-NAP Initiatives, addressing many aspects of the Austrian RTI System has already started and is gaining momentum.

Colleagues from the OECD is Paris joined the meeting in Vienna to present the 2025 OECD STI outlook, and to discuss Austria's national RTI policy agenda with the Austrian ERA Stakeholder Forum. Representatives of the European Commission joined online, contributing their view and providing information on the multifaceted collaboration of the EC with the OECD in the field of research and innovation. The event and the lively discussions clearly demonstrated the value of the OECD's analyses, recommendations and policy formats for national R&I policy activities, and particularly for the implementation of ERA in Austria. The objective of the event, to increase awareness of the OECD's work, was duly reached, and closer future collaboration was envisaged.