Currently, there is no explicit R&D promotion scheme in Austria that is explicitly devoted to ICT. The general promotion of R&D in the field of ICTs however constitutes an increasing share of general Austrian R&D promotion activities. FIT-IT, a new programme with a focus on embedded systems, is currently being prepared by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology. It will be funded with more than €10 million in the first phase (autumn/winter 2001). The former Federal Ministry for science and traffic (since 2000 part of the Federal Ministry for education, science and cultural affairs) launched the thematic priority on ITs and the development of user-friendly services has become an important issue. Although increased in the past years, Austria shows in general rather low expenditures for R&D (1999: 1,83% of Austria's GDP) and measures for stimulating Austria's RTD sector are often discussed, only slight improvements (particularly concerning R&D in the business sector) have been observed.
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