Knowledge centre of Europe

The research and business community, leaders and citizens of Budapest heartily welcomed the European council’s decision to host the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) in the city.

The decision justifies a strategy spanning decades and is an outstandingly important step in its implementation. Immediately after the transition from socialism to democracy it became apparent to the leaders of the Hungarian capital that it was vital to shift the focus away from heavy industry towards new areas of economic interest such as research and innovation. The position of Budapest within Hungary provided a solid basis to this ambition, as the intellectual capacity of the country was, and still is, largely concentrated here.

With its 1.7 million residents, Budapest is home to 17 per cent of the country’s population, and 65 per cent of the country’s research and development spending is spent in the capital. To put it another way, in the country as a whole, 0.9 per cent of GDP is spent on research and development compared to 1.7 per cent in Budapest alone.

The comprehensive strategy to develop the city started from the point of view that it was important not simply to attract new institutions and investments to Budapest but also to create the right economic, infrastructure, cultural and living conditions to ensure that the city was an attractive place for international investors, where companies would want to locate their regional headquarters and research and development (R&D) operations.

There was already a strong basis for this, with a number of state-run and other public research bodies, universities and colleges located in the capital. The city’s urban development programme, drawn up in 2003, defines as one of its strategic goals the desire to increase the effectiveness of the urban economy through the encouragement of ‘clusters’ in areas such as pharmaceuticals, mechanical engineering or printing, the development of the knowledge industry (higher education, research, development, high-tech industries) and tourism.

The number one priority of the medium-term urban development programme, which was prepared on the basis of the urban development concept, is the creation of a dynamic economy with the aim of facilitating the economic effectiveness of the capital by providing a platform for cooperation among the members of the economic community, by acting as a coordinator - a role which was not performed very well in the past - by supporting the creation of future ‘technopoles’ and by the development of good human resources through improvements in education.

The programme sets as the first step the enhancement of the knowledge-city role of Budapest and its neighbourhood. Many of the goals drawn up by the programme have become a reality in several parts of the city during the last years. Two examples are the Infopark (the possible future site of the EIT in the south-western part of Budapest) and the Graphisoft park (home of numerous IT companies), and they provide evidence of just how important science parks have become to the life of the city.

At the instigation of Budapest city council, and with the aim of increasing Budapest’s competitiveness, the region’s foremost universities and R&D organisations have joined forces in collaboration with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences’ regional research centre to jointly create three centres of excellence for the city: the information society technology pole (ITTPólus), the ecopole (ÖkoPólus) and the medipole (Medi-Pólus). These are all part of a wider programme - the Budapest Innopolis programme - an economic development programme which concentrates on strengthening the knowledge economy.

The programme promotes creative collaboration between local, innovative businesses and professional organisations, research and development organisations and education and training institutions, according to a model which boosts the economy’s domestic and international competitiveness through a whole range of goods and services which are marketable on a possibly global scale. Its principal aim is to encourage cooperation between participants in the knowledge economy in order that as many innovative products as possible are created.

Although the bid for hosting the EIT was prepared by the Hungarian government and it was coordinated and carried out under its supervision, the political leaders and leading experts of the capital gave their full support and actively participated in the process.

Having the headquarters of the EIT in Budapest is as important for the whole country as it is for Budapest. With the help of the EIT, regional and Europe-wide researcher migration and mobility will grow, and not only Hungary but the entire central and eastern European region will be more visible on the European research and innovation scene. Furthermore, the presence of the EIT will give a new impetus to the Hungarian scientific community and will help in the research and development-oriented use of EU structural funds.

Finally, for me, the decision to settle the EIT in Budapest has a symbolic meaning as well – it is a justification of all the efforts we have made so far in order to enhance the economic development of the capital and to develop Budapest into the knowledge centre of Europe.