Despite investments worth billions, the Czech Republic remains a laggard in innovation compared to Europe. A recent audit by the Supreme Audit Office reveals where research and development continue to falter – and why fundamental changes to the system are necessary.
The Czech Republic invests billions in research – yet still falls behind. Between 2021 and 2023, the state allocated almost 30 billion crowns for science, development, and innovation, including through the Grantová agentura (GA ČR) and the Technologická agentura (TA ČR). However, the ambitious goals of the national innovation strategy – to become a European innovation leader by 2030 – remain unmet.
This is confirmed by a recent review from the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ). The auditors paint a sobering picture: the Czech Republic still counts only among the group of “moderate innovators” within the EU. Particularly concerning is that since 2019, the number of patent applications has been decreasing.
A central problem is that state support barely focuses on strategically relevant fields – that is, research areas that could help address socially and economically significant challenges. Moreover, the two main funding agencies, GA ČR and TA ČR, hardly cooperate. Although they signed a memorandum in 2018 for better collaboration and established a joint working group, by March this year no concrete results had been produced.
“The lack of strategic direction in funding and the absence of genuine cooperation were already criticised in an audit in 2017 – without any substantial change since then,” said Petr Neuvirt from the NKÚ. An effective link between basic and applied research could significantly boost the country’s innovative capacity.
Developments in patents are also cause for concern. While in 2019 there were 113 patents generated under TA ČR-funded projects, by 2023 this number had fallen to just 65 – a decrease of 42 per cent. Patents are considered a key indicator of a country’s level of innovation, as they protect and enable the commercial use of research results.
The quality of scientific publications does not look any better: the citation frequency of Czech papers is not only below the global average but even less than half of the European average. This clearly shows that many research findings receive little international recognition.
Another shortcoming relates to cooperation with industry. Although TA ČR funds relevant projects, companies’ financial contributions have declined: from 32 per cent in 2017 to only 23 per cent in 2023. State support has increased, but industry’s own input has decreased.
Nevertheless, there are some positive developments. The number of funding institutions has been reduced from 22 to now nine – a step towards greater efficiency. Indeed, the Audit Office confirms that especially TA ČR possesses modern administrative tools and expertise to manage funding programmes effectively. The allocation of funds, according to the report, was appropriate, lawful, and transparent – progress compared to previous years.
However, this does little to address the fundamental problem: the funding system remains fragmented, uncoordinated, and lacking strategic focus. Unless a genuine structural reform takes place, the Czech Republic is unlikely to achieve its ambitious innovation goals.
