At the core of our S3 strategy (#upperVISION2030) are skilled and educated people, who are essential strengthen Upper Austria’s economy. To ensure the availability of qualified talent for business, industry, and research, the policy focuses on fostering the workforce of the future.
Digital transformation serves as a crucial enabler for all sectors, while the thematic fields of "Systems & Technologies for People," "Efficient and Sustainable Industry & Production," and "Connected and Efficient Mobility" guide our strategy. A key focus within mobility is lightweight construction and composites, driven by advancements in the automotive and aerospace industries.
The policy instruments’ objectives are:
• Making a positive use of the structural evolution in the supplier industry and maintaining assertive position in various business’ areas.
• Making Upper Austria a resilient and versatile location for practical mobility and logistics solutions by using key technologies, core competences and system innovations derived from business and research across industries.
The priorities set by the policy instrument are:
• Seeing the structural evolution in the mobility sector as an opportunity and are handling new demands on Upper Austrian suppliers proactively.
• Focusing on the development of new mobility services and network different transport providers to promote the transfer of knowledge and technologies from many different areas.

It is a strategic document defining the measures financed by the multiple EU´s Cohesion policy programmes (ERDF, ESF+, CF, JTF, EMFAF). Over the period 2021-2027, more than 12,6 billion euros will be invested through this programme. Its objective is to decrease regional disparities, while contributing to the EU´s strategic goals. The financing is dispersed through a combination of competitive and non-competitive calls. Its goals are defined as follows:

A more competitive and smarter Europe;
A greener, low carbon Europe;
A more connected Europe;
A more social Europe;
Europe closer to its citizens;

Lightweighting has potential to contribute to first 2 of these 5 goals. Some of the measures are general and non-thematic, such as supporting collaboration between industry and academia. While others, such as attracting and retaining talent are dependent on the priorities listed in Slovak Research & Innovation Smart Specialization Strategy. Despite lightweighting included in among those priorities and its strategic potential for Slovakia, no lightweighting projects were funded as of now.

The policy instrument "Creation and consolidation of key technological infrastructures for technological sovereignty and industry competitiveness" aims to strengthen Catalonia's technological capabilities and enhance the competitiveness of its industries.

The primary objective is to address deficiencies in the value chains of strategic sectors by investing in technological infrastructures. These investments are intended to promote the development of proprietary technology, facilitate its transfer, industrialization, exploitation, and scalability in the market by Catalan companies.

Characteristics: The policy instrument focuses on identifying key technological infrastructures that are crucial for Catalonia's technological sovereignty and industrial competitiveness to fill the gaps in the value chains of strategic areas such as advanced and sustainable materials.

Priority Measures: The policy instrument will seek the most suitable financing mechanisms and investments to support the development and implementation of these infrastructures.

Responsible Unit: ACCIÓ. Department of Enterprise and Employment.

The Innovation strategy aims to a more effective use of the rich innovation potentials of Saxony. It targets eight innovation fields: 1. Raw materials, 2. Advanced materials, 3. Energy technologies, 4. Advanced manufacturing & energy efficiency, 5. Intelligent mobility, 6. Software, big data, 7. Hardware, computer systems, 8. Health.
To achieve the objectives for the implementation of the strategy technology-openness and an improved policy mix have been agreed and laid down in the strategy paper. The main objective of the policy consists of speeding up R&D and innovation, foster business development and international competitiveness.
Future-driven lightweight innovations require an interdisciplinary collaboration across all innovation fields, sectors and they address all defined challenges. The project will tackle the realization of the optimal policy mix as well as the practical collaboration of the involved regional stakeholders and innovation service providers, who will be engaged and invited to the regional stakeholder group. Finally, that will facilitate the effective implementation of the strategic principles such as the identification and exploration of synergies through sharing and exchange of knowledge, internationalization and sustainability at regional and European scale.
The main challenges of the policy are:
• Overcome innovation barriers for SMEs,
• Enhance transfer, cooperation & internationalization,
• Promote an innovation and entrepreneurship culture.