The vision of Hungary’s RDI strategy for 2021-2030 is a knowledge-based, balanced, sustainable economy and society capable of creating high added value in all areas of the country, a vision supported by the Government through the instruments of RDI policy.

The RDI policy aims to put Hungary among the strong innovator countries in the EU by the end of the decade, through the value-creating capacity of the RDI ecosystem, intensive improvement of the innovation performance of the business enterprise sector and consistent implementation of smart specialisation. To this end, the Government has committed in its RDI strategy to increase R&D expenditure as a share of GDP to 3% by 2030.

To achieve the government goals, competitiveness needs to be enhanced with a high value-added, innovation-open economy and a business enterprise sector that uses and develops modern technology and is able to respond flexibly to world developments.

The RDI Strategy sets out three main overarching objectives for RDI policy in Hungary:

1. making more use than at present of the research results of public research institutions (research institutes and higher education institutions);
2. improving the innovation performance of domestic enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises;
3. strengthening cooperation between actors in the R&D and innovation system.

The objectives of the RDI strategy are structured around three main pillars, as outlined above:

• strengthening knowledge production by expanding and modernising the capacity of the RDI institutional system and ensuring a supply of researchers
• enhancing knowledge flowsby encouraging more effective cooperation between actors in the RDI ecosystem, increasing interoperability between sectors and expanding opportunities for knowledge transfer;
• making better use of knowledge by boosting innovation.

Increasing the efficiency of knowledge generation, knowledge flows and knowledge use is the basis of the strategy, but to achieve its vision, it is also necessary to move forward on horizontal issues that have a major impact on the functioning of the RDI ecosystem. However, RDI actors have only limited influence on these, so government intervention is essential.

Horizontal objectives of the RDI strategy:

• Encouragement of openness to innovation, creative thinking and value creation
• Creation of an RDI-supporting regulatory framework and business environment
• Strengthening of regional, social and economic cohesion through RDI
• Creation of a funding system that promotes both stability and incentivisation
• Stimulation of challenge- and demand-driven RDI
• Ensuring gender equality in the RDI system

The Government adopted the RDI Strategy with its Decision 1456/2021 (VII. 13.).