The Brno region, The South Moravian Region (SMR) (Czech Republic, European Union) has emerged as one of the leading European innovation hubs, with its Regional Innovation Index (RII) jumping from 87.3 to 101 between 2016 and 2023, marking a 22.3% improvement over the EU. A global leader in electron microscopy, with one-third of the world's electron microscopes coming from Brno, Brno region excels also in the semiconductor, space, cybersecurity, and game development sectors. Leading the Czech Republic in knowledge intensity and high-tech employment, Brno region matches Europe's top regions. Brno's high quality of life and ranking as a leading student city highlight its role as a center of innovation and growth. It stems from the data report on research, innovation, and business in South Moravia, published by the innovation agency JIC.
Highlights:
Innovation Ecosystem: Brno region's progress is particularly noted in the cooperation among innovative Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), signaling increased trust, a trait not typically seen in Central and Eastern Europe. The region excels in scientific publications, product, and process innovations, both internationally and between the private and public sectors.
European Standing: Brno region stands alongside regions like Emilia-Romagna, Budapest, and Brandenburg as strong innovators. The top innovator in Europe is identified as Copenhagen, followed by regions like Helsinki-Uusimaa, Upper Bavaria, Stockholm, and Berlin.
Recognition: Brno region was awarded the European Entrepreneurial Region 2024 title for its long-term strategy in entrepreneurship and innovation leading to increased resilience, sustainability, and digitalization in businesses.
Brno region Emerges as a European Innovation Powerhouse
Brno region has solidified its status as a strong innovator in Europe, according to the latest data from the 2024 data report.
The share of expenditures on science and research relative to regional GDP, at 3.1%, is not only the highest in the Czech Republic over the long term but also reaches the level of knowledge intensity of leading European regions, especially in Germany, Austria, Belgium, or Sweden. Such innovation support is contributed not only by universities and public research institutions but primarily by companies focusing on research and development.
"This is the result of more than twenty years of focus on the development of science and technology companies. The fact that we are moving in the right direction was also confirmed by the awarding of the region and the city of Brno as the European Entrepreneurial Region 2024 for its long-term strategy to support entrepreneurship and innovation and the resulting current activities aimed at greater resilience, sustainability, and digitization of companies," said the Governor of the South Moravian Region, Jan Grolich.
"The city supports the involvement of local institutions in major European projects concerning semiconductors, and our effort also includes locating a national semiconductor competence center or a pilot line in Brno. In the long term, we would like to transfer innovations and research results, which arise in the scientific and business sphere, to areas that positively develop the city," stated the Mayor of Brno, Markéta Vaňková.
Part of this strategy is also the development of relationships within the innovation ecosystem, to which Brno contributes events such as the annual Velvet Innovation conference and also regular meetups. The community can also benefit from the region having a share of high-tech employees comparable to the most advanced Western regions (6.7%) or the continuously rising number of foreign workers.
"I dare say that long-term, systematic work on supporting entrepreneurship and innovation has created a specific culture in our region, characterized by a high degree of trust and cooperation between companies. Thanks to it, companies share experiences, inspire each other, and, last but not least, it leads to more innovations, i.e., new products and services that are applied in the market. It is remarkable that even data collected by the European statistical office Eurostat already show significant differences in the intensity of inter-company cooperation in innovation in our region compared to other regions of the Czech Republic and also Central and Eastern European countries," adds David Uhlíř, architect of the innovation ecosystem and deputy director of JIC.
