Austria’s economic output amounted to 447 billion euros in 2022 – with an optimally developed infrastructure it could be a fifth higher, as shown by a model calculation from the Austrian Infrastructure Report 2024, which was published on Monday as part of the “21. “Future Business Austria – Location and Infrastructure Symposium” was presented. This mainly concerns the expansion of broadband internet and 5G, which would particularly benefit rural areas.
Of the nearly €94 billion in productivity potential, €85 billion could be raised by expanding digital connections, according to the expert panel of the Future Business Austria (FBA) initiative, which publishes the infrastructure report every year. Four-fifths of Austrian managers surveyed for the report demand that the target should be nationwide broadband coverage by 2030. Three-quarters expect that the conditions for expanding 5G will be made easier.
5G against rural exodus
Business operators expect that the positive effects of a comprehensive 5G infrastructure will be an increase in the attractiveness of rural areas, an expansion of new work models such as home offices, and new training opportunities and careers. This could prevent rural exodus and relocate companies.
The massive shortage of IT specialists has become even worse, with more than half of managers surveyed for the report complaining that they currently have a shortage of IT specialists in their own companies. They want to make it easier to recruit foreign IT employees and set up technical training courses in the field of artificial intelligence.
The offer is also central
Once again this year, the focus of the location and infrastructure symposium is on securing the supply of energy, raw materials, medicines and food. The report uses international best practice examples from Finland and Switzerland to show what an integrated security of supply concept for Austria could look like.
When it comes to competitiveness, the authors of the report see Austria in a downward trend and also refer to the ranking of the Lausanne business school IMD, in which Austria has gradually fallen from 14th to 24th place among 64 countries since 2010. The managers surveyed for this year’s report see this the same way: only one in three believe Austria is very or somewhat competitive in an international comparison. In 2020 that was 61 percent.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
