Technology has found its home in Carinthia

Information and communication technology including a 5G playground in Klagenfurt, micro- and nanoelectronics in Villach.

Carinthia is Austria’s southernmost province. It combines an array of know-how, high-end technology and an attractive mix of different sectors, all situated in an innovative environment. Centrally located in the heart of Europe at the borders of Italy, Slovenia and Austria, Carinthia is developing into an innovation hub in the Alps-Adriatic region with its attractive infrastructure and a research ratio of around three percent.

Particularly relevant for Carinthia’s technological know-how are internationally operating enterprises such as Infineon Technologies Austria, Intel, Lam Research, KapschTrafficCom, CISC Semiconductor and Flex (Flextronics International). They are beacons of light that shine far beyond the borders of the province together with local heroes such as Ortner Reinraumtechnik, Augmensys, PMS Elektro- und Automationstechnik and Wild Hi-Precision. The Silicon Alps Cluster combines industry, research and development as well as public administration, with the overall aim being the strategic location development.

Focusing on innovation

“The economic strategy of the province focuses on innovation and research,” explains Markus Hornböck, Managing Director at the Carinthian investment promotion agency Babeg Kärntner Betriebsansiedlungs- und Beteiligung GmbH. He added: “In Villach, a centre for microelectronics and sensors has been set up around the Infineon and High Tech Campus. In Klagenfurt, the Lakeside Science & Technology Park International has positioned itself as an attractive innovation campus with the best possible accessibility to research and education. Both sites distinguish themselves through innovative small and medium-sized enterprises as well as international leading companies. They have excellent accessibility to non-university research facilities. This is an ideal mix and means innovations can really be promoted and new technologies can be developed.”

Villach, agglomeration of the microelectronics sector

Over the last few years, the Carinthian district capital of Villach has developed into a centre for the micro- and nanoelectronics sector, which is the backbone of digitisation. Austria’s most active research company Infineon Technologies can be considered the spearhead of this. Since 1997, the globally known company Infineon, a knowledge hub for power electronics, has been based in Villach. The development of increasingly smaller and more energy-efficient chips for use in automotive, industry and consumer electronics at the centre of its activities. Right now, the company invests 1.6 billion euros into building the world’s most modern chip plant with fully automated production of 300 mm thin wafers along with a building complex for research and development

Photo: Johannes Puch

The building shell of the new chip plant at the Infineon’s site in Villach is complete. It has a total floor space of 60,000 sqm, is 120 m long, 110 m wide and 35 m high.

Education

c Alpen-Adria-University Klagenfurt c School of Management, Organizational Development and

Technology (MOT) c University of Applied Sciences Carinthia c International School Carinthia c Coding School Wörthersee

Research

c ASSIC Austrian Smart Systems Integration Research Center c SAL – Silicon Austria Labs c Joanneum Research – Institute for Robotics c Lakeside Labs – Platform for Information and

Communication Technology c W3C – Wood Carinthian Competence Center

Job market and economic structure

c Total number of jobs c Apprentices c Jobseekers (annual average)2 c Unemployment rate2 c Members at the Economic Chamber

216,025 7,165 20,749 8.8% 41,994 c Business formations3 2,400 c Gross value added in mln euros (2018) 18,660 c Gross regional product in mln euros (2018) 20,882 c Share in the Austrian GDP (2018) 5.4% c Gross regional product per capita in euros (2018) 37,200 c Foreign trade in mln euros (Q1+Q2) c Imports 3,476 c Exports 3,807 c Tourism overnight stays (x 1,000) 13,360 c Patent issuances nationally (2018) 17

IT in Klagenfurt at the Lakeside Science & Technology Park

The area information and communication technology is for the provincial capital Klagenfurt what microelectronics is for Villach. The Lakeside Science & Technology Park is 34,000 sqm in size and is home to an IT campus with optimal synergies between companies and research and development. Currently, there are 76 companies with around 1,400 employees, three non-university research institutions, an educational lab as well as Carinthia’s start-up incubator “Build!”. This innovative environment gives non-university research institutes such as Lakeside Labs as well as Joanneum Research Robotics the best framework conditions for their research projects. The Lakeside Science & Technology Park sees itself as a place for interdisciplinary research and development, education, production and service. Together with the University of Klagenfurt, the non-university research institutions and the companies, Lakeside Park is a highly specialised place for IT research and development.

Outstanding mobile technology playground

In addition, Lakeside Science & Technology is also a 5G Playground, which is Austria’s first test environment for research and further development of 5G specific applications, services and business models. The 5G Playground is open to anyone who wants to test their products and applications under optimal 5G conditions. The fifth generation of mobile communications stands out with peak data rates of up to 10 gigabits per second, as well as extremely low latency periods and a high energy efficiency. All of these advantages are available at Lakeside Science & Technology Park in Klagenfurt. The technical infrastructure was provided by Austria’s leading mobile provider A1 Telekom Austria Group. The Playground itself is run by Babeg Kärntner Betriebsansiedlungs- und Beteiligung GmbH.

“The 5G Playground Carinthia at the Lakeside Science & Technology Park in Klagenfurt is the most modern 5G test lab for researching and developing 5G applications, products and processes as well as applications in Austria,” explains Hornböck and adds: “Users not only have the best infrastructure available to them, but also workplaces with the latest server technology and intranet infrastructure as well as a direct connection to the innovation eco-system at the Lakeside Science & Technology Park.”

Current research projects at the 5G Playground

The project “Virtual Reality” researches, develops, tests and evaluates specially chosen VR applications via a 5G network such as

Photo: Manuela Schwarzl/Joanneum Research

Robotics Institute: The first accredited test laboratory for robotic safety

streaming 360° videos and new forms of immersive media, for example from volumetric data (point clouds). These data-intensive applications test the high data rates as well as the extreme low latency of 5G networks both as downloads (streaming to VR glasses) and uploads (streaming of live content from a 360° camera).

“Wireless Industrial Robotics”: 5G in a mobile robotics environment tests the use of 5G technologies that allow a robot dynamic access to sensors wherever they are needed. There are different sensor technologies which fulfil specific requirements of 5G connectivity such as bandwidth, latency and reliability.

The aim of the “Smart City” case examples is to research whether different applications can be run more efficiently or actually at all with 5G mobile technology. The prototypes developed here can then be tested for their usability in a series of field tests carried out in the 5G Playground Carinthia.

Why Carinthia? That’s why…

The extremely technology-orientated province of Carinthia is one of Europe’s top research regions and as a member of the group “Strong Innovators” it is also one of the most innovative regions in Europe. Carinthia’s research landscape has received another boost of late. Frauenhofer established the institute KI4Life with the focus on artificial intelligence. The site of the former Carinthian Tech Research Center will become one of the core locations for Silicon Austria Labs focusing on sensor systems with considerably more staff. The Robotics Institute at Joanneum Research in Klagenfurt has also grown considerably. The Wood K Plus research centre remains an important partner for the paper and timber industry.

In addition to offering attractive funding, Carinthia also has highly trained and motivated employees. This is the basis for many internationally successful leading companies from the fields of internet and communication technology, sensor technology, microelectronics, engineering and manufacturing systems. Carinthia is a hub both logistically and economically in the Alps-Adriatic Region, in the heart of Europe, along two European transport routes, the Tauern Axis and the Baltic-Adriatic Axis. ◆

Good to know about Carinthia as a business location

Babeg contributes to strengthening the economic power as well as the business and technology location with the three innovation and knowledge essentials of education, research and economics. Through the support for new companies and the expansion of existing innovative and foreign companies the visibility of Carinthia as a business location is being increased. Babeg offers companies expert advice and support free of charge; it also offers attractive sites as well as fully developed spaces. By doing so, it fulfils an essential prerequisite to facilitate investments.

In addition, Babeg offers a free of charge consulting service when it comes to digitising businesses, for example at the Digital Innovation Hub Süd (DIH Süd) and at other locations. DIH Süd is a non-profit competence network that acts as a point of contact for businesses. Furthermore, Babeg is also a driver of numerous showcase projects in the region in the areas of research, technology and innovation. For these areas it acts as a hub and network for regional key players and works on increasing the visibility of these topics of the future.

BABEG Kärntner Betriebsansiedlungs- & Beteiligungsgesellschaft http://www.babeg.at