The Czech Republic is mapping its research and innovation technology infrastructure

Do you need to test a new material, develop a prototype or validate a technology under more realistic conditions than your laboratory can provide? The first pilot survey of testing and experimental infrastructure shows that there is a wide range of specialist facilities available, covering the whole of the Czech Republic. However, it is not easy to find out exactly what each facility offers and how to access their services. A new study by the Technology Centre Prague, produced in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry and Trade as part of the STRATIN+ project, represents the first step towards creating a systematic approach to these infrastructures.

Technological infrastructures as a key component of the innovation system

Technological infrastructures comprise specialised facilities, equipment, technical expertise and services that enable the development, testing, demonstration, validation, scaling and preparation of technologies prior to their market launch. These include, in particular, testing and experimental facilities, pilot lines, demonstration plants, test laboratories, cleanrooms, living labs and digital testing environments.

Their importance has been growing in recent years, not only in the Czech Republic but also at European level. The European Commission is increasingly referring to them as a key tool for enhancing competitiveness, technological sovereignty and supporting the green and digital transitions. Their main benefit lies in the fact that they help to reduce technological and investment risks when developing new solutions and shorten the path from laboratory testing to practical application.

They are of particular importance to small and medium-sized enterprises, start-ups and scale-ups, which generally cannot afford to build their own costly testing or demonstration facilities. Shared access enables them to utilise state-of-the-art equipment and expert knowledge that would otherwise be difficult to access.

Mapping the environment, which has been lacking until now

The study did not aim to create a comprehensive register of all existing facilities in the Czech Republic. Its main objective was to identify operational technological infrastructures, assess the possibilities for their systematic mapping, and lay the foundations for a future national overview of these capacities.

The mapping focused not only on the facilities themselves, but above all on their practical usefulness for other organisations or institutions. It examined the technological and application focus of the facilities, the services provided, professional expertise, conditions of access and types of users.

From public databases to direct verification

The mapping exercise combined several sources of information. In addition to a review of publicly available national and European databases, a systematic search for relevant facilities was also carried out. This resulted in a working list of 148 potential technological infrastructures.

Information on equipment, services provided or terms of use is often incomplete; the study therefore included a questionnaire survey of the identified facilities. The aim was to verify and supplement the required information whilst establishing contact with the infrastructure operators. It is precisely this dialogue that represents an important prerequisite for the further development of the mapping exercise and future discussion on barriers, needs and investment priorities in this area.

Results of the questionnaire survey

The analysed dataset included 72 valid records (a single subject may have multiple facilities). The results confirmed the importance of universities as operators of specialised research and testing facilities, whilst also highlighting the significant presence of the business sector.

Testing and experimentation are almost universally provided as a service, whilst prototyping and engineering support are cited as the second most common service by the sites. Consultancy, piloting, scaling, demonstrations and validation in an operationally relevant environment are mentioned in approximately half of the responses.

The most frequently cited types of users include research organisations, small and medium-sized enterprises and universities, closely followed by large enterprises. The similarly high proportion of both academic and corporate users indicates that the facilities analysed generally do not operate solely within a single sector, but bridge the gap between research and application environments.

Part of the mapping process involved classifying individual technological infrastructures into one or more key technological areas according to their focus; the most frequently cited were advanced materials, biotechnology and life sciences, sustainable energy and clean technologies, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and electronics and photonics. The application domains in which the infrastructure’s capabilities can be utilised were also identified, such as in the fields of energy, engineering, the space industry and health technologies.

National catalogue of services and a basis for strategic decisions on future investments

The Technology Centre Prague concludes its study with a recommendation to create a continuously updated national catalogue of technological infrastructures, which could help potential users find their way around, promote more efficient use of existing capacities, and provide the public administration with better-quality information on which to base decisions regarding future investments.

Mapping the basic capacities of 72 research centres therefore does not represent a final outcome, but rather a first step towards a more systematic development of the environment that determines how quickly Czech research results are transformed into real-world innovations.

The study, including its appendices, is available in the repository Zenodo.