KAT Organization

Creative Industries Austria (KAT) — The Austria-wide cluster organization for the creative industries

We are Kreativwirtschaft Austria (KAT), the nationwide cluster organization for the creative industries in Austria. Since 2003, we have been bringing together creative professionals, companies, universities, research institutions, business development agencies, advocacy groups, and public institutions to form a shared innovation ecosystem.

As part of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, we are integrated into the nationwide statutory representation of the interests of the Austrian business community. We facilitate knowledge transfer, foster innovation partnerships, support the internationalization of the creative industries, develop networks, and actively help shape the framework conditions for innovation, transformation, and entrepreneurship.

We serve as a network of networks, a knowledge hub, and a central platform for innovation in the creative industries in Austria.

We organize the innovation ecosystem of the creative industries

We connect a wide variety of stakeholders in the creative industries and the Austrian innovation ecosystem.

Our members range from creative companies to industry organizations, universities, and research institutions, as well as chambers of commerce, business development agencies, and public institutions. This creates a nationwide network that connects business, academia, and the public sector.

Our network includes, among others:

Companies and leading firms in the creative industries,
Trade associations and advocacy groups in the creative industries,
Chambers of Commerce and AUSSENWIRTSCHAFT AUSTRIA,
Universities of applied sciences and research institutions,
regional creative industries, innovation, and business development agencies,
public institutions and partner organizations.

We do more than just connect individual companies or organizations. We bring together existing networks, clusters, interest groups, universities, research institutions, and regional development agencies to form an Austria-wide innovation ecosystem. As As a network of networks, , we facilitate exchange between regions, industries, and institutions and make national and international opportunities accessible to the creative industries.

This creates added value that goes far beyond the capabilities of individual stakeholders.

We Turn Creative Competence into a Resource for Innovation

The creative industries are much more than just an economic sector. They are a source of innovation for the entire economy.

That is why we actively connect creative companies with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), leading companies, startups, and organizations in other industries. This allows expertise in design, architecture, communication, software development, gaming, service design, storytelling, and new technologies to be integrated into innovation and transformation processes.

This collaboration gives rise to new products, services, business models, and market access. The creative industries thus become innovation partners for other sectors and help foster competitiveness, differentiation, and transformation.

Through our cluster activities, we create the conditions necessary for creative expertise to make an impact where innovation arises and companies seek to grow.

To learn how we initiate collaborations, train experts, and facilitate innovation partnerships, see the Creative Industries Ecosystem.

We build collaborations, networks, and innovation partnerships

Innovation comes from collaboration. That’s why we create spaces for dialogue, collaboration, and shared learning.

Through our programs, networks, and partnerships, we strengthen collaboration among stakeholders and support the development of a vibrant Austrian creative industries ecosystem.

We create structures and programs that foster the emergence of new ideas, partnerships, projects, and initiatives, thereby helping to ensure that the innovative potential of the creative industries benefits the economy and society. Step by step, this leads to the growth of a vibrant innovation ecosystem that strengthens the creative industries and enhances their impact on other sectors of the economy.

To see how we initiate collaborations, organize networks, and support innovation projects, check out the section Creative Industries Ecosystemsection.

We transfer knowledge in business and innovation

As a knowledge hub connecting business, academia, and politics, we translate research findings, market trends, and international developments into catalysts for innovation, entrepreneurship, and transformation, as well as concrete offerings for businesses and creative professionals.

These include, among other things:

Handbooks on the Creative Industries,
Learning paths and training programs,
Transformation guides for numerous industries,
Workshops, co-creation programs, and events,
the knowledge portal at kreativwirtschaft.at,
KAT Magazine,
Newsletters and informational resources for the creative industries.

As a one-stop shop, we help companies find the right contacts, funding opportunities, experts, networks, and collaboration partners. This allows us to lower barriers to innovation, collaboration, and growth—especially for the creative industries, which are predominantly made up of small-scale businesses. We don’t just make knowledge available—we translate it into concrete business applications, thereby enabling innovation across the entire spectrum of the creative industries.

We build the knowledge base for the creative industries

For more than 20 years, we have been compiling and commissioning the Austrian Creative Industries Reports, as well as studies and analyses on innovation, competitiveness, internationalization, regional development, and transformation.

Together with leading research institutions such as KMU Forschung Austria, the Institute for Industrial Economics (IWI), the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS), Fraunhofer ISI, the Center for European Economic Research (ZEW), and other national and international partners, we create the knowledge base for businesses, policymakers, and funding agencies.

This research has highlighted the contribution that the creative industries make to innovation, competitiveness, value creation, and transformation. Many of the findings now widely recognized regarding the innovation and crossover effects of the creative industries were first demonstrated by the research projects we initiated.

In doing so, we fulfill a key mission of a modern cluster organization: We create the fact-based knowledge foundation that enables innovation, economic development, and evidence-based policy.

We shape the framework for innovation in the creative industries

We are not only part of Austria’s innovation ecosystem for the creative industries; we have also played an active role in shaping its development for more than two decades.

Through consistent advocacy, research, networking, and awareness-raising, we have made a significant contribution to establishing the creative industries as an independent economic and innovation sector in Austria. The fact that the creative industries are now firmly embedded in Austria’s economic, innovation, and location policies—something we take for granted today—is closely linked to our work.

Since 2008, we have been a partner of the relevant Ministry of Economic Affairs in promoting innovation based on the creative industries. Through the “evolve” initiative, we worked together with the Ministry and Austria Wirtschaftsservice to pioneer new approaches to innovation. For the first time, creative skills were systematically recognized as a resource for innovation and incorporated into funding programs and support instruments. Austria thus took on a pioneering role across Europe.

In addition, in 2016 we played a key role in the development of the Austrian Creative Industries Strategy in 2016 and are serving as a partner in the implementation of the “Creative Industries 2030” Innovation Program launched by BMWET and WKÖ.

In this way, we actively help shape the framework for innovation, competitiveness, and transformation, and contribute to strengthening the creative industries as a source of innovation for digital, environmental, and social transformation.

We are part of a coordinated innovation system for the creative industries

The successful development of the creative industries in Austria is based on a coordinated system at the federal level that establishes the framework conditions necessary for the creative industries to fully realize their innovation potential for the economy, society, and Austria as a business location.

The BMWET recognizes the creative industries as a distinct economic and innovation sector and, in collaboration with the Creative Industries Council, develops strategic objectives for the sector’s further development.
For many years, KAT has been an implementation partner and grant recipient of the Federal Ministry. KAT serves as a central interface between the creative industries, the business community, academia, the funding landscape, politics, the regions, and Europe. We forge connections among stakeholders, highlight opportunities, facilitate knowledge transfer, and ensure that the various instruments and programs are implemented as effectively as possible within the ecosystem.
The aws supplements this system with support and financing instruments and makes innovation grants accessible to companies in the creative industries as well.
As the sponsoring organization of KAT, the WKÖ ensures its organizational integration within the Austrian business community and, together with the chambers of commerce in the federal states, enables it to reach audiences throughout Austria.
The internationalization of the creative industries is being driven by the Creative Industries Office of AUSSENWIRTSCHAFT AUSTRIA, part of the WKÖ. As part of “go-international,” a joint initiative of the BMWET and the WKÖ, Austrian creative companies are supported in tapping into international markets and networks.
Through the CLC SEA, run by EIT Culture & Creativity, and the Creative Catalyst, Austrian stakeholders now have access to additional European innovation infrastructure for collaboration, project development, and EU funding.

We connect Austria with Europe

The competitiveness of the creative industries is increasingly determined at the European and international levels. That is why we are actively involved in European innovation and cooperation networks and are opening doors to international opportunities for Austria’s creative industries.

A major milestone was our involvement in the establishment of EIT Culture & Creativity, Europe’s largest innovation community for the cultural and creative sectors and industries. As a partner and member of EIT Culture & Creativity, we brought the CLC SEA (South East Alps) to Austria and established it in Vienna. This marked the first time a European innovation structure for the creative industries was permanently established in Austria.

The CLC SEA serves as a gateway to European innovation, education, and funding networks for stakeholders from Austria and the entire region of Southeast Europe and the Alpine region. Thanks to FFG funding as an innovation lab, the CLC SEA can also use the Creative Catalyst to support companies, creative professionals, universities, and intermediaries in accessing European innovation projects, funding, and international partnerships.

Our international focus is also reflected in our governance:

Our chairman, Gerin Trautenberger, is the chairman of the European advocacy group Creative FED.
Our Vice Chair, Reanne Leuning, represents AUSSENWIRTSCHAFT AUSTRIA and connects KAT directly to the WKÖ’s international business and export networks.
Our vice chair, Gertraud Leimüller, is one of Austria’s leading experts on open innovation and new innovation methods, and she contributes her experience to the further development of innovation ecosystems.

In this way, we establish direct connections between Austria’s creative industries and European networks for innovation, business, and advocacy, and strengthen the international competitiveness of Austria’s creative industries ecosystem.

You can find out how we facilitate access to European networks and partnerships in the Creative Industries Ecosystem.

More Than Just a Cluster

For over 20 years, we have been organizing the innovation ecosystem of the creative industries, establishing the knowledge base for policy decisions, facilitating innovation partnerships, developing networks, supporting companies in innovation and transformation, and strengthening the international competitiveness of Austria’s creative industries.

We connect business, academia, research, public institutions, and Europe into a shared ecosystem for innovation, competitiveness, and transformation.

In addition, we have played a key role in shaping the development of the creative industries in Austria. Through our research, our networks, our innovation programs, and our work in the areas of economic and innovation policy, we have established the creative industries as a distinct economic and innovation sector and highlighted their importance for Austria’s future as a business location.

We are the Austria-wide cluster organization for the creative industries and the key driver of their innovation ecosystem in Austria.