INVENTED IN HUNGARY
R&D ACTIVITIES REMAIN STRONG IN 2020 DESPITE COVID-19 Photo by gualtiero boffi/Shutterstock
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Although the impact of COVID-19, most notably lockdowns and an economic activity blackout, have weighed heavily on the local research and development sector, with the Hungarian government earmarking financial aid for researchers, the first half of the year saw some intriguing activity, laying the cornerstones of many projects, and inaugurating some others. By Christian Keszthelyi Hungarian startup-turned international navigation firm NNG announced on January 20 that it is developing a cloud-based navigation system for electric vehicles with approximately HUF 600 million in support from the National Research, Development and Innovation (NKFI) Fund.
The new system will incorporate battery charge levels and the distances between charging stations when planning journeys, which could help EV drivers significantly, as battery life and charging infrastructure are both in the infancy, relatively speaking, and conscious planning is an important factor when driving an electric car. NNG says it expects to develop and test the product in three years.
The announcement signaled the start of a busy year for the local R&D scene, further strengthened in February when the National Competition Council recommended the government amend the local business tax to encourage economic growth, proposing that businesses could off-set a bigger part of R&D, up to five times the current level, Minister of Finance Mihály Varga said after a meeting of the council. The beginning of the year saw further R&D buzz when automotive supplier Vitesco Technologies, formerly Continental Powertrain, inked a research cooperation pact with the Hungarian Academy of Science’s Institute for Nuclear Research (Atomki) in Debrecen (230 km east of Budapest), where the supplier is building a plant through an EUR 100 mln investment. Vitesco will set up measuring instruments worth EUR 2 mln in Atomki’s labs, while Atomki will help Vitesco scale up its tech. Vitesco says it is planning to add 450 new jobs by the end of 2020. Another automotive firm, Chineseowned Starters E-Components Generators Automotive Hungary (SEGA), laid the cornerstone of a 25,000 sqm production hall at its logistics base in Szirmabesenyő (187 km northeast of Budapest), where the component-maker will carry out research activities, too. Similarly, state-owned cereal research company Gabonakutató Nonprofit laid the cornerstone of a HUF 300 mln planting seed unit at its base in Szeged (175 km southeast of the capital), funded from a HUF 460 mln capital raise, to reach exports markets faster, chasing a “serious competitive advantage”, according to Minister of Agriculture István Nagy. Hungary is the fifth-biggest planting seed exporter in the world. On March 6, around the time COVID-19 was becoming established in the country, but before the pandemic had placed a red light on the local economy, the National Scientific
