Schumpeter Prize 2025 awarded to Sabine Herlitschka
© Christian Lendl
On 15 September, the Schumpeter Society Vienna, together with the Austrian National Bank, hosted the award ceremony for the Schumpeter Prize, which is awarded in honour of the economist and social scientist Joseph A. Schumpeter (1883-1950) for innovative achievements in the fields of economics, politics and economic sciences. The focus is on Schumpeter's concept of ‘innovation’ in the sense of implementing new, forward-looking concepts and projects in the economic, political or economic sciences.
This year's Schumpeter Prize went to Sabine Herlitschka, Chair of the Infineon Technologies Austria AG Executive Board and Vice-President of the Federation of Austrian Industries. With this award, the Schumpeter Society honoured Herlitschka's outstanding achievements as a visionary and pioneer in the Austrian high-tech industry.
In his laudatory speech, Ewald Nowotny, President of the Schumpeter Society, emphasised Herlitschka's central role as the architect of an innovation-driven industrial policy and as a driving force behind Austria's sustainable competitiveness.
In her presentation, Herlitschka traced Infineon Austria's path to becoming one of the country's most research-intensive and internationally successful industrial companies. With sales of 4.8 billion euros and research and development investments of 686 million euros, Infineon is one of the most important drivers of technological development in Europe. Herlitschka emphasised the strategic importance of semiconductor technology as a ‘building block of modern life’ that promotes innovation, productivity and prosperity worldwide – from electromobility and renewable energies to artificial intelligence.
A central theme of her speech was the culture of innovation: innovation does not arise solely from technological invention, but from the successful implementation and application of new ideas. This requires freedom, partnerships with universities and start-ups, and a corporate culture that promotes learning, mistakes and long-term thinking.
The award ceremony was followed by a panel discussion with Governor Martin Kocher on the topic of ‘Austrian and European location policy in new geopolitical and geo-economic contexts.’ Moderated by Michael Landesmann, Chairman of the Schumpeter Society, experts discussed the challenges of an increasingly fragmented global economy and Europe's role in global technology competition.
The event made it clear that strength in innovation, courage and vision remain crucial for positioning Austria and Europe as strong industrial locations in times of geopolitical shifts – a claim that Sabine Herlitschka exemplifies with her work. The event was followed by a buffet and networking.