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In 1999 the Ministry of Industry and Trade in the Czech Republic included design support in a national scheme dedicated to improving the performance of Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The Design Centre of the Czech Republic (DCCR) was tasked with operating it and since then a budget of 10 million Czech Crowns has been allocated to the Design Programme every year.

The main objective of the scheme is to help SMEs find qualified and skilled designers that can design products for them or improve on existing ones. The targets are SMEs in the field of consumer goods manufacturing.

Crucially the government of the Czech Republic considers design as a key means of increasing the quality of industrial production and realise that SMEs seldom have enough capital to employ designers. To this end, the programme can provide money for a designer’s services. On average 160 projects a year are assisted, thanks to continued funding from the Czech government. For example in 2002 of the 166 applications received, 163 were approved. Many new products were developed and there was a Product of the Year Competition. In 2003 a National Prize for Design saw the designer receive a diploma and 100,000 Czech Crowns from the Minister of Industry and Trade.

Besides financial assistance, the Design Programme helps companies with the processes of identifying designers, in setting a contract and in protecting their intellectual property rights.  The Luxury Railway Seat was one of the products developed through such assistance. Manufactured by BORCAD and designed by Jiri Spaniel, the product was awarded the Czech ‘National Prize for Design’ in 2003.

Companies applying for the design subsidy must present a proposal for a new or improved product for approval to the DCCR together with a questionnaire in which they declare themselves free from debts. A special commission, which is also comprised of a representative from the Ministry, examines the proposal and has the power to approve or reject it. The DCCR offers the SME a list of designers and the actual selection is left to them. Only designers on the DCCR’s database may be invited to become involved. Half of the designer’s fee is paid for by the scheme, to the amount of 150,000 CzechCrowns maximum – the other half is paid for by the company. The DCCR’s commission has a watching brief which enables it to monitor the designer’s work for the SME. It also helps the designers in their relationship with the company with issues to do with intellectual copyright. Any new product must be ready within a year. So far 860 SMEs have applied to join the scheme of which 650 were granted a subsidy.

The Design Programme has been contributing to the establishment of strong and competitive industries in the Czech Republic over the years. Since the political and economic changes in the 1990’s, foreign goods of superior design quality have penetrated the Czech economy and native companies must be able to compete with them. In the socialist period industry was nationalised by the government whereas now it has been given back the original owner. Unfortunately neither system generated enough capital to employ designers and so native Czech industry was just not competitive. The Design Programme has been operated by the DCCR with the aim of restoring that competitiveness by encouraging the use of a design subsidy. It is important to say that the role of the DCCR is to not only help SMEs use design as a means of increasing the quality of their products but also to help deliver improvements in the working and living environment.

Besides the important role in educating SMEs’ managers and owners about the importance of design for their businesses, the Design Programme has been achieving tangible outcomes such as creating many new products across a number of markets in the field of consumer goods. Such is their quality that many are exported to other countries and some SMEs have had to employ additional workers in order to meet demand. This has even led to the construction of new factories in some instances. For example, exports of glass have increased by 15% over the past five years and design innovations are considered to be one of the key factors behind this increase.

Design Programme’s team sees few barriers to operating the project; they see the whole issue resting on new products that are well designed. In terms of formal measurements of the scheme’s effectiveness, the DCCR cites evident increases in production, an increase in the number of products exported and an increase in employment.

Although an ongoing project, the future of the Design Programme is however uncertain. The political and economic environment of the Czech Republic has been in a state of flux since it joined the European Union in 2004. As a consequence the programme team are expecting fundamental changes in terms of the future shape of the project. The Design Programme may conclude at some point and SMEs will have to pay attention to the importance of design – even without governmental help or subsidies.


For further information please contact Dr Zbynek Vokrouhlicky or Milan Kabat, at the Design Centrum of the Czech Republic (vok@designcentrum.cz  ; milan@designcentrum.cz) or visit the website http://www.designcentrum.cz.


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© Design Wales 2007