Rita Zehetner

Mag. Rita Zehetner is a Lecturer and Researcher at the Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation of the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt. Her research focuses on entrepreneurship, innovation ecosystems, and sustainable practices, with a particular emphasis on co-innovation processes and climate change adaptation. She leads and contributes to projects like Green HExagon (exploring cross-sectoral action on environmental entrepreneurship) and CO-INNO-LAB (investigating regional innovation labs and digitization of co-innovation).

Her work integrates academic research with practical applications, such as developing business models for start-ups and analyzing customer satisfaction methodologies. She has published widely on topics including innovation strategies, start-up management, and the application of the Kano model in product development.

Rita’s contributions include collaborative projects with regional industries, emphasizing action research and interventionist methods to bridge academic and industrial innovation gaps. She also explores the role of university innovation labs as catalysts for regional co-innovation and the potential of cyber-physical systems to enhance collaborative processes.