Formula for innovation
The new government has promised to make innovation a priority for the Polish economy, and the Prime Minister has even vowed that it will become Poland's "specialty." But an innovative economy will not appear out of thin air. Initiative needs to come from the bottom as well as the top, meaning the new government will have to conquer red tape and societal apathy towards innovative technologies.
Knowledge creation and implementation are not Poland's strong suits, as any observer of innovative technologies could attest. "In almost every ranking [of innovation] we rank low … every time [these are published] we ask when we will improve our position," said Michał Kleiber, the president of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) and former head of the Ministry of Science and Information Society (now the Ministry of Science and Higher Education).
The data paint a bleak picture. According to 2006's European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS), a report measuring innovative activity and potential in economy, Polish public expenditure on R&D stood at 0.39 percent of GDP last year. At the same time, private sector expenditures on R&D amounted to 0.18 percent of GDP, lower than in Romania and Turkey. In the EU25 (without Romania and Bulgaria) the average was 0.65 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.
Moreover, only 2.7 percent of Polish exports involved "hi-tech" products, compared with an average of 18.4 percent for the EU25. The development of intellectual property in Poland is also disheartening. With only 4.2 European Patent Office (EPO) patents per million people, Poland was at the bottom of the European scale. The EU25 average was 136.7 EPO patents per million people.
Internet infrastructure was sparse as well - broadband penetration measured just 0.5 percent of the populace. That's less than one-tenth of the EU25 average, according to EIS' data.
Why worry?
These statistics worry experts, especially given the general sentiment that only the development of innovative industries - like aerospace, biotechnology, or ICT - will allow the Polish economy to remain competitive in global context. "This is a race not just at the company level, but also at the level of the nation," said Bernard Arogyaswamy, director of the Madden Institute for Business Education at Le Moyne College in the US.
In some ways it is strange that Poland should remain a laggard in the race for innovation. The country's main advantage is at the level of education. Every year Polish IT students win prestigious international competitions. Polish engineers and specialists are increasingly present and contributing new ideas at international giants like Motorola, Intel and Google.
At the same time, domestic firms have emerged and conquered foreign markets, with Asseco Group and Bioton serving as good examples. All this puts Poland in a relatively good position with regards to productive capacity and socio-economic infrastructure, according the Science and Engineering Indicators 2006 (SEI) report, published by the United States' National Science Foundation.
What is wrong with you, Poles?
The SEI report reveals a long list of problems which Poland must face, however. These include poor technological infrastructure, an inadequate number of scientists in R&D, and low absorption of local innovative ideas by the market - to name the few.
One problem is that Polish companies lack the capital necessary to invest in innovation. Those firms which might possess enough capital are often afraid to invest in risky new technologies. "Innovation in Poland is hindered by uncertainties as to whether any such investment will be profitable," said Arogyaswamy.
Low employment rates and poor work efficiency also prove hindrances, noted PAN's Kleiber. He added that further education isn't common among employed Poles. "Only 10 percent of Poles return to education after entering the workforce," he said.
Another very important problem is geography. Poland's relatively large size makes it difficult to implement certain solutions on a national scale as fast in the Czech Republic or Estonia, for example. "Small countries are more agile and more able to make quick moves," explained Jonathan Zuck, president of US technology lobby the Association for Competitive Technology.
Perhaps, though, Poland's biggest problem has to do with mentality. "We do not have a culture of innovation and we cannot be proud of our innovators … there is scarce coverage of Poland's [hi-tech products and services] in the media," said Kleiber. Arogyaswamy added that the demand for innovation in Poland is very low. "Polish society does not care about innovation," he told WBJ.
Whether you like it or not...
Thus, it will be necessary to foster innovation, said Leszek Jasiński, director Institute of Economics Polish Academy of Sciences (INE PAN), stressing the need for top-down initiatives in the process. As an example, he pointed to the role of the Lisbon Strategy. However poor its tangible results, it boosted awareness of the issue throughout Europe. "Had it not been for the Strategy we would speak about innovation much less," he stressed.
Other experts say that public-sector involvement should be far greater than before, but top-down initiatives will not suffice on their own. "We speak a great deal about innovation and prepare a lot of documents, many of which do not lead anywhere," said Kleiber. He noted that scientists and businesses look skeptically at various EU and national initiatives because of the large extent to which they are bureaucratized.
EU funds have a key role to play as well. Over R7 (zł.25.5) billion of EU funds will be distributed via the framework of the Innovative Economy Operational Programme 2007-2013, designed by the previous government, and the new government has pledged to be innovation-oriented. "Innovation will be the specialty of the Polish economy," promised Donald Tusk in his first national address.
Projects aimed at promoting innovation cannot function in a vacuum, the experts stressed. They need to result in products or services which benefit society. "It is necessary to improve the absorptive capacity of society," Arogyaswamy said, explaining that any system of initiatives and institutions must be coherent and coordinated.
Such a system requires bottom-up initiatives, locally and regionally. Arogyaswamy stressed the need to create regional innovation networks and clusters. One such cluster is emerging in the Podkarpacie region, where businesses and academic centers are joining forces to promote the aviation industry.
The educational angle
Increasing cooperation between businesses and academic centers in Poland means greater potential for cooperation with foreign partners. British Ambassador to Poland Ric Todd explained that creating a link between businesses that need research and institutions capable of undertaking it - in this case British small and medium-sized firms and Polish universities - will be beneficial to both sides. Many SMEs in the UK can't afford to carry out research at British universities, but could afford to invest in a Polish university, where labor costs are significantly lower.
The principal of linking businesses with universities has already made Britain the largest investor in research and development in Europe.
But to nurture academic-business links, Poland needs tools to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and less complicated regulations, said Jonathan Zuck. "[Bureaucracy] should get out of the way," he said.
Just do it
There is no reason why Poland can't make a leap forward in bringing innovation into the economy, experts argue. "Poland does have the spirit of entrepreneurship," said Zuck, adding that Poland and other Central European countries are much more dynamic than the countries of so-called "old" Europe. Countries like Finland or Ireland were poor and backward too, and yet they managed to join the top league within a single generation, noted PAN's Kleiber.
"We have a chance to allow our children to live in a rich and modern society," said Kleiber. To do this Poland cannot follow any existing path but must work out its own solutions and model. "We need wise policy from the authorities," he said.
Innovation isn't going to be magically delivered to Poland from elsewhere, and it won't appear at all if both public and private sectors don't translate words into actions. Should progress not be made, the country will only fall further behind its international peers.
