Polish-Swiss Innovation Day 2016 – Internationalization of innovative activities

On April 20, 2016 the conference Polish-Swiss Innovation Day will take place in Copernicus Science Centre. The objective of the conference is to further develop a policy dialogue between Switzerland and Poland on science and innovation, exchange best practices, and emphasize the role of innovation in gaining competitive advantage in small and medium-sized enterprises as well as in global corporations. At this year’s conference the following three panel discussions will be held: • Internationalization of innovative activities • Innovation in practice in the Business Service Sector • Fostering innovation through public procurement Discussions will be accompanied by testimonials, which can be used as inspiration for panel discussions. Innovation comes from practice. That is why, during the Polish-Swiss Innovation Day 2016 ,we would like to learn from companies about how they become successful: what is the meaning of innovation for them? How should business be combined with science? What role should the government play in terms of fostering innovation? On the other hand, we will learn from representatives of the Business Service Sector how Poland succeeded in becoming the leader of innovation in sectors, which in the recent past had not been associated with innovation. We also expect a highly interesting discussion on fostering innovation through public procurement. It is well known that price as a factor for making a decision does not lead to the choice of the most economically efficient solution. Therefore, we would like to discuss the question: Is it possible to create a system in which innovative solutions will be fostered?  said Ulrich Schwendimann, Managing Director of the Polish-Swiss Chamber of Commerce, co-organizer of the conference. “The Polish-Swiss Innovation Day is an excellent example of how to facilitate cooperation between businesses and scientists. It is of key importance to strengthen relations between them in order to stimulate the boosting of the innovation of the Polish economy. Only partner cooperation can transfer ideas and research developed by Polish scientists into specific products and services that will enhance the competitiveness of our economy”, says Piotr Dardziński, Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. The program of the conference was created by the Polish-Swiss Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the Swiss Embassy in Poland, the Ministry of Development, and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. We have received confirmation from Mrs. Jadwiga Emilewicz, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Development;  Mr. Piotr Dardziński, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Science and Higher Education; and Mr. Johann Richard, Swiss Space Office. The business sector will be represented in panel discussions by Mr. Zbigniew Palenica (Solaris), Mr. Christian Spichiger (Stadler), Mr. James Ottewill (ABB),  Mr. Marcin Mazurowski (Roche), Mr. Angus Kidd (Credit Suisse) and Mr. Marek Szymański (President of Franke and the Polish-Swiss Chamber of Commerce). A detailed program of the conference, information about the speakers, and registration forms are available at http://polishswissinnovationday.pl.