The new face of Wielkopolska

The Wielkopolska region, commonly associated with agricultural production, wants to use EU funds to boost its competitiveness and foster the transition to a knowledge-based economy. In the draft Regional Operational Program for the years 2007-2013 adopted by the voivodship authorities, about EUR 100 (zł.396) million has been allocated for projects which aim at building an information society.

One of the key projects, worth zł.195 million, is the construction of a center for advanced information technologies. "Silicon is not in now, so we haven't called called it Silicon Valley, but rather Internet Valley," explains Artur Kośmider, director of the department for information society at the voivodship Marshal's Office. "Currently, we are in talks with three big IT companies to locate their R&D centers there," he says. Moreover, the center, which could be established between 2007 and 2010, is to function as a European hub for the transfer of ICT technologies and an incubator of IT companies.

The authorities also want to build local and regional broadband internet networks along with public internet hotspots. The project will cost zł.130 million. In Poznań City Hall, the public already uses e-forms online. Such services are to be extended to include other local and regional offices.

Kośmider also mentions another project - the Poznań electronic city card, which will be a bus, train, phone, debit and library card, all in one. The project is to be implemented in 2007 or 2008. "If the card proves effective, we will introduce it to the rest of Wielkopolska," he says.

The region's authorities would also like to implement projects in fields such as tele-medicine and e-learning. The creation of a digital map of the region, based on the geographic information system (GIS), is also planned.

"Currently we are fifth, but we want to rank second in the country in terms IT infrastructure development and the number of companies operating in the sector," says Artur Kośmider.