On preparation of Poland´s regions to knowledge-based economy

Poland is in a phase of preparing intensively to the European Union Membership intensifying negotiation process and making necessary adjustments of its law and structures. One of actions is preparation to attain Poland''s readiness to use Structural Funds. Apart of fulfilling legal and institutional accession requirements, Poland must undertake an effort transitioning from middle income economy to the innovation-based economy in order to participate in the European Union policy oriented for enhancing its competitiveness. The objective of this contribution is to analyse the ability of existing regions in Poland (NUTS2) to fulfil requisites to create regions based on knowledge-for-development, such as setting up institutional and economic environment that enables free flow of knowledge, supporting ITC, encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship. Moreover it will be studied to what extent the educated and skilled population in selected regions can create, share and use knowledge. Finally the paper will discuss a situation regarding networks of research institutions, universities, industry (particularly with special concern on SMEs clusters), trying to reveal whether they are ready to use national and international knowledge and creating own knowledge. The above analysis will be presented in the framework of workpackages structure developed in the proposal of the IKINET project.

Innovation Systems and Knowledge-Intensive Enterpreneurship: a Country Case Study of Poland

This study surveys the current state of affairs in Poland with regard to the development of knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship (KIE), or new firm creation in industries considered to be science-based or to use research and development (R&D) intensively. We place KIE in Poland in the larger institutional context, outlining the key features of the country’s National Innovation System, and then focus on KIE itself. Our findings are perhaps more optimistic than many previous studies of knowledge-based economy development in Poland. We observe significant progress due to Polish access to the European Union. The frequency with which universities are playing a significant role as partners for firms in the innovation process has increased significantly; moreover, we observe a significant degree of internationalization of innovation-related cooperation. Another optimistic development is that the level of activity of venture capitalists seems to be fairly high in Poland considering the relatively low degree of development of capital markets offering VC investors exit opportunities. Moreover, after almost two decades of decline in the share of R&D spending in GDP, there are signs that this is beginning to rise, and that businesses are beginning to spend more on R&D. While demand-side problems continue to be significant barriers for the development of KIE, due to the relatively low level of education and GDP per capita in the country, the trends here are optimistic, with high rates of economic growth and improvements in the level of education of younger generations. Significant improvement is still needed in the area of intellectual property protection

Digital exclusion as a hindrance to the emergence of the information society: the case of Poland

There is no doubt, that digital transformation (knowledge-based transformation) has emerged as the crucial megatrend in modern civilization. Artificial intelligence (AI), machines and autonomous vehicles, the Internet of Things (IoT), financial technology (Fin/Tech), smart investing and the analysis and processing of big data are the most recent manifestations of this trend, but not the only ones. All of these phenomena have led to the emergence and continuing development of the so-called ‘Information Society’ (IS), which refers to a new type of social organization that is clearly distinct from the earlier forms of society. In this new society, information and knowledge play an essential role in facilitating the Knowledge-Based Economy (KBE), where information is collected, transmitted and processed in a faster and more effective manner, and can subsequently be used to foster accelerated economic growth. Unfortunately, the problem of digital exclusion still occurs, also in Poland. The author in the conclusion comes to opinion that people who are digitally excluded find it much more difficult to overcome psychological rather than technical barriers to having access to the Internet and learning basic computer skills. This situation calls for urgent improvement. In the modern information society, a lack of basic knowledge about computers translates into partial or total digital illiteracy and makes it difficult to perform a range of everyday tasks. It is therefore essential in Poland to prevent digital exclusion. People who do not use the Internet are socially and professionally limited, or virtually handicapped, which results in quantifiable economic losses. This translates to lower creativity and innovativeness and reduced revenue of state budget, and impedes the competitiveness of the economy and the development of a post-modern, post-industrial social model. The main research goal is to show the causes of the phenomenon of digital exclusion in Poland and ways to counteract it. In the course of the research, the most frequently used method was causal and effect analysis as well as institutional and legal analysis. Elements of the decision-making, historical, comparative and statistical methods were also used

Level of development of electronic services in Poland compared with the European Union states

The development of information and telecommunications technology has been a breakthrough in the economy and social life. Both modern and traditional sectors of the economy rely on ICT to manufacture new or much improved products and to modify and improve various types of services, e.g. educational, financial, medical, or administrative. With the propagation of ICT there have appeared new ways of acquiring information, learning, doing shopping, or spending leisure time. Thus, progress in ICT contributes to the formation of a knowledge-based economy and an information society. The chief aim of this article is to analyse the level of development of electronic services in Poland against the backcloth of other European Union states. The following issues will be discussed in more detail: (1) the state of physical infrastructure necessary for the development of e-services in Poland and other EU states, (2) the level of development of selected types of e-services for individual consumers and enterprises in Poland, and (3) a comparison of the level of development of selected types of e-services with other EU states

Jews Working in Agriculture in Poland in the First Years After the Second World War

The article presents the political and geographical considerations and the development of Jews in agriculture in Poland in the first years after the Second World War. The analysis was made in the context of the implementation of the policy so-called productivisation, which was based on increasing employment among the Jews (and other groups) in the industry, the cooperative sector and the rural economy. The areas of the largest concentration of Jewish farms were Lower Silesia and north-western Poland, especially two counties: Stargard and Choszczno. Despite the financial and material support (among others the Society for the Propagation of Professional Knowledge ORT), many farmers did not succeed at ensuring the profitability of their farms. However, the launch of farms quite quickly improved the dire material situation of Jews. The most resigned, fearful and hurt among them, who saw handing over their fate to appropriate institutions as their only chance for a change in living conditions, found employment in agriculture

THE TRIPLE HELIX IN CLUSTERS - A METROPOLIS SHAPING FACTOR

A formal status of being a metropolitan area opens up vast opportunities for economic and social development for the whole region and a metropolitan area itself. However, literally only few big urban areas in Poland, including Lublin, are capable to meet all applicable statutory qualitative and quantitative requirements. Lublin with its geographical location, population, established Special Economic Zone and Regional Science and Technology Park, numerous organizations and institutions, including local and regional business supporting agencies as well as many successful research-and-development units, has a solid base to become a ‘metropolis of knowledge’. Intensified co-operation between all three spheres within the framework of so called ‘triple helix’ could largely strengthen this process. The very concept of a ‘triple helix’ is based on interactions between three types of organizations – scientific centres, public institutions, including self-government authorities, and business. Lublin has all the assets to become ‘a cluster of knowledge’. Co-operation between scientific institutions, science and technological parks, business incubators as well as properly designed policies based on the economy of knowledge and therefore providing significant preference to high added-value projects are crucial for Lublin to be considered a metropolis of knowledge.clusters, networks, triple helix, metropolization, regional development

Knowledge-intensive services in post-socialist cities from the perspective of 20 years of a free market economy : the Polish experience

Środa-Murawska, S., 2013, Knowledge-intensive services in post-socialist cities from the perspective of 20 years of a free market economy: the Polish experience, [in:] Geografia mirovogo hozajstva: regionalizm v usloviach globalizacji: materialy IV Mezdunarodnoj naucno-prakticeskoj konferencji, C. 3, red. V.N. Holina; Moskva, p.140-149.It was not until after 1989 that Poland and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe started their post-Fordian restructuring that increased the importance of services, including knowledge-based services, in their economies. The purpose of this study was to analyse and assess the level of development of knowledge-intensive services (KIS) in the largest cities in Poland 20 years from the collapse of the communist system. To this end, the location quotient and the establishment rate were calculated for 273,441 KIS firms that in 2010 operated in cities with populations in excess of 200,000. It has been found that 13 out of 17 cities considered in the study have relatively higher concentrations of the firms than the rest of the country. Most KIS firms in the largest cities provide high-tech knowledge intensive services and also show the strongest correlation with the level of economic development, individual entrepreneurship and the indicators of human capital quality in the cities. The structure of the Polish KIS sector changes following main trends in the world economy – the providers of the services seek to locate in the largest citie

Innowacyjność a rozwój społeczno-gospodarczy regionów w Polsce

Transformation leading to the knowledge-based economy results in the fact that de­velopmental processes are determined by undertaking knowledge-based and innovation-based activities and Polish economy rauks low among EU countries in terms of innovation and requires evolutionary changes in this scope. Innovation and socio-economic development are terms com­monly used today and intuitively understood, but their measurement is ambiguous. The aim of the article is to present the quantification of this research area as well as its statistical analysis using linear ordering methods on a regional basis in Poland

Green economy and knowledge-based economy and sustainable development

W artykule tym autorzy przedstawili istotę„zielonej gospodarki” i jej przejawy w programach antykryzysowych i praktyce gospodarczej w USA i w Zachodniej Europie oraz próby podejmowane w tej dziedzinie w Polsce. Przeprowadzono także analizę porównawczą idei „zielonej gospodarki” i koncepcji Sustainable Development, które szczególnie łączą się ze sobą, zwłaszcza w ujęciach teoretycznych. Na tej podstawie autorzy zaprezentowali krótkie porównanie następujących terminów i ocenę ich ewolucji: ekorozwój – rozwój samopodtrzymywany – zrównoważony rozwój – rozwój trwały i zrównoważony – „zielona gospodarka” – gospodarka oparta na wiedzy. Na zakończenie zarysowano perspektywy wdrożenia koncepcji rozwoju zrównoważonego i trwałego z uwzględnieniem programów „zielonej gospodarki”.The authors discuss the concept of “green economy” and its implications in anti-crisis programmes as well as in the economic practice of the USA and western European countries, including the programmes launched by Poland. The paper also presents a comparative analysis of the green economy and sustainable development, which have much in common, particularly from a theoretical perspective. The authors offer a brief comparison, followed by a discussion of their evolution, of the following terms: eco-development – sustainable development – self-sustained development – balanced development – lasting (permanent) development – green economy – economy based on knowledge. Finally, the authors outline the prospects for the implementation of sustainable development, with particular attention to green economy schemes.Kazimierz Górka - [email protected] Łuszczyk - [email protected]. dr hab. Kazimierz Górka – Wydział Finansów Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego w Krakowiedr inż. Marcin Łuszczyk – Wydział Ekonomii i Zarządzania Politechniki Opolskie

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN AGRICULTURE WITHIN THE EU STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEYELOPMENT - IMPLICATIONS FOR POLAND

The Commission’s Proposal to the Gothenburg European Council - “A Sustainable Europę for a Better World: A European Union Strategy for Sustainable Development” was prepared and published in 2001 to complete the Lisbon Strategy. The generał goal - to become the most competitiue, knowledge-based economy in the world market - has been supplemented by the dimension of sustainable development. Due to this, the Lisbon Strategy aims at economic growth and more effective job creation, as well as providing people with a better standard of living in an environmentally and socially sustainable way. In the long-term, growth and social cohesion must go hand in hand with environmental protection. The purposes of this paper are: - Identification of the ecological aspects of the EU Strategy for Sustainable Development which are connected with agriculture; - describing the implications for Poland in the context of current policy