Assessing recent efforts to improve organization of cancer care in Poland: what does the evidence tell us?

Poland has implemented two major organizational changes in recent years to improve cancer care. In 2015, a dedicated ‘fast pathway’ to diagnostics and treatment was implemented for patients suspected of having cancer. In 2019, the National Oncology Network began pilots in four regions of care pathways for cancer at five sites. Neither has been evaluated—no baseline information was collected, and what assessments were undertaken were limited to process measures. While the 2019 initiative was at least piloted, a national rollout has been announced even while the pilot is still ongoing and when concerns about certain aspects of the model have been raised. Given that cancer is the second largest cause of death in Poland and that cancer outcomes are worse compared to Western European averages, there is a particular need to ensure that models of care are informed by the evidence and adapted to the realities of the Polish healthcare system

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

Health Status, Functional Limitations and Disability: Changes in Poland

The social changes in Poland over the last two decades have had an impact on many dimensions of life, including on important elements of human capital, such as health and functional and instrumental daily activities. This article contains an overview of the available data and indicators on health status, morbidity and disability. It presents the changes in the level of functional and legal disability and aims to show the reasons for these trends. Functional disability is highlighted as one of the major challenges for social and health policy in the next few decades in the context of dynamic aging

The System of Long-Term Care in Poland

In the field of social protection, Poland belongs to the EU group of countries with the family-based welfare model, what is extremely visible for the long-term care where family is the main care provider for elderly individuals with limitations in activities of daily living. At the same time the proportion of elderly in the coming decades is projected to be among the highest in the European Union, what raises questions on the design of the long-term care. For the moment the system is highly unregulated and disintegrated between social assistance and health care services. But it is the health sector that concentrates policy debate with a proposal of an introduction of nursing insurance. In the social sector, the significant changes that were favorable to LTC services development were introduced by the law on the social assistance (2004) and family benefits (2003) widening the scope of care available at home and in adult day care centers. But still provision of services is insufficient and a market of private services, paid out-of-pocket rapidly develops. It seems that main problems of the long-term care development in the future will be raising demand against insufficient resources and diversified priorities of the health care system

Schools of infomation : What do they mean by that ?

T here are 18 Schools of Information in the USA. Someone who comes across this name – School of Information (I-School) – might not understand what it refers to. All schools are about information, aren‟t they? According to the I-School Charter, these schools are “interested in the relationship between information, technology, and people”2. If this relationship is obviously at the core of many problems that companies are facing today, how could a school address such a broad issue? In France, there isn‟t any School of Information per se. There is a National School: ENSSIB, which is the “Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Sciences de l‟Information et des Bibliothèques”. But the purpose of this school is restricted to the training of librarians so it is not exactly a School of Information. In Europe, there are some other schools with “information studies” or “information management” included in their name. For instance, there is a Department of Information studies at the University of Wales Aberystwyth and an International Centre for Information Management Systems and Services in Poland (Tedd, 2003). But once again, these schools are more about training professionals who are going to work in very specific institutions such as libraries, archives and museums. Other institutions like the German Center for Digital Technology and Management or the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in the UK adopt a multidisciplinary approach on issues related to information, technology and people3. Their goal is to “promote the information society” (Molloy 2005) and could be compared, to a certain extent, to the I-Schools. However, these institutions remain unusual in Europe and they do not represent a whole network as do the American I-Schools. In this paper, we describe the purpose of American I-Schools which, far from being homogeneous, differ in their history, organization and major goals. We shall explore whether they have the same roots, centered around “information professions”, “information economy”, and “information science”. First, we examine to what extent these roots are the founding features of the I-schools. Second, we provide a description of these schools to characterize both their similarities and differences. Finally, we address the future perspectives of these atypical institutions and conclude.

Report on Polish Public Libraries 2001

Report is an overview of polish public libraries, services to a variety of communities, it also provides statistics, n explanation of the funding policy for public libraries in Poland and information about the governance of public libraries in the country

Social Aspects of New Technologies - the CCTV and Biometric (Framing Privacy and Data Protection) in the Case of Poland

The purpose of this paper is to review the institution responsible for the protection of personal data within the European Union and national example - Polish as a country representing the new Member States. The analysis of institutional system - providing legal security of communication and information institutions, companies and citizens against the dangers arising from the ongoing development of innovative new technologies in the European Union and Poland. This article is an attempt to analyze the possibility of using security systems and Biometry CTTV in Poland in terms of legislation. The results of the analysis indicate that, in terms of institutions Poland did not do badly in relation to the risks arising from the implementation of technology. The situation is not as good when it comes to the awareness of citizens and small businesses. This requires that facilitate greater access to free security software companies from data leakage or uncontrolled cyber-terrorist attacks. With regard to the use of security systems, CCTV and biometrics, Poland in legal terms is still early in the process of adapting to EU Directive. The continuous development of technology should force the legislature to establish clear standards and regulations for the application of CCTV technology and biometrics, as it is of great importance in ensuring the fundamental rights and freedoms of every citizen of the Polish Republic.Wyniki analizy wskazują, że pod względem instytucji Polska nie wypada źle w odniesieniu do zagrożeń wynikających z wdrożenia technologii. Sytuacja nie jest tak dobra, jeśli chodzi o świadomość obywateli i mniejszych firm. Wymaga to ułatwiania szerszego dostępu do darmowych programów zabezpieczających firmy przed wyciekiem danych lub niekontrolowanych cyber-ataków terrorystycznych. W odniesieniu do stosowania systemów zabezpieczeń CCTV oraz biometrii, Polska pod względem prawnym jest wciąż na początku procesu dostosowania do dyrektywy UE. Ciągły rozwój technologii powinien zmusić ustawodawcę do stworzenia jednoznacznych standardów i przepisów obowiązujących w zakresie stosowania technologii CCTV oraz biometrii, gdyż ma to ogromne znaczenie w zapewnieniu podstawowych praw i wolności każdego obywatela Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej

Łódź w krajowym i regionalnym systemie transportowym

This article presents the location of Łódź in the transport network of Poland and the Łódź region. It focuses on the centre’s location in reference to the main elements of road, rail and air networks on a national and regional scale. Due to physical and geographical location of Łódź, the three branches of transport exhaust the city’s transport possibilities. Besides that, transport relations of Łódź are characterized as far as the functioning public transport is concerned, considering all the aforementioned modes of transport. The study also includes information on the significance of Łódź as a transport node for cargo transport. All these analyses precede reflections on the location of Łódź against the background of trans-European transport corridors as well as an overview of historical conditioning of transport connections of the area of today’s Łódź.W niniejszym artykule przedstawiono położenie Łodzi w sieci transportowej Polski oraz regionu łódzkiego. Skupiono się na lokalizacji ośrodka względem głównych elementów sieci drogowej, kolejowej i lotniczej we wskazanej skali krajowej i regionalnej. Ze względu na fizycznogeograficzne położenie Łodzi, te trzy gałęzie transportu wyczerpują możliwości transportowych powiązań miasta. Ponadto poddano charakterystyce relacje transportowe Łodzi w zakresie funkcjonującego transportu zbiorowego z uwzględnieniem wymienionych wcześniej form przewozu. Opracowanie zawiera również informacje na temat znaczenia Łodzi jako węzła transportowego przy przepływach ładunków. Wszystkie powyższe analizy poprzedzają rozważania nad lokalizacją Łodzi na tle transeuropejskich korytarzy transportowych oraz przegląd historycznych uwarunkowań powiązań transportowych obszaru dzisiejszej Łodzi

The influence of policy networks on policy output. A comparison of organic farming policy in the Czech Republic and Poland

Although, at the time of accession to the EU, organic farming policies formally were equally developed in the Czech Republic and Poland, a closer investigation reveals some variation. This paper takes a policy network perspective to explore the policy differences between these two countries. Common network themes are used to link networks with policy output. It is argued that the capacity of the organic sector and its structural organization, its cohesion, and the relationship between organic interest groups and the government affect the political discourse, and, in consequence, how organic farming policy is elaborated

Economic Development Potential Of The Krakow Region

Analyzing economic development potential and activities in a region requires identifying factors essential for a successful strategy and analyzing the locale in terms of its resources and relative position within a broader economic environment. In order to examine Krakow’s opportunities and steps already taken, it is necessary to analyze the region’s strengths and weaknesses and relate the findings to academic theories on high technology’s role in economic development and then evaluate the results in the context of Poland.The Krakow Region, located in southern Poland, prides itself as a dynamically developing center of advanced technologies and unmatched business climate. High technology, or high-tech economic development, has been incorporated into regional plans and strategies as most promising component of the region’s development. Hence, this paper’s intention is to look at the process of economic development based on high technology and compare the theoretic findings with the reality and practice of the Region of Krakow. The analysis presented in this paper identifies the region’s strengths and weaknesses. It is found that despite the academic potential and multiple efforts to stimulate economic development based on advanced technologies, Krakow faces considerable challenges. These are the leadership of Warsaw, weak relationships between business and science and, consequently, insufficient application of research outcomes to economic practice. Recommendations to overcome these threats and weaknesses are presented in the final section