The state and prospects of commercialization of Polish research
To what extent is Polish scientific research commercialized? What factors support this process, and what factors hinder it? An attempt to answer these questions was made by the authors of the report "Polish Applied Sciences", created on behalf of the PAP Foundation.
As the authors of the report note in the introduction, in recent years Polish policymakers, entrepreneurs and scientists have begun to recognize the need to place greater emphasis on processing the results of theoin research for innovation, whichore can succeed on the market. Meanwhile, although an element of the Strategy for Responsible Development is an increase in outlays of theow for research to approx. 3 percent. GDP in 2022. and the creation of 1.5 thousand in the next few years. start-upow – the success of this strategy depends not only on greater outlaysoin financial. "Increasing funding is essential, but there will be no success unless the barriers zarowno mental, as well as organizational and bureaucratic" – reads the introduction to the report.
In the first part of the report, the authors identify some of these barriers. As they point out, in high-tech countries, the largest expenditures on research and developmentoj come from large corporations, rather than budgetoin states. In the leadohe list of companies spending the most on innovation includes Google, Samsung and Microsoft – according to a PwC report, they too are among the top ten global innovatorsow.
"There are too few large, domestic companies in Poland, whichorych products are recognized worldwide, and is not as wealthy as its Western and Asian competitors. Therefore, it is not surprising that Poland is not at the top in this race" – state the authors of the report. Roat the same time provide an overview of the projectoin research and development at Poland’s largest companies: Orlen, PGE, Energa and Azoty Group.
The next part of the report is devoted to the legal environment for research and development activities in Poland – including the changes introduced with the entry into force of the so-called “new regulations”. Constitution for Business.
The report quotes m.in. opinion of the president of the Start-up Poland Foundation Julia Krysztofiak-Szopy. According to it, Polish placoAcademic institutions do not sufficiently support scientioin commercializing scientific research. – This supportocooperation is difficult – zarowno at the cultural, environmental level, where there is a lot of envy and greed towards those whooers build research-based businesses, as well as at the purely business level, where universities do not follow best practices for securing their share of theoin research results and stimulating further wspocooperation with business – states.
Roat the same time Krysztofiak-Szopy points out that the new solutions included in the Constitution for Business – among others.in. tax credit for companies for research and developmentoj (R&D)-will they affect wspohe cooperation between companies and establishmentsoscientific research. – We can certainly expect a new demand for R&D services. The question of whether the squareow academia and research institutes will be able to handle this demand, or not – we don’t know – mowi.
In turn, another expert, with whomohe authors of the report, Dr. Kaja Prystupa-Rządca of Kozminski University, points out that often universities themselves make it difficult for their employees to co-ohey collaborate with business and see the commercialization of research as a risky and uncertain thing. – Scientists, being experts in their field, are not prepared to think in business terms, he assesses. He adds that there is a lack of trust on both sides – scientific and business. This situation is likely to change, however, thanks to emerging units at universities dedicated to the commercialization of research.
Support m.in. in commercialization of the resultoin research and in R&D activities provide roAlso, the so called “commercialization” projects are being developed. clusters – the next part of the report is devoted to them as well. Clusters are a special form of production organization, within whichorej is a cluster of 80 to 100 companies and organizations, whichore competing with each other in the market, but at the same time exchanging experience and wspoPolish teams develop original and unique productsoThe report also shows that these projects have a common goal and benefits (e.g. o develop in cooperationo(Tce will work with scientists on new technological solutions). The authors present the activities of several selected Polish clustersow, m.in. Łodzki Armaments District, Podkarpackie Aviation Valley or the Katowice Special Economic Zone.
According to the president of the Employers’ Union, quoted in the reportoIn Krzysztof Krystowski’s Polish Clusters, the value of investments in clusters supported by EU funds is counted in billions of zlotys. According to him, Polish cluster institutions themselves "are very poor". In OECD countries, on average approx. 52-54 percent. cluster budgetow comes from public support – in Poland less.
The rest of the report presents examples of roof all kinds of Polish projectsoin science, whichore are at the commercialization stage. As the authors of the report state, these projects show that the "Polish teams develop original, unique technologies with the potential for commercialization". At the same time, they note that a great opportunity for Polish companies and institutions will be participation in large, international programs.
The report concludes with a transcript of the debate "Polish Applied Science in 2017", ktora was held on March 19, 2018. Its participants discussed problems related to the commercialization of the outcome of theoin scientific research in Poland in recent years.
SourceoBackground: PAP – Science in Poland, Photo. CC BY 2.0/ Wikimedia Commons/ Idaho National Laboratory
