What is innovation? Can we perceive Silesia as an innovative region? If not, what needs to change? Where to find money to test and implement an innovative solution? Have we got adequate facilities in Silesia to educate young and talented people? We sought the answers to these and other questions during the debate, Innovation. Is the idea most important?, which took place on 7 June at the Media Centre, the seat of the daily Dziennik Zachodni.
In specialists’ view
Debate organisers invited experts from various fields in order to see innovation from different perspectives. The participants included Krzysztof Orlicz, Board Member at eq system; Prof. Barbara Piontek, Deputy Managing Director/Board Member at the Katowice Special Economic Zone; Dr. Martyna Dudzicz, Market Analysis Specialist at the Silesian Institute of Technology Centre of Innovation and Technology Transfer; Agnieszka Plusczok, Project Manager at SoftServe; Jacek Leszczuk, Technical Marketing Engineer at Tekniska Polska; Jarosław Kacprzak, PR Manager at Future Processing; and Bartłomiej Glac, Cofounder at the Foundation Gruba IT. Such a prominent group ensured fascinating conclusions.
The problem of innovation in Silesia
We value innovative ideas most as they are an integral part of our work. eq system focuses on supporting innovative projects and activities. Attended by Krzysztof Orlicz, Board Member at eq system, the debate served as a unique opportunity to exchange views on the innovation of our region.
In my opinion, Silesia is not an innovative region, although it could be. It has the greatest potential of all the regions in Poland. We have good communication, human potential and convenient geographical location. All this means that we could be the best region in Poland that might actually deliver solutions all over the world, emphasised Krzysztof Orlicz.
The discussion particularly addressed the need for communication and cooperation of science and business. Notably, innovative projects in Silesia can be implemented only if they have full public support and understanding and, unfortunately, this is what they are often lacking. Silesia must become innovative and modern.
Support for the development of innovation
The debate gave the representatives of enterprise, science and business environment institutions the opportunity to raise also the issues of proprietary projects and education of future innovative enterprise leaders. They referred to the Innovator Club, of which we are an honorary member, the Silesian University of Technology, WSB Academy or Katowice Special Economic Zone, which develop and educate our innovators.
As a company offering top-class technological solutions, we mainly promote the growth of current and future innovation developers. We want to support young people at every stage of their everyday work. However, sometimes there is a number of barriers that we as well as other entrepreneurs face when they wish to implement new solutions. Therefore, the topic of ‘limits’ in the introduction of innovation has become another major issue during the discussion.
Key conclusions
The Silesian Province has a great potential for introducing innovations at various levels. However, quite a few difficulties emerge that inhibit this process. These include communication problems, the labour market in qualitative and quantitative terms and the obstacles for scientists. They have innovative ideas but they do not know exactly how to implement them. They often lack a business perspective. Scientists should constantly liaise with business partners, jointly implement projects that will produce innovative ideas or services. We are very pleased that we were able to take part in the debate, jointly consider the importance of these problems and work out adequate solutions.
