The Prime Minister's new council has a plan for the Polish economy. “We must move away from the classic economic model”
Focus on sectors with above-average development potential; recommending solutions that will strengthen the Polish economy and influence the technological sovereignty of Poland and Europe – such tasks were indicated in an interview with PAP by members of the Future Council appointed by the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk appointed an eighteen-person council on Tuesday. Its aim is to develop solutions that accelerate the development of the Polish economy. Introducing the idea of the council, the Prime Minister said that it would include people who “have explored space, can produce the most valued satellites, scientists who know (…) how to design the future so that Poland is a leader in many fields.” The work of the body will be led by the Minister of Finance and Economy Andrzej Domański.
– The Future Council is to advise the Prime Minister on issues related to innovation, building modern companies and cooperation between science, business and public administration. The idea is to develop solutions that, on the one hand, will be important for running a business, and on the other hand, will allow us to preserve industrial property here in Poland – commented one of the council members in an interview with PAP. computer scientist, prof. Piotr Sankowski from the University of Warsawdirector of the IDEAS Research Institute.
Prof. Krzysztof Pyrćpresident of the board of the Foundation for Polish Science, scientist of the Małopolska Center of Biotechnology of the Jagiellonian University, pointed out that Poland is today the 20th economy in the world, but at the same time it is slowly falling into the trap of average development.
– To change this, we must move away from the classic economic model and base development on technological advantages. Our role is to support decision-makers in strategic decisions and help transform strategies into actions here and now – told PAP prof. Puff.
He emphasized that this body brings together “outstanding representatives of Polish innovation – people who have achieved real success at various stages of technology creation and implementation and know how to achieve it.” – Already during our first meeting, it was clear that it would not be just a passive advisory body. People sitting on the council recognize the need for change and want to have a real influence on the direction of action. We hope that we will be able to actively recommend solutions that will actually strengthen our economy, he commented.
In an interview with PAP, the president of the Management Board of Creotech Instruments Ph.D. Grzegorz Brona indicated that the Future Council is to focus primarily on several sectors that have above-average development potential – for example AI, biotechnology or the space sector. – This body is to identify obstacles to the development of these sectors and propose ways to remove them. Some of these obstacles are typical for all innovative sectors – for example, financing innovation in Poland – he explained.
Ph.D. Brona described that the aim of the council's action is to be solutions that will ensure that Poland “does not lose its five minutes.”
– In order for us to remain among the twenty most developed economies in the world, and maybe even advance even higher in these statistics, we must use new fuels to drive the economy. And this fuel is not – as before – low labor costs and subcontracting, but above all the potential that lies in innovation – he explained.
He added that the second main goal is to develop solutions that will affect the technological sovereignty of Poland and Europe. He emphasized that although the newly established council does not have the legal authority to introduce changes, as a member of this body he hopes that the recommendations developed by the council will be included in the regulations regarding innovation.
– We should act in two ways. First, in a short time, try to diagnose and develop ways to eliminate the most urgent problems in particular areas. My personal recommendation would be, for example, that the grant system in Poland should support specific, strategic industries. At the moment, he is too scattered, he is “spreading” money left and right, hoping that something will grow from these seeds, he said. The second, long-term goal of the Future Council should be to support the development of a strategy for the Polish economy, in which innovations and promising start-ups should have a significant position. Strategies are developed at the government level, but according to the PAP interlocutor, the council can provide valuable insight into technological industries with the highest growth potential.
Grzegorz Brona assessed that currently a lot of attention should be paid to the Polish space sector. – Poland's contribution to the European Space Agency (ESA) has been significantly increased, which provides a huge opportunity for the development of this sector. But we urgently need an update of the Polish Space Strategy. Our strategy dates back to 2017 and already seems very inadequate to where we are on the development path and what we would like to achieve, he said.
In his opinion, Poland also lacks a national space program, i.e. means and tools for the development of the space sector and plans to support it, including decisions regarding, for example, the directions of geographical and technological expansion. – The Space Act, which is now being discussed in Parliament, also requires a lot of attention. This act must meet the needs of the Polish space sector and accelerate its development, not hinder it, said the expert. In his opinion, we have a chance to become an important player in the world in the field of space technologies. – The Polish space industry has existed since Poland joined ESA in 2012. It is developing rapidly, despite “homeopathic” financial support from various government agencies. Now this has changed due to the increase in the ESA contribution.
Grzegorz Brona concluded that we should use “our five minutes” to ensure that the Polish space sector develops significantly in the coming years and constitutes real competition against German or French entities. The will is there, the skills are there, the hunger for success is there. All we lack – as he added – are certain systemic solutions.
The Council consists of: Dominik Batorski, sociologist and expert in the field of data science associated with the interdisciplinary Center for Mathematical and Computer Modeling at the University of Warsaw; Grzegorz Brona, president of Creotech Instruments; Sebastian Kondracki, Chief Innovation Officer at Devinity, one of the creators of the Polish Bielik AI model; Tomasz Konik, president of the management board of Deloitte in Central Europe; Jarosław Królewski, president of the management board and co-founder of Synerise; Rafał Modrzewski, president of ICEYE; Aleksandra Pędraszewska, technology entrepreneur; Paweł Przewięźlikowski, president of the management board of Ryvu Therapeutics; Krzysztof Pyrć, president of the board of the Foundation for Polish Science, professor of biological sciences and virologist; Mikołaj Raczyński, vice-president of the Polish Development Fund for Investments; Piotr Sankowski, president of the IDEAS Research Institute and professor at the Institute of Computer Science at the University of Warsaw; Mati Staniszewski, president of ElevenLabs; Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, astronaut of the European Space Agency; Marta Winiarska, President of the Management Board of the Polish Association of Innovative Medical Biotechnology Companies BioInmed; Piotr Wojciechowski, President of the Management Board of WB Group, the largest Polish private technology and defense group; Stefan Batory, co-founder of Booksy; Aleksandra Przegalińska, rector for innovation at the Koźmiński University in Warsaw; Sebastian Siemiątkowski, co-founder and president of Klarna Bank. (PAP)
abu/ ekr/ lt/ agt/ zan/ ktl/
