Selected aspects of innovation strategies in
the regions – case of Lower Silesian region
Dr Jarosław Olejniczak
Dr Dorota Bednarska-Olejniczak
AIM AND SCOPE OF PAPER
The aim of this article is:
• to discuss the essence and purposefulness of
regional innovation strategy on the example of
the "Regional Innovation Strategy for Lower
Silesia Voivodship for the years 2011-2020”
• to analyze the changes of the selected indicators
that characterize the level of innovation of the
region in the period of strategy implementation.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The key research questions posed in this work concern the
following issues:
1) Do the regions in Poland are trying to strengthen their
innovativeness in a systemic long-term manner, which is
focused on the implementation of strategic objectives?
2) What role in the strengthening of innovativeness plays
the regional innovation strategy?
3) Are there positive changes in the selected significant
indicators characterizing innovation in the region of
Lower Silesia, which can be noticed in the
implementation period of the regional innovation
strategy? If so, do the comparable changes apply to the
entire Poland or just Lower Silesia?
METHODS
Used research methods include the analysis of literature in the
field of innovation and regional development and comparative
analysis of statistical data from National Statistical Office (GUS).
Due to the limited availability of data, caused by statistical
confidentiality, the financial data (especially financial data
concerning sources and scale of funding) are not presented.
The reference point for analyses of the statistical data concerning
Lower Silesia consists of changes in the individual values of
data/indicators for the entire country (mainly in the case of
studying the structure of individual data groups).
METHODS
Three indicators were selected for the analysis:
• expenditure on Research and Development,
• percentage of employees in the research and
development sector
(as two basic indicators that measure research and
development activity)
• percentage of companies that implemented
innovations in the studied period (with division into
the types of companies and types of innovation).
Oslo Manual - theoretical bacground
In the literature, there are many types and definitions of innovation and
there’s no unequivocal and universally used definition.
For the needs of international research of innovation, uniform guidelines
have been adopted by OECD and Eurostat in the scope of defining
innovation and methodology of collecting and interpreting statistical data
relating to the innovative activity.
They are contained in „Proposed Guidelines for Collecting and Interpreting
Technological Innovation Data – Oslo Manual”
It defines innovation as the implementation of a new or
significantly improved product (product or service) or
process, new organizational method in business
practice, organization of the workplace or relations with
the environment.
Oslo Manual - theoretical bacground
Four main types of innovation in the Oslo Manual :
product innovation – means the introduction of significant
changes in the scope of features or applications of products
or services;
process innovation – associated with significant changes in the
scope of methods of production and delivery of products;
organisational innovation – concerns the implementation of
new organizational methods;
marketing innovation – relates to the implementation of new
marketing methods - both in the design or construction of the
product, as well as in packaging, marketing communications,
distribution of the product/service and price shaping.
Oslo Manual - theoretical bacground
Its importance in the economic processes also focuses on the
sectors of economy, individual countries, regions or
municipalities.
Oslo Manual also emphasizes the importance of innovation at
regional level, while indicating that regional differences in
the scope of innovativeness should be examined in terms of
the search for main factors that are favourable to innovative
activity, which may contribute to a better understanding of
the innovation processes.
The regional systems may develop parallel to the national
innovation systems, and innovative successes of the region
may be affected by e.g. presence of local public research
institutions, large dynamic companies, industrial clusters,
venture capital funds and strong business community
Results and discussion
National or regional innovation strategy?
In Poland there are two levels of innovation support – there are
policy papers at the central level Long Term Development Strategy
2030 (2013) and Country Development Strategy 2020 (2011) .
The basis for building regional innovation systems consists of regional
innovation strategies, which determine the strategic objectives of
innovation policy in the regions, as well as the ways and methods
aimed at achieving them.
It results from the fact that strengthening of the regional innovation
potential should have strategic character, i.e. it should relate to a
period of several years and it should be based on the planning and
implementation of the determined long-term objective through
specified actions.
In Poland, such strategies have been defined and approved by the
regional self-governments (voivodships – NUTS 2 level) in all regions.
Their original versions were created in 2000-2008 .
RSI WD – regional strategy
First strategy, implemented by the Self-government of
Lower Silesia Voivodship in the years 2005-2010
required modifications, among others, due to :
a) lack of coordinated schedule for implementation of the
strategy and pilot programmes, which should be a coherent
set of actions constituting the basis for implementation of
the innovation policy of the voivodship.
b) economic changes in the region and its surroundings
Lack of order, coordination and appropriate monitoring of proinnovative
activities made it difficult to create in 2005-2010
the coherent and effectively functioning system of
innovation at the regional level.
RSI WD – regional strategy
“Regional Innovation Strategy for Lower Silesia
Voivodship for the years 2011-2020” (RSI WD)
constitutes a tool for the implementation of
innovation policy of the self-government of
Lower Silesia, which focuses on objectives
associated with the promotion and support
for the development, diffusion and efficient
use of new products, services and processes,
both within the organization and in terms of
the market.
RSI WD – regional strategy
Analysis shows that the self-government
implements pro-innovation activities in a
systemic manner, which is not limited only to
science and technology.
Wide systemic approach manifests itself in
objectives associated with:
• promotion and support for the development,
• diffusion and efficient use of new products,
services and processes, both within the
organizations (public and private) and in terms
of the market.
RSI WD – regional strategy
Strategic
objectives
1. Strengthening
innovative skills and
attitudes, which are
essential for the
knowledge-based
economy
2. Increasing the
chance for success
of the innovative
business projects
3. Increasing the
innovative
potential of
Lower Silesia
scientific units
4. Developing
cooperation in the
economy within the area
of innovation
perationalobjectives
1.1 Developing
entrepreneurial and
innovative attitudes
1.2 Taking into
account the
innovative needs of
employers in the
education offer of
universities by
including their
representatives to the
development process
of education plans
and curricula
2.1 Providing
companies with
effective support in
the form of capital,
knowledge and
infrastructure
within Lower
Silesia
Innovation System
2.2 Supporting
research and
development
activities in the
companies
3.1 Achieving the
position of Polish
leader in the
regional
scientific-
technological
specializations
3.2. Improving
the
processes of
knowledge
commercializatio
n in the scientific
units
4.1 Creating conditions
for development of
cooperation in the area of
innovation
4.2 Increasing the number
of companies cooperating
with other entities in the
area of innovation within
clusters
4.3 Developing the
cooperation of regional
pro-innovative
institutions for the benefit
of companies
RSI WD – executive plans
Self-government implements innovation policy through the
implementation of subsequent Executive Plans, which define
specific actions within its discretion.
The tools of innovation policy of the self- government mainly include:
1) support for innovation supply by a direct impact on the entities
that create innovation (this equally applies to business initiatives
and strengthening of the human resources potential on the
regional labour market),
2) generation of the demand for innovative products/services both
through public procurements concerning innovation and by
taking into account the innovativeness criterion of solutions as
one of the criteria for the selection of contractors,
3) shaping of environment favourable to the innovative processes
with the use of legal and administrative measures (including
financial support tools).
Internal spending on R&D in Poland
Internal spending on R&D in Poland (thousands PLN)
2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Poland 5 892,8 7 706,2 9 070,0 10 416,2 11 686,7 14 352,9 14 423,8 16 168,2 18 060,7
Lower
Silesian 298,2 457,4 581,3 630,0 725,2 971,4 908,8 1 070,1 1 282,0
YoY
Poland 117,70% 114,84% 112,20% 122,81% 100,49% 112,09% 111,71%
Lower
Silesian 127,09% 108,38% 115,11% 133,95% 93,56% 117,75% 119,80%
80%
90%
100%
110%
120%
130%
140%
2009/2008 2010/2009 2011/2010 2012/2011 2013/2012 2014/2013 2015/2014
Poland
Lower Silesian Region
Share of Lower Silesian Voivodship in
total internal spending on R&D in Poland
Share of Lower Silesian Voivodeship in total internal spending on R&D in Poland
2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Total 5,1% 5,9% 6,4% 6,0% 6,2% 6,8% 6,3% 6,6% 7,1%
business
sector 4,4% 6,6% 5,1% 7,9% 9,3% 9,3% 7,7% 8,4% 8,9%
government
sector 1,9% 1,9% 2,1% 2,6% 3,3% 3,1% 3,8%
high schools
sector 9,5% 9,4% 11,4% 8,1% 6,9% 7,2% 7,1%
YoY
Total 108,47% 93,75% 103,33% 109,68% 92,65% 104,76% 107,58%
business
sector 77,27% 154,90% 117,72% 100,00% 82,80% 109,09% 105,95%
government
sector 110,53% 123,81% 93,94%
high schools
sector 121,28% 71,05% 104,35%
Innovative enterprises in Poland and
Lower Silesia Voivodeship 2006-2015
Area
Service enterprises Industrial enterprises
total total
2006
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2006
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
[%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%]
Poland 21,2 16,1 14,0 12,8 11,6 12,4 11,4 11,4 9,8 23,7 21,4 18,1 17,1 16,1 16,5 17,1 17,5 17,6
Lower
Silesia 23,8 20,5 12,3 13,3 9,6 12,9 13,4 10,5 11,3 25,4 24,7 20,9 16,6 15,0 20,7 19,0 22,1 17,1
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Poland service ent.
Lower Silesia service ent.
Poland industrial ent
Lower Silesia industrial ent.
Innovative enterprises in Poland and
Lower Silesia Voivodeship 2006-2015
Area
Service enterprises Industrial enterprises
total total
2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
[%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%]
New or significantly improved products
Poland 13,2 10,7 8,0 7,9 6,4 7,1 5,8 6,8 4,8 16,1 15,6 12,7 12,1 11,2 11,2 11,0 11,7 11,8
Lower
Silesia 15,8 13,9 8,7 8,3 5,7 4,1 6,8 4,9 4,9 16,9 16,6 14,9 11,7 10,7 13,3 11,9 14,3 11,2
0,0
2,0
4,0
6,0
8,0
10,0
12,0
14,0
16,0
18,0
2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
POL_SERV
LS_SERV
PL_IND
LS_IND
Innovative enterprises in Poland and
Lower Silesia Voivodeship 2006-2015
Area
Service enterprises Industrial enterprises
total total
2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
[%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%]
New or significantly improved processes
Poland 17,2 12,8 10,7 10,0 9,0 9,1 8,5 8,4 7,4 19,7 17,2 13,8 12,9 12,4 12,4 12,8 13,0 13,0
Lower
Silesia 18,9 13,7 8,4 10,3 7,8 11,5 10,2 8,6 8,1 20,9 20,4 17,0 12,6 11,3 16,6 14,2 16,9 12,5
0,0
5,0
10,0
15,0
20,0
25,0
2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
POL_SERV
LS_SERV
PL_IND
LS_IND
Level of employment in R&D in Poland
and Lower Silesia Voivodeship 2006-2015
2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Poland 121 283 119 682 120 923 129 792 134 551 139 653 145 635 153 475 157 921
LS 8 819 8 520 8 614 8 651 9 302 10 183 11 174 11 716 12 258
LS/PL Total 7,3% 7,1% 7,1% 6,7% 6,9% 7,3% 7,7% 7,6% 7,8%
LS/PL Business 5,6% 6,9% 7,1% 5,8% 7,5% 7,3% 7,7% 8,2% 7,8%
LS/PL Govt. 2,4% 1,9% 2,4% 2,4% 3,4% 3,9% 3,8% 3,6%
LS/PL High sch. 9,1% 8,6% 8,5% 8,3% 8,6% 9,0% 8,6% 9,1%
PL Business 15,0% 15,8% 15,3% 17,5% 19,8% 23,2% 26,1% 28,1% 31,0%
PL Govt. 18,8% 17,7% 19,1% 20,1% 20,0% 19,2% 18,7% 18,0% 16,8%
PL High sch. 66,1% 66,4% 65,5% 62,3% 60,0% 57,4% 55,1% 53,7% 52,1%
LS Business 11,5% 15,4% 15,2% 15,1% 21,4% 23,1% 26,1% 30,2% 31,0%
LS Govt. 6,1% 4,7% 6,5% 7,1% 9,0% 9,4% 9,0% 7,8%
LS High sch. 82,3% 79,9% 78,3% 77,8% 67,9% 64,4% 60,7% 61,2%
Findings - conclusions
1) Do the regions in Poland are trying to strengthen their innovativeness in a
systemic long-term manner, which is focused on the implementation of strategic
objectives?
In Poland, such strategies have been defined and approved by the regional selfgovernments
in all regions.
Their original versions were created in 2000-2008 and they were passed by the
provincial assemblies of individual regions, becoming the applicable documents
that constitute a part of the development strategy of the voivodships.
In the subsequent years, they were subject to updates resulting from the changing
needs of the entities in individual regions, which were diagnosed in the studies.
At the regional level, they constitute the basic instrument for implementing innovation
policy (in the entire EU), on the basis of which the regional authorities take on the
challenge of building the foundations for economic development based on
scientific research, technology and innovation.
Findings - conclusions
2) What role in the strengthening of innovativeness plays the regional innovation
strategy?
Firstly, it should be stated that the regulations discussed in the article concerning the
creation and implementation of the development strategy of innovation, as well
as the strategies themselves, only in part provide support for the growth of
innovativeness of the regions.
The primary problem here is the lack or delayed update of the strategy at the
regional level and their infrequent evaluation.
Also, another important problem is determination of actual effects of the given
strategy on the increase of innovation, due to the overlapping of the effects of
other activities of the country on decisions in the enterprises.
The very creation and functioning of the strategy as a resolution of provincial
assembly and its coexistence with international and national strategies is a
positive manifestation of the fact that the regions in Poland try to strengthen
their innovativeness in a systemic and long-term manner, which is focused on
the implementation of strategic objectives.
Findings - conclusions
3) Are there positive changes in the selected significant indicators characterizing
innovation in the region of Lower Silesia, which can be noticed in the
implementation period of the regional innovation strategy? If so, do the
comparable changes apply to the entire Poland or just Lower Silesia?
In the case of Lower Silesia Voivodship, based on the indicators selected to illustrate
the changes in the level of innovativeness of this region, their high diversity may
be concluded.
In the case of R&D, there’s a visible tendency (which is different in the scale of entire
country) to concentrate activities in the higher education sector - in terms the
share of employment, and in business sector in terms of the scale of investment.
As it was mentioned before, Wroclaw as the capital of the region is one of the
strongest business and academic centres, which may translate into such situation.
With the changes in RSI WD after 2013 year we can observe positive effect of nev
strategy implementation combined with positive trends in our country economy.
Thank you
Innovative enterprises in Poland and
Lower Silesia Voivodeship 2006-2015
Area
Service enterprises Industrial enterprises
total total
2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
[%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%] [%]
Poland 21,2 16,1 14,0 12,8 11,6 12,4 11,4 11,4 9,8 23,7 21,4 18,1 17,1 16,1 16,5 17,1 17,5 17,6
Lower
Silesia 23,8 20,5 12,3 13,3 9,6 12,9 13,4 10,5 11,3 25,4 24,7 20,9 16,6 15,0 20,7 19,0 22,1 17,1
New or significantly improved products
Poland 13,2 10,7 8,0 7,9 6,4 7,1 5,8 6,8 4,8 16,1 15,6 12,7 12,1 11,2 11,2 11,0 11,7 11,8
Lower
Silesia 15,8 13,9 8,7 8,3 5,7 4,1 6,8 4,9 4,9 16,9 16,6 14,9 11,7 10,7 13,3 11,9 14,3 11,2
New or significantly improved products for market
Poland 7,2 6,5 4,4 4,3 3,4 3,4 2,8 4,0 2,3 7,8 9,4 7,0 6,8 6,1 5,6 5,7 6,2 6,5
Lower
Silesia 9,9 8,4 6,0 5,0 3,5 2,6 2,9 2,8 2,0 9,1 10,2 7,6 6,4 5,6 7,3 6,2 7,1 5,8
New or significantly improved processes
Poland 17,2 12,8 10,7 10,0 9,0 9,1 8,5 8,4 7,4 19,7 17,2 13,8 12,9 12,4 12,4 12,8 13,0 13,0
Lower
Silesia 18,9 13,7 8,4 10,3 7,8 11,5 10,2 8,6 8,1 20,9 20,4 17,0 12,6 11,3 16,6 14,2 16,9 12,5