1. Preventing brain drain in Europe and from Europe
Europe stands in the face global competition with the U.S. and Asia in the development of science, innovation and new technologies. The current situation is particularly dangerous for the new EU Member States. They are seriously at serious threat from brain drain, deterioration in quality of education and research, and consequently, degradation of whole communities to a " World Division III". To meet this challenge, it is necessary to create areas within Europe building a real competitive advantage, attracting the best brains. Such locations should be found not only in the "old" EU, but also found in new Member States. For this aim, use should be made of structural funds flowing into new Member States.
2. Knowledge as a valuable market commodity
The building of a knowledge-based economy requires that the actors involved in the process possess the capacity to transfer market principles to science. The financing of science must be seen as investment in the future, understood as the basis for the commercialization of scientific research. Scientific results are always a market commodity, only with a different perspective for their practical implementation.
3. Effective transfer of good practice from the world to Europe
Europe has rich experience in organizing "meeting places" for science and innovative business. New member states must quickly learn the best practices from countries such as Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Spain in order to create at least a few places capable of competing on the continental and world stages. Expertise should also be drawn from other places successfully developing a modern knowledge-based economy (U.S., Singapore). Along this path, an extremely important role will be played by the correct identification of communities open to competition, capable of integration and enjoying strong support from local authorities.
4. Protection of intellectual property
The insufficient weight attached to intellectual property protection in the new member states is a serious barrier to the growth and competitiveness of highly innovative companies. This culture should be consistently engrafted into these countries using knowledge available in other countries, including the U.S.. Wroclaw Research Centre EIT +, respecting the principle of IPR, Intellectual Property Rights, and other European Commission recommendations concerning the appropriate shaping of intellectual property protection systems, aims to achieve high competence in the area of commercialization. Research results by definition will be subject to intellectual property protection and harmonious respect for these rights in accordance with EU standards.
5. Shaping entrepreneurial attitudes among the young
The process of economic development does not go hand in hand with the development of entrepreneurial spirit among the young. For the characteristics of entrepreneurship to be developed, a number of conditions must first be met, with an appropriate education system. The driving force behind entrepreneurship are unmet human needs – this is an element naturally conducive to innovation. The conscious shaping of an entrepreneurial community by the state provides, in a relatively short time, the effect of systematic entrepreneurship, which, in turn, leads in a simple way to economical development.
6. Increasing private sector share in research funding
Poland invests far less in science in relation to gross domestic product than the European Union average. This is a scale of 0.65% for Polish and 1.84% for the remaining Member States respectively. Investment in the R & D sector launches not only the dynamic consumption of EU funds, but also, and more importantly, the activity of the scientific and business environments. Until now, it is primarily the public sector that has invested in research in Poland. Is necessary to increase the involvement of the private sector. In today's times economic of crisis, company interest in research development bears the markings of optimized capital investments. Technological progress is not possible without the direct involvement of the beneficiaries of progress or without an ambitious development plan for the various fields of science.
7. The acceptance of increased competition in the science and research sector
The most important tasks in Polish politics for the development of research and innovation relate to decentralization at state level, strengthening of public funds for applied research, increasing the number of so-called "difficult" (i.e., acquired through competition) money in the budget for science, giving priority to commercialization. Development policy innovation should also be based on effective fiscal instruments, which requires systemic solutions.
8. Knowledge and technology transfer
The transfer of new ideas and solutions to practice in today's world is occurring ever faster. It is no longer sufficient to have a good idea and demonstrate that it has a high potential for commercialization. If you neglect the time factor, the market will accept an inferior solution purely because it appeared sooner. For this reason, the world is applying newer and newer solutions in the field of commercialization to shorten the time between invention and release onto the market. In this way, in addition to granting the licenses or sale of patents, we have the creation of technology companies (spin-offs, spin-outs), dedicated to the preparation of the prototype and the sale of it to a company ready for implementation. Such commercialization mechanisms usually require the involvement of venture capital funds.
9. The need for application of new financial tools
The capital involvement of different actors, public and private, in the high-tech sector is a measure of the quality of the development of civilization. Technology loans offered by community programs are in many cases an alternative solution to high risk capital funds, such as private equity and venture capital. In Poland, companies still fear the use of modern financial instruments. Involving R & D entities in the process of obtaining these funds is one of the methods to mitigate these concerns. One important task for research institutes is, in cooperation with entrepreneurs, commercial and technical analysis of projects under preparation for implementation.
10. The important role of local authorities and their strategy for building a KBE
The building of a KBE in European regions is easier and more effective where local governments of cities and regions see science as a sector ensuring the development of competitive economies. Close cooperation between local authorities, universities, scientific institutions and the commercial sector provides a solid basis for the development of new technologies and innovation, and ultimately, increased competitiveness for the region in Europe and worldwide.
11. Regional infrastructure as a tool in environmental integration and building of a KBE
Conference participants presented many interesting initiatives from Europe, including some from Poland, in the field of realizing an integrated regional research infrastructure. Experience has shown that well-thought-out projects can comprise an extremely important factor in integrating the scientific potential environments, particularly where the scientific sector is still too fragmented (e.g. in Poland). Regional, market-oriented infrastructures, open to projects and not belonging to a single scientific institution, may play an important role in the integration of the environment, opening universities to one another and the economic environment, the prevention of emigration of talent and the attraction of outstanding minds from around the world.
Regional research infrastructures should also play an important role for innovative companies, providing certification services and outsourcing of highly specialized research.
12. Networking of European research infrastructures
The creation of regional, integrated research infrastructures should, in assumption, lead to their specialization and networking, particularly in adjacent European regions. This should lead to better utilization of equipment, improved cooperation within the EU, and also to international cooperation, including increased participation of new EU Member States in EU programs and greater researcher mobility.
13. III Conference „European infrastructure for innovation”, Wrocław 2011
Wrocław Research Centre EIT+ intends to organize the next, third Conference in Wroclaw in 2011. In order to meet the expectations of participants, this conference shall deal with a narrower scope, leaving much more time for participants to exchange views.
