Prof. Jan Madey talks to Krzysztof Jendrzejczak

Before World War II, Poland had many outstanding mathematicians, such as Stefan Banach and Hugo Steinhaus, who led "the Lviv school of mathematics." There were also Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Różycki and Henryk Zegalski, graduates of Poznań University's Institute of Mathematics, who broke the German Enigma code in a major contribution to the victory of the Allies over the Nazis in WWII. Today, Poland has many talented information technology specialists who are winning international prizes. So can we talk about a Polish school of IT, like we used to talk about the Polish school of mathematics?
Our famous school of mathematics dealt mainly with the theory of mathematics, an exception being the breaking of the Enigma code. Meanwhile, Polish IT success includes a string of victories over several years or high positions in the world's most prestigious programming contests. That to some extent justifies the thesis that a Polish school of information technology is being born. However, this notion should be understood mainly in the educational context. It is also worth adding that the growing good opinion Poland enjoys internationally in terms of IT is a source of prestige and measurable economic benefits. It attracts to the Polish market the world's biggest IT companies that offer attractive jobs for our young people.

Skeptics say that even though Poland has excellent programmers, the general condition of information technology in Poland is very poor, and the extent of IT implementation in public administration, such as in the Social Insurance Company, is simply outrageous. What is your opinion?
Let us begin by saying that the blame for the poor state of IT implementation in Poland is usually assigned in the wrong quarters. It's easy to say, "IT people messed it up" or "the computer made a mistake." In reality, implementation of information technology in a project or company requires a good analysis of needs, organizational structure and information flow system, and even earlier than that, eradication of various bad practices. An IT system requires order and reveals any irregularities or sloppiness.

However, IT cannot be a remedy for bad laws, and a lack of proper legislative solutions may hamper or prevent reasonable modernization of administration in the broad sense. And then there is the human factor-fear of losing one's job, dislike of learning how to use new tools, and fear of the fast changing information technology.

Maybe the main reason is that tenders are won not necessarily by the best, but by the strongest companies?
Tenders in Poland are a separate issue. For me, they prove that even with the best intentions you may get results that are exactly the opposite of what you were seeking. Sometimes tenders last forever and indeed often the best bidder doesn't win. But in this case, this is not the main source of failure. Problems result primarily from a lack of understanding what IT implementation is about, how to prepare for it, how to cooperate on the process and how to operate in new conditions.

So why do the skeptics say that the Poles, despite their IT potential, have not created any world-renowned software, or a hugely popular game?
That's wrong. The Polish contribution to IT solutions around the world is quite significant; however, the writers or co-writers of popular IT systems or games usually remain anonymous. They include Poles, some of them even play a decisive role.

Do you know any examples of such spectacular projects in which Poles played a part?
Certainly. Take, for example, the Pascal programming language that dominated the world for many years. It gained its popularity in the microcomputer era owing to the Borland company that distributed increasingly complex programming systems based on this language. The first Turbo Pascal compiler was created by two young men, a Dane and a Pole. Another example: In the early 1980s, when IBM PC started to dominate the world, a very popular game appeared, JBird. It was written by a Polish teenager, the son of a couple of mathematicians who used to work at Warsaw University and then emigrated to the United States. There are many more such examples.

Is it possible that in the near future a hi-tech company will be established in Poland that will achieve huge international success and promote a new global brand in the IT sector?
Indeed, we have the right conditions for that, but the success of a product does not depend only on its quality and the writers' intellectual potential. The market has different rules. Sometimes a better product loses out to a worse one, for example, due to competitors' actions, or to unpredictable client reactions and tastes. So it is hard to predict anything here.

For years you have headed the National Children's Fund, which offers assistance to talented students, and you have led the panel of judges in the Polish version of the European Union young scientists' competition. You also supervise teams of Warsaw University students taking part in international collegiate programming contests. Very talented young people are a big asset for Poland. Do they intend to stay in the country or want to pursue a career abroad?
That to a large extent depends on the field a young person is active in. The most talented ones want to do the things that are important and interesting to them. Financial aspects, although important and taken into consideration, are not decisive. For example, for years I have followed the careers of the finalists of the university world championships in team programming. There are over 20 of them, and most have stayed in Poland, even if some decided to spend a few years abroad writing their PhDs. It's similar with the winners of many other programming competitions. Most of them receive such attractive job offers in Poland that they do not want to emigrate. This is typical for information technology; it's a pity that doesn't happen in other fields.

What state is the Polish education system in? Optimists often point out that last year the number of students in Poland reached almost 2 million. But does this quantity mean quality? Does Poland have too many graduates of low-quality, recently established private schools, with hundreds of BAs in marketing and management instead of, say, engineers?
Of course, quantity does not necessarily mean quality, but we should be glad that young people want to study. I agree it would be better to have a different structure of graduates, but it is young people who choose what they want to study. You cannot force anyone into being a good engineer. It is also true that, along with very good private colleges, there are also many that offer low-quality teaching. But I think that most of the weak colleges will gradually drop out of the market. Besides, the quality of teaching at public colleges also differs a lot. The new model of teaching divides higher education into BA studies that should be sufficient for most students, and MA and PhD studies that in my opinion should be more of an elite character and guarantee high quality. I believe that the general condition of the Polish school system is not too bad, despite certain irregularities. It is also important to promote and financially support good teaching. And we should be glad that Polish youth appreciate the importance of good education.

It is obvious that the development of science, education and advanced technology should be a priority for the state. That is confirmed by the history of other countries. For example, Ireland, once a poor country, has become one of the most prosperous states in Europe. Finland, Taiwan and many other countries have followed a similar path to success. So why is Poland introducing tried and tested solutions, such as research centers or technology parks, so slowly?
That's a good question, I often wonder why myself...


Teacher of Masters
Since the beginning of his professional career, Prof. Jan Madey has been linked with the University of Warsaw. But at various points in his life, for nearly 10 years in all, he also worked for some of the best colleges in North America and Western Europe.

Madey holds many prestigious positions. For example, he is vice-president of the General Council of Higher Education; chairman of the board of the National Children's Fund; and, since 1994, the official coach of Warsaw University student teams taking part in international collegiate programming contests.

Over the years, Madey has received many prestigious awards and distinctions, including the Officer's Cross of the Polonia Restituta Order; an Award of Excellence from the IBM company; and the 2006 Fenomen Award from Przekrój weekly. His biggest achievements include co-writing pioneering teaching programs in information technology and co-authoring textbooks for the Algol 60 and Pascal languages, in addition to developing various software engineering methods and supervising talented young programmers who have won a number of international prizes.

His other interests include photography and sports.