The northern region of Pomerania is determined to boost its development by giving priority to information technology. The region's advantages include a well-developed science and technology park, the country's largest IT cluster, and highly efficient computer systems.

Many regions in the European Union are becoming increasingly specialized, according to research by the European Commission and a report published by the Masters & Holland analytical firm in the spring. Regional centers specialized in services for manufacturers and capable of ensuring an influx of new technology stand the best chance of developing. In the future, their revenues may be several hundred percent higher than the incomes of technologically backward regions oriented toward small-scale agricultural production, the report says.

Analyses show that Pomerania is bound to benefit from its technological specialization. Alongside the Mazovia region, which includes Warsaw, and Lower Silesia, with its Electronics and IT Center, Pomerania has made the largest number of initiatives in recent years to attract investors operating in high-technology sectors, particularly information and communications technology (ICT).

Luring hi-tech

The Pomeranian Science and Technology Park (PPNT), set up in Gdynia in 2001, was the first large-scale project undertaken to create favorable conditions for Polish hi-tech companies and foreign investors. The park was a joint undertaking of the Pomeranian Technology Center and the authorities of the city of Gdynia. It is managed by the Gdynia Innovation Center, an organization financed by the Municipality of Gdynia. The Pomeranian Innovation and Business Incubator was set up as part of the PPNT in 2004 to foster hi-tech start-ups and their expansion. The municipal authorities made no secret about being particularly interested in companies that would create the largest number of jobs and develop new technologies, especially in sectors such as IT, environmental protection and biotechnology.

At present, 60 companies operate in the park, most of them from the ICT sector. By 2010, the park's area will be expanded three times to around 30,000 square meters to accommodate more small and medium-sized businesses.

Some of the small and medium-sized ICT companies already active in the park export their products and services to many international markets. Examples include TeleMobile Electronics, a company that deals with the diagnostic testing and repair of equipment for mobile telecommunications systems; IVO Software, which has developed the Expressivo speech synthesizer that has attracted a lot of interest among IT corporations in the United States; and the InteliWISE company, which has developed an avatar, or a virtual representation of a human being in a technology that can find application in conference, telephone answering and business information systems. One of the company's first avatars, a virtual hostess projected on a 32-inch display, provides information about the park and starts up "conversation" with passersby thanks to movement sensors.

Strength in unity

A major European Union cross-border program is being carried out in the park as part of the Interreg III A Community Initiative. The program is called BaltInno, short for The Baltic Innovation Bridge: Strengthening Business and Technological Cooperation of Gdynia and Klaipeda. Partners in this project are the Pomeranian Science and Technology Park in Gdynia and the Science and Technology Park in Klaipeda, Lithuania. The project is worth nearly 500,000 euros, of which 315,000 euros will be provided from the European Regional Development Fund.

The objective of the project is to create a scientific exchange network and conditions for the operation of hi-tech companies on both sides of the border.

ICT Pomerania

More than 100 companies operate in Poland's largest information technology cluster, ICT Pomerania, which was set up two years ago. Alongside the Science and Technology Park, it is the largest regional research-and-development initiative in Pomerania, a business incubator and an investment project designed to attract ICT investors.

The cluster project, in which regional authorities are engaged, is intended for small, medium and micro businesses as well as research and educational institutions. Its main objective is to create mechanisms for the transfer of knowledge among these institutions, develop commercial projects and increase the competitiveness of the region's economy through the creation of high-skill jobs.

The project is managed by the Elab Efektywna Komunikacja company, which has originated from another IT initiative in the region, the Pomeranian Science and Technology Park in Gdynia. An association called Klastropolis ensures cooperation with local authorities and universities. The association also supports the cluster financially, meeting its day-to-day needs, because participation in ICT Pomerania is voluntary and free of charge.

The project's initiator, Maciej Stachowiak, says charges will be introduced after ICT Pomerania develops and the companies operating here begin to generate profits. Stachowiak cites the example of a similar cluster in Denmark that cooperates with ICT Pomerania. The Danish cluster, based in the city of Odense, introduced charges two years after the project was launched. ICT clusters in Finland and Sweden have pursued the same policy.

Due to the weakness of the local IT market, companies operating in ICT Pomerania will have to wait before they generate profits, say the founders of the cluster, who have analyzed 14 projects of this type across the European Union and other regions of the world.

For now, companies operating within ICT Pomerania have been divided into five groups: IT and telematic applications; electronics and microelectronics; multimedia; information processing; and information and telecommunications systems. The companies are pursuing 80 research and development projects. The founders of the cluster are looking for consulting firms ready to become partners for several Polish companies operating in the cluster.

Cooperation between Datera SA and Master Telecom is one example of a typical cluster project. Master Telecom offers business clients Voice over IP (Internet telephony) and TeleArena services. Datera, which deals with the integration of many telephone services as part of the FreecoNet service, will support Master Telecom in its TeleAkademia e-learning project as well as in the integration of the company's telecom services into a single package offered to businesses.

Miles of cables, tons of hardware

Pomeranian research institutions provide the scientific base for technology clusters. The IT Center of the Tricity Academic Computer Network (TASK) is one of the largest in Europe. This wide-area network connects scientific, education and public administration centers in the Gdańsk-Sopot-Gdynia Tricity and all of Pomerania. It is composed of dozens of local area networks (LAN) and has connections with Poland's main internet providers.

Thousands of people use the TASK network directly or indirectly, including businesspeople, who can more easily communicate with Pomeranian public administration and scientific institutions thanks to the network. The 140-kilometer network, based on fiber-optic transmission, extends throughout the Tricity area, running along the Bay of Gdańsk.

The Gdańsk University of Technology, which manages TASK, is expanding its server equipment and databases. Plans also include the development of a new High-Performance Computing (HPC) system at the TASK IT Center in partnership with IT corporation Intel. The system will include a new 25-TFLOPs computer capable of performing 25 trillion floating-point operations per second. This will be one of the largest computers in Europe. TASK already has Poland's most powerful server in its cluster network, based on 288 Itanium 2 two-core processors. Its maximum computing capacity is 3.2 TFLOPs.

Marek Mejssner


ICT Pomerania member companies:

Agencja Hetman
Agencja J&J Jowita Ciechanowicz
A.M.M. - Studio Oprogramowania Sp. z o.o.
Astcon Rozwiązania Informatyczne
Atena Usługi Informatyczne
i Finansowe Sp. z o.o.
ATTU
Bartnik.eu Łukasz Bartnik
Centrum Językowe High Limit
Connection Point
Creative Projects
Damar Damian Dejnarowicz
Datera SA
e-biznes.pl
Elab Group
Extend.pl
Farem Sp. z o.o.
HeeX
HIT Enterprises
Idego - www.idego.pl
InteliWISE
James van Earth
Jarkom Jarosław Banacki
MadKom Sp. z o.o.
Marken Systemy Antywirusowe
Master Telecom
Medias-System
MpicoSys - Embedded Pico Systems
MT Prokhard
Net4You
News Med
Nokaut.pl
Pakom Sp. z o.o.
Penta Sp. z o.o.
PHU Marcin Szary
Portaling
Progra
Radmor S.A.
Rapan.pl
Soft-M
Spitfire Networks
Sunsaran
Teleakademia
TeleMobile Consulting
TeleMobile Electronics Sp. z o.o.
Ultraphon
Wypoczynkowo.pl
Xeroservice North Sp. z o.o.

Business incubators and technology parks in Poland

Krakowski Park Technologiczny www.sse.krakow.pl

Opolski Park Technologiczny www.opt.opole.pl

Park Naukowo-Technologiczny Politechniki Koszalińskiej www.tu.koszalin.pl/parknt

Park Naukowo Technologiczny Polska-Wschód www.park.suwalki.pl

Pomorski Park Naukowo-Technologiczny w Gdyni www.ppnt.gdynia.pl

Poznański Park Naukowo-Technologiczny www.ppnt.poznan.pl

Szczeciński Park Technologiczny www. spnt.pl

Toruński Park Technologiczny www.technopark.org.pl

Wrocławski Park Technologiczny www.technologpark.pl

Centrum Rozwoju Przedsiębiorczości www.warszawa-biznes.pl

Dolnośląski Inkubator Naukowo-Technologiczny www.technologpark.pl

Inkubator Przedsiębiorczości www.inkubator.org.pl

Inkubator Przedsiębiorczości Centrum Technologiczne www.zsrg.szczecin.pl

Inkubator Przedsiębiorczości IN-MARR www.inkubator.mielec.pl

Inkubator Technologii www.at.uni.lodz.pl

Pomorski Inkubator Innowacji i Przedsiębiorczości www.ppnt.org.pl

Stowarzyszenie Organizatorów Ośrodków Innowacji i Przedsiębiorczości w Polsce www.sooipp.org.pl

Portal Innowacji www.pi.gov.pl

ITC Pomerania www.ictpomerania.pl

Małopolski Klaster Informatyczny www.eklaster.org

Poland's first technology park was established in Poznań in 1995.
Source: PARP

Marek Mejssner