TA-Institutionen und -Programme

by Cezary A. Ambrioziak

Poland is in the transition period from a centrally planned to a free market economy. The law concerning the institutions involved in research, development and technology transfer are also undergoing changes, but not enough has been done at the moment. The research and development potential in Poland is generally high and in many areas compatible to European Union countries. It is concentrated in three competing and at the same time cooperating groups: the universities, the industrial type research institutes supervised by the Ministries, e.g. Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, and the research institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

The universities and the industrial institutes are under new regulation introduced by the Parliament after 1989, which gives them much more freedom and independence in research policy, interaction with domestic and foreign economies and self government in their internal organisation. Unfortunately the institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences are still under the law of a Parliamentary Act introduced as early as 1965.

The funding of research and development from the government budget is executed by the State Committee for Scientific Research (KBN) created in 1991. I have had the pleasure and privilege to be elected as Vice Chairman of KBN for the period 1991-1994.

There are several means of support for the research institutes, laboratories and individual scientists, such as statutory funds grants, investment funds, so-called targeted projects which are cosponsored by KBN and the industry, and so-called ordered projects which are ordered by the Ministries and financed by KBN.

Other funds distributed by KBN are devoted to the development of international scientific cooperation. The State Committee for Scientific Research is funding research in both state and private sectors. Joint ventures with the foreign capital registered in Poland are also eligible.

Unfortunately the funding possibilities of KBN are strictly limited to scientific research. There are no government funds which can be used to support the technology transfer from laboratories to manufacturing companies. An example of such stimulating regulation is the SBIR Act (Small Business Innovation Research) introduced a couple of years ago by the US Congress.

Unfortunately there is no single government or parliamentary body which is exclusively devoted to the problems of Technology Assessment, like the former Office of Technology Assessment in the United States or similar parliamentary offices present in several European countries. Closest to this role is the State Council for Scientific Research, although this is not reflected in its name. During my term at the KBN I became the cofounder and member of the Executive Committee of the International Association for Technology Assessment and Forecasting Institutions (IATAFI), which was created under the auspices of the UNESCO and is based in Bergen, Norway.

I predict that because Poland is more and more closely cooperating with the European Union and finally will become a full member, a formal Technology Assessment Office will be created. Let me give you one example of such cooperation: In 1996 KBN will organise in Poland, under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, an International Conference on State Policy in Economics in Transition aimed at promoting innovation in industry.

I am sure that initiatives from the European Parliamentary Technology Assessment network toward Poland in this field would be very stimulating and helpful.

Prof. Cezary A. Ambroziak, Ph.D., Dr. Sc.
Director of the Institute of Electron Technology
Former Member of the Presidential Scientific Council
al.Lotnik_ow 32/46, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland
Tel.: +48 22 43-5401