Q: Is the OECD Innovation Strategy timely also for Poland?
A: It’s the right time to tackle the issue of eco-innovation in Poland especially that we are at the beginning of a strategic planning for the upcoming new financial perspective for the years 2014-2020. To make this effort productive however it is critical to bring to one table all stakeholders involved in the eco-innovation cycle in Poland including relevant ministries but also R&D community and industrial sector. We all have to set up a common background that would facilitate not only planning for future but making a diagnosis of the current status of eco-innovation in our country. For example all stakeholders have to agree and adopt one definition of eco-innovation that will accommodate on one hand technical solutions as well as non-technological eco-innovations and on the other radical and incremental innovations. This common background together with a good understanding of the eco-innovation concept will ensure that strategic documents associated with creating a new financial perspective and choosing the funding priorities that are currently under development will not fail to incorporate environmental criteria. If they make no mention of the words eco-innovation or environmental technologies Poland will again be lagging behind other European countries and in particular the European markets where more and more often eco-innovation, not innovation alone, builds a competitive position of businesses.
Q: Does this mean that Polish businesses are not eco-innovative?
A: The potential is really hard to evaluate. But one has to differentiate here between environmental technologies which could be well established solutions and eco-innovations which might be technologically proven yet too young and risky for business to implement and funding schemes to finance. The truth is that as long as they are not required to meet specific environmental standards businesses are not interested in eco-innovation unless they are taxed high for using the environment. I would say that companies would behave more conservatively and express higher interest in environmental technologies rather then eco-innovations especially when their application can be directly translated into reduction of some costs if not making profits. Eco-innovation is one step further than environmental technologies but we do not know if the fact of being eco-innovative is sufficient for enterprises to build a strong position on the market especially that the market recognition of the “eco-innovation quality” is still rather low in Poland. Nevertheless the interest in eco-innovative projects in which businesses gain access to new know-how is slowly growing. In the case of vendors – it is really hard to say what the eco-innovation market is like in Poland. There have been some attempts made to characterize this potential but an in-depth analysis is urgently needed. It should first of all define this market, its value, performance and leading segments, key players, their position on the national, EU and global market, trends etc.
Q: And what about science?
A: The problem is that many new technologies do not go beyond the research phase not to mention their market uptake. When I compare the subsequent phases of the eco-innovation process, especially early stages of a technology development in different EU countries it is easy to notice that one step in this process is missing in Poland i.e. the demonstration phase. At this stage, a project is still in the R&D phase, the technology is not mature enough to be taken up by the market, but it is the best time to get prospective buyers involved in its development and minimise the risks accompanying first application thanks to the support . It is the time when a future user working in conjunction with the research unit has an opportunity to optimise and test the technology in a demonstration scale.
Q: What are the possible sources of funding for this kind of projects?
A: Without indicating a specific funding scheme these projects should be supported from public funds so that the business partner does not assume the risk alone. After generating new knowledge, conducting laboratory studies and completing a pilot project, it is necessary to move to the demonstration phase. It is at this stage that the business partner is able to figure out whether or not the technology will be successful. It is the crucial moment in building trust between the buyer of the technology and its inventor. Of course appropriate regulations are needed to ensure this.
Q: Is eco-innovation the future of the economy?
A: The European trend is to make economies competitive and ensure their sustainable growth not only by protecting our resources but first of all by increasing their productivity.. It is not only about waste management, recycling and energy efficiency – the point is to invest in innovative products and technologies with lower environmental impacts. A lot has been done in the framework of the Environmental Technologies Action Plan an EU initiative to boost eco-innovation in Europe. Currently works are ongoing to establish environmental technologies verification (ETV) system as a voluntary scheme for eco-innovative companies that is aimed to ensure an independent, credible information on the performance of new eco-technologies. Similar systems have been successfully implemented in several countries worldwide including US, Canada and Japan. The EU ETV scheme builds on these experiences.
Q: Does Poland participate in these efforts?
A: I am glad to say that we as a country have been involved in the ETV scheme development practically from the beginning. Currently the European Commission has launched the so called ETV pre-programme in which Poland is one the partners. The overall objective of the ETV scheme is to check whether environmental technologies are indeed as efficient as their suppliers claim they are – to find out “if it does what it says” in terms of environmental performance. The system is not about technical approvals and standards which the technology has to meet to be allowed to enter the market. It is a system complementary to these schemes. It enables technology developers and vendors an easier access of their innovative technologies to the market by validating their environmental performance., For technology purchasers and users ETV will provide sound information for making purchasing decisions, and comparison of technologies, finally regulators and policy-makers will acquire better knowledge base for policies and stimulation of eco-innovation. Despite many advantages of the system, ETV has raised also some skepticism mainly due to high verification costs which the businesses will have to pay for verification and the position of the system on the market which is still sufficiently recognised. The same may be the case in Poland. Market demand for eco-innovation will be weak as long as Poland has no green public procurement system which could serve as a “sucking mechanism”, and as long as the public administration sector is unable to benefit from the technologies verified and use the environmental technology verification system as a benchmark for technologies of various kind or setting this as a standard in public procurement.
Q: What other activities in the Platform involved in at present?
A: Our activity is very dynamic. As a consortium together with KOMAG and PCBC we have developed a concept of an environmental technology monitoring system for Poland, a tool which would help characterize the eco-innovation market and potential. In 2006 we have elaborated a report on environmental technologies in Poland which was a first attempt to characterize this sector. One of our key achievements is a Strategic Research Programme which defines the policies of environmental technologies development in Poland that result from the environmental priorities combined with the actual needs of businesses and the potential of our R&D sector. As a thematic contact point of the EU Framework Programmes, we have been involved in supporting the participation of Polish businesses and enterprises in the EU projects addressing environmental technologies and eco-innovations. We do this through organisation of workshops and trainings finding partners, promotion and distribution of cooperation offers and expressions of interests etc. A .large portion of our activities is devoted to establishing a brand “ eco-innovations made in Poland”. We promote the achievements of our R&D units and businesses, in 2008 we organised a national exhibition ‘Polish science and innovation for the environment” which was presented at POLLUTEC Trade Fair in Lyon and at POLEKO Trade Fair in Poznan, in 2010 we promoted our offer overseas at the GLOBE 2010 Environmental Trade Fair in Vancouver. In 2009 we organised a debate at POLEKO 2009 on eco-innovation in Poland with the participation of all key stakeholders involved in the eco-innovation process in Poland.
We believe that these activities will help to debunk the myth that the only thing Poland can offer in environmental technologies are clean coal technologies. We are convicted that our eco-innovation portfolio is much broader.