Polish experience: clusters and smart-specialization
On June 11-12, 2019, a seminar “Clusters development in Poland. Regional Innovative Systems. Activities to support smart-specialization in Mazovia” was held in Cherkasy. The training was conducted for 20 representatives from several regions of Ukraine, such as: Cherkasy, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv and Vinnytsia regions. The event was organized by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP) within the framework of the project “Improving the competitiveness of Ukrainian regions and the development of Polish-Ukrainian economic cooperation”, which is implemented by the Ministry of Investment and Economic Development of Poland.
On the first day the experts Petro Kryiom, a representative of the Department of Analyses and Strategies of PARP organization and Oleksandra Perepelytsia, a representative of the Department of Entrepreneurship Support of PARP organization, discussed the concept of clusters in details, analyzed the state of clusters in Poland, reported on the standard of cluster management and implementation of cluster policy in Poland in 2012-2019. During the training, they presented the information about the international project “ClusterFY”, told about the choice of Key national clusters, support for clusters within the framework of the EU programs (Horizon 2020, COSME), etc. The speakers didn’t forget to tell about the weaknesses and strength areas of clusters creation.
The next day, two more experts, the Director of the Department of regional development and European funds, the Administration of Mazovien Voivodeship Marchin Waida and the Deputy Director of the Department of regional development and European funds Oleksandra Shved, dwelt on the development of smart-specialization in Mazovia and regional innovative systems. They shared the experience of smart-specialization implementation in their region, told about the benefits of this system and the possible risks of its implementation. Polish experts have also mentioned that it is impossible to rely entirely on statistics in the process of smart-specialization implementation. After all, what works well in one region can’t fully meet the needs of the other.
At the end of the seminar, experts emphasized the desire to cooperate with Ukraine in these areas and their readiness to support and implement mutual projects.