On Tuesday 31st March this year, in Goleniów, a conference was held on the “Leap to Innovation”, organised jointly by the Marshal’s Office and the Municipality of Goleniów. It aimed at presenting possibilities of attracting funding from the Regional Operational Programme 2014-2020 for the development of companies.
In the years to come, a clear majority of funding from the EU designated to support companies should promote innovation. In other words, money will be available to those who instead of purchasing technologies abroad, develop and implement their own technical solutions. It is logical that in order to access the funding companies will have to search for partners among scientific and research units that could help them develop and implement new technologies.
The conference attracted representatives of companies, mainly based in Goleniów, and scientific institutions ready to offer their support to companies. The meeting was a good opportunity to make contacts, present needs of companies and the assistance offered by scientific institutions in the region.
At the moment, companies in the region earmark 0.08 percent of their income for innovation, said Marshal Olgierd Geblewicz while opening the conference. We would like this to increase significantly to 2 percent. Hundreds of millions of euros, the European Commission provided should be utilised to transform our economy from a customer for technologies developed in the West of Europe to a producer and exporter of such technologies. Innovation and creativity is the cornerstone for further development of Poland and the Westpomeranian Region.
I would like to see companies operating in the Municipality of Goleniów to use that opportunity, said Robert Krupowicz, the Mayor. Unemployment is no longer an issue for the municipality. It is considerably lower comparing with other municipalities. I should promote creating jobs requiring sophisticated skills, jobs for young and educated people. Such jobs are better paid, work gives more satisfaction and encourages people to stay and live in Goleniów.
The meeting generated much interest among companies interested in accessing EU funding. After the presentation of opportunities provided by the Regional Operational Programme, discussions continued for several hours involving entrepreneurs and scientists. We want and have to implement new technologies, since it is the only way to enhance our competitiveness, says Tadeusz Redmann, President at Goleniów-based Dancoal. We face a growing difficulty in finding qualified staff. We have to replace people by promoting automation and machines, which have to meet our specific needs. It is a task for specialists functioning at technical departments of universities. Thus, we have decided to develop cooperation the West Pomeranian University of Technology, and this is what we have discussed today.
