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Report on the Regional Potential of Lower Silesian Voivodeship

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CluStrat – Boosting Innovation through new Cluster Concepts in support of emerging Issues and cross-sectoral Themes Report on the regional potential of Lower Silesian Voivodeship EMERGING INDUSTRIES • Active Aging • Sustainable Development / Green Economy • Sustainable / Intelligent Mobility CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES • Internationalization • Technology & Knowledge Transfer • Gender in Innovation, including diversity aspects Date: 28th of August 2013 Partner organisation: Lower Silesian Voivodeship Contact Persons: Justyna Lasak [email protected], Marek Hanczyn, [email protected] This project is implemented through the CENTRAL EUROPE Programme co-financed by the ERDF. 1 Introduction General information about Lower Silesian Voivodeship. • number of inhabitants : 2 916 577 (as of 31 XII 2011) The economic situation of the Lower Silesian in the context of Poland is good. The value of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is still higher than the national average (the second position after the Mazowieckie Voivodeship1) and still increases. Also the development dynamics of the region ranks among the highest in Poland. The comparison of Lower Silesia in terms of the value of GDP per capita (66% of the 27-EU average2) in relation to other European regions indicates, however, its distant position. An important role in economic processes of the region plays the industry, which is reflected in its relatively large share in creating the gross value added (GVA) – the second position behind Silesian Voivodeship. An important factor also is the constant high pace of production and relatively broad range of industrial activities (mining, automotive industries, production of household goods, high tech goods, pharmaceutical, foodstuff and soft drinks production, supply of electricity, gas and water, as well as textiles and clothing production). The most important for the region’s economy is exploitation of cooper and silver ore by KGHM “ Polska Miedź” S.A. in cooper electrolytic production (5th place in the world), silver (3rd place in the world) and rhenium (2nd place in the world) metal used for the aircraft engines. Lower Silesia is on the third place in Poland regarding amount of brown coal exploitation (mined in Bogatynia “Turów” mine). There’s also huge production of various types of building materials (mainly naturally occurring substances), fireproof aluminum and natural gas. Another advantage of the region is significant number of enterprises conducting economic activity (31% of them have headquarters in Wrocław). As of end of December 2012 in national register of business entities’ (polish REGON) there were 336,9 thousand entities registered. • Percentage of R&D expenditure on GDP: 0,52 (as of 31 XII 2010) List of major cluster initiatives in Lower Silesian Voivodeship NutriBioMed Cluster - a biotechnological-biomedical-food technology cluster, Side-Cluster – wood building cluster, Ceramics and Tourism Cluster – association of ceramics producers, Eco-energetic Cluster EEI - Energy, Ecology, Innovation – renewable energy, eco- environment, Innovative Technologies Cluster of Production, which is called CINNOMATECH, Lower Silesian Renewable Energy Cluster – renewable energy, “E-health” cluster – ICT technologies in health care, Lower Silesian Raw Materials Cluster – activities in the field of raw materials, Energy in Mega and Nano Scale – field of energy production, cluster “Knowledge and Innovation Community for Information and Communication Technologies” – main objective is to establish cooperation platform for Polish and European IT & ICT Companies, 1 Central Statistical Office 2 Eurostat - 2 - Lower Silesian Photonics Technology Cluster – photonics technologies, Lower Silesian Metal Cluster – cooperation of entrepreneurs from metal branch, Cluster of Regional Manufacturers, Innovative Cluster „Sudety for health”, Lower Silesian Tourism Cluster, Polish Biotechnological Cluster – support of cooperation between entrepreneurs, R&D Units, and other entities to commercialize and promote newest scientific achievements which use medical properties of linen. • Research and development landscape Lower Silesia is one of the biggest polish education centers Wrocław is the 3rd biggest academic center in Poland (after Warszawa and Kraków) with University of Wrocław, Wroclaw University of Technology, Wroclaw University of Economics, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Science, Wroclaw Medical University and many more. Every thirteenth student in Poland studies in Lower Silesia. In Lower Silesia region there are many institutions and companies which provide services supporting R&D sector: technological parks, centers for technology transfer, academic and business incubators, research centers. In 2011 there were 207 entities with R&D activities in Lower Silesian Voivodeship (4th place in Poland) Over 80% R&D activities were conducted in private sector. There were 9 302 people employed in R&D sector (as of 31 XII 2011). In 2012 there were 458 inventions submitted and 285 patents granted in Lower Silesian region. It’s hard to obtain information which company consider itself as a “Corporation”, if we assume that a “Corporation” is an entity with more than 1000 employees then as for end of 2012 there were 63 “Corporations” in Lower Silesia (for entities with 250 employees and more there were 370). 2 Emerging Industries Emerging industries are generally considered as a factor which will boost regions development. Green economy/sustainable development and Active Ageing are seen as those with the highest potential. a. Active Ageing in Lower Silesia: For the development of the whole region a balanced society is a must. Every part of society is considered as an opportunity with potential to help establish sustainable growth in the region. One of primary aims of the new Regional Development Strategy is “Social inclusion, increase of level and quality of life”. Industry branches: Tourism (wellness tourism), Health resorts, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industry (innovative potential) will play an important role to achieve above mentioned goal. There is obvious potential in the region to develop this particular branch of the economy. Mainly in the south and in the south-western part of the region there are multiple health resort units. We observe also a huge social and entrepreneurial activities of citizens and entrepreneurs which could result in creation of new products in tourism branch. Regional food products based on local resources are also assets which could drag customers. R&D capacities is another crucial factor which shouldn’t be underestimated. Lower Silesia with its - 3 - universities gives a strong scientific back up in the field of medical, biological and life sciences. Currently there are several clusters in Lower Silesia with activities carried out towards improving quality of life e.g. - Nutribiomed Cluster creates new brand of foodstuff products and dietary supplements with unique health claims, Nevertheless there are also challenges Lower Silesia has to face. Decreasing number of inhabitants in the region is one of the biggest. Another crucial issue is to introduce activities towards increasing social awareness in the field of active ageing. b. Green Economy/Sustainable Development Green Development is recognized (in Regional Innovation Strategy) as an important challenge which Lower Silesia has to face. Region is especially interested in cogeneration activities, reducing emissions to the environment, reduction of energy consumption in public buildings and housing sector. Lower Silesia has a huge potential to produce components of biofuels. There is a plan to develop facilities which produce clean energy (e.g. development of pump storage plant). We have several clusters with growth potential in this particular branch e.g. - Side-CluSter (with activities/technologies improving energy efficiency in buildings), - Lower Silesian Renewable Energy Cluster (mostly administrative and educational activities towards awareness of eco-energy), - Eco-Energetic Cluster EEI – Energy, Ecology, Innovation (economic and organizational aspects of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) solutions), The most important issue we have to deal with, is to increase usage of renewable resources in energy production (less than 6% of total energy produced in Lower Silesia came from renewable energy sources, as of as of 31 XII 20113). Second idea is to introduce dual education (education doesn’t corresponds with expectations of enterprises. c. Sustainable/Intelligent Mobility This particular emerging industry stands in line with aims of Regional Development Strategy “Sustainable transport and improvement of transport accessibility”. Investment in infrastructure is a great opportunity for instance to introduce intelligent transportation system. Below You’ll find region’s potential in the area of sustainable/intelligent mobility: - Development of intermodal transportation systems, - Development of Intelligent Transportation Systems (e.g. traffic systems in Wrocław), One of Pan-European Transportation Corridors is within Lower Silesian Voivodeship. There is a chance of development sustainable/intelligent mobility in line with development of the road (S3/S5 & S8 express ways) and rail (high density of railway lines) infrastructure. Lower Silesia in certain areas is still struggling with underdeveloped infrastructure e.g. low quality of roads, low density of energy transmission networks (low and medium voltage). Another big concern is low efficiency
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