Associate Professor Piotr H. Skarżyński, MD, PhD, MSc, joined the panel ‘Science’s contribution to the country’s innovative economic development’ at the 25th Welconomy congress in Toruń. Participants discussed opportunities and limitations of Polish science, understood primarily as university education, in relation to innovation. Dr Tomasz Marcysiak, lecturer at the WSB University in Toruń, moderated. Other participants were Prof. Michał Kleiber of the Polish Academy of Sciences; Prof. Leszek Dziawgo, Head of Financial Management at Nicolaus Copernicus University; Dr Marcin Kilanowski, Director of the university’s Academic Business Incubator and Vice-President of KPOP Lewiatan; and Kamil Wyszkowski, Director General of UN Global Compact Poland.
Their varied backgrounds enabled a broad approach to innovation, from financial support for technology start-ups and university R&D to telemedicine solutions improving patient comfort.
Opening the discussion, Prof. Leszek Dziawgo highlighted the need for a more flexible education system at every level, less paperwork and repetition of established patterns, and greater openness to creativity. He stressed that ‘only enthusiasts will win the race towards innovation.’ Prof. Michał Kleiber observed that Polish innovation involves more than science alone. It requires synergy between education, the research system and legal conditions, including intellectual property protection. He also pointed to cultural limitations: ‘Poles do not know how to celebrate success, whether their own or their colleagues’. Success therefore often goes unnoticed. There is insufficient understanding of the need to promote good solutions, especially those from the private sector.’ Prof. Piotr H. Skarżyński emphasised that modern medicine requires greater involvement from medical leaders and cannot develop within narrow specialties alone. ‘A broader view, continuous new experience and an international, interdisciplinary perspective are essential. An effective healthcare manager must combine medical knowledge with economics and management. Only then can we create a working environment that enables our staff to innovate.’ He cited the National Network of Teleaudiology as an example of interdisciplinary action, established and operating effectively through the combined work of managers, engineers and doctors. ‘These experiences allow us to go beyond Poland and even Europe. We successfully use telemedicine both in hearing screening projects in West Africa and in supporting young researchers in Central Asia.’
Kamil Wyszkowski shared experience of financing research in Western Europe and the USA. He believes Polish universities remain underrepresented in international research relative to their potential.
Summing up, Dr Tomasz Marcysiak highlighted the mismatch between Polish universities, particularly smaller ones, and requirements arising from demographics and rapidly changing labour markets.