Małopolska ranks third in the country both in terms of inventions filed and patents granted, but already first in terms of patents granted per million inhabitants (2018). There are almost 600 entities conducting research and development in the region, which is the third highest result in the country, but translates into second place. from the point of view of the population. Moreover, there are about 15 cluster initiatives, including the Krakow LifeScience Cluster and the Sustainable Infrastructure Cluster, which have the status of Key National Clusters. Companies such as ABB, Aptiv, Motorola, CH2MHill and Ericpol have chosen Krakow as a place to develop their research and development activities. There are technological and industrial parks in Małopolska, such as the Krakow Technology Park, which has the status of a Digital Innovation Hub, and administers the Krakow Special Economic Zone with an area of 1,000 ha. In the business services sector of Małopolska, there is a dynamic growth of entities and jobs. Krakow, with 238 centers, is the second, after Warsaw, one with the largest number of such institutions. It is also an employment leader – approximately 90,000 people work in local BPO (business process outsourcing), SSC (shared service centers), IT (information technology) and R&D (research and development) centers. people. In addition, it has the highest share of research and development centers among the largest 8 centers, totaling 17% (2019).
The results of scientific and research work carried out in scientific institutions and research and development units are commercialized thanks to the dynamically functioning university. and non-university technology transfer centers and a number of other innovation centers. The voivodship also implements the SPIN (Małopolska Knowledge Transfer Centers for Entrepreneurs’ Support) project, where cooperation between businesses and universities takes place in Knowledge Transfer Centers – regional cross-sectoral cooperation models that have been established over the years and are effective. .
There are 106 accredited research laboratories in Małopolska, which is the fourth highest result in the country, and 11 calibration laboratories. There are also 3,100 regular laboratories in the region. 807 of them are located in Małopolska research facilities (universities, institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences and research institutes). In Małopolska there are also almost 30% (20 out of 70) of all projects included in the Polish Research Infrastructure Map (2020). These enterprises represent the following fields: technical sciences and energy, biological and medical sciences and agriculture, physical sciences and engineering, digital research infrastructures.
There are 29 universities in Małopolska, educating over 150,000 people. students and almost 65% of Małopolska residents aged 19-24 are studying, which is the third highest result in the country. In addition, over 1.7% of the region’s residents are pursuing doctoral studies, which is the second highest result in the country. and translates to 6,000 people. 17,000 people are active in research and development. full-time jobs (full-time equivalent), of which over 60% in the business sector.
Among the remaining, the most important indicators of innovation, the following are worth mentioning (according to the latest data for the first quarter of 2020):
• the highest values of GERD (total expenditures for research and development works) in the country and the second EBRD (expenditures with research and development works of enterprises in relation to GDP): 1.85 and 1.17, respectively;
• the average share of business expenses in research and development expenses at the voivodeship level: 63.4%;
• second place among the voivodeships in terms of the absolute value of ext. for research and development activity: PLN 3 billion;
• second place in terms of research and development expenditure per capita: PLN 1,087;
• the third ratio of research and development expenses to research and development personnel among voivodeships: 140 thousand. PLN for the post;
• second place in terms of total research-development personnel (34.5 thousand) and with the title of doctor (7.3 thousand);
• second place in terms of the share of people working in research and development in total employment: 1.9%;
• third place in terms of entities with research and development equipment included in fixed assets: 168;
• second place among voivodeships in terms of the share of revenues from the sale of innovative products in the total revenues of industrial enterprises: 12.1%;
• fifth place in terms of the share of revenues from the sale of products of entities (more than 9 employees) classified as high and medium-high technology: 39,1%
Regional innovation is supported by a series of cyclical events initiated by the regional government, such as “Innovator Safari”, “Małopolska Innovation Festival”, “Małopolska at the Innovation Fair”, the seminar “Patent for a good start” or a competition of offers. for the implementation of public tasks in the field of activities supporting the development of technology, inventiveness and innovation, as well as the dissemination and implementation of new technical solutions in business practice.