AUTHORS: Dr. Aleksander BĄKOWSKI (editing) Marzena MAŻEWSKA (editing)

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2 AUTHORS: Dr. Aleksander BĄKOWSKI (editing) Marzena MAŻEWSKA (editing) Elwira KOPROWSKA-SKALSKA Jacek KOTRA Dr. Karol LITYŃSKI Marek MIKA Ewa POPIELCZAK Dr. Andrzej SIEMASZKO Małgorzata SNARSKA-ŚWIDERSKA Anna TÓRZ 2

3 REVIEWER: Professor Edward Stawasz The publication has been co-financed from the European Social Fund under the systemic project Development of human resources through promotion of knowledge, transfer and popularisation of innovation (the Operational Programme Human Capital, measure 2.1.3). The electronic version of this publication is available on the Innovation Portal The publication prepared by the experts of Polish Business and Innovation Centres Association. Opinions and arguments presented in the publication do not reflect the position of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, but only the position of the Authors. Copy available free of charge Copyright by Polska Agencja Rozwoju Przedsiębiorczości, Warsaw 2012 ISBN

4 CONTENTS PREFACE... 5 DETERMINANTS OF SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT IN POLAND (MARZENA MAŻEWSKA, ALEKSANDER BĄKOWSKI)... 7 TECHNOLOGY PARKS (MARZENA MAŻEWSKA, ANNA TÓRZ) TECHNOLOGY INCUBATORS (ANNA TÓRZ) PRE-INCUBATORS AND ACADEMIC BUSINESS INCUBATORS (MARZENA MAŻEWSKA) BUSINESS INCUBATORS (JACEK KOTRA) TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER CENTRES (ALEKSANDER BĄKOWSKI) SEED CAPITAL FUNDS (KAROL LITYŃSKI) BUSINESS ANGELS NETWORKS (EWA POPIELCZAK) LOCAL LOAN FUNDS (MAREK MIKA) LOAN GUARANTEE FUNDS (MAREK MIKA) POLISH TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMS (ANDRZEJ SIEMASZKO, MAŁGORZATA SNARSKA-ŚWIDERSKA) CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5 PREFACE To an increasing extent the current development processes are going on in a specific network covering business networks, scientific and research institutions and nongovernmental institutions as well as public administration and citizen s initiative. The role of network relations which facilitate merging of ideas and the exchange of information is growing. The innovation and entrepreneurship centres which have been developing in Poland since the early 1990s of the 20 th century matter more and more in these processes. Currently, the entrepreneurship support infrastructure in Poland consists of different types of innovation and entrepreneurship centres: technology parks and incubators, business incubators, pre-incubators, technology transfer centres, training and advisory centres, loan funds, guarantee funds, seed funds etc. These institutions are mainly intended to enhance the people s creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation leading to the more efficient use of the local growth factors. Since the beginning of system transformation the number of innovation and entrepreneurship centres has been systematically growing up to 821 in the mid The process of developing the entrepreneurship supporting system is still going on however, and there are new initiatives and new areas emerging where the innovation and entrepreneurship centres operate. The changes observed and analysis of the experience acquired by knowledge economy leaders show an increasing role of support infrastructure in the process of the Polish economy innovation development. In the era of technological changes and dynamic expansion of the innovation to the services, organisations, marketing and social issues, the enterprises are looking for new solutions and this is where the innovation and entrepreneurship centres may have substantial contribution. This report is the ninth edition of the Report on Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centres in Poland. It was drawn up by the experts of Polish Business and Innovation Centres Association under the systemic project entitled Development of human resources through promotion of knowledge, transfer and popularisation of innovation implemented by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development. For 17 years these reports have been a major source of information and knowledge about development trends of support system in Poland. The data and information presented include not only the diagnosis of the current state of entrepreneurship support infrastructure in Poland, but also a broad analysis of the observed trends in the activity of innovation and entrepreneurship centres over the last several years. While preparing the report, the synthetic characteristic of activity of each type of centre has been made with reference to the results of the previous analyses. The report also includes an analysis of barriers encountered by the centres and the recommendations for further actions. In the first quarter of 2012 the analytical work involved updating of name, address and telephone data of the local and regional economic development support institutions. The identified entities received the questionnaires with the information form concerning their activity. Due to the financial provisions some data refer to the end of 2011, while the 5

6 other reflect the state of centres in the mid The analytical parts of the report were prepared based on the collected statistical information, comments and suggestions of people managing nearly 500 centres. Participation in the surveys was voluntary. The data of centres that despite several requests did not participate in the surveys were published as a supplement to information summaries. Traditionally, we attempted to reach all institutions and initiatives across the country. The results of the surveys will be used to update the data on the Polish Innovation Portal of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development ( We would like to thank all directors/managers of innovation and entrepreneurship centres that participated in the surveys for cooperation and sharing their knowledge and experience, which were very helpful in preparing this publication. We also hope that all people dealing with the subject discussed will be willing to cooperate with us and edit the next report. Poznan/Warsaw, 28 August Aleksander Bąkowski Marzena Mażewska 6

7 DETERMINANTS OF SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT IN POLAND (Marzena MAŻEWSKA, Aleksander BĄKOWSKI) The concept and objectives of innovation and entrepreneurship centres At present, knowledge and innovation are recognised as the key factors of enterprise competitiveness. The economic policy instruments shift towards this idea and commence to form a basis for the development-oriented support systems. The support for entrepreneurship and innovation processes includes provision of specific services and development of economic and social environment which is favourable to the entrepreneur and conducive to independent business 1. This also involves establishing and developing dedicated support institutions. The entities active in the area of support for entrepreneurship, innovation and competitiveness are usually referred to as innovation and entrepreneurship centres 2 in Poland. Actually, there is no explicit and uniform definition for this type of institution. Even the glossary Innowacje i transfer technologii 3 contains its definitions that slightly differ depending on the institution activity. In the light of this publication, it was considered appropriate to use the characteristics which reflect the best the idea and objectives of the centres in the economic development process. Thus, based on the analysis of a variety of undertaken tasks, target groups of service recipients or the required staff competence, the support institutions can be classified as follows 4 : 1) entrepreneurship centres broad promotion and incubation entrepreneurship (often in discriminated groups), provision of support services for small enterprises and boosting the development of peripheral regions or regions affected by structural crisis; 2) innovation centres broad promotion and incubation of innovative entrepreneurship, technology transfer and provision of pro-innovative services, mobilization of academic entrepreneurship and cooperation between science and business; 3) financial institutions easier access to finance for the start-ups or small enterprises with no credit history, provision of financial services adjusted to the specific features of innovative economic undertakings. 1 Krzysztof B. Matusiak, Budowa powiązań nauki z biznesem w gospodarce opartej na wiedzy [Building links between science and business in the knowledge-based economy], Warsaw School of Economics, Warsaw, 2010, p For the first time a term innovation and entrepreneurship centres was used in the discussions of national and foreign experts at the Polish-German seminar in March 1991 in Rydzyna near Poznań. This meeting can be considered as the beginning of the movement of innovation and entrepreneurship centre promoters in Poland. 3 K.B. Matusiak (ed.), Innowacje i transfer technologii, Słownik pojęć [Innovation and technology transfer, Glossary], Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, Warsaw K. B. Matusiak, Rozwój systemów wsparcia przedsiębiorczości. Przesłanki, polityka i instytucje [Development of entrepreneurship supporting systems. Premises, policy and institutions], Institute for Sustainable Technologies, Radom-Łódź

8 Each of these groups may be subdivided into categories of support institutions defined according to their functioning method and scope and characterized by specific mission, objectives and structure. Diagram 1. Classification of innovation and entrepreneurship centres Innovation and entrepreneurship centres Innovation and entrepreneurship centres Training and advisory centres, Entrepreneurship centres, business centres, Entrepreneurship clubs, consulting centres, consulting and advisory centres, Pre-incubators and academic business incubators Source: own study Shadow banking financial institutions Regional and local loan funds Local guarantee funds Seed capital funds Business Angels Networks Innovation centres Technology transfer centres Academic business incubators Technology incubators e-incubators Technology, science, research, industrial and technology parks, technopolis All above-mentioned categories of support institutions will be elaborated in this report along with their general characteristics, line of business, achievements and functioning barriers as well as their future plans. A characteristic feature of support institutions is their non-profit operation - this also the case of the institutions with their legal form based on the Commercial Code 5. Due to their specificity and social background they are important elements filling the gap between the market mechanisms and public administration tasks. They are service providers which form a specific network of institutional infrastructure that allows the entrepreneurs to make the development processes more dynamic and to implement the selected strategies. Over the last dozen or so years, these institutions have undergone a profound transformation from the centres based on enthusiasm and voluntary activity of their creators into the professional support institutions operating as effectively as commercial entities. In Poland, entrepreneurship support infrastructure keeps developing and is subject to regrouping, as the new forms of activity and operation emerge. Thus, the market is still 5 Due to the possibility for obtaining funds to achieve statutory objectives some institutions were obliged to transform into capital company. Their statutes, however, obliged them to devote the total profit on achieving statutory objectives. 8

9 active and creative and it is the most appropriate partner for the entrepreneurs due to the flexibility of entities operating thereon. It should be noted that the planned support infrastructure policy implemented over the last several years a diversity of innovation and entrepreneurship centres allows to provide support for all types of economic operators ranging from start-ups and SMEs to high-tech enterprises almost in each country region. Diversification of support institutions activities favours development of entrepreneurship and stimulates continuous development of the enterprises as effectively as the market competition. The entrepreneurs are permanent seekers of market opportunities and the innovation and entrepreneurship centres skilfully provide them based on new services offered every now and then. Support system organisation Recently, support for entrepreneurship and innovation processes is becoming more important both in terms of social and economic development as well as technological challenges faced by the Polish enterprises. As a result of unprecedented technical progress even small enterprises at the early stage of development establish global business relationships. On the other hand, changes in production technology and services provision take places much faster than ever before. In consequence, provision of specific services and development of economic and social entrepreneurship-friendly environment as well as starting business activities are becoming increasingly important. The relevant activities include a number of instruments from stimulators built in the economic and social system and legal order, through programmes and tasks undertaken directly by public authorities at different levels, to the dedicated institutions of the citizen sector 6. All these actions have let establish a support system in Poland that consists in the activity of independent entities which are spot-funded to implement the tasks set out in the strategic plans at various decision-making levels. This solution has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantages include a farreaching self-reliance and independence of support institutions in their activities and the ability to quickly respond to the entrepreneurs needs without the approval of the governing body. The disadvantages include financing instability which often forces the centres to temporarily suspend the provision of some services or to take actions in the areas marginally related to their leading activities. It seems, however, that the advantages outweigh the shortcomings and the indicated deficiencies are certainly an important stimulus for the activity and development of the centres. However, taking into account the fact that within a few years many centres strengthened their position on the market and found a way to carry out their tasks with the combined fund sources, and in the light of the scale of present investments, it is advisable to ponder on the implementation of the national integrated support programme with an 6 K.B. Matusiak (ed.) Ośrodki innowacji i przedsiębiorczości w Polsce - Raport 2010 [Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centres in Poland Report 2010], Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, Warsaw

10 inherent independent system to monitor the activity of the centres. The implementation of the initiative Effective Environment for Innovative Business 7 shows that the specific character of the activities carried out by the innovative and entrepreneurship centres results in the limited adaptability of educational programmes aimed at economic operators in terms of organisation and management. This requires the development of dedicated educational programmes combined with the exchange of experience between the centres and the dissemination of good practices. Due to a large rotation of professional staff, the centres need a constant support in raising the qualifications of their employees and people working with them. In the long perspective (4 5 years) this programme should be characterised by regularity rather than intensity. All types of centres should be able to benefit from this programme. This would allow to disseminate innovative aspects outside large urban areas and to significantly strengthen cooperative relations at the regional levels. It would be important to involve the centres in determining the substantive scope and the training methods for their staff as well as in the tasks completion. Such approach would facilitate the creation of formal and informal cooperation networks. It seems that the entrepreneurs and economy do not make use of the current potential in such way that it would contribute to the economic development of the country. A particular feature of the Polish practice in building and implementing support policies is a transition to the higher levels of service development while neglecting the lower level services. At present, this is the case of training and advisory centres and business incubators. Despite the fact that the surveys show that both types of centres have included the support for innovative enterprises in their scope of activities, they may participate in the support programmes only if they establish an entirely new organisational unit for that purpose. Such policy results in a disintegration of different levels, thereby preventing further development and making them restricted to the previously set operation area. Entrepreneurship and innovation activities require a longer period of time. To ensure the stability and effectiveness of such programmes it seems necessary to work out a development strategy for entrepreneurship support infrastructure and to combine its elements with the operating programmes of particular ministries, including provision of defined and stable sources of their financing. Independent monitoring at the national and regional level should be used to stabilize the support system. 7 The initiative Effective Environment for Innovative Business was intended to provide large-scale support for the institutions creating an innovative business environment. The target group or recipients consisted mainly of the management and employees of innovative business environment institutions such as: technology parks, incubators, technology transfer centres, innovation centres, seed/venture funds. The project concept assumed that they should effectively stimulate creation of new innovative enterprises, cooperation between the enterprises and universities, as well as the among enterprises themselves, contributing to the creation of knowledge-based economy. The support for institutions took the form of a series of actions facilitating the competent operation of the centres. 10

11 The dynamics of support infrastructure development in Poland Since the beginning of system transformation in 1990, the number of innovation and entrepreneurship centres has been growing steadily (except the period ) up to 735 in the mid The next verification of the support institutions was varied out in 2012 based on surveys and telephone interviews. In consequence 821 centres were recognized as active 8. They include the following groups: 8 Inaccuracy, if any, (of the order of 2-3 %) in the centres number is due to the high dynamics of the changes in the support institutions activity. Precise verification of the number of these entities may also be prevented by other, specific situations, such as: a number of local initiatives are operated under the several banners which are represented by the same people, often also in the same location; specificity of the donation programmes sometimes required to establish artificial institutions so as to fulfil the requirements (for example such centres operate in one place and under the same management: entrepreneurship support centre, consulting centre and local information centre); 11

12 40 technology parks and 14 park initiatives; 29 technology incubators; 73 pre-incubators and academic business incubators; 58 business incubators; 69 technology transfer centres; 68 seed capital funds; 10 business angels networks; 86 local and regional loan funds; 55 local guarantee funds; 319 training and advisory centres and information centres. Chart 1. Development dynamics of innovation and entrepreneurship centres in Poland in A significant change in the number of centres in mid-2012 was caused by significant changes in seed capital fund groups as well as technology parks and incubators. Recently, the increase of active centres in these groups was extremely intense. This is primarily due to the completion of investment works in many parks which were at the initial stage in 2010 (there were 21 such parks then). The number of seed capital funds increased mainly because of the competitions under OP IE measure 3.1. which initiated their relatively rapid a number of centres affiliated to institutions with other statutory purposes (universities, R&D units, chambers and guilds) are of temporary nature (from project to project) and end their activity when the external funding runs out; a number of initiatives (such as technology parks) are prepared for years and it is difficult to pick the right moment to start the activity, while very often promoters take actions simulating the start-up operations in order to improve their image; those who run the centres or representative local authorities do not admit that they have closed the entities (or leave them dormant ) when external funding ends; a short life of many initiatives is characteristic for the centres established under the large programmes directed primarily to rural areas. 12

13 emergence. At the same time, there were centres closed in all groups in the past 24 months, but these are the changes at the level of no more than 2 %. Since the beginning there are more training and advisory centres, which currently constitute 38.8 % of all active entities. These are the centres with the longest operating tradition established with the contribution of local funds. This type of centres definitely predominated in the first years of transformation when the market education, development of entrepreneurship knowledge and running business activities were particularly important. Training and advisory centres constituted almost 2/3 of all entities in the mid-1990s. With time more dedicated institutions emerged and launched services corresponding to the increasing demand of economic operators and were able to provide an offer of services for support of the innovative entrepreneurship, transfer and knowledge commercialization. Table 1. Quantitative evolution of the different types of innovation and entrepreneurship centres Detailed list Technology parks Park initiatives Technology incubators Business incubators Pre-incubators and academic business incubators * * * * * Technology transfer centres Seed capital funds * * * * * Business angels networks * * * * * * Local and regional loan funds Local guarantee funds Training and advisory centres In total The table shows that the support infrastructure development started with the simplest form of support and was gradually launching more dedicated services in the market. In recent years the number of technology parks, seed capital funds, pre-incubators and technology incubators has been quickly increasing. An increasing availability of the European funds since 13

14 the middle of this decade and introduction of the development recommendations of the European Union in Poland contributed to the development of organizationally and conceptually advanced multifunctional centres. A decrease in the number of technology transfer centres occurs mainly because of the completion of a consultancy support project for the innovative enterprises conducted by the Polish Federation of Engineering Associations (NOT), which withhold its activity in the technology transfer area after funding had ended. The institutions offering financial services, including loans and local guarantees as well as equity capitals for the start-up companies and small enterprises account for 26.7% of all innovation and entrepreneurship centres. However, every fifth initiative is associated with the support programme of business incubation (pre-incubators, business and technology incubators), which combines different soft services with offering premises for companies. Chart 2. Classification of innovation and entrepreneurship centres by types in 2012 (in %) Business Incubators 7,1% Business Angels Networks 1,2% Seed Capital Funds 8,3% Technology Transfer Centres 8,4% Academic Bus. Incubators Preincubators 8,9% Tech. Incubators 3,5% Regional and Local Loan Funds 10,5% Tech. Parks 6,6% Training and advisory centres 38,9% Local Guarantee Funds 6,7% The number of entities which offer innovative entrepreneurship support services account for 34.2 % of all centres 9 according to the last survey. This shows a persisting development trend of support system oriented towards provision of services which help develop innovation and technology potential of SME sector. This process began in 2007 and covered both technical infrastructure area, particularly technology and scientific parks and technology incubators, and financial support institutions, especially in the construction of high-tech enterprises sector. It is expected that the system will continue to develop towards innovation, technology transfer and academic business as well as creation of financial institutions financing innovative projects in the near future. The development of dedicated pro-innovation services is consistent with the strategic development trends of the united Europe In this case the innovation centres consist of: technology parks, technology transfer centres, technology incubators, academic business incubators, seed capital funds and business angels networks. 10 Europe 2020 Flagship Initiative Innovation Union, COM(2010) 546 final. 14

15 Chart 3. Number of innovation centres among all innovation and entrepreneurship centres in (in %). 35,0% 30,0% 25,0% 20,0% 15,0% 10,0% 5,0% 0,0% 10,8% 9,2% 10,9% 34,2% 27,1% 29,5% 18,7% 14,2% 3,2% 3,9% The single-purpose institutions running one type of centre have a leading position among all centres (61.72 % 17.2 % less than two years ago). Double-purpose institutions (e.g. training and advisory centre and loan fund) account for % while the remaining % of centres are run by three and more separate entities. The number of institutions with three or more components has significantly increased in recent years (they amounted to 8.9 % in 2010). This reflects strengthening position of the institutions on the market and their development in accordance with the changing demands of the customers. At the regional level a number of institutions operating in a network have emerged, i.e. with 5 to 18 different centres operating in the whole voivodeship, for example Lubelska Fundacja Rozwoju it has several infrastructure components which allow to provide comprehensive services for enterprises at any development level. Chart 4. Structure of centres according to legal forms in 2012 Scientific and research institution unit 9,5% Public administration unit 6,1% Representative business unit 9,3% Association 23,1% Private limited liability company 18,4% Public limited liability company 15,1% Foundation 18,5% 15

16 The legal forms of centres are diversified depending on the specificity of the centre as well as on its size and capital. Associations (23 %) as well as local and regional foundations (19 %) are the most popular organization forms of support institutions. It is caused by the fact that training and advisory centres are still the largest group of centres. Other popular legal forms are private and public limited liability companies, based mainly on public-private partnership represented respectively by private limited liability entities (18 %) and public limited liability entities (15 %). Most of these companies allot their financial surpluses for the statutory objectives. The company is the most common legal form among local guarantee and seed capital funds, technology parks and incubators as well as business incubators. Table 2. Structure of entities managing innovation and entrepreneurship centres ( ) Detailed list Association 40 % 40 % 29 % 20 % 19 % 20 % 23 % Foundation 35 % 35 % 20 % 14 % 14 % 14 % 19 % Public limited liability company 11 % 13 % 25 % 12 % 11 % 12 % 15 % Private limited liability company 2 % 3 % 19 % 23 % 23 % 18 % Public administration unit 8 % 8 % 4 % 8 % 7 % 7 % 6 % Scientific and research institution unit 6 % 11 % 10 % 11 % 10 % Representative business unit (chamber of industry and commerce, guild etc.) 4 % 2 % 16 % 17 % 16 % 14 % 9 % It should be emphasized that the role of non-governmental organisation is decreasing in the developing support system. As early as in 1999 ¾ of all centres were still covered by this organisational and legal formula while the other forms played practically marginal role at that time. Foundations and associations allow to a wider extent to underline the noncommercial nature of the project and to develop a good image of initiative; regardless of organisational and legal formula people play a key role - their commitment and willingness to devote their energy and time to the activities which very often require improvisation and new ideas 11. More and more universities, R&D establishments and economic self-government institutions (such as chambers, guilds, associations and employer associations) participate in the system. This group of entities focuses mainly on the training and advisory services as well as on information activities and pre-incubation projects. The initiatives directly managed by the public administration remain at the level of 6 7 %. Their involvement as shareholders in the technical infrastructure projects, such as technology parks and 11 Report

17 incubators is also increasing. The legal form, such as budget entity of local government, also becomes popular for the purpose of organisation and management of such centres. The regional distribution of innovation and entrepreneurship centres is rather uneven. There are definitely less centres in the rural areas; the development support institutions still do not exist in every second poviat and in over ¾ of gminas (mainly rural). The administrative attempts (e.g. local information centres etc.) were inconsistent, mostly in the form of projects without permanent rooting in local communities. The end of funding was usually tantamount to the centre liquidation. Consequently, the support institutions increasingly concentrate the in agglomerations and medium-sized towns. The largest concentration occurs around the agglomerations (Katowice, Warsaw, Trójmiasto, and Kraków). Only 23 % of entities operate in rural areas and in small towns (up to residents) and this has not changed for a few years. Table 3. Percentage structure of innovation and entrepreneurship centres according to the location in Rural gminas Towns up to of residents as well as urban and rural gminas Medium-sized towns residents Large cities residents Agglomerations over residents

18 Chart 5. Classification of innovation and entrepreneurship centres according to the place of operation in 2012 (in %) Agglomerations over residents 28% Rural districts 3% Towns up to of residents and urban and rural gminas 20% Large cities residents 10% Medium-sized towns residents 39% The largest concentrations of innovation and entrepreneurship centres are found in Śląskie (96) as well as Mazowieckie (92) and Wielkopolskie (71) voivodeships, whereas in Opolskie (15), Lubuskie (22) and Świętokrzyskie (24) voivodships these concentrations are the smallest. The number of centres usually depends on the size of the region, its social and economic potential, transformation process dynamics of and involvement of regional and local authorities. Chart 6. Classification of innovation and entrepreneurship centres by voivodeships in 2012(%)

19 When analysing the availability of services provided by the centres, the number of residents and the number of enterprises in the region, respectively, were compared with the number of centres. Regardless of its type, there is one centre per country residents. The situation is improving, however, because this is about 10 % less than in Yet, the regional divergence is still large and the worst situation prevails in Opolskie (about residents) and Mazowieckie (about ) voivodships; on the other hand, the situation in Podlaskie (36 000) and Warmińsko-Mazurskie (36 500) is the best. Chart 7. Number of residents per 1 centre by voivodeships at the end of Insofar as the fulfilment of enterprise needs is concerned, it was found that the situation has deteriorated. The number of enterprises per 1 centre has doubled compared to 2010 (the average level for Poland enterprises in 2012 and 2400 enterprises per 1 centre in 2010). In Mazowieckie (about 7 300) and Opolskie (6 500) voivodeships the situation is the worst, while it is the best in Podlaskie (2 700) and Warmińsko-Mazurskie (about 2 900). Chart 8. Number of enterprises per 1 centre by voivodeships at the end of

20 This is probably a result of a more and more frequent changes in employment status from full-time employment to self-employment - on the one hand it is broadly promoted and on the other, it is a tool readily used by the employers. The number of centres does not increase at that rate. The indicator showing the share of innovation centres in the number of all entities is also noteworthy. It shows the rate of support system shifting to pro-innovation services and the needs of knowledge-based economy. Małopolskie (54.4 %) and Mazowieckie (50 %) voivodeships are in the best situation while Lubuskie voivodship (22.7 %) is in the worst situation in this respect. It is evident that establishment of several dozen of seed capital funds which are supporting operation of other innovation centres contributed to an increase of potential in the first two regions. Table 4. Saturation of innovation and entrepreneurship centres in the Polish regions in Voivodeship 2007 In total Including innovation centres (in %) In total Including innovation centres (in %) In total Including innovation centres (in %) 1 Śląskie Mazowieckie Wielkopolskie Małopolskie Dolnośląskie Lubelskie Zachodniopomorskie Podkarpackie Pomorskie Łódzkie Kujawsko-Pomorskie Warmińsko-Mazurskie Podlaskie Świętokrzyskie Lubuskie Opolskie In total

21 Chart 9. Number of innovation centres in the total number of centres in ,0% 54,4% 50,0% 50,0% 44,8% 41,3% 39,4% 40,0% 33,3% 33,3% 32,6% 32,1% 31,3% 30,8% 26,7% 30,0% 25,0% 25,0% 24,2% 22,7% 20,0% 10,0% 0,0% The innovation centres are still concentrated in the regions with high economic potential and strong market. Economically weak regions still lack support infrastructure for innovative business. The data indicate that the developed support system in Poland mobilises regions which are already dynamic, thus leading to the further development disproportions in spatial terms. The last two years prove it true, like the use of seed capital funds almost only in two regions (Mazowieckie and Małopolskie). If we assume that one of the main objectives of an innovative economy support system stimulated with the European funds is to increase accessibility of the enterprises to the services provided by the innovation and entrepreneurship centres, it should be noted that the number of potential customers of these institutions is still so large so that they are not able to meet their needs. Chart 10. The number of enterprises per 1 innovation centre by voivodeships at the end of Source: own study 21

22 Chart 11. Number of residents per 1 innovation centre by voivodeships at the end of Source: own study To obtain a full saturation picture the structure of centres in the particular regions must be thoroughly observed, and saturation of particular voivodships with different centres should be compared to draw the right conclusions. For example, there are currently 46 centres in Mazowieckie voivodeship, however, their structure is seriously disturbed and this is a cause of major problems for the group of seed capital funds to obtain projects to be financed. Chart 12. Structure of innovation centres by type in mazowieckie voivodeship in 2012 Technology Incubators; 1 Technology Parks; 1 Business Angels Networks; 1 Academic Business Incubators; 10 Seed Capital Funds; 25 Technology Transfer Centres; 8 Source: own study The presented data show that the policy of the Polish economy innovativeness improvement should focus mainly on developing and implementing special programmes which are adequate to the needs of the particular regions, including a wide range of instruments that help change the way of thinking and increase innovation, with the particular emphasis on the peripheral regions. 22

23 Growth perspectives Support institutions are an inherent part of the current logic of economic and social development. They enable mobilisation of endogenous regional resources and the better use of local growth factors. The modern development strategies are based on the network relationships that facilitate the exchange of ideas and information. The current development of Polish innovation and entrepreneurship centres should be recognised as a success of the local communities and people directly dealing with these initiatives. They contribute a new quality to their surrounding by activating the local community, transferring new experiences and external assistance and most of all by helping people in the execution of their business plans. The measurable effects mentioned in the Report constitute only a part of social and economic benefits of their activities. There was an increase of the number of centres in recent years. Their budget is also increasing. Their focus on the implementation of their statutory objectives is visible. All this is a result of extraordinary availability of the European funds that the centres may formally benefit from. Therefore, the public funds constitute an important element in their financing structure. This is accompanied by a decreased self-financing (expenditure covered by own revenue). This situation which will probably continue in the coming years leads to positive changes in the operation of centres and provides an opportunity to consolidate the support system. It should be noted that there are also some negative aspects, such as dependence on the public funds. Soon, the centres will have to deal with this difficult problem. In recent years the diversity of institutional forms of support has increased and the following elements appeared in system: pre-incubators, technology incubators and seed capital funds. The environment of innovative enterprises expanded also with the business angels networks, and the activity of venture capital funds increased. Virtually, there was also a dynamic improvement of all parameters used to assess functioning of the institutions from the human resources, through organisation and technical resources. The improvement is also visible in the indicators showing the results of institutions. It is expected that the number of centres will increase in the following years, particularly as a result of establishing new academic centres. The centres will be constantly improving their services. Their plans include a number of internal operations that will be taken to achieve this objective. It is planned to create special purpose entities at the universities to complete the tasks of academic support centres. This should improve the management as well as make the operation more professional. The centres are also developing horizontal cooperation based on carrying out the joint initiatives or exchanging experience and good practices. This is a very important trend for stabilization and development of support system. The situation requires a process-based approach to services provided by innovation and entrepreneurship centres and establishing standard procedures of technology transfer and knowledge commercialization. 23

24 The involvement of experienced business practitioners and cooperation with enterprises from SME sector are still insufficient from the point of view of the operation of innovation and entrepreneurship centres. Especially poor cooperation may become a serious problem in case of increase of the number of academic centres, which are generally more focused on the internal operation of parent institution. It will be necessary to implement instruments stimulating the cooperation with enterprises. Innovation and entrepreneurship centres will introduce and develop new proinnovation services. The report shows for example the dynamic growth of interest in consultancy on internationalization and development of international contacts and cooperation. The business representing institutions and local information centres have a potential for support services development but it still remains unused. For years, the following activities are crucial for strengthening of the existing institutions supporting innovation and entrepreneurship and establishing the new ones: creating more effective programmes to support entrepreneurship, innovation and development of SMEs at the national, regional and poviat level, based on experience and the needs of target groups. The appropriate programmes should provide support for innovation and entrepreneurship centres in smaller towns, where the number of potential customers does not allow for financial self-sufficiency; focusing on the stability of institution, continuity of programmes and creation of stable development conditions; creating support instruments adjusted to the development level of the centre that take into account the significant diversity regarding potential and possibility to provide different services, especially pro-innovation ones;stimulating networking and integration of various categories of support institutions, such as academic technology transfer centres, preincubators and seed capital funds, wherever it is justified by the limited dissipation of resources and increase of effectiveness; achieving clear and unambiguous interpretation of public support issues with reference to innovation and entrepreneurship centres; raising qualifications of centres staff under the programmes such as Effective Environment for Innovative Business in service provision, particularly in specific services such as: coaching, mentoring, technology broker; stimulating and using the horizontal cooperation between centres for the professionalization of services, raising staff qualifications, gathering knowledge and experience; stimulating cooperation between centres at the regional level in the regional innovation systems as cooperation networks of administration, scientific and research institutions and innovation and entrepreneurship centres; promoting modern support instruments among administration and local activists in gminas and regions; 24

25 assisting the preparation of feasibility studies and business plans of new centres as well as paying attention to their proper development in the whole country; gradual implementing of new services considered to be the elements of technology transfer processes and knowledge commercialization and not as a separate and unrelated proinnovation services ; developing and implementing the monitoring and self-evaluation models of institutions and programmes. Development of entrepreneurship at the science and economy interface constitutes a challenge for Poland and for the developed supporting system. The innovative entities operating in the area of advanced technologies are crucial for improving competitiveness, restructuring and economy modernisation. The recent information and biotechnological revolution was initiated by young people who often have just started running business. It will be possible to introduce new ways of operation bringing science, research and market closer in the existing innovation and entrepreneurship centres by using fewer resources. However, not all support institutions are prepared to operate in this way. Many of them have little factual knowledge and do not have the adequate resources. There is a need to introduce comprehensive government and regional activities and programmes that are adjusted to the recipients needs. 25

26 TECHNOLOGY PARKS (Marzena MAŻEWSKA, Anna TÓRZ) As far as their organisation and concept are concerned, technology parks represent the most developed type of innovation and entrepreneurship centres. The very notion of a technology park has a systematizing impact on organised business complexes where the policy is implemented in the following areas: supporting new innovative enterprises oriented at developing products and manufacturing methods in technologically advanced industries; optimization of the conditions for technology transfer and commercialisation of the research results from scientific institutions to business practice 12. Role and definition of parks Technology parks are intended to create the environment for effective technology transfer and to stimulate development of innovative enterprises using in the first place skilfully selected support infrastructure elements in the following form: scientific and research institutions offering new technological solutions and innovative enterprises seeking new development opportunities; wide business environment in respect of funding, consultancy, training and supporting the development of innovative enterprises; financially supported venture capital institutions; high-quality infrastructure and environment advantages; high entrepreneurship potential and business climate attracting creative people from other regions; governmental, regional and local programmes supporting entrepreneurship, technology transfer and development of new technology enterprises 13 : In November 2002 the International Association of Science Parks (IASP) adopted the following definition: technology park (scientific, research, and the like) is an is an organisation managed by specialised professionals, whose main aim is to increase the wealth of its community by promoting the culture of innovation and the competitiveness of its associated businesses and knowledge-based institutions. To enable these goals to be met 14, a Science Park: 12 K.B. Matusiak (ed.), Innowacje i transfer technologii, Słownik pojęć [Innovation and technology transfer, Glossary], Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, Warsaw p Compare: K. B. Matusiak, J. Guliński, Parki technologiczne [Technology parks] [in:] K. B. Matusiak (ed.), Ośrodki innowacji i przedsiębiorczości [Innovation and entrepreneurship centres], SOOIPP-Raport 2004, Łódź- Poznań 2004, p See: K. B. Matusiak, Wpływ parków technologicznych na rozwój ekonomiczno-społeczny [Impact of technology parks on the economic and social development] [in:] K. B. Matusiak, A. Bąkowski (ed.), Wybrane aspekty funkcjonowania parków technologicznych w Polsce i na świecie [Selected aspects of technology parks operation in Poland and worldwide], Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, Warsaw

27 stimulates and manages the flow of knowledge and technology amongst universities, R&D institutions, companies and markets; facilitates the creation and growth of innovation-based companies through incubation and spin-off processes (spin-off and spin-out); provides other value-added services together with high quality space and facilities. In Poland technology park was defined in as a separate real property complex which includes relevant technical infrastructure, established to stimulate the knowledge and technology transfer between research units and enterprises 16 where entrepreneurs employing high technology are offered consultancy services on business establishment and development, technology transfer and transformation of research results and development work into technological innovations, as well as creating beneficial business environment through the use of real property and infrastructure on contractual terms. Based on an analysis of the legal and organisational status of Polish parks, it may be said that technology parks are entities operating within an autonomous, independently managed real property with legally regulated status, including particular land and/or buildings with relevant technical infrastructure, which have of their own land management concept and development plan in the area of scientific, research and manufacturing activities intended to create new knowledge and technology. In principle, technology parks have formal and informal links with scientific and research, and educational institutions, local and regional public administration, regional institutions operating in the area of entrepreneurship and technology transfer support and risk financing (venture capital). The parks provide entrepreneurs with the business space and technical infrastructure on contractual terms as well as they offer technical support in the form of consultancy and technology transfer services, as well as provide help in establishing and developing enterprises located on the premises of real property. Concentration of many enterprises with a high development potential on a selected operation area and provision of adequately adjusted business-related services bring around synergistic effects, and this is one of the basic advantages that parks have over other less complex support instruments. Because of their precise and wide definition parks are highly individual in practice as this is a result of operational environment, culture and economic conditions, selected specialisation, as well as management methods. Their mission, objectives, forms of activity and organisation principles are their common denominators. One universal model of park or an organisational pattern that would guarantee its success does not exist. Particular 15 The act of 20 March 2002 on the financial support for investment, Dz. U. of 2002, No. 41, item 363, No. 141, Article 2, point 15, item 1177 and Dz. U. of 2003, No. 159, item 1537, not binding. 16 In the meaning of the act of 12 January 1991 on Scientific Research Committee, Dz. U. of 2001, No. 33, item 389, Article 3, point 4 and Dz. U. of 2003, No. 39, item

28 initiatives reflect the nature of the local scientific and business environment, the type of economy and industrial traditions, as well as cultural entrepreneurship conditionality. Poznań Science and Technology Park established in May 1995 by the Adam Mickiewicz University Foundation was the first Polish technology park. It is located in a slightly remote area which previously was owned by the city gasworks, however, it has good communications with the town centre. After essential adaptation work were completed in the Park, the following facilities were established: Chemical Synthesis Experimental Station, Technology Centre of the Faculty of Chemistry of Adam Mickiewicz University and Archaeology Rescue Research Centre. Saturation of demand for park services Over the period of 15 consecutive years, 66 park initiatives emerged in Poland. Some of them did not stand the test of time and for different reasons their implementation was abandoned or suspended. Currently, in the middle of 2012, a total of 54 technology parks at different stage of development can be identified in Poland 17. The first group consists of 28 parks which already have a developed organisation and operate on a fully statutory basis. Most of them are centres which have been providing full range services for enterprises for several or a few years. The second group consists of 12 parks which are all at the stage of launching their operation (active for less than a year). The third group includes the initiatives at the stage of preparatory and adaptation work (14 entities). Most of them already have organisational teams able to manage the centres and provide support services, which often are already run training, consultancy and informative activities. The survey and telephone interview indicate that parks tenants are mainly technology enterprises or firms using hi-tech in various disciplines. The parks themselves are also active in the area of pro-innovative services. Only 3 out of 40 parks surveyed responded that currently they do not provide enterprises with support regarding pro-innovative services; other provide such services to a very different extent, however, always at least in the form of basic advice in the area of intellectual property right and assistance in seeking new technologies. As far as the advancement is concerned, this area of parks activity is highly diversified and requires a separate quality test. Since the accession of Poland to the EU, parks initiatives have been developing faster, mainly due to a better access to Structural Funds devoted to such undertakings. Consequently, the number of parks operating since 2004 has increased fivefold. 17 The notion park initiatives refers to the parks at different level of operation readiness or in the process of traditional industrial parks transformation. 28

29 Table 1. Number of enterprises per one park in Poland (data at the end of 2011). Item No. Voivodeship No. of enterprises/per one park 1 Mazowieckie Łódzkie Opolskie Pomorskie Małopolskie Podkarpackie Wielkopolskie Kujawsko-Pomorskie Warmińsko-Mazurskie Śląskie Dolnośląskie Zachodniopomorskie Lubuskie Lubelskie Świętokrzyskie Podlaskie However, as the above table shows, the number of enterprises per one park is extremely diversified with the highest one in the area considered the most innovative and qualified to generate technology enterprises. Regional distribution of parks In regional terms park initiatives are implemented in all voivodeships. In Śląskie Voivodeship (8), Dolnośląskie Voivodeship and Wielkopolskie Voivodeship (6 parks per each) the number of parks is the highest. In Opolskie Voivodeship and Mazowieckie Voivodeship the number of parks is the lowest - only one per each voivodeship. In Mazowieckie Voivodeship the situation is specific - despite the highest concentration of the innovation, scientific and research potential in the country, there is only one relatively small technology park in Płock. From the point of view of the national innovation system this must be considered a significant deficiency, all the more so because in this Voivodeship there are few other innovative development support institutions at the service of entrepreneurs and scientists. 29

30 Map 1. Technology Parks in 2012 In the coming years, the growing network of parks may become an element integrating institutions which provide support for enterprises at the regional level. The infrastructure, organisation and human resources established for the purpose of innovative entrepreneurship development will constitute a significant support for innovative enterprises, all the more so because many "soft" support programmes are implemented and new pro-innovative services are developed, apart from infrastructure investment measures. Types of legal forms Technology parks have quite diversified formal and legal organisational structure. Most of them operate as private limited liability companies (61 %) and public-private joint stock companies (24 %)18, local government budgetary units (10 %) and universities functional units (5 %). The shareholders of private limited liability companies and joint stock companies include, inter alia: budgetary units of public administration (24 %), local 18 Public administration and institutions are main shareholders. 30

31 authorities (34 %), large enterprises (11 %), scientific and research units and foundations (3.7 % each). 18 higher education facilities have subscribed for the equity interests in technology parks, in two cases these are also single-member companies of higher education facilities. Academic institutions are the second investor, next to local government authorities (in terms of assets owned), in the companies managing technology parks. Involvement in the parks initiatives is typical of higher education facilities in Wrocław and Cracow. Development strategies Whether it is a non-governmental organisation or a non-profit company, each support institution has its own operational strategy which identifies short- and long-term priorities. Of the parks surveyed, a total of 85 % has developed strategic development documents; usually, these are short-term studies (for a period of 5 years), and most parks will face the need to devise new development strategies next year. Only a few of them developed strategies for a period of years. Most parks determine, more or less precisely, their specialisation in the development strategies. Based on the survey, the main specialisation groups identified by parks managers in 2012 include the following: ICT % Biotechnology 8.09 % Material technologies 1.15 % Design 1.15 % Consulting 7.74 % Other, which % Other specialisations indicated in the survey report (medicine, health protection, medical engineering and e-health, electronics, material engineering, nanotechnologies) show that despite a defined business profile, parks are highly flexible towards the enterprises that seek their support and assume innovation and development potential of the proposed projects as the main criterion. Thus, for many parks more than one specialisation can be indicated, nevertheless, most of them are linked to the areas of high technologies. Operational priorities The priorities indicated by the Polish parks are dominated by the objectives typically faced by such entities. In recent years, cooperation between science and business and development of cluster ideas has become more significant. It should be noted that there is a growing interest in creating new jobs, after a downward trend in this respect indicated in two recent surveys. 31

32 Table 2. Priorities in the technology parks operation in * Details: development of business-attractive location renting the prepared space to marketefficient enterprises support for establishing new technology enterprises creating cooperation networks between science and business attracting investors to the region creating new jobs assistance in transferring and commercialising new technologies of scientific institutions cluster development and creating networks of cooperation between local businesses development of specific pro-innovative services, unavailable in the region development of production of modern goods which are not manufactured regionally *Assessments were made with the use of 5-point grading scale, where 1 means the lowest grade, and 5 the highest. The instruments for implementation of these priorities and statutory tasks in parks are provided by support infrastructure in the form of incubators, training and advisory centres, pre-incubators and different institutions funding enterprises development which allows conducting activities for the entrepreneurship development in the analysed parks. Technical substantive potential of parks 32

33 Chart 1. Elements of the entrepreneurship development support infrastructure in the parks (% parks equipped with particular categories) in The park usually disposes of two or three elements mentioned above, however, there are also parks which are active in five fields at the same time, e.g. parks in Cracow, Gdynia, Gdańsk and Katowice. The scope of services provided by the parks is broad and diversified. Not all services are provided to the full extent, however, it must be stressed that the park teams carry out multilateral activities and the parks care for continuous development of services and instruments for the enterprise support. Organised forms of support for SMEs covering generally different type of advice and consultancy, infrastructure and an offer of the common office equipment, as well as financial aid and loan brokerage are an important element that makes each technology park attractive. Offered services In order to put some order to the areas covered by the analysis, the services were grouped based on the criteria which allowed to identify a homogenous area of the park activities. The services were divided into the following three groups: consultancy, information, education; technical office infrastructure; assistance in funds acquisition. 19 Experimentarium a separate space equipped with exhibits and devices for educational and visual purposes, including individual simple exercises and experiments in physics, chemistry and biology, both for children, as well as adults. Creativity centre a facility or a set of facilities arranged and equipped in the way that stimulates creative thinking, promotes focusing and conceptual work. 33

34 The analysis of particular groups shows that parks offer most commonly services from the first two groups and selected services from the third group. The third area of operation is still not developed well enough to meet the demand of parks tenants and customers. However, it must be admitted that this area is much more difficult than the first two areas. Table 3. Thematic scope of consultancy, information, education offered in technology parks (in %) Details: entrepreneurship and establishing of enterprises business plan access to the EU funding commercial law finances and taxes accounting * * market research and marketing business management * * IT, computers * technological audit * * * * 52 * cooperation brokerage * protection of intellectual property * * * * 48 * implementation of new products and technologies * * foreign trade and international cooperation * * quality management * * technology and patent information * 59 HR management * * * * * 36 * In the given year the survey did not include such a category in the cafeteria-style checklist. The presented data show that parks have significantly limited their services rendered for enterprises compared to the previous survey. This may partially be consequence of a higher level of entrepreneurs knowledge and higher development of enterprises which need less support in the area of entrepreneurship and establishment (-9), business plan construction (-10) or accounting (-16), typical of micro-enterprises prevailing in the structure of tenants which do not have excessive needs in this respect. On the other hand, there is an increasing number of parks which provide support to their customers in the area of general business management (+7), foreign trade and international cooperation (+6), commercial 34

35 law (+8) and implementation of new products and technologies (+7). It is obvious that they attempt to adapt to the changing needs of the tenants. However, this is bothering that there has been a general decrease in the number of parks offering different soft forms of support to their tenants and a significant decrease in quality management or access to the EU funds, both of which are very important in the portfolio of services, by -12 and -10 points, respectively. This may be symptomatic of further limiting of the operation in this respect as the number of the EU funds available for rendering soft services is decreasing. This is not good news since it proves that parks similarly to other innovation centres are currently relying mainly on subsidies. Therefore, parks are faced with a challenge of keeping in their permanent offer the most significant services needed by their tenants in a commercial form. Chart 2. Scope of services in the area of technical office infrastructure in technology parks in 2012 (in %) 100,00% 90,00% 80,00% 70,00% 60,00% 50,00% 40,00% 30,00% 20,00% 10,00% 0,00% LAN Seminar Hall Reception, front desk service Broadband internet Laboratories Café, bar Access to databases The infrastructural equipment of technology parks has been at the same level for many years and includes seminar halls (86 %), computer network (86 %), broadband Internet (77 %), reception area and front office service (77 %), café/ bar (55 %), and the like. What is worth mentioning is the increasing proportion of parks which offer access to the research and development laboratories (currently 64 % in comparison to 42 % in 2009). On the other hand, a decrease of more than 10 % in the availability of parks data bases (currently 36 % in comparison to 52 % in 2009) is an unpleasant surprise, though this may be associated with the soft services projects which are coming to an end. 35

36 Chart 3. Scope of services in the area of operation financial support in technology parks in 2012 (in %) 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% In recent years the offer of support services consisting in financial aid has become less attractive compared to the last survey conducted in However, the developing cooperation with business angels networks declared by 59 %, access for enterprises to grants and subsidies supported by 33 % (-3 points) of the centres, and contacts with venture capital investment funds by 41 % (+3 points) are exceptions. An improvement of cooperation with the guarantee funds has improved by 9 % (+5 points) and with local and regional loan fund by 23 % (+19 points) within the broad support system. Technology transfer services This year, the survey attempted to define a little more precisely the scope of services provided by parks this consisted in asking a question whether the park operation included technology transfer services (measured by a contract for of at least one of the services listed). It turned out that 57 % of parks have been providing such services since the beginning of their establishment. In this respect, the last year they have been the most active in the area of protecting intellectual property rights of park enterprises (45 %), and the least active in technology assessment and evaluation ordered by enterprises (14 %). 36

37 Table 4. Selected areas of support in technology transfer in parks (%) Type of services provided at least once since the park establishment Types of services provided in 2011 preparation of technology offer or inquiry % 18 % seeking specific technologies ordered by enterprises establishing contact with a technology provider or receiver % 27 % % 32 % defining the subject of transfer % 32 % assessment and evaluation of technology ordered by enterprises advising enterprises in the area of intellectual property rights protection assistance in negotiations and contracts concluded between a technology recipient and provider advisory assistance in technology implementation monitoring of technology implementation or execution of the contract % 9 % % 45 % 14.00% 18 % % 32 % % 14 % It is obvious that involvement of the parks in specialist services provided for innovative enterprises is rather limited. The structure of services rendered in the last year also indicates a slow drop in consultancy services provided by parks. However, an increase in the consultancy services on intellectual property rights protection and assistance for enterprises in negotiations bode well. This shows that the parks are as flexible and creative as their tenants. Operational standards The majority of parks do not have ISO certificate or accreditation for the provided services; only 35 % of them have confirmed that they own such documents, while only 38 % of the remaining parks declare that they will implement procedures for particular services, mainly in the form of procedures and rules for using laboratories, and in some parks the process of developing such rules is ongoing. A little more than 42 % of parks have a system for monitoring and evaluation of their operation in place based mainly on the surveys of parks tenants and customers; some parks have applied electronic systems for entrepreneurship support or annual evaluation by EBN (European Business and Innovation Centres Network). Taking into account the scale and 37

38 scope of parks operation, this indicator is not very high and reflects insufficient professional organisational framework of such institutions. Environmental cooperation A statistical technology park cooperates in substantive and organisational terms with several institutions among which the development units (14.8), consulting enterprises (9.4), R&D units and seed funds, as well as business angels networks (6.2) prevailed. The poorest cooperation is observed between parks and Polish Academy of Sciences (1.8). The fact that the parks are very positive about the intensity and usefulness 20 of this cooperation is promising. It is also interesting that international organisations and research laboratories (ITER, CERN, DESY) emerged among the other cooperating institutions. Table 5. Cooperation of parks with support institutions in 2012 the average number of cooperating institutions Intensity Usefulness Higher education facilities R&D units Polish Academy of Sciences business angels, seed funds and venture capital enterprises development units consulting enterprises local government and its units other support institutions* regional government and its units ministries and government agencies Polish Agency for Enterprise Development *international organisations and research laboratories (ITER, CERN, DESY) Efficiency of each park depends on the generated mechanisms of technology transfer from scientific institutions to business. Cooperation between parks and scientific entities takes the following forms: training, organisation of seminars and conferences, joint submission of to the EU funds, close cooperation with technology transfer divisions of the 20 As far as these issues are concerned a scale was used to determine the level of impact of a given feature: 0 none, 1 insignificant impact, 2 minor impact, 3 medium impact, 4 strong impact, 5 decisive impact, 38

39 higher education facilities (Centres for Technology Transfer, Patent Agent, and the like), participation of science representatives in decision-making body of the park. Budget and employment On the average the statistical technology park management requires a team of 18 persons employed on a permanent basis and almost 20 persons who carry out ordered tasks. A permanent team of the park includes: 3 executives; 4 employees who coordinate R&D tasks; 6 employees dealing with consultancy and training; 5 administrative and technical employees; 7 other employees. In the case of over 80 % of parks, the management declared staff qualifications as sufficient to perform their mission and tasks. In the case of 70 % of parks, the substantive activities are backed up by the Science or Programme Council. These bodies are established with participation of the shareholders of an undertaking, local scientific institutions and local government. However, in their everyday tasks the parks more and more often tend to outsource services for their tenants and customers to the external consultancy and training enterprises and experts. Only 18 % of parks provide services based on their own staff only, the other outsource such service to different enterprises and consulting, training and expert institutions to a greater or lesser extent. The Polish parks have been set up mainly with the help of aid measures; however, the Polish sources have also contributed to their establishment. So far, the average capital expenditure in the Polish park amounted to PLN to date with the highest expenditure mentioned amounting to PLN

40 Chart 4. Structure of the expenditure on development and infrastructure of an average technology park incurred by the park managing institutions in 2011 (in %). own resources of the managing institution (e.g. from business activity) gov. measures local measures other the European funds commercial credits and loans regional measures Capital expenditure More than half of the capital expenditure in the Polish parks was funded from the EU funds. The positive aspect of this consists in the contribution of management institutions amounting to as much as 20 % while the national, regional and local funding sources were less generous. On the one hand, it is positive that centres themselves invest in the infrastructure, on the other, however, this may prove that they are not interested in such an activity in the environment, what will cause difficulties in parks effective operation in the future. An average contribution of private investors amounted in turn PLN (median PLN ). Table 6. Structure of funding of the current business of technology parks in Specification: the average park budget (in PLN thousand) including in %: proceeds from rent and other maintenance charges proceeds from training and advisory activities other own revenue foreign grants and projects domestic grants and projects regional/local grants and projects shareholders contributions, aid and subsidies sale or lease of investment plots * other external contributions

41 contribution of parent and associated scientific institutions ** ** ** 1.4 proceeds from equity investments ** ** ** 5.7 * In the given year, the survey did not include such a category in the cafeteria-style checklist. * In the given previous year, the survey did not include such a category in the cafeteria-style checklist. The current cost of the park management in 2011 required a budget of PLN 7.83 million on the average (median PLN 4.65 million); this represents a significant change compared to 2009 when an average budget amounted PLN 5.4 million. The level of selffinancing from the own income amounts 53.3 % of the current financial needs. Other financial resources come from foreign grants and projects, domestic projects and other external contributions (in which the EU funds were also indicated). It is still difficult to carry out a financial analysis due to the investment activities, however, it must be stressed that proceeds from tenants rents are decreasing that may partially be caused by the tenants rotation and periodic collection of lower rents, and a significant decrease in proceeds from the sale of soft services by parks. These proceeds were replaced by the EU funds - this is a positive signal that parks gained the skills to seek such funding. The good side of such a situation is that parks stopped commercial operations in this respect. Unfortunately, a similar tendency is found in other groups as well. The subsidies obtained increased budgets for soft services provided free of charge to tenants and parks customers. The principles of cooperation with customers The policy of nine out of ten parks considered consists in selecting the future tenants. They take mainly into account is the innovation potential, novelty, industrial cohesion with the existing users and ability to create new jobs and potential impact on the regional development. It should be stressed that in the case of 48 % of parks considered the lower rent for space rental (on average by 28 %) is an attraction compared to the average level in the region. The organisational structure or the level of development of Polish technology parks differ. There are also significant disproportions in the space they have at their disposal. The parks considered dispose of the space of around 660 ha in total, with the smallest park established on an area of 0.1 ha and with the largest on (Bydgoszcz Industrial and Technological Park) on an area of 280 ha. The average surface of the Polish park area is ha, median 4.4 which proves large disproportions. The largest area is managed by Kraków Technology Park which also manages the Special Economic Zone apart from its own land (74 ha). In total the Park disposes of 558 ha 21. There are three other parks which 21 Cracow Technology Park operating in the form of special economic zone with 35 major investors who create over 10.5 thousand of jobs (43 % of the total) significantly distorts the image of the whole population of the Polish parks. 41

42 manage the areas over 100 ha (in Bełchatów, Płock and Rzeszów). Currently, there are only four parks with an area smaller than 1 ha. In 2012, the work on infrastructure funded under the Operational Programme Innovative Economy (inter alia, in Poznań, Gdynia, Wrocław, Kraków, Nowy Sącz), under the Operational Programme Development of Eastern Poland (in Kielce, Elbląg, Białystok) and under the Regional Operational Programmes is under way or coming to an end. Therefore, there is a large group of parks at the start-up phase. These units will have to acquire the necessary staff potential and refine the substance of their offer in the nearest future. The use of infrastructure The areas owned by the parks are used in different ways. Among of the options of the land development presented in the survey the managers indicated the following forms as the most desirable: rental of ready-to-use space to enterprises and scientific andresearch 91% 22 of TP institutions; incubator for newly emerging technology enterprises; 83 % sale of objects or land for investments; 52 % pre-incubator; 26 % lease of land/ plots for investments. 30 % Currently, there are technology incubators operating in 59 % of parks and offering special conditions for new innovative enterprises and the pre-incubation programmes for new business ideas (18 %). In the middle o 2012 there were 650 enterprises which decided to run business in technology parks analysed and created jobs. Table 7. Users of the Polish technology parks in Number of entities Employment Space Small technology enterprises Other SMEs Enterprises with foreign capital Scientific and research institutions Other institutions In total *innovative enterprises set up by the representatives of the local scientific environment 22 Data from

43 Parks tenants The tenants structure is dominated by micro-enterprises (62 %). Every fifth entity operating in the park is a small technology enterprise and every tenth entity is an enterprise with foreign capital. Chart 5. Structure of tenants of technology parks in (in %) medium 13,00% big; 5,00% small 20,00% micro; 62,00% In 2011, as a result of undertaken activities, 14 new enterprises were set up in a statistical park, i.a. this three times more compared to the previous year and a return to the level of The number of parks tenants, including academic spin-off enterprises, decreased in turn compared to the previous survey. 23 This may be connected with the involvement of parks in the implementation of soft programmes which stimulate the establishment of new enterprises supported by the European measures. 43

44 Chart 6. Number of tenants in technology parks in Overall Academic spin-outs Every eighth park enterprise runs scientific and research business and in the case of leading centres this makes up to % of entities. This is an important indicator showing effectiveness technology parks performance. This result should improve significantly in the nearest future (in 2 3 years) due to a range of investments in the park R&D infrastructure. The parks tenants submitted 61 patent applications in total with the Polish Patent Office and 13 applications with the European Patent Office (EPO), and as well as registered 47 trademarks. Chart 7. Structure of tenants of technology parks according to the industry in (in %). Other; 37 ICT; 44 Consulting; 8 Design; 1 Material Technologies; 2 Biotechnology; 8 44

45 The parks tenants mainly include ICT enterprises (44 %), however, there is also a significant proportion of biotechnology and consulting industry (8 % per each). Among other entities there are in turn entities from the sectors such as: automatics, chemistry, power industry, environmental protection and robotics. Unfortunately, parks still have quite fragmentary knowledge about the enterprises which are their tenants. Cooperation with tenants cannot be considered good in a situation, in which only every third park monitors operation of the enterprises and tracks their performance after they stop using the park offer. Constraints in park development The development of the Polish technology parks is constrained mainly by the difficulties in activation of innovative entrepreneurship. This process requires cooperation and interest in the issues regarding scientific environment. According to the managers the environment tends to remain closed to commercial activities based on knowledge. Table 8. Main constraints in the development of the Polish technology parks in * Specification: legal constraints and lack of technology transfer procedures; lack of partner and business-oriented cooperation with scientific environment; lack of financial resources for the equipment and facilities adaptation; reluctance of scientific environment to commercialise scientific achievements; ** lack of projects to commercialise; bad economic situation in the region; lack of market for novelty/technological products and technologies ** ** ** ** ** 2.48 little interest in the services offered; ** ** ** ** ** 1.95 lack of people willing to set up their own enterprise; ** ** ** ** ** 1.71 black economy in the academic environment ** ** ** ** ** 1.9 problems of cooperation with local and regional institutions, lack of support; narrow organisational framework and requirements of Park organisers; ** ** ** ** ** 1.48 ** ** ** ** ** 1.4 wrong location, poor communications accessibility; ** ** ** ** **

46 lack of understanding of the idea, unfriendliness in the Park environment. ** ** ** ** ** 1.33 *Assessments were made using the 5-point grading scale, where 1 means the lowest grade, and 5 the highest. *In the given year, the survey did not include such a category in the cafeteria-type checklist. The most important barriers identified by the respondents in the recent survey included reluctance of the scientific environment to commercialise scientific achievements (+3 points), the existing legal constraints, the lack of technology transfer procedures (+3 points per each), with the lowest position in the ranking taken by the lack of understanding of the idea and unfriendliness in the park environment. However, attention must be paid to significant changes in the value of evaluation points in the following areas: bad economic situation in the region (the change of +1 point), reluctance of scientific environment to commercialise scientific achievements (+0.5 point). Both these barriers may become significant in the context of the parks activities in the nearest period of operation. Development plans In spite of the above-mentioned barriers, the parks keep planning new areas of development. Parks indicate the following main areas of development: expansion of investment areas; development of infrastructure, including establishment of specialist laboratories, laboratory research and laboratory space renting; construction of the Technology Transfer and Innovation Centre; enhancement of pre-incubation function for the start-up enterprises; development of enterprises running their business based on new technologies by providing access to the infrastructure and funding sources, as well as linking science and business; construction of a technology platform, development of networking; establishing clusters; internationalisation of park activities; enhancement of cooperation between science and business; establishment of cooperation with similar centres (technology incubators); promotion of openness among the entrepreneurs for openness and development of skills required for operation on the competitive markets; extension of educational practices which aim is to increase the potential of regional residents. The presented development plans of the parks show that compared to the barriers diagnosed by park managers there are still many existing threats indicated in the previous studies of innovation and entrepreneurship centres. The most important threats include: 46

47 emphasis on the technical infrastructure at the expense of services designed to support entrepreneurship and technology transfer, that may result in transformation into stunningly looking industrial parks and business zones, which, however, will not fulfil the function they were set up for; lack of potential entrepreneurs with innovative business ideas and projects with market potential and an option for commercialisation; withdrawal of the scientific environment from active business operations and entrepreneurship; following the subsidies quickly drafted concepts to be submitted for in competition for subsidies without any thought given to the purpose of the adapted facilities and how the technology park is going to fulfil its functions. A technology park is an important element of the support infrastructure which is intended to increase the level of innovation of each region. Its impact on the environment is of economic nature, but the regional development is also induced by dissemination of good practices concerning both enterprises operation and activities for regional development. The success of each park is measured mainly by the development dynamics and innovation of enterprises. Multidimensional effects of the park operation resulting from interaction and synergy mechanisms should significantly improve the competitive position of enterprises and the region, both at the national and international level. 47

48 Technology Incubators (Anna TÓRZ) Definition Technology incubators (TI) are a type of a business incubation programme implemented in cooperation with scientific and research institutions 24. The main objective of a technology incubator is to support an innovative start-up company during its development and until it can independently operate in the market. To accomplish the objective, an incubator needs to operate in cooperation with scientific institutions in such areas as the assessment of innovation undertakings, and it needs to create an atmosphere conducive to starting an economic activity. Therefore, the products and services offered by an incubator should: include business supporting services (such as financial, marketing, legal, organisational and technological consultancy); ensure assistance in obtaining financial resources, including from venture capital funds; provide an office and laboratory surface area for an economic activity, adequate to the needs. Taking into account the fact that the main task of a technology incubator is to assist in the creation of and during the initial period of operation of a small, technological enterprise 25, its offer, apart from the infrastructure, includes another key element, i.e. the "soft" services, including: training as well as consultancy and information services; communication and cooperation with scientific institutions; assistance in technology transfer; access to a common technical and service infrastructure; access to diverse local and global business networks; support in emerging in foreign markets (internationalisation, soft-landing). TI idea The idea of an incubator originated in the mid-1960s in the US, and ten years later it spread to Europe. Initially, through job creation and support for individual businesses, the incubators were to be an instrument against unemployment and a component of (social and infrastructural) regeneration programmes of post-industrial regions. However, since the end of the 1980s technology incubators are more and more often used by public authorities to 24 K. B. Matusiak, Inkubator technologiczny [Technology Incubator] [in:] K. B. Matusiak (ed.), Innowacje i transfer technologii. Słownik pojęć [Innovation and technology transfer, Glossary], Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, Warsaw 2008, p S. A. Mian, Technology Business Incubation: Learning from the US Experience [in:] Technology Incubators: Nurturing Small Firms, OECD, Paris 1997, pp

49 boost economic development and the development of innovation and structural transformations, as well as the creation of new jobs. Incubators are recognised as a tool for the implementation of regional policy, which may actively influence the local/regional development and the so-called business environment through: developing advanced forms of cooperation between the scientific community and local business; crating new, sustainable jobs; technology transfer and commercialisation; supporting local development, initiation of structural transformations, management of unused post-industrial facilities; fostering entrepreneurship, economic development of the private sector; promoting the region, creating cooperation networks 26. It is emphasised that technology incubators are featured by the effect of synergy they generate by stimulating the contacts between entrepreneurs, and between entrepreneurs and the incubator team, advisors, instructors, etc. The infrastructure of an incubator is offered to young enterprises at preferential rates, which increase with the time spent in the incubator, reaching the market level at the end of the incubation period. Normally, the time spent by an enterprise in an incubator is limited to 3 5 years. Characteristics of Polish technology incubators The beginnings of incubation in Poland date back to At that time, the Wielkopolska Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre in Poznan was established in Poznan, with the involvement of the local University of Technology, and soon afterwards the following centres, associated with public universities, were created: In Gdansk (Technology Centre at the Gdansk University of Technology), Cracow (Progress and Business Incubator) and Warsaw (Entrepreneurship Centre at the Warsaw University of Technology). Strictly speaking, these initiatives were not yet incubators, yet the objective of their activities was to provide support for enterprises implementing new products and technologies and to cooperate with scientific and research institutions. The first incubators in Poland were established at the beginning of the 1990s under international infrastructural projects (World Bank TOR#10 project Development of Small Enterprises) and were focused primarily on stimulating development of entrepreneurship 27. The intensity of creation of incubators grew owing to structural funds. During the programming period significant amounts were allocated to the expansion of infrastructure as well as for the creation and provision of consultancy services in the Sectoral Operational Programme Improvement of the 26 K.B. Matusiak (ed.), Ośrodki innowacji i przedsiębiorczości w Polsce. Raport 2010 [Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centres in Poland Report 2010], Warsaw K. B. Matusiak, M. Mażewska, T. Niesiołowski: Lokalny system wspierania przedsiębiorczości [Local Business Support System], Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Warsaw

50 Competitiveness of Enterprises, and in the period in the framework of Operational Programme Innovative Economy and the regional operational programmes. These funds allowed for the establishment and development of centres with a mission to support innovative enterprises. In the mid-2012, 29 technology incubators were identified in Poland (cf. Table 1). It should be noted that there are many more entities operating under the name "technology incubator" which were not included in the study. The entities excluded from the group were those using the term "incubator" in connection with the implementation of projects consisting in the creation of seed funds to support launching innovative enterprises (financed under measure 3.1 Initiating innovative activities of the Operational Programme Innovative Economy). This results from the differences between the practice of activities of technology incubators and those of seed funds. Strictly speaking, technology incubators operate on the basis of an offer composed of three elements: equipped infrastructure, substantive support at the stage of an idea for a business and operation of the enterprise, support in accessing funds for the development of the enterprise. On the other hand, the seed funds (for more details see chapter on these funds) provide only a fraction of this range of services i.e. consultancy on the development of the concept for the business and the possibility of capital entry into a start-up company. Table 1. Selected descriptions of technology incubators in Specification: Number of entities Average area of individual incubators (m 2 ) 3,828 4,989 3,093 2,930 2,570 Average employment Average annual budget (PLN thousand) , , , ,509.4 In Poland technology incubators are developed according to two models: 1. through transformation from business incubators by developing pro-innovative functions (e.g. IN-MARR Business Incubator in Mielec, Kalisz Business Incubator); 2. through the creation of new incubators within technology parks (e.g. Pomeranian Innovation and Entrepreneurship Incubator within the Pomeranian Science and Technology Park in Gdynia, Technology InQbator at Poznan Science and Technology Park of the Adam Mickiewicz University Foundation in Poznan). 50

51 Map 1. Distribution of technology incubators in 2012 Technology incubators operate in 12 Voivodeships mostly in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship (6) and in the Pomorskie Voivodeship (5). The Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Warmińsko-Mazurskie, Lubelskie and Opolskie Voivodeships still lack such business environment institutions. Approximately 40% of incubators operate within science and technology parks, either as the initial form of the latter (as in Łódź, Suwałki, Kielce) or as their departments created within an already existing unit (Poznań, Gdynia). Under this model, incubators choose promising, innovative start-ups from the market and support their development and after the end of the incubation period allow them to stay in the park. In addition, during the incubation process the enterprises are supported not only by the incubator team, but also by other departments of the science and technology park. Incubator managements are of the opinion that support for starting new technology enterprises and assistance in the development of small enterprises are the major objectives of the operation of these institutions (cf. table 2). It should be noted that this is a stable tendency observed over many years. Interestingly enough, the emphasis on cooperation 51

52 with the scientific community and on the issues of technology transfer has been gradually diminishing over the years. Table 2. Priorities for activities of technology incubators in * Specification: support for starting new technology enterprises assistance in the development of small enterprises 4.7 (1)** 4.6 (1) 4.6 (1) 4.5 (1) 4.3 (1) 4.3 (4) 4.5 (2) 4.5 (2) 4.3 (2) 3.9 (2) ensuring economic viability of an incubator 4.4 (3) 3.1 (6) 3.4 (5) 3.6 (5) 3.7 (3) assistance in transferring and commercialising new technologies from scientific institutions development of science-business cooperation networks filling the prepared area with market effective enterprises 4.2 (6) 4.0 (3) 3.7 (4) 3.8 (3) 3.6 (4) 4.5 (2) 3.5 (5) 3.8 (3) 3.4 (6) 3.6 (5) 3.7 (7) 3.9 (4) 3.2 (6) 3.4 (6) 3.5 (6) creation of new jobs 4.3 (4) 3.9 (4) 3.7 (4) 3.7 (4) 3.1 (7) *assessments were made with the use of the 5-point grading scale, where 1 means the lowest grade, and 5 the highest. **the number in brackets indicates the rank of a given characteristic among all the priorities of the activities of incubators. In 2012 the major difficulties in and barriers to the development of technology incubators indicated by their managers included the issue of insufficient funds to run them (cf. table 3). Ensuring financial stability of the institution was recognised as one of the main priorities of TI activities. This may mean that managements of incubators are already running out of project sources funding their activities and are looking ahead to the immediate future with anxiety. On the other hand, it can be assumed that the area of TI funding is recognised as crucial and is becoming more important than substantive issues. Another group of barriers is related to legal and procedural limitations and difficulties in cooperation with the academia lack of understanding between scientists and business, conducting commercialisation activities outside official structures of universities and a negative image of scientist-entrepreneur still lingering among scientists. 52

53 Table 3. Main barriers to the development of Polish technology incubators in * Specification: low budget, lack of financial support 2.6 (5)** 2.8 (2) 3.7 (1) 2.6 (7) 3.2 (1) legal restrictions and lack of technology transfer procedures lack of partnership and business-oriented cooperation with the scientific community reluctance of the scientific community to commercialise scientific achievements black economy in the academic environment 3.7 (1) 2.9 (1) 3.1 (5) 3.2 (2) 2.8 (2) 3.2 (2) 2.5 (3) 3.2 (4) 3.0 (3) 2.8 (2) 2.3 (8) 2.3 (4) 3.4 (2) 3.0 (3) 2.8 (2) 2.5 (6) 2.2 (5) 1.9 (9) 2.9 (4) 2.7 (3) lack of projects to commercialise 2.3 (8) 2.2 (5) 2.9 (6) 3.7 (1) 2.6 (4) poor economic situation in the region 2.8 (3) 1.7 (8) 2.8 (7) 2.8 (5) 2.5 (5) lack of funds for equipping and adapting facilities Lack of a market for modern/technological products and technologies problems in the cooperation with local and regional institutions, lack of support lack of persons willing to start up a business 2.6 (5) 2.8 (2) 3.3 (3) 2.9 (4) 2.3 (6) * * 2.2 (8) 3.0 (3) 2.2 (7) 2.4 (7) 2.2 (5) 2.9 (6) 3.0 (3) 2.1 (8) 2.7 (4) 2.1 (6) 2.8 (7) 2.1 (10) 1.9 (9) misconception of incubators, hostile atmosphere surrounding them 0.4 (10) 1.5 (9) 1.7 (10) 2.7 (6) 1.5 (10) lack of a strategic plan for the development of the incubator 1.4 (9) 1.3 (11) 1.1 (12) 2.3 (9) 1.5 (10) little interest in the services provided by the incubator 1.4 (9) 1.9 (7) 2.2 (8) 1.8 (12) 1.4 (11) narrow organisational framework and requirements imposed by entities organising the incubator 1.4 (9) 1.4 (10) 1.3 (11) 2.0 (11) 1.2 (12) poor localisation and accessibility by means of transport 0.4 (10) 1.3 (11) 1.3 (11) 2.4 (8) 1.1 (13) *Assessments were made with the use of the 5-point grading scale, where 1 means the lowest grade, and 5 the highest. **the number in brackets indicates the rank of a given characteristic among all the priorities of the activities of incubators. 53

54 The drop in the significance of barriers that were indicated as important in the previous study should be noted. In 2012 TI managers were of the opinion that the lack of projects for commercialisation and the lack of an outlet market for innovative products were less perceptible. This can be explained by the fact that incubators have worked out more effective mechanisms for acquiring and developing valuable business ideas. Organisation of technology incubators An average incubator employs 6 persons under employment contracts, coordinating its operation and providing support services. The size of the team ranges from 1 employee delegated to take care of the incubation issues to several (10 16) at centres such as the Poznan Technology InQbator at Poznan Science and Technology Park of the Adam Mickiewicz University Foundation and the Kielce Technology Incubator. Administrative teams have 2 or 3 people, while the size of substantive teams ranges from 1 to 13 people. The number depends on two key factors the stage of the incubator's development and the adopted model of delivery of services (in larger teams substantive services are provided also by the employees of the incubator). In 2011 incubators had at their disposal funds amounting to PLN 1,509,381 on average. 1/3 of the costs incurred were covered from the incubators own revenues (the rent, maintenance charges, training), another third part from the money obtained under national grants (projects implemented by incubators under the Operational Programme Human Capital, the Operational Programme Innovative Economy, the regional operational programmes), and the remaining part from premiums granted by owners and other revenues. Foreign programmes and grants are of marginal significance to TI budget only one incubator indicted them as a component of its budget. Chart 1. Financing structure of a technology incubator (as at the end of 2011) (%) Training and Regional/local consulting; 2,80% grants and projects; 7,30% Other own revenues; 10,50% Other; 1,90% Freign grants and projects; 0,50% Rent and other maintenance charges; 31,10% Ccontributions, subsidies and premiums of shareholders; 16,10% Domestic grants and projects; 29,80% 54

55 A change in the structure of incubators' budget should be noted. Compared with the previous years, the level of self-financing of these institutions has decreased dramatically (proceeds from charges, trainings, etc,) to 33.9%, which is the lowest level in the history of the studies. On the other hand, the significance of national grants and projects increased considerably. Currently, incubators spend funds allocated under operational programmes for the development of the products and services they provide and their infrastructure. This, on the one hand, presents a chance for them to implement their statutory tasks from external funds, but, on the other hand, this also poses a threat that the managements will excessively base their activities on project funds and, following the end of the programming period, the incubators will experience difficulties in achieving financial independence. For the same reasons the considerably increased support granted to incubators in the form of subsidies and premiums by their owners may give a cause for concern. Table 4. Financing structure of ongoing activities of technology incubators in (%) Specification: proceeds from the rent and other maintenance charges proceeds from training and consultancy activities other own revenues European grants and projects domestic grants and projects regional/local grants and projects contributions, subsidies and premiums of shareholders other external contributions Over 50% of incubators surveyed declare that they monitor and evaluate their activities, primarily for the purposes of an ongoing analysis of the effectiveness of their actions and further improvement of their offer. Many actions are taken as a result of the participation in studies carried out by external entities (government agencies, associations, owners of incubators), which expect the managements of incubators to deliver a lot of data. Some entities carry out the evaluation as a result of implementing the ISO 9001 quality system. Areas most frequently examined are those related to the organisation of work of an incubator, the quality of services provided by an incubator and the needs of the customers. Information about TI tenants allowing following the development of enterprises and verification whether the latter still fulfil the criteria for incubated entities is also collected (in the form of surveys, interviews, etc.). 55

56 Infrastructural offer Services provided by technology incubators An average incubator takes up 2,570 m 2, out of which 72.2% (as in 2009) is intended as a net area for rental by businesses and other users. In the case of most incubators the infrastructural offer can be used for 3 to 5 years, while 33% of incubators do not impose any limits. Most TIs apply diversified rates depending on the type of the tenant, time and type of the area rented. A particularly attractive offer is addressed to start-ups, which upon starting the cooperation with an incubator can count on a discount of even 75% of the fees. Significant differences in rental fees can be observed among technology incubators the fees ranging from several (PLN 2.20 per 1 m 2 of the production or office area in Krintech Krosno Technology Incubator) to several dozen PLN/m 2 (PLN 60 per 1 m 2 office area rented for commercial purposes at the Technology Incubator at Krakow Technology Park). The rates depend on: the standard, location, kind of the enterprise or the area (production, office, other) and the situation in the local real estate market. In the case of incubators located in large cities (Gdynia, Kraków, Łódź, Poznań) rates for the rental of 1 m 2 of an office area in the first year are similar and amount to approx. PLN Table 5. Average fees for the rental of 1 m 2 of the area at technology incubators in 2012 Type of area fees (PLN per 1 m 2 ) at the time of entry after a year commercial rate Production Office Other Apart from the equipped area, incubators normally put office equipment (a fax machine, a copying machine), a computer network, broadband Internet and a seminar room at the incubated enterprises disposal. However, only 1/3 of them have workshops and laboratories and a canteen at their disposal. The rental rates over a three-year incubation period differ from market rates in the case of over half of the incubators the former being usually lower by 50 to 75%. In one case, though, the amount paid by strategic tenants for the rented area is twice as high as the average price in the region. Over the last three years, 40% of incubators extended their service range to include virtual incubation. For some institutions the reason behind the provision of the new service was the need to find a new source of income, for other - the intention to establish a relationship with those enterprises to which the incubator could not offer any free area for rent. 56

57 Substantive offer For many years technology incubators have been gradually expanding the scope of the support offered. The assistance covers consultancy of various kinds (cf. Table 6). 8 out of 10 incubators provide their tenants with support services based on a mixed model i.e. the services are provided partly by the incubator team and partly by external partners. Table 6. Subject scope of consultancy and training offered at technology incubators in (implemented in % of TIs). Specification: entrepreneurship and starting up a business access to the EU funding commercial law accountancy finance and taxes business plan development IT, computers market research and marketing implementation of new products and technologies protection of intellectual property * * * cooperation intermediation business management international cooperation quality management technology audit * * * technology and patent information * * human resources management * * * * 53 *the survey did not include this category in the list of possible answers in a given year Apart from the scope of support presented above, some incubators offer additional services such as coaching at the Technology Incubator at Krakow Technology Park or support for cluster initiatives at the Technology Incubator at Gdansk Science and Technology Park. The range of instruments for financial support offered is definitely poorer. The most popular instrument access to loan funds is provided only by 53% TIs. In addition, only every second incubator cooperates with business angels, and 40% with seed capital funds. 57

58 Cooperation with guarantee funds, credit intermediation and subsidies are practically non existent. Over half of the incubators surveyed offer the pre-incubation service to their customers. In some cases it is based on cooperation with the Academic Business Incubators Foundation. Some technology incubators have developed their own pre-incubation tools. Pomorskie Innovation and Entrepreneurship Incubator runs a six-month consultation and training programme. The Technology Incubator at Krakow Technology Park gives classes on entrepreneurship at lower and upper secondary schools, training and consultancy for people intending to start an economic activity and competitions held at the Technology Incubator at Krakow Technology Park. The pre-incubation measures provided by the Technology InQbator at Poznan Science and Technology Park of the Adam Mickiewicz University Foundation can be divided into two groups. Initiatives promoting self-employment as a way for a professional life include, for example, a course in entrepreneurship for students and PhD students at Adam Mickiewicz University. On the other hand, initiatives for the improvement of business ideas include, for example, "The First Step towards Self-Employment": a training and consultancy programme for academia based originators from the Wielkopolskie Voivodeship, developing business ideas to reach investment readiness. Tenants In the mid-2012 a total of 258 entities employing nearly 1,000 persons operated within the surveyed technology incubators. 38% of the tenants are start-ups which at the time of entering the incubators had been present in the market for not longer than one year, and 9% are spin-offs (cf. chart 2, table 7). Chart 2. Breakdown of the tenants of technology incubators by type in 2012 (%) Other enterprises (with preferential arrangements); 33% Strategic tenants; 16% Other; 4% Academic spinoffs/spin-outs; 9% Start-ups; 38% 58

59 Table 7. Users of Polish technology incubators Type of resident : Number of entities Employment Area occupied (m 2 ) Start-ups* , , Academic spin-offs , Other enterprises (with preferential arrangements) , , Strategic tenants , , Other institutions , , Total , *operating for not more than one year at the time of entering the incubator 17, Last year an average of about 80 people interested in starting a business or in continuing an already started business applied to an incubator. It should be noted that in the case of larger centres the number was twice or ever three times greater (150 to 250 persons). An average of 20 to 25% of submitted business projects are deemed "interesting enough" by the incubator team. In over 50 enterprises left the institutions due to the end of incubation period, as well as due to the need for larger area for the business than the area that could be offered by the incubator. Chart 3. The rate of changes in the number of tenants of technology incubators in Tenants Start-ups 59

60 In the majority of incubators the procedure for the selection of enterprises is covered by the rules of operation of the institution and is based on particular criteria of entry and preferences for indicated sectors or types of enterprises. The selection process most often involves submission of a completed application form and a business plan by the candidate and the assessment of the documents in terms of fulfilment of admission criteria laid down in the rules. The criteria may include: the size of the enterprise (micro, small, medium-sized); activities based on implementation of technological innovations or R&D studies; operation in particular sectors (e.g. at the Technology Incubator at Gdansk Science and Technology Park these are IT systems and telecommunications networks technologies, materials engineering technologies and nanotechnologies, biotechnologies, food and drug chemistry and technologies related to environmental protection and to the use of renewable sources of energy); convergence between the planned activities and the incubator's profile of activities. The enterprises are assessed either by an Admission Commission composed of the incubator employees, or with support from advisory bodies such as the Incubator Board or Scientific Committee, and often it also involves a meeting with the potential tenant. The decision to conclude an agreement with entities interested in operating within the incubator depends on the degree to which the criteria have been met and the availability of free area, and finally it is made by managements of these institutions. People in charge of technology incubators assess that they have helped to establish over 1,200 enterprises. In 2011 there were 110 such enterprises. However, it should be noted that these include only entities based in TI. These statistical data do not cover enterprises which benefited from other services offered by the incubators (pre-incubation, training, consultancy) and decided to start a business as a result of this cooperation. The founders of enterprises located in the incubators are mostly students and PhD students. This group establishes 28.8% of enterprises which are tenants of incubators, while 8.1% of such enterprises are set up by academic researchers. Micro enterprises account for over 90% of entities residing in TIs. Small enterprises account for less than 10% of tenants, while medium-sized enterprises hardly ever occur. 60

61 Chart 4. Breakdown of tenants by sectors in 2012 Other; 32,00% ICT; 41,00% Consulting; 14,00% Design; 4,20% Material technologies; 5,00% Biotechnology; 36,00% Only one third of incubators monitor the operation of enterprises which completed their incubation period. Such enterprises receive newsletters, invitations to attend training and events organised by the incubator, and invitations to participate in competitions. Some enterprises leaving the incubator are placed within the structures of the park, which is the most effective guarantee of further cooperation. On the other hand, over 40% of the enterprises which have left the incubator continue the cooperation with the incubator primarily by using its consultancy and innovation-oriented services (such as innovation audits). Compared with the previous study, the percentage fell quite considerably (in 2010 it amounted to about 60%). 61

62 PRE-INCUBATORS AND ACADEMIC BUSINESS INCUBATORS (Marzena MAŻEWSKA) With the orientation of the European policy to the development of innovative undertakings, the interest in academic entrepreneurship increased, particularly in looking for new forms of technology transfer, stimulating the foundation of academic spin-offs and mobilising the academic environment to undertake economic initiatives with the use of the knowledge acquired during their studies and work. The analysis of the need of the academic environment for support in the above area has led to the development of the idea of academic pre-incubators 28. ABI definition Academic business incubators activities are usually initiated by the academic environment. Their objective is to provide assistance in starting an enterprise and in the initial assessment of the enterprise chances to succeed in the market. Pre-incubators carry out their statutory tasks in the area of education, promotion of entrepreneurship and the support of actions for the commercialisation of new products and technologies. The idea behind the support for academic entrepreneurship is to actively include it in the educational processes with the use of such tools as: promotional actions related to classes in entrepreneurship, university contests for business plans among the students, PhD students and young academic researchers, organisation of trainings and consultancy for potential academic entrepreneurs, establishment and development of academic creativity centres, Development of a wide network of external contacts with venture capital investors, graduate associations, other business support institutions. According to the programme assumptions, the pre-incubator within a university should create opportunities for the development of new businesses by facilitating the access to: technological and patent consultancy, the expertise of scientists and students when providing consultancy and training services, databases of researchers and inventors, ideas, patents and technologies. 28 The term covers both academic business incubators with the necessary infrastructure, and pre-incubators which are a unique form of support. A pre-incubator means a unique type of business incubator discovered at the end of the 1990s, extending the education process to include an opportunity to learn how to move around in the market and verify knowledge and capacities in one s own business. Created within universities, incubators provide support to students and academic researchers in practical operation in the market. Apart from the functions fulfilled in traditional incubators, this type of units also take numerous unique measures aimed at teaching entrepreneurship and at commercialising new products and technologies K.B. K.B. Matusiak (ed.), Słownik Pojęć, Innowacje i transfer technologii, Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, Warsaw In Poland the academic business incubator (ABI) is the most widely used term, 62

63 Like technology transfer centres, academic incubators form part of institutional structure of the model of an enterprising university. A study on ABIs carried out by the Information Processing Institute in March 2012 shows that the initial enthusiasm associated with the launch of pre-incubators at Polish universities slightly diminished after a few years of their operation and the centres themselves look for a way to operate in the specific environment. The provisions of the Higher Education Law of , Dz. U. [Journal of Laws] No 164, item 1365, as amended (hereinafter referred to as the Law ), allow for development of academic entrepreneurship and technology transfer infrastructure, while allowing the university latitude in selection of the organisational and legal form (university-wide unit, commercial company, foundation) adequate to the needs of a given university. The Law also allows university employees and students to combine their scientific work and education with a status of an entrepreneur, and the academic business incubators are created to support this activity. These type of initiatives lack patterns and precise models both worldwide and in Poland, and foreign experience in this area differs significantly 29. ABI size and structure The conducted studies allowed to identify a total of 73 pre-incubators and academic incubators in the mid Currently, three types of pre-incubators functioning under different legal bases operate at universities. The first group (21 centres accounting for 28% of all entities) operates under the Law which includes provisions on legal possibilities of cooperation between a university and the economic environment, inter alia through the dissemination of the idea of entrepreneurship within the academic environment 30. Academic Entrepreneurship Incubators Foundation network with its 45 pre-incubators (accounting for 61% on all entities) forms the second group. The third group consists of academic incubators operating within technology parks and of independent support institutions 7 centres (11% of all entities). Description of the ABI Foundation Academic Business Incubators within the Academic Business Incubator Foundation (ABIF) operating under agreements with 45 domestic universities are unique both because of their legal form, network-like way of operation, as well as less formalised functioning than pre-incubators set up by universities. 29 J. Guliński, K. Zasiadły (ed.), Innowacyjna przedsiębiorczość akademicka. Przewodnik po doświadczeniach międzynarodowych, Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, Warsaw This is referred to in Article 86 of the Law, which provides that: To make a better use of intellectual and technical potential of a university and to transfer the outcomes of scientific work to the economy, universities may run academic business incubators and technology transfer centres. Academic business incubators are created to support economic activities of the academic environment, or of university employees and students who are entrepreneurs. ABI established as: a university-wide unit operates under rules approved by the university senate; a commercial company or a foundation operates under relevant constitutional documents. Source: The Higher Education Law of 27 July 2005, Dz. U. of 2005, No 164, item

64 The structure of the ABIF network consists of: 1) The Management Office located in Warsaw and coordinating activities throughout the country. It handles administrative and financial operations of all branches and their business projects and it provides specialised services largely with the use of IT technologies. 2) 45 academic business incubators operating within universities throughout the country, managed by ABI directors, coordinating actions in their regions and constantly taking care of the incubated enterprises. Rules of operation of ABIF pre-incubators: Admission to an incubator is granted through a contest and individual meetings with the students with an idea for a business. The incubated project is implemented according to the legal personality of the Foundation, which means that people implementing it are actually ABIF contractors. This structure relieves them from the requirement to register the enterprise and makes the Foundation partly assume the risk of the failure of the project. The scope and conditions of entering and leaving the incubator are laid down in the agreement between the Foundation and the project contractor. Advantages of the adopted solution include the limited business risk for the project initiator and the avoidance of formalities associated with the registration of an enterprise. The drawbacks of such construction include operation in quite artificial conditions as a subcontractor of the Foundation, possible problems associated with intellectual property rights or the rights to fixed assets, intangible assets and equipment acquired for the implementation of the project. The total costs of incubator running incurred by the Foundation are subsequently divided by the number of projects implemented by the incubator and paid by the incubated projects from their income. The costs of stay in the incubator are covered gradually, and the incubated entities pay full fees only after several months of operation. Incubation period lasts until a given entity gains independence, but not longer than 3 years. After leaving the incubator the enterprise undertakes to share a certain percentage of its profits with the incubator for the period corresponding to the incubation. ABIF incubators provide their customers with the following services: trainings in entrepreneurship for students and academic researchers; mentorship, individual running of promising projects by selected tutors; accounting and legal services for ABI programme participants. In addition, a future entrepreneur has access to a computer with Internet connected, a printer, a fax machine, a phone and other multimedia devices, as well as to support in accessing laboratory infrastructure. Due to their specific way of cooperation with the project contractors, ABIF incubators have a unique possibility to monitor business progress made by a potential entrepreneur. This allows them to react quickly in case of unexpected difficulties. 64

65 For the support for promising projects, AIP Seed Capital fund was launched in March Other forms of support offered within the ABIF network include the following: (1) joint promotional actions ( Support ABI Young Business campaign) where it is possible to win new, attractive contracts; (2) acquisition of financial support grants, scholarships, credits, financing by capital investors; (3) a broad range of trainings. In 2009, the Foundation launched a project of six "Business Links" 31 under Measure 5.2 of the Operational Programme Innovative Economy, coupled with a system for the provision of innovation-oriented services for entrepreneurs and enterprises at the stage of pre-incubation and incubation. In the immediate future, the ABI Foundation plans to: develop services provided for young entrepreneurs, implement new added values facilitating first steps in business put more emphasis on the promotion of the idea of entrepreneurship and enterprising attitudes among young Poles, and to organise national-wide promotional and information campaigns develop ABI office network. Academic ABIs Academic business incubators operating within public universities are most often associated with university centres for technology transfer and career offices 32. This type of ABIs normally functions as an independent project. The potential and existing entrepreneurs, primarily from the academic environment, may benefit from a wide spectrum of the forms of support in the setting-up process. They include, among others, consultancy and trainings, assistance in technology transfer, access to databases and international contacts, and frequently also information on and support in accessing national and foreign grants and venture capital funds. However, according to incubator managers the general university bureaucracy and frequent lack of understanding of the idea behind the implemented activities are the drawbacks of this form of business. covering: Academic incubators generate a lot of benefits for the university, directly More attractive educational offer and improvement of the image of the university, Improvement of relationships with the environment and local business, 31 Business links form a platform provides support to start-ups under a specially developed programme for business development allowing to obtain substantive and organisational support and establish business to business contacts. Within their activities, business links provide their customers with: a virtual address, coworking area in 6 Polish cities, accounting and legal services, mentorship and trainings as well as inclusion in the network of enterprises of the business link. 32 E.g. Academic Technology Incubator at University of Warsaw, University Technology Transfer Centre (UOTT UW) or Academic Business Incubator within Technology Accelerator at the University of Lodz. 65

66 Increase in revenues from cooperation and technology transfer to graduates enterprises, Increase in the orders and sponsoring research activities, Acquisition of additional funds under programmes for the support of technology entrepreneurship, Additional income opportunities for students and academic researchers and engineers and technicians. Legally and organisationally the academic incubators are most frequently university-wide units subordinate to the rector or the vice-rector. They carry out service, training and scientific activities aimed at fostering and supporting entrepreneurship within the academic environment. Their activities focus on pre-incubation. Carefully selected projects developed by students, graduates, PhD students and young academic researchers receive a broad substantive and financial support until market stabilisation is reached. Non-academic pre-incubators Pre-incubators operating within technology parks and incubators 33. The establishment of academic pre-incubators within already operating business support institutions is a consequence of a relatively low activity of universities in this respect. Technology parks and incubators with excellent technical infrastructure and extensive national and international contacts are ideal places for creating start-up companies basing on innovative solutions and spin-offs. Unlike the previous types of pre-incubators, nonacademic pre-incubators put potential entrepreneurs and later enterprises, from the very beginning of their operation, in contact with the business environment and a wide range of services offered by technology parks and incubators. The way and scope of operation differ from one group to another. ABIF preincubators offer the most basic support and in most cases they do not have area for incubation at their disposal. The university centres also rarely have well-prepared incubation area. The study conducted indicates that in the group of academic ABIs the activity of universities in the area of setting-up ABIs decreased considerably. A considerable number of operating centres rarely or never carry out their statutory activities due to scarce resources and abilities. Academic business support centres are extremely diversified both in terms of the level of development and the scope of the services provided. On the basis of the collected data it is difficult to identify a standard offering that would enable an actual comparison of their activities 34. Over the last three years new pre-incubator projects emerged in the market of support institutions, stimulated by the activities of seed funds and business angel networks. 33 E.g. Academic Business Incubator at Wroclaw Technology Park and Academic Pre-incubator at Podkarpackie Science and Technology Park. 34 See: A. Bąkowski, E. Dąbrowska, K. B. Matusiak, M. Mażewska, Akademickie ośrodki innowacji, Information Processing Institute, Warsaw

67 This leads to the development of a new pre-incubation model linked with capital investments described in more detail in the chapter on Seed Capital Funds. Geographical distribution Map 1. Academic business Incubators in 2012 Geographical distribution of pre-incubators ensures access to their services practically in every voivodeship, although the activity of academic ABIs in particular is significantly limited. This results from the fact that the focus is put on training and information activities for the academic environment (intra-university activities). Geographically, pre-incubators operate in all the voivodeships. The majority of preincubators are identified in the Mazowieckie Voivodeship (8 in Warsaw and 2 in Płock) and in the Małopolska region (9). Wrocław network, characterised by a wide organisational diversity 1 ABIF, 3 academic and 2 park pre-incubators should be noted. In turn, Warsaw pre-incubators are entirely managed by the ABI Foundation. In the Zachodniopomorskie, Dolnośląskie and Kujawsko-Pomorskie regions there are seven pre-incubators operating in each the region. This is a significant change indicating a gradual activation of the region which until now hardly conducted any activities in this respect. The lowest number of incubators can be found in the Lubuskie and Warmińsko-Mazurskie regions (1 in each) and in the Podlaskie region (2 incubators). 67

68 Table 1. Selected characteristics of academic incubators in Number of pre-incubators * Average pre-incubation area (m 2 ) Employment Total number of projects/enterprises Average annual budget (PLN thousand) 244,2 100,5 70,7 215 * including 21 academic incubators, 7 non-academic incubators and 45 branches of the Academic Business Incubator Foundation. ABI potential and infrastructure An average academic business incubator has a space of 410 m 2 in total (median of 180 m²) at its disposal. This is a significant change compared to the previous study, resulting primarily from the implementation of large infrastructural projects in this respect. However, it should be noted that the smallest incubator in this survey covers the area of 18 m² while the largest one has 3,000 m². In the group surveyed, ABIs have at their disposal two facilities exceeding 1,000 m². ABIs with the area of several dozen square meters are much more frequent, while an average ABIF covers 54 m². Technical equipment has improved significantly and includes a phone, a fax machine, a printer, and computers with Internet access. 60% of the centres offer secretariat services; over 20% are able to facilitate access to research laboratories, while only 1 in 5 ABIs provides access to databases. Over 70% of the centres surveyed offer seminar rooms, access to broadband Internet and a computer network. Creativity centres are not a common form of support yet among academic and park ABIs only 1 offers this form of cooperation with the customer. This form of support is provided by 8 incubators of the Academic Business Incubator Foundation. A statistical pre-incubator employs 3 permanent employees, 3 temporary agents and involves over 16 people in its work on the basis of mandate agreements. In addition, a registered voluntary service has emerged within ABI activities. In 2011, an average of 1.1 volunteers worked for an ABI. The annual average budget for the operation of a centre amounts to PLN 15,915, (median of PLN 215,000) annually, while the lowest budget indicated was PLN 15,000. Since 2006 the budgets have been steadily decreasing. It should benoted that in many cases the nature of the activities based on projects, the voluntary service provided by the people involved and a unique organisational improvisation make it impossible to identify the full costs. 35 Such a high budget results from the implementation of a large project financed from EU funds. 68

69 Chart 1. Financing structure of an average ABI in 2011 (%) Contribution from parent and associated scientific institutions; 14,00% Dobestic grants and projects; 12,80% Other external contributions; 2,80% Affiliation fees; Training and 9,40% Rent and other consulting; charges; 19,20% 0,50% Other own revenues; 3,30% Regional grants and projects; 41,00% Gov. grants and projects; 22,20% European grants and projects; 11,90% In 2011, the structure of the centre budgets changed significantly. It is obvious that the centres have began to reach for the so-called project money and pre-incubation is gradually replaced with the activities in the area of knowledge dissemination and promotion of entrepreneurship. This is reflected in the statistics on the outcomes of their activities. Cofinancing of the parent institution for which pre-incubators are most frequently the only link to a broader activity amounts to an average of 15.5%. This is probably connected with the need to provide their own contribution to the implemented projects. The tendency in the structure of income may prove to be dangerous for the centres in case of any limitation of the possibilities to obtain funds from project sources. Table 2. Financing structure of the ABI ongoing activities in Budget of an academic incubator (PLN thousand) Including in %: Affiliation fees * Proceeds from the rent and other maintenance charges Proceeds from training and consultancy activities Proceeds from other own revenues European grants and projects

70 Cont Governmental grants and projects Regional grants and projects Local grants and projects * * Domestic grants and projects * * * 12.8 Contribution from parent and associated institutions Other external contributions * the survey did not include this category in the list of possible answers in a given year. Significant changes in the structure of the ABI sources of financing partially result from the changes in costs incurred by the customers (fees for particular services instead of affiliation fees) and partly from a decreasing number of pre-incubated entities. Operating barriers In 2012, as the major barriers to ABI development the ABI managers indicated in the following order: lack of partnership and business-oriented cooperation with the scientific community, legal restrictions and lack of technology transfer procedures at scientific and research institutions as well as small budget and lack of financial support. Table 3. Main barriers to ABI development in * Lack of partnership and business-oriented cooperation with the scientific community 3 3,4 3, Legal restrictions and lack of technology transfer procedures 3,3 2,7 2,7 4,2 3,1 Reluctance of the scientific community to commercialise scientific achievements 1,7 3,1 3 2,3 3 Low budget and lack of financial support 4,3 3,9 3,9 3,6 2,9 Lack of projects to commercialise ** 2,7 2,5 3,1 2,9 Black economy in the academic environment 1,7 2,7 2,7 2,5 2,7 Lack of resources for fittings and incubator adaptation 3,1 3,5 3,2 3,1 2,6 Lack of persons willing to start up a business ** ** ** ** 2,5 Problems in cooperation with local and regional institutions, lack of support ** 3,1 2,4 2,6 2,5 70

71 Cont. Narrow organisational framework and requirements imposed by entities organising the incubator Insufficient number of professional advisors/coaches Misconception of incubators and a hostile atmosphere surrounding them Little interest in the services provided by the incubator Bad situation in the region, malaise and stagnation ** ** ** ** 2,4 ** ** ** ** 2,3 ** ** 2,4 2,3 2,2 ** ** ** ** 2,1 ** ** ** ** 2,1 *Assessments were made with the use of the 5-point grading scale, where 1 means the lowest grade, and 5 the highest. **The survey did not include this category in the list of possible answers in a given year. The activities of pre-incubators change depending on their organisational, personnel and material capacities. Recent years mark significant changes in ABI activities which are focused on information and promotion in the area of entrepreneurship and on training activities for academic researchers and students. It is disturbing that the number of centres organising contests for business plans have decreased as well as the fact that accounting and legal services for start-up companies have been limited. This indicates a decreased activity in the area of pre-incubation in favour of a broadly defined dissemination of entrepreneurship within the academic environment. Table 4. Identified components of pre-incubation programmes in ( % of ABIs) Information and promotional activity in the area of entrepreneurship Access to infrastructure for start-up companies (a desk, a phone, a computer, seminar rooms, address, etc.) Accounting and legal services Open tender for a business plan Training courses on entrepreneurship for students and academic researchers Academic classes in entrepreneurship at local university/-ies Assistance in accessing laboratory infrastructure Mentorship, individual running of promising projects by selected tutors

72 ABI offer Consultancy, training and information services are the main forms of support of all pre-incubators. The services provided systematically focus on issues of entrepreneurship, setting-up an enterprise and developing a business plan. Recently, the focus is also on promoting issues of protection of intellectual property. Services provided in the area of financial support, which cover grants and premiums for new economic undertakings, are also of significant importance to start-ups. However, according to the surveys, only 20% of incubated enterprises make use of financing of activities from EU funds. The service range in the area of knowledge commercialisation, implementation of new products and services or internationalisation is also developed to a much lesser extent. Table 5. Scope of consultancy, information and training at pre-incubators in (% of centres providing services in selected areas) Consultancy, training and information services: entrepreneurship and starting up a business accountancy business plan access to the EU funding market research and marketing commercial law finance and taxes business management protection of intellectual property * cooperation agency * * * * 20 accountancy * * * * 60 IT, computers * * * * 20 technology audit * * * * 20 human resources management * * * * 50 internationalisation and international cooperation Implementation of new services and products * * * * 20 * * * * 20 quality management * * * * 40 * the survey did not include this category on the cafeteria-type checklist in a given year. Organisation of services provided to ABI customers is partly based on the work of the own team of incubator and partly on subcontracting. While 30% of centres implement their services exclusively on the basis of its own advisors and consultants, there is not a single centre 72

73 that would subcontract all its tasks. ABIF centres and academic centres are directly report to the university authorities and almost always are directly report to the rector or the vice-rector for science and cooperation with the economy, and the work of 70% of centres is supervised by supervisory or programme boards. Despite the seemingly good authority and substantive support as much as 40% of pre-incubators do not cooperate with universities where they run business. Those declaring such cooperation limit it primarily to the organisation of and participation in promotional and information actions or to the involvement in the work of scientific circles. In response to the needs of their customers, 50% of the centres strive to specialise in particular thematic areas, the most popular being biotechnology and ICT. Most ABIs, apart from ABIF, do not develop formalised network relationships, with the exception of centres associated with foreign organisations. Similarity, Polish network institutions are not popular among pre-incubators. Activity outcomes Each month about 12 people interested in starting their own business apply to a pre-incubator. Although the number of centres increased, the average number of customers has not changed over the period of last 2 years. ABI managers are of the opinion that 30% of the ideas are worth to be analysed more thoroughly 36. Ultimately, in 2011 an average ABI admitted 19 business projects (median 12). Projects are usually submitted to ABIs by graduates of the university (38%) and last-years students (32%). PhD students and young academic researchers account deliver nearly 20% of projects. In addition, the share of female initiators of projects increased. In 2011, they accounted for over 24% of all ABI customers. The statistics of the centres indicate that on average the enterprise incubation period at ABI lasts 1 year and 8 months. Chart 2. Average number of those interested in starting up a business at ABI (per month) in For comparison, in % of the ideas submitted were worth further analysis. 73

74 For years the main indicated problems with the implementation of business ideas have related to the lack of financing at the initial stage of the operation of a business, poor determination to implement one's projects and lack of economic skills among potential entrepreneurs to run an enterprise. Table 6. Main problems with the implementation of business ideas at ABI in * Specification: Lack of financing at the initial stages of the business operation Lack of knowledge on legal and administrative procedures of starting up and running an enterprise among the candidates for entrepreneurs Poor determination of potential entrepreneurs Low market orientation of the projects Lack of knowledge and economic skills *Assessments were made with the use of the 5-point grading scale, where 1 means the lowest grade, and 5 the highest. At the end of 2011, 1675 business ideas at various stages of development were incubated at ABIs analysed. The incubated projects include many very interesting ones, mainly in the area of IT services and applications. ABIs can also be proud of the successes of those they have in charge. So far, 70 enterprises have won awards in national contests, and 6 in international contests. Capacities and threats associated with ABI activities The Law assumed that it was supported to be much easier for academic preincubators to develop cooperation with academic and scientific and research units, and that the pre-incubators were to use the infrastructure and staff resources of universities. The very fact that they are created by a university was supposed to make their activities reliable and stabilising, among others, the financial flows associated with implementation of external projects. However, Polish science and higher education environment still can hardly see the developmental opportunities in the activation of academic entrepreneurship and in cooperation with business. The broad spectrum of issues of academic entrepreneurship is frequently limited to pre-incubation and academic business incubators treated as a temporary trend. The objective of numerous academic initiatives is exclusively to obtain EU funds allocated for raising the potential of human capital, promoting innovative economy, etc. In this context, academic incubators are often created only when there are funds, and when the funds dry out, the interest in the subject vanishes as well. When the funds are exhausted, the initiatives are closed down or become dormant. 74

75 To intensify pre-incubation programmes it is crucial to develop cooperation between universities and academic researchers, on the one side, and the business community, local and regional administration and support institutions on the other. Academic entrepreneurship should receive comprehensive support at regional level. This requires cooperation to be developed between universities and innovation centres, i.e. technology parks and incubators, business angels, seed funds, clusters, venture capital funds, etc. However, success in this area depends on the real will of the universities and the centres to cooperate. Regional and local authorities may prove to be an important partner in the implementation of this task, whose mission is to coordinate the implementation of Regional Innovation Systems as a network of cooperation among enterprises, administration, scientific and research institutions as well as innovation and entrepreneurship centres. 75

76 BUSINESS INCUBATORS (Jacek KOTRA) Introduction Business incubators function as tools aimed at supporting entrepreneurs who begin self-employment. Functioning of the incubators is a part of the policy supporting entrepreneurship at the national, regional and local levels. However, business incubators have a significant impact at the level of local communities, enabling them to develop and use the best practices in creating enterprises. In a properly prepared business incubator offer there are basic services reducing the costs of running a business as well as a range of ancillary services giving the entrepreneurs an advantage over enterprises operating in the market without such support. The basic services include: renting the office space and the production area under favourable financial conditions lower than the market conditions. Most often, the space offered includes basic fittings (often also computers) which significantly facilitates running a business and reduces the costs in the first phase of the operation of an enterprise. Incubators offer also consists of advisory and training services which have a significant impact on preparing the enterprises to deal with competition more efficiently. Since Poland s accession to the EU, the incubators increasingly provide support to entrepreneurs in applying for grants aimed at enterprise establishment and development. Most probably, the system of financial support for enterprises will be further developed in the coming years, maybe in the form of low-interest loans. Operation of the business incubators (BI) is a form of the most basic, yet full, support for the originators of business projects. In case of smaller localities or towns without strong academic or industrial centres, business incubators are the institutions which adapt best to the local needs, aiming not only at supporting entrepreneurship but also at enhancing entrepreneurial climate in the local market. Eventually, the incubators operation contributes to reducing unemployment and has a positive impact on the job structures in local community. In case of larger urban centres, business incubators are usually part of an entrepreneurship support system, created together with other support institutions and adjusted to the local and regional characteristics (technology parks, economic zones, technology incubators, academic business incubators). Polish business incubators First business incubators in Poland were created back in the nineties; at the end of the nineties the number of these institutions stabilised and in the years there were between 44 and 53 of business incubators operating in Poland. In 2012, 58 business incubators were identified in Poland, and in a dynamic growth of their number was recorded, compared to the previous years. This trend will probably not 76

77 last due to a gap in financing of the creation of new incubators from the EU funds. The increase in the number of incubators results from the completion of the processes of creating infrastructure, started under the FP for During the same period, 3 entities, namely in Łódź, Borne Sulimowo and Tarnów, have been closed down. The increase in the number of entities, compared to 2010 when 46 operating incubators have been recorded, has been the most significant one since the beginning of activity of these institutions in Poland. It should be stressed that this increase took place despite the fact that some business incubators were transformed into technology incubators. Chart 1. Number of business incubators in Poland in the years Source: own study and on the basis of reports Ośrodki innowacji i przedsiębiorczości w Polsce [ Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centres in Poland ] from As in the previous years, the majority of business incubators, namely 11, operate in Śląskie Voivodeship, followed by Mazowieckie and Dolnośląskie Voivodeships with 6 business incubators each; by Małopolskie, Łódzkie, Podkarpackie Voivodeship - 4, Lubuskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Pomorskie, Świętokrzyskie and Wielkopolskie Voivodeship - 3, Opolskie Voivodeship 2, Lubelskie and Podlaskie Voivodeship 1 business incubator each. Apart from Śląskie and Mazowieckie Voivodeships, business incubators are located mainly in smaller localities and are the only centres of support for entrepreneurship, also the innovative one, in their area. Business incubators in Poland are quite diversified in terms of legal organisation. A significant number of incubators (43.5%) are commercial companies, including 28% of private limited liability companies and 15.5% of public limited liability companies. The study also distinguishes 21% of entities operating as associations and up to 22% functioning as foundations. The remaining 13.5% of the incubators are entities established as part economic self-government institutions (3.5%) and 10% are public administration budget centres. 77

78 Map 1. Business Incubators in 2012 Business incubator infrastructure Chart 2. Division of business incubators in terms of organisational structure public administration business units; public limited units; 6 2 liability companies; 9 private limited liability companies; 16 associations; 12 foundations; 13 78

79 Incubators organisational structure most often results from the character of the founders and of the partnerships established to create an incubator. In case of partnerships, the incubator usually operates as a commercial company. Local social initiatives are usually transformed into foundations and associations. Operations of the local government result most often in business incubators organised as public administration units. Of course, frequently slightly different structures are being created, e.g. incubators established as commercial companies with participation of the local government. Business incubators in Poland can still be characterised by great diversity in terms of size of floor space occupied and rented to the enterprises. On average, a typical incubator currently occupies the space of 2590 m 2 (from 506 to 9602 m 2 ) and approximately 70% of the space is rented to tenant enterprises. In 2011 space, like in the previous period, was used almost totally (99%). Currently, the incubators do not have reserves of free space at their disposal which they used to have 2 3 years ago, when several new, big units were initiated that had only begun to recruit enterprises. It should be noted that the previous year did not confirm the former decreasing trend in the number of business incubators with less than 2000 m 2 of space. According to the international standard, the space of 2000 m 2 is considered as a boundary that ensures economic self-sufficiency. In 2011, up to 48.6% of the business incubators surveyed did not exceed the space of 2000 m 2. The 2011 survey has shown that 17.5 entities on average operated in one Polish business incubator, which as a whole translates into approximately entities on a country-wide basis (enterprises, strategic tenants, other institutions). For the analytical purposes, all the incubator tenants have been divided into four categories; a new category spin-offs has been for the first time covered by the study: start-ups enterprises less than one year old at the time of entry to the incubator; university spin-offs; other small enterprises covered by all concessions and preferences; strategic tenants (paying a market rent since the entry) with an established position on the local market. 37 In the course of the survey, no operation of university spin-offs was detected, which may result both from the actual lack thereof as well as from different understanding of the term university spin-offs by the incubator managers. Last year has marked the completion of the phase of significant changes in the percentage structure of particular groups of incubator tenants. In percentage terms, a group of strategic tenants has stabilized, and currently it constitutes approximately 25% of the 37 In Poland a formula often found in the USA was adopted, namely locating in the incubators, on commercial terms, the so-called reliable payers providing the institution with stable revenue, which often cannot be ensured by the enterprises entering the market. Usually ca % of the incubator space is allotted for strategic tenants. Selection of this type of enterprises takes into account local and regional preferences in terms of industry structure development. See: K.B. Matusiak, Ośrodki [Centres ], p

80 companies hosted by incubators. The decreasing trend in the percentage share of start-ups has also been stopped and for the last 3 years these enterprises have constituted a group of between 22.6% and 28.4% of incubator tenants. In total, the enterprises account for over 95% of all tenants. The remaining 5% are foundations, associations and departments of public institutions. It seems that the current percentage structure of a statistical incubator s tenants will remain at the same level in the coming years. This type of structure undergoes only slight changes, resulting from the completion of the enterprises incubation process and from aging of the incubated enterprises. Table 1. Structure of the entities in business incubators in Categories of the 1995* 1998* 2000** entities Start-ups 67.7% 46.9% 44.3% 37.6% 41.2% 28.4% 22.6% 28.3% Other enterprises 24.5% 28.4% 31.1% 40.5% 32.2% 46.6% 37.4% 40.1% Strategic tenants % 19.1% 17.7% 21.1% 20.9% 25.8% 26.8% Other institutions 7.8% 6.5% 5.5% 4.2% 5.5% 4.1% 13.5% 4.8% In total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% Enterprises that left the incubators * analysis covering technology incubators which at the time were called technology centres ** analysis covering technology incubators which at the time were called technology centres and technology parks The percentage share of strategic tenants which, like in technology parks, are mature enterprises connected with the incubator for many years and ensuring its financial stability should not increase further since they may distort the target character of incubators (departing from their definition, mission and goals). Nevertheless, this share will depend on the economic situation of particular units. One-time increase of the percentage share of other institutions among the incubator tenants, observed in 2010, should be treated as a one-time deviation from the average. The incubators group mainly micro- and small enterprises. As the survey shows, nearly 90% of tenant enterprises are micro-enterprises, while only 9% are small enterprises. This is in accordance with the expectations, mainly as regards employment; microenterprises employ up to 9 persons while small enterprises up to 50. In this case the turnover criterion is not important and it usually does not influence the qualifications of enterprises in the incubator due to their initial stage of operation. 38 Pursuant to Articles of the Act of 2 July 2004 on Freedom on Economic Activity (Dz.U of 2004, No 173, item 1807, as amended), the following categories of enterprises are distinguished: a medium-sized enterprise a medium-sized enterprise is an enterprise which employs less than 250 employees and which has annual turnover lower than EUR 50 million or total annual balance lower than EUR 43 million; a small enterprise a 80

81 Table 2. Structure of the entities in business incubators in 2011 Category of the enterprise Percentage share micro-enterprises 89% small enterprises 9% medium-sized enterprises 2% In a statistical business incubator 2% of the enterprises are qualified as medium-sized. These types of enterprises are probably also the incubators strategic tenants, whereas the qualification to the group of medium-sized enterprises may equally concern the number of employees and the turnover or annual balance. The aim of the survey was also to check which industries are represented by enterprises located in business incubators. Like in technology parks, the main group of enterprises in business incubators can be qualified as representing ICT industry; statistically this group constitutes 34% of all tenants. Another, quite numerous group of enterprises represents the consultancy, advisory and training industry. Table 3. Industries represented by the business incubator tenants Type of industry % share information and communication technologies 34% Consulting 12% Design 4% Material technologies 2% Other 48% The survey has also shown that almost half of the enterprises located in incubators represent other industries than the ones listed in Table 3. These include: production, services in general, trade, architectural services, private security services, photographic services, services in the field of organisation of leisure time (e.g. language schools, organising trainings and thematic workshops, etc.). The survey aimed at defining precisely only the priority areas. Over 52% share of the priority industries indicates that in smaller localities business incubators assume the role of technology incubators to which the access is clearly more difficult. The group distinguished in the survey, due to its size, should be examined more thoroughly in the next analyses despite the fact that it does not represent the key industries. small enterprise is an enterprise which employs less than 50 employees and which has annual turnover lower than EUR 10 million or total annual balance lower than EUR 10 million; a micro-enterprise a micro-enterprise is an enterprise which employs less than 10 employees and which has annual turnover lower than EUR 2 million or total annual balance lower than EUR 2 million. 81

82 Business incubator offer Almost all of the business incubators specify the maximum period of a resident enterprise s stay on their premises. On average, it is 36 months that is 3 years - half a year less than in the previous years, when the average period of a maximum stay was 3.5 year. The period of time in which the incubators host the enterprises ranges between one and five years. Approximately 10% of the incubators point out that they do not impose any time limits on the enterprises as regards the space rental. Shortening of the average period of a maximum stay is a good signal for the future, and it reflects the orientation towards supporting enterprises at the pre-incubation and incubation stage. In this way, the stage of enterprise development will be executed in other specialised units (technology parks) or in the open market. In the course of time, the rental prices of spaces offered by the incubators become more diversified. Increased costs of building maintenance as well as completion of many new investment processes result also in putting into service incubators with higher infrastructure standard, which translates into a significant increase of the average rental prices for each type of offered space. The average cost of renting office space increased by more than 26% in the last year. The rate is influenced by factors such as: (1) type of the space (production, office, other); (2) location of the facility (agglomerations, small towns, communication accessibility); (3) standard of the facility (new, old, technical and service infrastructure); and (4) level of differentiation of the services provided to the tenants (advice, information, training, and other services). Incubators located in the bigger cities are definitely more expensive. Like in the previous period surveyed, they provide more services to their customers than the facilities located in smaller localities. 39 The renal prices range between PLN 3 and PLN 54 per m 2. Usually the level of rental prices for the space in incubators depends also on the "seniority" of the enterprise in the incubator. Enterprises operating less than one year bear the lowest costs and offered prices at the level of PLN 13.4/m 2 of office space and PLN 6.5/m 2 of production area. Enterprises operating in the incubator structure longer than a year bear, on average, the cost of ca PLN 16.7/m 2 for office space and PLN 8.9/m 2 for production area. Enterprises which have completed their incubation period or which have operated as a strategic (commercial) partner since the beginning will have to pay, on average, PLN 28.8/m 2 of office space and PLN 11/m 2 of production area. 39 M. Matusiak, Inkubatory Przedsiębiorczości [Business Incubators] [in:] K.B. Matusiak (ed.), Ośrodki Innowacji i Przedsiębiorczości w Polsce [Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centers in Poland], Report 2010, Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, Warsaw 2010, p

83 Table 4. Average price for the space rented in business incubators in (in PLN per m 2 ) At the entry After one year Commercial rate Type of space rented production office other average cost minimum rate maximum rate It should be stressed that especially the first year of the enterprise s operation in the incubator still generates much lower cost than in the case of renting commercial spaces. The average rental price for office spaces and for production areas in an incubator, depending on the region, is 33% and lower than in commercial office buildings. However, from the above table it can be seen that the existing maximum rent prices are much higher than commercial prices in office buildings. Such high level of prices may contradict the mission of business incubators, which should support start-ups by letting them floor area on preferential terms instead of supporting development of enterprises with the greatest potential. The level of rental prices is often equal to or even higher than the level of market prices, and the reasons for that include: prestige of the incubator location, rent offer coupled with a rich advisory offer, and - as a negative reason problem with settling the de minimis aid provided to the tenants in the form of lowered prices for services. In Poland business incubators carry out the pre-incubation projects, which should be one of the basic support tools for the future entrepreneurs, on quite a limited scale. Only 36% of the respondents have pointed out that such projects are carried out, but no characteristics was given. A dynamic growth of interest in business incubator services focused on starting up a business has been noted. In 2009, the average number of applications was 51, in , and in 2011 the average exceeded 135. Nevertheless, it should be noted that more than half of the respondents have pointed out that the interest in 2011 did not exceed 25 persons. The interested parties are predominantly men, constituting 85% of the group. From a statistic point of view, it is important that the group of recipients of incubator services, which in the previous years was dominated by the unemployed (more than 70% in 2009, and more than 44% in 2010), transformed into a group of persons economically inactive 40 (e.g. 40 Persons not in employment and not looking for employment. The group of persons economically inactive consists of: persons not willing to be employed despite having the capacity to take employment, elderly people (in retirement age) or persons who are in a working age but have obtained entitlements to an invalidity pension and are not going to return to the labour market. State of inactivity concerns also disabled people and 83

84 students) and employed. Currently, the unemployed account for barely 18% of business incubator customers. Incubator managers estimate that over 18% of the proposed projects involve ideas with high market potential. This is a high percentage considering that there are technology incubators and science and technology parks dedicated to advanced ideas. This increase is also correlated with an increase of interest in incubator services among young people, mainly from the group of those economically inactive. The turn of 2010 and 2011 marked an increase of interest in the services provided by incubators - from 7.6% to 13.2%. There may be several reasons for such dynamic changes, an important one being the smaller support of poviat employment offices in the form of grant aids for the unemployed. Changes in the configuration of the target groups for EU projects can also be observed, such as for example measure 6.2 of the Human Capital Operational Programme, which allows for more support for other groups of beneficiaries than just the groups of unemployed, as well as for intensification of academic entrepreneurship support measures. The majority, namely 73% of the business incubators surveyed, have in place a selection procedure for the projects to be incubated. In the context of providing services to almost all groups of potential beneficiaries is it a very high percentage, which is an element facilitating cooperation only with persons who are relatively well-prepared. In terms of management, having a selection procedure in place is a positive signal and it reflects the willingness to select the portfolio of projects for incubation properly. The incubator managers named the following as the basic elements of the selection procedure: proper preparation of an application, positive result of an internal competition, short period of operation in the market. Some business incubators perform an internal assessment of the innovation of a given idea which conditions the possibility of operating in the incubator. The process of incubation of enterprises is always enhanced with advisory and training services. However, such services involve cooperation with qualified experts from various business and business-related industries. In 50% of the cases surveyed, business incubators have their own advisory staff or partly their own staff supported by external partners. The survey did not identify incubators based only on advisory services purchased in the market. In the previous years, the package of services provided to the customers was transformed and supplemented with new solutions. One of these is the service of virtual incubation, which, on the one hand, enables the entrepreneur to use the advisory and training support and, on the other hand, does not offer space rental. The service also enables registration of business at the incubator premises, which means it has an address in a well identifiable location. However, as the survey shows, this type of service has been implemented by no more than 10% of the incubators surveyed, and the number of enterprises using the service is still slim. young people who have not begun professional career yet or have temporarily withdrawn from the labour market due to continuing their education or to the necessity of taking care of a child or family. For the purpose of Labour Force Survey (Badanie Aktywności Ekonomicznej Ludności, BAEL), persons of 15 years of age and over are accounted for in counting the number of people economically inactive. See: nieaktywni_zawodowo.html 84

85 The analysed business incubators in Poland combine key priorities, which are often independent on the local characteristics. According to the latest data, the key priorities for the incubators operation in 2011 are the following in order of priority 41 : Table 5. Operation priorities for the incubators in assisting small enterprises in development filling the prepared space with market-efficient enterprises creating new jobs ensuring economic viability of a given incubator supporting the activity of certain social groups/professions (academic researchers, 3.4 women etc.) - developing specific industries, considered as strategic for the region creating cooperation networks between science and business supporting the establishment of technology enterprises technology transfer and commercialisation 2 Year by year, the actual priorities of the incubators operation increasingly overlap with a standard definition of an incubator. While analysing the data, attention should be paid to the high rank in the assessment of, on the one hand, the aspects of the incubators mission manifested in priorities such as assisting enterprises in development or creating new jobs", and on the other hand, of the necessary pragmatism in operation, manifested in "ensuring economic viability of the incubator as both issues are equally important. As in the previous year, for analytical purposes, three groups of services provided by the incubators have been distinguished: (1) advice, information, courses, trainings; (2) technical and service infrastructure; and (3) financial assistance. The first group of services consists of the following items, provided by a percentage of incubators: Table 6. Group of services provided by incubators (advice, information, courses, trainings) Advice, information, courses, trainings regarding: entrepreneurship, starting up a business 91% 91% establishing a business plan 81% 91% finances, taxes 67% 64% access to European funds 81% 73% accounting 57% 64% business management 33% 64% human resources management ** 45% 41 Assessments were made on the basis of a five-grade rating system, where 1 is the lowest grade, and 5 is the highest. Results of the survey carried out in the previous year (2010) are given in brackets. 85

86 Cont market analysis and marketing ** 45% law 52% 36% implementation of new services and products ** 27% computers 38% 18% quality management ** 18% cooperation brokerage ** 9% internationalisation and international cooperation ** 9% technological audits ** 9% other ** 9% protection of intellectual property ** 0% ** these categories were not included in the questionnaire used for collecting data in a given year The second group of support elements consists of the following items, provided by a percentage of incubators: Table 7. Group of services provided by incubators ( technological and service infrastructure) technological and service infrastructure: copier, fax 95% 91% broadband Internet<0} 77% 91% seminar room<0} 81% 91% reception, secretarial services<0} 86% 73% computer network<0} ** 73% database access<0} 29% 18% cafeteria, bar<0} 14.3% 18% workshops/laboratories<0} ** 9% creativity centre<0} ** 0% ** these categories were not included in the questionnaire used for collecting data in a given year According to the data in this category, the services provided by the incubators most often include access to office equipment such as copier, fax, seminar room or broadband Internet which is made accessible by the incubators much more often than in the previous year. Also securing a place for integration meetings (bar, cafeteria) seems to be of more importance than in A more than 10% decrease was recorded for two items: services regarding database access and reception and secretarial services. The decrease may be explained by smaller attractiveness of those services and by their availability on the market (databases). 86

87 According to the data from 2011, in the third category (financial assistance) of services provided by the incubators the service indicated most often were local/regional loan funds. This service is provided by almost half of the respondents. Fewer, but still a significant number of incubators provide services of cooperation with business angels. Table 8. Group of services provided by incubators (assistance in obtaining financial support) assistance in obtaining financial support: local/regional loan fund 62% 45% cooperation with business angels ** 36% guarantee funds<0} 47% 18% seed capital funds<0} 15% 9% grants, subsidies<0} ** 9% credits and credit intermediation<0} 24% 9% other forms<0} ** 0% ** these categories were not included in the questionnaire used for collecting data in a given year Within the first group of services, an increasing interest of the incubators in providing complex advisory and training business related services should be noted. A significant increase in the field of establishing business plans and in generally understood business management may reflect, in the context of services provided individually, an increase in competencies of incubator staff and/or the managers looking for alternative forms of financing the current operation of an incubator. A decrease in the interest in advisory services offered by incubators as regards financing by loan funds, guarantee funds, credits or seed capital funds definitely does not prove that the entrepreneurs have stopped looking for financial resources,, but it rather shows that the entrepreneurs have a direct contact with financial institutions. A positive aspect of the operation of business incubators is their cooperation with the networks of business angels (36% of the total number of incubators offer such services) which shows that these institutions try to intermediate in the aspect of financing business activity, and they have the knowledge and partners who can provide such financing. On the other hand, the interest of the networks of business angels in business incubators reflects their potential for incubating valuable business ideas, which may find partners in the market. Putting in place project selection procedures made business incubators a reliable partner for the institutions financing innovation. Business incubator potential In 2011, the incubators surveyed allotted on average PLN 606,706.5 for their 87

88 operating activities, with significant diversity between them; the allocations ranged between PLN 50,000 and PLN 1,957, 386 (in 2009, the corresponding figures were PLN 671,424.4, PLN 38,243 and PLN 2,507,051.1). The previous year was the first one when the resources spent slightly decreased on average, and in terms of the maximum amounts spent. Like in the previous years, the majority of expenditure has been covered from the rental proceeds and from other maintenance charges (on average 78%). Last year, the rental proceeds have increased by over 7% in the average, general budget of incubators. Commercial training and advisory activities cover on average 6.4% of the business incubators' annual budget. The European grants are another source of financing of the current expenditure. In total, the financing from grants (European, regional, national, local) accounts on average for 15% of a statistical incubator budget. It should be underlined that for 20% of the incubators surveyed the Union funds constituted 86% of the institution s annual operating budget. The negative effects of such a way of financing may affect business incubators starting already in For many years, the lowest positions in the contributions to the budget used to be shareholders grants and subsidies, contributions of parent and associated scientific institutes, as well as regional grants and projects. The total support of the latter three does not exceed 0.6% of a statistical incubator budget. Chart 3. Incubator operating budget (in%) training and advisory activities 6% other 1% grants 15% rent and other charges 78% Like technology parks and technology incubators, the incubators created currently are prepared to be financially self-sufficient from the beginning of their operation. Only such an approach enables these institutions to be independent from continuous subsidies by their owners. Analysing the data from the previous years, one can observe a trend consisting of an increasing impact of the proceeds from rent and other charges on the operating budget of incubators. The impact of local or regional grants is insignificant, and has decreased by 4% throughout the statistics during the year. 88

89 Chart 4. Structure of the business incubator budget in % 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 70% 71% 73% 78% 72% 60% 48% 48% 38% 23% 18% 18% 18% 26% 18% 21% 16% 17% 17% 12% 11% 12% 12% 10% 13% 15% 7% 7% 8% 7% 10% 5% 9% 6% 6,4% 0,6% Rent Grants Other own revenue Other contributions In the previous year, the average level of full-time employment in business incubators slightly decreased. For administrative services, there are on average 2 full-time employment positions, while statistically a professional team consists of 2.5 full-time employment positions. The largest recorded team consists of as many as 13 persons, who have been assigned with duties of 10.5 full-time employment positions. However, there are also teams consisting of 2 persons (2 full-time employment positions). In the analysis attention should be paid to an alarming proportion between the professional and administrative staff employed in these institutions. Even in larger institutions the proportion remains at the identical level despite much larger global employment in the incubator. Administration seems to be too extended, especially in larger incubators. Table 9. Average number of employees and nature of the employment in business incubators in Nature of the employment: Year: Full-time employment Barriers to operation of business incubators In successful and effective functioning of a business incubator dealing with encountered difficulties and barriers plays a significant role. Unlike the previous years, the table with data for 2011 contains several new categories; it was checked i.a. whether the legal restrictions and lack of technology transfer procedures can cause a serious problem hindering incubator s development Among 17 categories the difficulty indicated most often is a low budget and the lack of financial support, which is a problem for the majority of the incubators surveyed, followed by legal restrictions and the lack of technology transfer procedures. Next, the lack of resources for fittings and adaptation of the incubator was pointed out. For nearly half of the respondents a barrier hindering development is the lack 89

90 of partnership and business-oriented cooperation with the scientific community. The element hindering development, indicated least frequently by the respondents, is the lack of strategic development plan for the incubator. Table 10. Difficulties in and barriers to development of business incubators in * Types of difficulties: low budget and lack of financial support for development of support services legal restrictions and lack of technology transfer procedures ** ** ** 3.1 ** ** ** ** ** lack of resources for fittings and incubator adaptation lack of partnership and business-oriented cooperation with the scientific community 2.9 ** ** ** ** ** lack of support and problems in cooperation with local institutions lack of projects to commercialise 2.6 ** ** ** ** ** bad situation in the region, malaise and stagnation lack of understanding of the idea of an incubator, and unfriendly climate reluctance of the scientific community to commercialise scientific achievements ** 2.2 ** ** ** ** ** lack of persons willing to start up a business lack of market for novelty/technological products and technologies 2.2 ** ** ** ** ** faint interest in incubator services ** tight organisational framework imposed by the incubator organisers ** ** ** bad location and resultant poor accessibility black economy in the academic environment 1.5 ** ** ** ** ** lack of strategic development plan for the incubator 1.4 ** ** ** ** ** small facility, little space for rent ** ** ** ** * assessments were made on the basis of a five-grade rating system, where 1 is the lowest grade, and 5 is the highest. ** these categories were not included in the questionnaire used for collecting data in a given year For business incubators the black economy in the academic environment is not a barrier, which is directly related to a clear division of competences, visible recently, between 90

91 technology parks, technology incubators and business incubators. Business incubators usually do not have the possibility to operate in academic circles, since they are situated in smaller localities, without academic centres. It is difficult to interpret the low grading of the risk resulting from the lack of strategic development plan for the incubator. The data can be interpreted as a lack of interest in having such a strategy, which is an unnecessary tool for the incubator managers (e.g. due to the lack of possibility to expand or to change the service package). Second interpretation is that there is no barrier in this scope, due to having a strategy in place. Conclusion Data collected from the survey vary a little from those gathered in the previous years. The essential part of the values of indicators has remained unchanged. The main trends in development of these institutions and their characteristics have also been maintained in the course of the whole survey period lasting several years. In conclusion, it should be noted that: - the number of business incubators in Poland has slightly increased, - the occupancy rate has been nearly 100% for the last 2 years, - the space for rent of a statistical Polish business incubator keeps increasing, - the essential part of the business incubators proceeds for current operation comes from charges for space rental and provision of own services, - operating budget of an average Polish incubator keeps increasing, - the package of services and facilities offered to entrepreneurs by business incubators keeps increasing, - the majority of newly established business incubators are planned and created based on economic expediency and ensuring self-sufficiency. As regards the above conclusions, it can be said that the operation of incubators, which currently is largely subject to market forces, aims at professionalization and at ensuring self-financing. Increasing of infrastructural and professional potential causes some of incubators to leap in the future and will enable their operation also in the period when no external financial contributions are available. However, due to limited resources, numerous incubators will need continued support of the sponsors, without whom they will not be able to function. Among major threats to the operation of incubators, apart from a financial gap, will definitely be professionalization of other business environment institutions and mutual permeation of the area of operation, competencies and services. Advanced business environment institutions, such as science and technology parks, technology incubators or academic business incubators, capture individual business projects as well as whole target groups of originators, and will definitely continue to do so increasingly. 91

92 TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER CENTRES (Aleksander BĄKOWSKI) In today s economy knowledge becomes a resource that increasingly determines the competitiveness of enterprises. The key factor for achieving success is the creation of knowledge transfer mechanisms between the social and economic entities 42 and the mechanisms of its commercialization i.e. transformation of knowledge into innovations. The capacity to transform knowledge into new products, services, technologies, marketing methods and organisational arrangements is increasingly determining not only the competitiveness of enterprises but also regions and entire economies 43. The effective technology transfer may only take place in the process consisting of continuous interactions between people and entities creating an innovative environment 44. Hence, the activities aimed at establishing units able to initiate and carry out the process of knowledge commercialization, such as technology transfer centres. The technology transfer centres are able to efficiently and effectively support this process if they can take all the opportunities offered by innovation infrastructure (innovation, incubators and technology parks funds), i.e. the system of innovation and entrepreneurship centres. The technology transfer centres are created for selling and transferring the development work and precompetitive research results to the economy. Definition of technology transfer centres (TTC) Technology transfer centre (TTC) is a structurally diversified non-profit group of consultancy, training and information units, operating in the area of technology transfer and commercialization and dealing with all tasks related to this process. The activity of technology transfer centres operating in the field of science and business should result in the adoption of modern technologies by SMEs or establishment of new enterprises based on the latest technologies and contribute thereby to the raise of innovation and competitiveness among enterprises and regional economic structures. TTCs should operate as an intermediate between commercialization, scientific research and teaching activities at universities 45. TTCs in Poland The first TTC in Poland was established in 1995 and named Wroclaw Centre for Technology Transfer of the Wroclaw University of Technology. Since then, there has been a steady increase in the number of TTCs. A dynamic growth of consultancy, training and information units, operating in the area of technology transfer and commercialization and 42 J.G.Wissema, Technostarterzy: dlaczego i jak, Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, Warsaw, K.B. Matusiak (ed.), Ośrodki innowacji i przedsiębiorczości w Polsce, Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, Warsaw, K. Santarek (ed.), Transfer technologii z uczelni do biznesu: tworzenie mechanizmów transferu technologii, Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, Warsaw, K.B. Matusiak (ed.), Innowacje i transfer technologii, Słownik pojęć, Warsaw

93 called technology transfer centres took place in the period , when there number was doubled. It was undoubtedly related to the launch of support programmes for commercialization of scientific research results under the first programming period of Structural Funds Another significant increase in the number of centres took place in 2007 and was primarily followed establishment of the centres in the whole country under the project Innovation Centres Network of Polish Federation of Engineering Associations financed from the Structural Funds 46, which resulted in establishment of 35 technology transfer centres based on the regional Engineering Associations. The centres established by the Polish Federation of Engineering Associations aimed at fostering the implementation of innovation in SMEs. In its report, the Polish Business and Innovation Centres Association identified 34 such centres in However, innovation centres of the Polish Federation of Engineering Associations changed their line of business after Currently, none of them operate as TTC 47. This results in a decline of TTC number in Most TTCs functioned in 2010 as there were 90 centres then. In the mid-2012 the number of TTCs amounted to 69. Chart 1. The number of Polish TTCs in Establishment and development of TTCs depends on the proximity of scientific environment that is ready to transfer its achievements to the economy. In 2012, out of 69 identified TTCs, 59.4 % operated under scientific units 48. The TTCs considered can be divided into 2 subgroups: academic TTCs, operating at universities or as separate legal entities established by or dependent on the university and 46 Sectoral Operational Programme Improvement of the Competitiveness of Enterprises Information about termination of the activity in this field was obtained by telephone from the head office of Polish Federation of Engineering Associations in Warsaw and it was also confirmed by the employees of regional associations, with whom people collecting data have contacted. 48 Within the meaning of the Law on Education Financing Rules of 10 April 2010 (Dz. U. [Journal of Laws] of 2010, No 96, item 615). 93

94 TTC not directly associated with the universities. Academic TTCs account for 49.3 % of all TTCs. Map 1. Technology transfer centres in Most Polish technology transfer centres operate in Krakow (9), Warsaw (8), Poznań (8) and Łódź (5). Most academic TTCs operate in Krakow (5) and Łódź (4). Table 1. The number of TTCs by the organizational form in Specification: Scientific institution units Foundations and associations Companies Other Innovation centres of Polish Federation of Engineering Associations Total* Including academic centres (academic units) Including park and incubator centres

95 * - with the exception of Innovation Centres of the Polish Federation of Engineering Associations TTC structure and organisation In 2010, out of 56 functioning TTCs % operated in the scientific units and 37.5 % operated at the universities (academic technology transfer centres) In 2012, after the stabilisation period , the number of TTCs within universities has significantly increased. As for the organizational and legal aspects the TTCs in the scientific units constitute the largest group (59.4 %). The second group consists of separate entities: foundations and associations (17.4 %) as well as commercial companies (14.5 %) and other entities 50 (8.7 %). In the last three groups the number of entities remains virtually the same in the period The number of TTCs operating under technology parks and incubators also did not change. Chart 2. Organisational assignment of TTCs in 2012 (in %) Joint stock companies and limited liability companies 14,5% Other 8,7% Foundations and associations 17,4% Scientific institution units 59,4% TTCs in the scientific units operate in the organisational formula of the department, office or team highly placed in the scientific unit hierarchy and directly subordinate to the director, rector and prorector. These units have no legal personality. Most of them have also consultancy bodies such as supervisory, programme and consultative boards TTCs that operate as independent entities report to the statutory authorities of the organisation. There is one TTC operating as a company that is controlled by the Chancellor of the university. 49 * - with the exception of Centres of the Polish Federation of Engineering Associations 50 Other organisational and legal forms include chambers of commerce, innovation and rationalisation clubs and consortia. 95