Harnessing Central and Eastern Europe's innovative potential

• Author: Mikolaj Rogowski
• Position: PhD student, Intellectual Property Law Institute, Jagiellonian University, Poland
• Pages: 31-33

p. 31WIPO | MAGAZINE

With the dramatic events of the late 1980s, many Central and

Eastern European countrie s began a process of transi tion to-

wards a market-driven, innovation-based, knowledge economy.

While these countries h ave tremendous innovative potential,

establishing innovation ec osystems that fully harness that po-

tential and translate it into sustained ec onomic growth remains

an ongoing challenge. This article discusses the strategic

importance of universities and public research organizations

(PROs) in boosting the region’s innovation performan ce and

growth prospects and loo ks at a range of WIPO tools designed

to support countries in th is endeavor.

The visionary inventor and entrepreneur, Thomas Edison, once

said “to have a great idea, have a lot of them.” The constant

and abundant ow of ideas is a prere quisite for the emer-

gence of technologies that c an make a positive differen ce to

society. As bastions of knowledge and learning, universities

and research institutes are awas h with curious minds that

seek to develop creative solutions to pre sent-day challenges.

As hubs of creativity, universities a nd research organization s

represent countless opportunities to forge intellectual potential

into creative solutions.

Countries in Central and E astern Europe have a strong aca-

demic tradition. The regio n is home to some of the world’s

oldest universities, su ch as the University of Pragu e in the

Czech Republic and the Jagiellonian University, in Poland, both

established in the 14th century. Countries in the regio n have a

deep pool of talented and well-e ducated inventors and creators

and a strong capacity for prod ucing and expanding knowledge.

While, in general, Central an d Eastern European countrie s

have signicantly boosted their inn ovative capacities, many

within the business community are acutely aware that further

progress is needed to ensu re the region realizes and benets

from its full innovative potential.

Given the strategic import ance of universities as generators of

new knowledge and the fact th at knowledge is becoming a n

increasingly impor tant part of productio n, many believe that

promoting stronger linkages b etween the region’s academic

and business communities offers signicant promise in terms

Countries i n Central and Ea stern Europe are hom e to

some of the world’s oldest u niversities inclu ding Poland’s

Jagiellon ian University (in t he background).

Harnessing Central

and Eastern Europe’s

I N NOVAT I V E

POTENTIAL By Mikola j Rogowski, PhD student ,

Intellectu al Property Law In stitute,

Jagiellon ian University, Polan d

Photo: Mikolaj Rogowski

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