Government
Policies
National Plans for Research & Development of Information Technology
Written Initiatives
The document "Aims and Directions of Information Society Development in Poland" is being prepared by the Polish State Committee for Scientific Research and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. The document will provide the foundation for future actions and measures for information technology development in Poland. It is expected to be adopted by the Council of Ministers this year.
Development of information technology is also dealt with in the "Outline for the Medium-term Development of the Country until the Year 2002," approved by the Council of Ministers in 1999 and in the "Policy Outline for the Spatial Development of the Country," approved by the Council of Ministers in 1999.
In 1999, Poland entered the 5th EU Framework Program for RTD and the Information Society Technologies (IST) program. Two national delegates to the program committee (ISTC) were chosen: professor Antoni Nowakowski and Borys Czerniejewski. Several Polish R&D institutions already participate in the successful project evaluated in the 1st call for proposals of the IST Program. The Institute of Fundamental Technological Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences was chosen by the State Committee for Scientific Research (KBN) as the National Contact Point (NCP) for the FP5 in Poland. 24 regional and thematic contact points have also been appointed. The priorities in the Polish IT research include: computer networks and distributed systems, parallel processing, computer decision support, databases and man-machine interaction.
Finally, Poland's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration in conjunction with the Council of Informatics (a body at the Chancellery of the President) has prepared the "Strategy of Teleinformatics Development in the Public Administration." This document addresses telecommunication needs, systems compatibility, data security and EU requirements (including IDA standards and others).
Development of WANS
The State Committee for Scientific Research has prepared and implemented two consecutive programs: A Strategy for the Development of IT for Polish Scientific Community (1993) and IT Infrastructure Development Programme for Polish Scientific Communities (1995). As a result of these initiatives, two competitive Wide Area Networks (NASK and POL34) link Poland's 22 Metropolitan Area Networks in major academic cities at speeds of 2/34/155 Mbps, and running ATMs at 155/622 Mbps. The programs also created 5 High Performance Computing Centers.
The Metropolitan Area Networks have their own physical infrastructure serving scientific public institutions and some commercial users, whereas the Wide Area Networks rely on lines leased from TPSA -- in the case of NASK--and from TELENERGO (alternative operator owned by Polish Power Grid Plc.) -- in the case of POL34. The POL34 network operates an international link to the TEN155 network in Frankfurt/Main with the capacity of 45 Mbps out of which 24 Mbps is a transit traffic to the USA. NASK owns an 155 Mbps link to Stockholm leased from TELIA AB.
Currently a new program called PIONIER--The Polish Optical Internet -- is being developed. The program should be implemented in three stages: implementation of applications and base services for the information society (2001-2002), pilot deployments of applications (2003-2004), and technology transfer to the administration and industry (2005). The proposed applications cover: telecommunications, computational sciences, Internet based training, tele-education, spatial information, management of environment resources, tele-medicine, and group-sharing applications and architectures.
Upgrade of Poland's Statistical Information System (1995 -1998)
Poland has developed a highly secure extranet for national statistical information. The network links the Central Statistical Office, 16 regional offices and their 109 branches, and the Central Statistical Library and Statistical Printing House. The information is found at: http://www.stat.gov.pl
Establishment of a National Advisory Body
Poland's Council for Informatics, created in 1997, provides information technology and telecommunications consultation and advising to the Prime Minister. Its tasks include initiative and consultancy in the field of IT, and preparation of legal acts and consultancy in international cooperation.
Polish Information Society Forum (SPIN) was registered as an association in 1999. SPIN is a forum that is open for everybody. However, its visibility is low so far -- it is not recognized by any governmental, industrial or professional entity.
Education and Training
Poland currently has a shortage of trained professional network technicians. Due to Poland's increasing interest in implementing information technology, this shortfall is expected to increase. At present, the supply of engineers skilled in the administration of Internet protocol (IP) networks is estimated by industry sources at 18% below demand. However, this shortfall is expected to grow to 40 percent by the end of 2003 -- the highest in Europe -- owing mostly to expected rapid Internet development in Poland. In order to close the gap both for now and in the future, private sector firms are running training programs and partnering with technical universities to establish courses that will rapidly increase the supply of network engineers. Cisco Systems, for example, is discussing such partnerships with five technical universities.
Government-sponsored vocational training in IT is available mainly for the unemployed. The numbers of trainees in the past have been: 13,367 in 1995, 10,551 in 1996 and 20,554 in 1997 (15.4% of participated in a centrally financed programme). The National Labour Office plans to prepare courses for training in the technical aspects of the European Computer Driving Licence which is being managed in Poland by the Polish Information Processing Society.
Internet in Schools
Private donations coupled with substantial government spending, have given Internet access to all high schools and most intermediate-level schools in Poland. Internet access for schools in 1995-1998 was provided mainly by the Internet for Schools project run by the Foundation for Local Democracy Development, and financed by the Stefan Batory Foundation (Polish branch of the Soros Foundation).Through this project, 1150 schools were connected to 38 physical nodes hosting i.a. web servers.
One traditional limitation on Internet usage in schools, apart from high access fees, was a shortage of professional information technology training for teachers and others. However, this has been changing drastically. For example, two Polish high schools participated in the EU project Web for Schools in Europe. Training for 1000 teachers was provided. In the Internet Classroom in Each Commune project (April 1998 - March 1999) 2480 primary and high schools were equipped with computers with Internet access and educational software. Appropriate training for teachers was provided. As a follow-up, the Internet Classroom in Each High School project (April 1999 -September 2000) equipped 3200 high schools with computer classrooms, Internet access, and educational software. Training for teachers was also provided. All of these pilot projects are parts of the future National Strategy of Education in the Information Society, which is being prepared by Poland's Ministry of National Education. Another project, "INTERKL@SA," is currently being run by the Ministry of National Education, the Parliamentary Commission for Education, Science and Youth, various non-governmental organizations (NGOs), private companies, and media organization. One of INTERL@SA's goals is to find non-budgetary financing sources for education in information technology.
New Laws and Regulations
Digital Signature
Poland's Parliament, professional groups such as the Polish Bankers Association, and others are considering what new laws and regulations may be required to encourage Internet development and usage in Poland. Their activities include developing legal procedures for digital signature and digital documents. Digital signature is a system whereby users would have a digital identification code that could be verified by a third party in a transaction. Digital documents, properly verified, could have the legal force of signed original documents. Other laws governing electronic fraud and other criminal conduct need to be created or reinforced.
E-goverment
In addition to continuing to expand the ways the public can be kept informed, the government is considering a variety of other measures to lower its costs and encourage economic growth through greater Internet use, including electronic payment of taxes and government procurement.
Identity Card System
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration is implementing a new Identity Card and Passport Issuing System. The modern, machine readable identity cards will replace the current identity booklets by the end of 2005. In the future smart cards with microchips will be used which will extend their functionality.
Secure Networks and Email System for Public Administration
A data transmission network PESEL-NET and e-mail system for public administration PEAR-2 has been successfully developed. Dedicated leased lines assure high level of security for the document exchange. So far the system covers merely the central administration level, however a new project 'PESEL-NET down to Districts' was started enabling access to the system also for the local administration.
Budget and Investment in Research & Development
Financial means for information society developments are spread out among Poland's ministries and central offices, as well as voivodeship offices and municipalities. Therefore, it is difficult to determine Poland's overall information technology budget. The following figures from EU-CEEC serve as indicators for R&D in Poland over the past decade:
In the years 1991-1999 the State Committee for Scientific Research invested 66.9 million eurodollars (MEUR) in hardware out of which: