Polish and German organizers positively reviewed this year\'s CeBIT trade fair in Hanover, of which Poland was a strategic partner. Participating companies also appreciated the opportunity to present their offerings to the important German market.
On the penultimate day of the world\'s largest information technology and new technologies expo, the stand of the Polish Ministry of Economy was still very busy.
Austriam delegation left the eye-catching, white and red rooms in the centre of Hall 6 at noon, and Prime Minister of Saxony Stanislaw Tillich was already waiting in the queue. He came to talk about joint projects in the areas along the Polish-German border.
"Excellent presentation" - Tillich told PAP journalist after the meeting. "Poland is a country of success, it has trained IT professionals and can compete with the best in the industry" - said the CDU politician. In his view, not only Comarch from Kraków, already a leader on the German market, but also many smaller companies are "Polish business cards, proving the country’s great potential".
Nearly 200 Polish exhibitors participated in the Hanover expo. One of the halls was dominated by the Mobile Command Centre, developed by researchers at Poznań University of Technology. Steel giant size of a truck offers the department of home affairs effective management of operations against terrorism and anti-crisis measures. An integral part of the facility is an unmanned drone used to identify threats. "This system allows for maximum coordination of activities" - said one of the project authors, Mikołaj Barański. Car is packed with technology that allows, for example, for quick determination of the type of fire by analysing smoke.
In comparison with the work of scientists from Poznań, similar project of the German Bundeswehr presented nearby looks rather modest. Other products of the Proteus project, in which, in addition to the Poznań University, Industrial Research Institute for Automation and Measurements was also involved, include a series of small robots designed to identify and eliminate risks.
But not only large projects attract the attention of visitors. Sensation, especially among young people, is the project of few enthusiasts from Poznań: a 3D printer. "We started in a garage with three people" - said one of the founders of the company, Bartosz Barłowski. Currently, you have to wait six weeks to buy the printer costing 1500 euros. The printer uses PLA - corn starch based plastic similar to a plastic wire - to form three-dimensional objects, programmed earlier in the computer. Several foreign television crews filmed the printer in action.
"Poland has met and exceeded our expectations" - said the expo spokesman Hartwig von Sass. In his opinion, the Polish organizers "raised the bar very high" for all countries that would take over the function of a strategic partner in the future.
"We were fascinated by the seriousness and passion with which Poland carried out the organization of its presentation" - emphasised the spokesman, adding that Poland surprised the audience by presenting a "very modern and creative IT sector". "We have positive feedback without exception" - said von Sass.
Spokesman also pointed to gaming sector, which is considered the specialty of Polish companies. He also emphasized the good education system for computer experts. "You can see that Poland has a good network of university education" - praised von Sass.
Pointing to the fact that Germany does not have enough IT professionals, he said that good specialists from Polish "can pick in job offers in Germany". One of the companies looking for Polish IT professionals is Volkswagen. In Germany, soon there will be 20 thousand jobs for IT professionals.
"Video games are art" - said Arkadiusz Cybulski of the National Chamber of Digital Economy. Asked about the reasons for successes by Polish producers, he explained that in this area not only money matters, but most of all "creative ideas". Therefore, even small Polish companies can compete with foreign companies from Germany, Japan, Korea.
Comarch, the biggest Polish company on the German market, criticized Polish organizers. Its CEO Janusz Filipiak said in an interview with Deutsche Welle that Polish presentation was weak. "Poland is now more one great IT resource centre, where foreign corporations locate their offices because they have access to manpower" - said Filipiak.
"This is a fundamentally false argument" - said Deputy Minister of Economy Dariusz Bogdan. He pointed to a number of Polish projects, proving the innovativeness of Polish scientists. "We are not only industrious, but also talented and we can turn that talent into things that are practical and competitive on international markets" - said Bogdan.
In his view, in Hannover Poland has achieved "more than expected". He pointed to the PAIiIZ evaluation, which shows that in the next two years in Poland there will be at least 15 large investments in the IT industry, and thus many well-paying jobs will be created.
At CeBIT, Polish-German cooperation was not limited to the field of telecommunications and new media. Six Polish policemen helped German colleagues keep order at the exhibition, participating in joint patrols - said CeBIT spokesman von Sass.
CeBIT 2013 in Hanover was opened on March 5 by Prime Minister Donald Tusk and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. It ended on March 9.
From Hanover Jacek Lepiarz (PAP)
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