The Pomeranian Science and Technology Park (PSTP) – a specialist centre for the promotion of innovativeness, situated in Gdynia, Poland, operates already for its seventh year. The Park is a modern entity which actively supports the development and transfer of advanced technologies, as well as the creation and commercialization of innovative projects. For these reasons the PSTP is often referred to as the Pomeranian Silicon Valley and serves as Gdynia’s  and the entire Region’s flagship. In September 2007 the PSTP was honoured with membership in the ScanBalt network, and just six months later became part of the International Association of Science Parks (IASP). Access to these organizations opened PSTP towards broader possibilities of establishing new contacts and cooperation with foreign partners, as well as an extensive database and valuable information sources.

Pomeranian Science and Technology Park in Gdynia. Photography: T. Kamiński

The PSTP’s activity concentrates upon the provision of training and advisory services in the scope of widely defined innovative doings. The idea behind the establishing of the Pomeranian Science and Technology Park was devoted to concentrating within a confined area a series of factors, which contribute to the development of enterprises and facilitate innovative business activity. The Park assists in the creation and growth of new ventures conducting scientific studies or development activity, educates in the field of copyright and intellectual property, as well as providing R&D services and lease of technical infrastructure for the means of scientific endeavour. For these purposes, as well as for the general management of the PSTP project, the City of Gdynia appointed a municipal budgetary unit, the Gdynia Innovation Centre.

From the beginning of its existence the Park expanded extremely dynamically, constantly increasing the diversity of services offered and enlarging the number of companies conducting their activity within PSTP premises. A great advantage of PSTP is the provided here access to a unique modern Bio-Lab Centre, as well as to excellently equipped conference rooms located in the Park. Currently the PSTP unites nearly seventy innovative companies, clustered into three thematic modules: ICT, biotechnology & environmental protection and industrial design. PSTP enterprises are characterized by their exceptional openness to worldwide scientific trends and knowledge based economies. Entrepreneurs develop their strength and competitive advantages through the encouraged by PSTP door-to-door cooperation, in a friendly, creative and especially designed for these purposes environment. It is where talents are combined with knowledge and business to create and commercialize products recognized not only in Poland, but also overseas.

IVONA – an innovative product of the PSTP IVO Software company		Master Telecom – an innovative PSTP company

Products “made in PSTP” are identified with utmost quality and modernity. Many of the Park entrepreneurs are laureates of prestigious awards and prizes. To name only a few, IVO Software, recognized as the 2006 Entrepreneur of the Year in the annual nationwide competition organized by Ernst&Young, is the creator of the IVONA Text-To-Speech System, the winner of the 2006 and 2007 USA annual Blizzard Challenge competition. InteliWISE, another PSTP business, is the laureate of the Baltic Challenge Award and their AVATAR for Business application software is regarded as one of the world’s most accomplished Virtual Human solutions. Langier Design, an industrial design company, for its Aesthetix furniture collection has been awarded the “Meble Plus 2008” prize, and its Cello armchair design has been acknowledged as significant for the cultural heritage of Poland. Such are only the exemplary features of the innovative product offer developed by PSTP entrepreneurs.

The creation of the Pomeranian Science and Technology Park was greatly welcomed and received with vast interest form the side of numerous entities and businessmen. The Park offers the possibility of establishing a new  venture or to transfer an already existing company into a prestigious, dynamically developing environment. Presently the number of entrepreneurs interested in the cooperation with PSTP so greatly exceeded its current physical capacity, that it lead to the establishing of a waiting list and creation of an array of virtual partnership proposals. Companies based within PSTP premises receive complex support and valuable instruments of development, such as preferential conditions for the conduct of business activity, access to a creative environment, advisory and training services, wide entrepreneurial cooperation and scientific partnership possibilities, as well as attractive office space, modernly equipped conference complex and specialist Bio-Lab Centre infrastructure. The Park’s waiting list expands ever so rapidly, motivating PSTP to undertake vigorous actions towards its further physical expansion. The beginning of the third phase of PSTP’s construction works, aimed at providing the Region’s innovators with roughly 40 000 m² of new office, exhibitory, conference and laboratory premises, is planned for the year 2009. The estimated costs of this venture round up to 20 000 000 EUR.