The idea to support scientific research by means of donating a part of CIT was mooted by Ericpol with a view to increasing innovation in both the Polish and European economies. This initiative was announced in September 2011 by Jan Smela, President of Ericpol, during the 2011 European Intersectoral Summit on Research and Innovation, hosted on the premises of the Jagiellonian University by Atomium Culture. The Permanent Platform of Atomium Culture is an organization which brings together representatives of the media, business and politics with a view to increasing the levels of knowledge exchange across borders and societies. The 2011 summit was attended by Michelangelo Baracchi Bonvicini, President of Atomium Culture, Minister Barbara Kudrycka, representatives from universities, colleges, press and business, as well as Jan Smela, President of Ericpol.

During a debate titled ‘Fit for Fighting: Europe and its Grand Challenges,’ Jan Smela gave a speech entitled ‘Why Lisbon faces bankruptcy while Beijing lends money?’. The speech included the proposal to allocate 5% out of 19% of CIT paid by entrepreneurs to scientific projects of their choice. Such projects would be selected from the list of initiatives drawn up by scientific and research institutions. Following this model, approx. 40% of resources earmarked for scientific research would be distributed in a brand new way. The remaining 60% would be distributed in the ‘old’ way and employed to finance e.g. primary research, which is crucial to scientific development but does not (and possibly could not) immediately contribute to economic and business growth.

This new model for financing will encourage cooperation between businesses and scientific and research entities. The business sector will take an interest in spending ‘their’ money in the best possible way, whereas researchers will make their best efforts to obtain the funds. Neither state budget income nor the costs related to subventions and subsidies granted will change. What will change, however, is the composition of the group of decision-makers. Thus, an actual demand for scientific research will be generated, eventually resulting in the increased competitiveness of the Polish economy. The ’5% Initiative’, as the project has been titled, instigated a lively discussion among the participants of the panel moderated by Geoff Mulgan, Strategic Adviser of Atomium Culture.
Ericpol strongly believes that the idea presented during the EISRI summit will be developed further, eventually contributing to the future strengthening of the global position of the Polish science and economy.

The event will take place on 27th April 2012 in Brest, Belarus. It will be hosted by Jan Smela, Executive President of Ericpol, and Valery Tsilind, Managing Director of IOOO ERICPOL BREST. Anna Nowakowska, the General Consul of the Republic of Poland in Brest, will honor the celebration with her presence; other prominent guests include representatives from Belarusian universities and local government.

‘Five years ago we made our very first investments in Belarus, convinced that this country and its people have a marvelous potential within them. Today, we have invited our 150 colleagues here to celebrate the success we have achieved together’, says Jan Smela.

IOOO ERICPOL BREST was founded in 2007. The company belongs to the Ericpol Group, whose subsidiary companies are also located in Sweden and Ukraine. Currently, the Group employs a total of 1400 people.

Ericpol, Poland’s largest exporter in the IT sector, has been operating for 21 years. The company specializes in providing outsourcing and consultancy services, as well as developing dedicated solutions for telecommunications, M2M (machine-to-machine) and UX (user experience) communication, medical services and business.

Everything was easy back in the era of hard copies. After digitization and multiple recording formats took over, it all became much more complicated. Several years ago, Professor Piotr Jerzy Durka from the University of Warsaw began his research in the field of simplification of reading of such data. The result of his works is SignalML – an open source protocol to “translate” digital data into a format of the user’s choice.

Svarog – Signal Viever, Analyzer and Recorder on GPL – is the first implementation of the SignalML protocol able to analyze complex signals recorded e.g. during EEG or MEG medical examination in various formats, as well as to analyze data online.

‘I talked about SignalML and Svarog during the Ericpol Innovation Pathway workshop meeting in the Kalatówki mountain hostel in January. It turned out that, in cooperation with Ericpol, it would be possible to put the academic proof of concept to life and turn it into a fully operative system’, says Professor Piotr Jerzy Durka, head of the Biomedical Physics Department at the University of Warsaw’s Faculty of Physics and member of the International Neuroinformatics Coordination Facility, an international organization for new developments in neuroinformatics.

‘Our cooperation in this field has been a very exciting experience as well as a great example of how companies can collaborate with universities with a view to creating new, innovative solutions on a global scale’, says Maciej Smagacz, Core Networks & Customizations Unit Director at Ericpol.

The Polish stand at the CeBIT fair will feature presentations of abilities and mode of operation of the SignalML and Svarog solutions, conducted by Professor Piotr J. Durka and his team. Moreover, other applications and devices which facilitate brain and computer cooperation – Brain Computer Interfaces or BCIs – will be displayed. BCI systems, allowing the user’s brain waves to control mechanical devices directly, may prove to be the only chance to communicate with patients suffering from the final stages of neurodegenerative illnesses.

On March 6th, the fair’s opening day, Ericpol will be represented by its Vice-President Anna Smela-Kjellin and the team of engineers involved in the cooperation with the University.

The 2012 international CeBIT fair will take place in Hannover, Germany, on March 6-10th.
Polish National Pavilion: stand no. B46, Hall 6.

Ericpol, Poland’s largest exporter in the IT sector, has been operating for 21 years. The company specializes in providing services in outsourcing and consulting, as well as developing dedicated solutions for telecommunications, M2M (machine-to-machine) and UX (user experience) communication, medical services and business. The Ericpol Group has its offices in Krakow, Lodz and Warsaw. The company’s manufacturing centers are located in Belarus, Ukraine and Sweden. Currently, Ericpol employs over 1350 people. In 2011, the company was selected as the “Rising Star” in the rankings for The World’s 100 Best Outsourcing Providers and Advisors composed by the IAOP (International Association of Outsourcing Professionals).

The document signed on Friday 27 January, 2012, by Jan Smela, Executive President of Ericpol and , prof. Stanisław Bielecki rector of the Technical University of Lodz opens new opportunities for joint R&D projects, studies and surveys, organizing student internships, conferences, seminars, trainings, and many other activities.

‘We are all part of one organism, dependent on the Polish education system and part of the Polish economy. To catch up and even overtake the world we must create our own value, to become a very attractive product in the global market. The only way to achieve this goal is to encourage young people to be innovative’, says Jan Smela.

Celebration of the agreement on mutual cooperation will take place in a seminar hall of B2 building at Technical University of Lodz at Ks. Skorupki 6 / 8 Street. This event is a consequence of Ericpol’s awareness of the need for synergy of business and science. In order to extend knowledge and exchange experience the company has created Ericpol Ecosystem Science – a platform for cooperation with universities and scientific environment, aiming to combine in a practical way scientific theories and practice of production and software development.

‘We take a number of initiatives to use the innovative potential of academic staff and to improve educational opportunities for our students. Joint projects of universities and innovative business are essential to develop Polish economy and meet the challenges of the modern world. Such cooperation can bring particular benefits to the educational process. Joining it with the industy needs and an awareness of these needs is extremely valuable for the university’, stresses professor Stanisław Bielecki.

Ericpol regularly cooperates with the Technical University of Łódź, the Jagiellonian University, the University of Łódź and the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków. The company actively participates in the didactic process of the students of telecommunications, applied mathematics and computer science through lectures and seminars conducted by Ericpol’s specialists.

Ericpol Telecom Sp. z o.o. is an engineering company that has been operating on international ICT market since 1991. The company provides outsourcing and consulting services as well as dedicated solutions in telecommunications, M2M (Machine to Machine) communications, UX (User experience), healthcare and business solutions area. The Ericpol Group consists of three offices in Poland and three production centres in Ukraine, Belarus and Sweden, employing over 1100 highly qualified engineers. Ericpol provides highly qualified and experienced staff working on complex projects that require fast and precise measures. Ericpol offers the best quality services, taking up full responsibility for the software lifecycles.

See the video report.