Poland faces a strategic choice: become a creator of technologies or remain a subcontractor for more advanced economies. A new report from the Polish Economic Institute (PIE) warns that the answer may decide the country’s wealth in a decade.
The report, titled „Autonomy instead of sovereignty. A framework for managing technological dependencies in Poland,” says full technological sovereignty, understood as self-sufficiency in advanced technology production, is unrealistic. Instead, it offers a more practical goal: technological autonomy, or the state’s ability to independently make and implement technological decisions according to its own objectives.
This autonomy can be built even amid partial dependence on foreign suppliers, licenses or know-how. PIE believes it should give Poland freedom of choice, control and security in using technologies, as well as room to develop domestic capabilities and shape relations with other countries. The institute calls for conscious management of dependencies and selective strengthening of capacities where this is strategically justified.
EU policies open a window of opportunity
For the Polish economy, autonomy would mean moving away from importing finished solutions and acting as a subcontractor. Instead, Poland would develop its own ability to create higher value-added technologies, which PIE expects to translate into better quality of work.
Several EU policy trends could support this shift. A rise in EU investment in technology gives Polish companies a chance to join large projects and consortia, particularly in defence, digitalisation, cybersecurity, cloud computing and energy-intensive or zero-emission industries. The bloc’s effort to trim reliance on suppliers from third countries may also increase demand for European products and services. Poland, with its relatively large industrial base, could become a key production and technology back-office for European value chains, moving deeper into components, engineering services and systems integration.
The Cloud Sovereignty Framework and the broader EU digital sovereignty agenda, which promote European cloud services and open standards, open another avenue for Polish firms working in cloud deployment, data protection, cybersecurity and regulatory consulting.
Public procurement is increasingly used as an industrial policy tool. „Made in EU” criteria and requirements for resilient supply chains may help Polish companies compete for public contracts, provided they meet new standards on security and carbon footprint. Strong domestic players and joint consortia will be essential for winning large orders.
How Poland can avoid the subcontractor trap
PIE warns, however, that the same EU programmes carry risks. Funds, contracts and the most valuable projects may concentrate in core member states, and Poland could be stuck as an „executive hinterland” carrying out less advanced production stages. Because Polish industry is still fairly carbon-intensive, linking EU preferences to a low carbon footprint could also hurt Polish suppliers.
Another threat is the creation of „European champions,” which may limit competition, push up prices for services such as telecommunications and reduce investment in less profitable areas. The EU’s drive to cut dependence on the United States and China could simply replace one reliance with another, making Poland dependent on the largest European suppliers and technology hubs without gaining more control over critical infrastructure.
– From the Polish perspective, it is crucial that European technological autonomy is not defined solely as the autonomy of the largest EU member states – stressed Filip Leśniewicz, senior analyst in PIE’s digital economy team and author of the report.
Leśniewicz said Poland should seek instruments that enable advancement in value chains, growth of domestic competences, participation in research and industrial consortia, access to public procurement and the creation of national capacity to design and produce technology. The report also urges Polish diplomacy and administration to oppose any version of EU autonomy that could become a tool of protectionism for the strongest countries.
To escape the role of an importer of ready-made technologies, Poland needs to move from a semi-peripheral position to that of a core country with its own design and production base. The authors recommend strategic use of public procurement and local content, especially in cybersecurity, energy and health care. Tenders should reward companies actually manufacturing technologies in Poland, not merely distributing them, and terms like „Polish company” and „Polish technology” should be defined through measurable criteria such as ownership, production location and intellectual property.
Specialisation is another pillar. Instead of pursuing costly self-sufficiency across the board, Poland should concentrate on existing strengths, including battery technologies, defence industry and food processing. PIE also points to mid-tech areas within reach of Polish firms, such as automation, robotics and generic drugs.
The institute argues that building hierarchical value chains should cover technologies critical for the state and society that Poland can realistically master, like pharmaceuticals, agriculture and security, as well as fields where the country can gain lasting competitive advantage. This requires planning that goes beyond election cycles and a durable agreement between major political forces. Without consensus, support for specific technologies may be halted by electoral politics, pressure for quick results or the politicisation of investment decisions. Unions and education institutions should be included in technology planning so that innovation goes hand in hand with worker skills and high-quality employment.
Źródło: WNP.PL, Fot. IM Imagery / Shutterstock
