IV TIME Economic Forum

On 13-15 March 2012, in the Warszawianka Congress Centre in Jachranka, the IV TIME Economic Forum was held, with the participation of the entrepreneurs affiliated with the Polish Chamber of Commerce for Electronics and Telecommunications. The main theme of the meeting was the community power generation and innovations that will enable to include small- and medium-sized enterprises and the ICT industry in the works on distributed generation, which in highly developed countries is already perceived as an important support for the traditional network structure.

The entrepreneurs pointed out to the fact that in Germany the capacity and sales of the electricity from renewable energy sources have already exceeded the size of Poland’s power industry, while the representatives of the Polish state power industry still try to convince the society that such investments will not bring any profits. It was proven, however, that such a thesis has no solid foundation, relying solely on a short-term and very narrow cost benefit analysis. In his speech, Minister Olgierd Dziekoński proved that the potential of Polish ICT industry is still to be exploited and that the industry itself can be modernised. Maciej Witucki, CEO of TP SA, called for minimisation of the costs of access infrastructure, for both telecommunication and power networks. Mandating the installation of electric cables equipped with optical fibres in all the newly constructed buildings would save an important part of public and private funds.

The lack of adequate legislation, which would enable to direct the Polish ICT industry towards the development of the new energy solutions, increases the technology gap. Currently, the fact that there is no law that would enable citizens and SMEs to make cost-effective investments in energy micro-installations, blocks our access to the technology transformations that currently take place and is a waste of the Polish investing capacities.

KIGEiT presented a concept of community power generation based on distributed power sources communicating via ICT networks, which would be included in the country’s power system. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the energy market were juxtaposed with forecasts and the study of the observed dynamics of technological progress in this area. A project of cooperation between all the energy industry stakeholders was introduced.

Within the frame of four plenary sessions, the most crucial problems of the power industry transformation process were discussed. The pace and the directions of the changes, as well as their economic outcomes, will to a great extent rely on the political decisions supported by adequate changes in the currently existing law. The legislative changes must provide support for increasing energy efficiency, as well as for developing a high-performance, environment- and citizen-friendly system relying on renewable energy sources and power electronics. The discussion ended with the analysis of the basic assumptions of the KIGEiT Power Strategy.

On the second day of the Forum, during a formal Gala, the “Golden Bulldozer 2012” awards were handed out. This prestigious prize is awarded by the contest’s Chapter to the people, who with their attitude and work bring a unique contribution to the development of the Polish power and ICT market.

This year, the “Golden Bulldozer” awards went to:

• Professor Krzysztof Żmijewski– for his professionalism and commitment to the modernization of the Polish power sector.
• Professor Jan Popczyk– for his professionalism and commitment to the popularisation of new power technologies in Poland.