Electronic Economy in Poland – 2008 Report, was published by the Institute of Logistics and Warehousing as part of the “Logistics Library” publishing series.
The year 2008 did not prove to be a breakthrough and did not bring the anticipated changes in the development of the e-economy resulting from the completion of projects from the 2004-2006 programming period (Integrated Regional Development Operational Programme) and the commencement of the 2007-2013 projects. The implementation of B2B instruments supporting business transactions in Poland proceeded without radical quantitative or qualitative changes over the past year. Furthermore, it is surprising to note a significant decrease in the growth rate of Poles shopping online (from 25.6% in 2007 to 6.1% in 2008), a decrease of 28 million in the value of goods and services purchased online, and a decrease in the average order value per buyer from 981.2 PLN in 2007 to 858.85 PLN in 2008.
Despite the high level of computerization of enterprises in 2008 (99.9% for large enterprises, 99% for medium, and 93.8% for small) and widespread Internet access (99%), only 14% of enterprises in 2008 exchanged electronic data with suppliers and customers as part of procurement or sales processes. Compared to Europe, this indicator placed Polish enterprises at the bottom of the ranking. In 2008, there was still an imbalance in the harmonious development and use of e-economy tools by enterprises. Statistical data in the report show that 73% of enterprises communicated electronically with public administration bodies, while only about 20% received orders from customers or sent them to suppliers electronically, and only a few percent of enterprises electronically handled procurement, production cooperation, or delivery processes.
The results of another year confirm the principle that the problem with using e-economy tools to improve the competitiveness of enterprises and their products is not technology and equipment, but the organization of the electronic economy within enterprises and their supply chains. The available range of e-services is still not adequately adapted to the requirements of business processes and the needs of enterprises. We will likely have to wait longer for the acceleration of mature qualitative changes in the Polish e-economy expected in the 2007-2013 period.
Most e-government services planned in the State Informatization Plan by the end of 2008 were not launched according to the assumed deadlines. The image of informatization in the public sector in Poland is shaped primarily by the value added by the implementation of large projects at the central level. The report prepared by the Sejm Analysis Office points to the dependence of the development of Polish e-government on the implementation of many sectoral and cross-sectoral ICT projects, such as e-PUAP (Electronic Platform for Public Administration Services), PESEL2 (reconstruction of state registers), e-Declarations, and e-Taxes. Due to their functional complexity, nationwide projects are the most sensitive to organizational shortcomings, poor management, and fluctuations in the country’s political climate. In addition to the scale of the planned undertakings, the cause of delays in project implementation in 2008 was prolonged tenders, for which several ministries are responsible in cross-sectoral investments, which hinders the synchronization of work on the country’s informatization. According to data from the Ministry of Regional Development, the utilization rate of EU funds in measure 1.5 of the SPO WKP at the end of November 2008 was 65%, and the problem of using EU funds mainly concerned projects implemented by central authorities.
A significant achievement influencing the development of e-government in Poland was the introduction, effective May 1, 2008 (in accordance with the Act on the Informatization of Public Entities), of the obligation for public administration offices to use an electronic delivery box. Submitting an electronic document signed with an official electronic signature legally equivalent to a handwritten signature without the citizen’s personal appearance at the office obliges the office to issue an Official Receipt Confirmation to the petitioner.
Since the beginning of last year, online declarations can be filed by every entrepreneur, and forms for annual tax returns PIT-36, PIT-36L, PIT-37, PIT-38 can also be filed by individuals (a total of 35 types of documents – tax declarations and applications – can be sent electronically). The changes and simplifications in citizen-to-administration (C2A) communication initiated in 2008 may help eliminate a number of barriers to the development of e-government services and contribute to increased trust and popularity of handling administrative matters electronically. The result of nationwide and horizontal activities was the development in 2008 of the Information Society Development Strategy, setting the framework for building an information society until 2013. A new trend in civilizational transformation, increasing the importance of information technology and services provided electronically in the economy, public administration, and social life, is a confirmation of the State’s changing approach, in which the information society is perceived in the human-economy-state system. Detailed plans for implementing the strategy include, among others, information reform and computerization in Polish education, enabling voting in elections using the Internet, improving the functioning of the 112 emergency number, informatization of healthcare and medical services, digitization of library and museum resources, and the implementation of e-services in public administration.
Local government administration – mainly marshal and city offices – was more active in the development of e-government services. The first regional platforms and e-offices were created, integrating e-services for voivodeships, counties, cities, and municipalities. Electronic citizen service was launched by, among others, the marshal offices of the Lower Silesian (functionally integrating 31 Lower Silesian local governments), Silesian, Lesser Poland, and Masovian voivodeships. The longest (5-year) history and increasingly popular e-office services are provided by the Poznań City Hall, which in 2008 alone was used by 41,000 people for registration and changes in business activity. This accounts for more than half of the 80,000 registrations in the business register over the past year in Poznań. In addition to e-handling of official matters, electronic civil registry records, textbook exchanges, grave search engines in cemeteries, and others were very popular.
Analyses show that it is not technology, but convincing the public to use e-government services and easier and cheaper access to electronic signatures that is the fundamental problem of their widespread use. The past year showed significant regional differentiation in the possibility and prevalence of using e-government services. While in the central and western regions of Poland 40.6% of people communicating via the Internet declared using e-government services, in the eastern regions of Poland it was only 26.1%.
In 2008, electronic commerce continued to develop, the number of online shoppers increased, as did the number of new online stores registered in Poland. Internet leaders, despite the prevailing economic crisis, achieved better sales results than in 2007. Mature changes in the B2C market and high competitiveness meant that capital was no longer a sufficient attribute of success on the Internet in 2008 (many large websites and portals ceased operations), and what counted was an idea for development and finding a market niche. The role of auctions as a form of purchase and sale strengthened, with as many as 57% of stores selling their products through them. The development of e-commerce and the B2C market naturally influenced the development and improvement of the quality of services of courier companies and logistics operators, as well as the development of the offer of banks and payment processing systems – as complementary services. In connection with the developing electronic commerce and the e-services market, the banking and financial services market has been developing consistently for many years, and the number of people using banking services provided via the Internet has increased by 1.2 million annually over the last 3 years.
The growing needs of the information society as well as signs of the economic crisis caused the development of new, previously unseen e-services last year. These include, among others, social lending services – enabling mutual lending of money up to 500.00 PLN without written confirmation (in accordance with Art. 720 of the Civil Code) and corporate virtual network services, indicating the need for decentralization of work in enterprises and communication of distributed work teams, also performing work at home. Airline tickets issued only in electronic version introduced in 2008, electronic catalogs serving retail chains, or data made available by the Electronic Delivery Office of the Social Insurance Institution are just some of the many developing e-services described in the report.
In 2008, intensive work continued on legal regulations, specifying and improving existing legal acts, meeting the growing needs of a mature e-economy in Poland.
Electronic Economy in Poland – 2008 Report, presents the results of research and statistics defining the state and dynamics of the development of the electronic economy in Poland, in relation to data from the 2007 Report and trends outlined over the last few years. The report contains source data on the e-economy located in many industries and economic sectors, useful in analyzing the possibilities of increasing the productivity and profitability of business activities and the competitiveness of products on the market. The content of the report, as in previous years, consists of two parts, organized according to monitoring patterns adopted for ICT and e-business reports in the European Union:
• Part B – presenting the results of market analysis and areas of application of the e-economy in Poland,
• Part C – presenting the basis for the development of the e-economy in Poland, including e-services, standards, legal regulations, and initiatives undertaken in 2008 supporting the development of e-business in Poland.
Part B of the report has been divided into four areas that form the foundations of the electronic economy in Poland, which simultaneously stimulate its development:
• Information Society – being a beneficiary and at the same time a consumer generating revenue in the e-economy market,
• e-Business – enterprises and economic platforms, electronic commerce, and the financial market – which use e-economy tools in basic business activities or whose activities are supported by ICT systems. From this activity, enterprises generate their own revenue and income for the state budget,
• e-Government – offices and institutions that, based on ICT systems, support the business activities of enterprises and the Polish information society.
• e-Education – electronic services of Polish schools and universities and educational channels in the e-learning system, which, using e-economy tools, simultaneously create the foundations of modern knowledge for the future and dynamic development of the e-economy in Poland.
The results of the research on the electronic economy in Poland, included in the 2008 Report, constitute a detailed source of data for many analyses and interpretations of economic, financial, and social phenomena. The authors’ intention is to provide objective information confirmed by research results, helpful in directing the further development of both the Polish economy and the increasingly supporting electronic economy. The impact of this synergy on improving the level of service for enterprises, the information society, and the development of public e-government has been noticeable for many years. Data presenting the effects of using electronic economy tools can be useful in decision-making processes regarding investments at the enterprise, industry, or sector level, as well as the entire economy. The summaries of many areas of the e-economy presented in the report can be useful for making decisions about using funds from EU funds intended to support the development of both an innovative economy and the information society.
Report in PDF format.