Photonics in lubelskie region

Home to a range of thriving industries, Lubelskie is one of the most economically buoyant voivodeships (provinces) in the country. 

With strong academic traditions, it’s well connected to the rest of Poland and territories beyond the EU’s eastern border. Artur Habza, director of economy and international co-operation at the Marshal’s Office of Lubelskie Voivodeship, outlines the the role of photonics in driving future ecoomic growth. Technology is driving growth at every level of our economy. The province’s vision for smart, sustainable and inclusive GDP growth requires that Lubelskie becomes a bioeconomy –  ie, one based on renewable inputs and the large-scale application of biotechnology. 

To this end, one of the main priorities is to expand its research and development sector. Industries that are already bringing business and science together to great effect in the region include healthcare, IT and green energy.

We are stimulating and expanding the cooperation of scientific-research units with entrepreneurs from our area, but we also want to encourage the cooperation of investors from around the world who see opportunities in our region. We hope that the development of technological entrepreneurship in the field of photonics will translate directly into economic development in many areas and will contribute to increasing the competitiveness of the economy of our province.

Scientists from Lublin are internationally recognized for their work on new types of fibre sensors, microstructural and photonic fibres, optical glass fibres doped with rare earth ions to be used lasers and optical amplifiers and on new types of optical fibre protection coatings. For this reason, further investments in photonics will accelerate the region's economic growth, especially as it is completely independent of other technologies and raw materials and it is environmentally safe.

Polish universities, research facilities and companies involved in photonics work together more and more efficiently based on modern and effective cooperation model according to which technology companies from the SME sector help transfer technology from science to industry, which significantly improves the efficiency of relations between the scientific and research sector, administration and business. Companies operating in the photonics industry have concentrated their research and development activities in Lublin, based on the existing commercial research and development facilities. Thanks to such experience, it will be possible to encourage new partners representing both science and business to join in. A good example of this is EMBIQ , a local IT company, that has partnered with Lublin University of Technology which has led them to creating their own optoelectronic Fiber Bragg Grating sensors. Such sensors are capable of measuring both physical and chemical parameters, such as pH level or concentration of sugar in liquids.

From the point of view of the economy of the Lubelskie Voivodeship, the development of technological entrepreneurship in the field of photonics will directly affect the development of all smart specializations of the region such as bio economy, medicine and healthcare, low-emission energy, information technology and automation.

Therefore, the Lubelskie Voivodeship established a Joint Undertaking with the National Research and Development Centre (the ‘NRDC’). According to the assumptions of this Joint Undertaking, the National Research and Development Centre will award grants to consortia of enterprises and research facilities that enter competitions held by the NRDC, while the Lubelskie Voivodeship will distribute grants to companies participating in competitions held by the region.

The potential is huge! Photonics and its components offer tremendous opportunities to such industries as transport (aviation), biotechnology, environmental protection, robotics, micromachining, petrochemical industry, automotive, medicine , telecommunications, energy, construction mining, defence or space industry and much more. This broad spectrum of applications contributes to significant economic growth as it allows various industries to grow, helps create new jobs and businesses, and gain competitive advantage over other highly developed countries. Find out more about Lubelskie! 

For further information contact the team at Biznes Lubelskie, an initiative established by the Marshal’s Office of Lubelskie Voivodeship to provide support for investors and help them find appropriate partners and suppliers.

invest.lubelskie.pl/en or call +48 81 537 1615