Deputy Minister of Digital Affairs Rafał Rosiński: The countryside can be smarter than the city

Karol Wasilewski: The Smart Village Polska Congress in Koszalin is the first initiative of this type organized on such a large scale and on such a grand scale – we have already heard about Smart City at a thousand congresses and symposia. However, for the first time, at the ministry level, care was taken to talk about a Smart Village. So what is Smart Village?

Dr. Rafał Rosiński, Deputy Minister of Digitization: There is no single definition of a Smart Village. Because the idea of ​​Smart Village is to solve problems in specific towns. At the local level. Not only villages, but also communes and counties. And, most importantly, a commune is not the same as a commune. In one of them the challenges it faces are completely different, and in a commune 5 km away they may be completely different. In one place it may be a communication exclusion, and in another it may be a problem with optical fiber. We do not want every resident of small and medium-sized towns to be proficient in using smartphones, but to ensure that places that are not huge agglomerations have the same development opportunities and the people living there have the same start.

Have we been fascinated by the development of only Warsaw, Krakow, Wrocław and Tricity, forgetting about poviat Poland?

I really don’t like the phrase “Poviat Poland”, because it somehow stigmatizes and has a negative connotation. And living in Gołdap does not mean that you are worse than the man from Wilanów. Small local governments simply have fewer resources and fewer opportunities. That’s why we are changing it in cooperation with several ministries. Soon, everyone will be able to apply to Marshal Offices for funds for the development of Smart Village. We have prepared the appropriate regulations and now the implementation stage is in progress. We have allocated huge funds for the expansion of optical fibers where it is not commercially profitable for companies to connect residents. I see that if you provide digital tools, people do not have to live in Mokotów to work there. An example of our ministry: we employ people, great professionals, who live in towns far from Warsaw. I don’t expect anyone, for example, to move to Warsaw with small children to pursue a career and work. Can function remotely with the appropriate tools. And there are more and more such people who work for global corporations and live in the proverbial Goat Wólka.

The issue of remote work is one of the most important issues, but I understand that the Smart Village idea does not end there

Of course not. We create a model of life in dispersed Poland. Unlike Lithuania, Latvia, Romania – in our country, residents live in both large cities and small villages. In most countries in our region, one or two cities have “sucked” most of the communities into themselves, creating empty areas. This is an extremely bad model of state development. That is why the Ministry of Digitization approaches this issue extremely broadly and comprehensively. We have established an advisory body where – pro publico bono – the most outstanding experts related to the industry agreed to cooperate with us. We have prepared large workshops related to this. And most importantly, together with the world of science, business, local governments and NGOs, we are developing joint action strategies to ensure that the standard of living in municipalities far from Warsaw is exactly the same or even better than in Warsaw.

So, please tell us the three key digital challenges of the Polish countryside?

The first is infrastructure. Although we have made a huge step forward in recent years, there are still places where access to high-speed Internet is insufficient. Without a stable Internet, it is difficult to talk about remote work, online education or modern public services – but I have already talked about this before.

The second challenge is digital competences. Access to technology alone is not enough. We need residents, entrepreneurs, farmers and officials who can use these technologies – and similarly to my earlier thought – I do not want everyone to be proficient in using Canva, understand programming languages ​​or understand algorithms. But we can make people’s lives much easier by developing as many life services as possible in mObywatel or e-offices. So that you don’t have to go to the district capital with every piece of paperwork.

The third area is the implementation of specific solutions that respond to local needs. Each commune is different. In one of them, water management will be key, in another – public transport, and still in another – the development of entrepreneurship or community energy. And here, too, digital security of this lowest-located critical infrastructure is crucial. The Russians interfere in our cybersecurity much more often at the municipal level than at the government level. Because it is easier to attack waterworks in Małdyty than government servers.

And how is the president of the waterworks in Małdyty supposed to defend himself?

In the face of the growing threat to critical infrastructure, our government is implementing the “Cybersecure Waterworks” program. Under it, water and sewage companies can obtain funding from the National Reconstruction Plan, with a total amount of approximately PLN 328.5 million for safety audits, purchase of equipment and implementation of modern protection systems. This is of course just one of the designs that are available. The most important thing is to realize that cyber-attacks may also occur in smaller towns. Smart Village is, above all, social awareness in a changing world.

The main idea of ​​the Congress was “Can the countryside be smarter than the city”? Maybe?

Over the years, we have become accustomed to thinking that innovations are born in big cities. This is where technology centers, intelligent transport systems, modern digital services and solutions that were to define the future were created. Cities were a symbol of development. But the world is changing.

Today, high-speed Internet reaches the smallest towns. Farmers use satellites, drones and artificial intelligence. Village residents work remotely for global companies. Local energy communities, smart farms and digital public services available without leaving home are being created. It increasingly turns out that the greatest advantage is not the density of buildings, but the speed of adaptation to changes. And this is where the countryside and small towns have unique potential. Less bureaucracy. More space. Stronger social bonds. Greater flexibility in implementing new solutions. Therefore, I believe that the implementation of new technologies – contrary to appearances – is easier to carry out in communes and counties, rather than in agglomerations. Of course, provided that these innovations REALLY change people’s lives and are not art for art’s sake. Because the introduction of intelligent spraying in fields using drones and phone applications gives REAL savings and increases the farmer’s efficiency. But creating imaginary applications that no one needs but are fashionable in Milan will obviously not be accepted.

One of the key topics was the issue of demography – will the lack of replacement of generations that we see today prevent the digitization of regions?

This is why we need to focus on it as quickly as possible! Low birth rate is not a problem that we can solve with a single regulation or act. This is a challenge faced by the entire Western world. From South Korea through Japan, ending with the European Union and, unfortunately, Poland. Large cities will somehow cope with the demographic decline. They always absorb young people or immigrants. Our Smart Village project is mainly about ensuring that these young talents can stay in the towns they come from. So that they can create a local elite. So that they can engage socially and publicly. So that they can fulfill themselves professionally, without necessarily emigrating to the previously mentioned Wilanów.

One of the questions asked at the Koszalin University of Technology was whether technologies will make the countryside a place not only for food production, but also for energy, innovation and modern services? I even asked them myself for the participants, but I would like you to comment on it

Just as in the Ministry of Digitization itself we created a group of experts from various fields and different worlds, during the debates and the Congress I wanted the most outstanding people to cooperate with us. And that’s why we invited prof. Monika Stanny and rector prof. Dorota Zawadzka, so that they could show what they are working on from the Polish Academy of Sciences and the University of Technology. That’s why we invited market practitioners, such as President Adam Orzech, who has built over 100 small biogas plants in Poland, showing that if you want, you can do it. That’s why Marcin Łapeciński, a member of the board of the Marshal’s Office of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, and Bartłomiej Królikowski, mayor of Lipian, were there to show in practice how the idea of ​​a smart village can be implemented in local government.

That’s why there were Local Action Groups, NGOs and practitioners to exchange experiences together. You are the creator of the Golden 100 of Polish Agriculture Wprost, so you know perfectly well that the largest and most innovative companies from the agri-food sector do not have their centers in Warsaw, but very often in small towns. And this is where the current of change and development flows. Anita Bednarek, who was one of our speakers, is a director in a company based in Przechlewo. A village that doesn’t even have 3,000 inhabitants. inhabitants, and has revenues of approximately PLN 1 billion. If someone asks me whether a village can be smarter than a city, I have examples that this is exactly the case. Or maybe in a few years cities will learn from villages how to build sustainable, digital and resilient communities? Because Smart Village is not only about technology. These are people, cooperation, courage to change and a vision of the future in which the quality of life does not depend on the zip code.

Talked to: Karol Wasilewski