Poland - AI Development Roadmap

Overview

The Roadmap for the Development of Artificial Intelligence in Poland was initiated via a national two‑day conference held on 22–23 January 2019 that convened government ministries, industry representatives, academic leaders and civil society to identify priorities and build a cross‑sectoral agenda for AI in Poland. The conference was hosted by the then Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology and reported on by government portals, establishing a non‑binding strategic trajectory that led to the inter‑ministerial Memorandum on the Development of AI (26 February 2019) and subsequently influenced the adoption of the national policy adopted by the Council of Ministers in December 2020 ("Polityka dla rozwoju sztucznej inteligencji w Polsce od roku 2020"). The roadmap functioned primarily as a convening and agenda‑setting instrument to align stakeholders, propose priority sectors, and recommend governance and investment measures to accelerate responsible AI development across Poland.

Definitions

For the purposes of the roadmap and follow‑on work, "artificial intelligence" was framed broadly to include machine learning, data analytics, computer vision, natural language processing and related techniques used to automate, augment or support decision‑making. The document distinguished between foundational activities (research, dataset curation and compute infrastructure), applied projects (sectoral pilots, SMEs adoption) and governance actions (ethics, standards, legal frameworks). The roadmap emphasised human‑centric AI, referencing international principles such as transparency, accountability, safety and respect for fundamental rights.

Governance and Institutional Framework

The roadmap recommended an inter‑ministerial coordination structure to align ministries, research funders and regulators and proposed the creation of expert advisory groups and multi‑stakeholder fora to translate strategic objectives into actionable programmes. It specifically proposed institutional roles for: (i) central administration to convene and fund national priorities; (ii) research agencies (e.g. NCBR) to channel R&D finance; (iii) universities and research centres to build deep‑tech competence; (iv) industry and start‑ups to lead pilots and commercialization; and (v) civil society to ensure ethical and rights‑respecting deployment. These proposals served as the basis for subsequent structures described on the official AI portal and in the 2020 national policy; see the government's AI portal for institutional updates at Portal Sztucznej Inteligencji GOV.pl.

Key Focus Areas

The roadmap identified multiple priority areas that informed Poland's AI agenda: 1) Skills and education — scaling university programmes, reskilling initiatives and interdisciplinary curricula; 2) Research & innovation — creating centres of excellence, increasing public R&D funding and strengthening industry‑academia collaboration; 3) Data availability and infrastructure — promoting open government data, building national compute capacity and secure data spaces; 4) Public sector adoption — piloting AI in health, transport, public administration and services to improve outcomes and create demand; 5) Ethics, trust and human rights — aligning development with EU and OECD values on trustworthy AI; 6) Support for SMEs — lowering barriers for adoption through marketplaces, vouchers and incubation; 7) Testbeds and safety evaluation — establishing environments for testing algorithms and systems; 8) International cooperation — coordinating with EU, OECD and bilateral partners. The roadmap stressed prioritising sectors where Poland has competitive advantage (e.g., IT services, manufacturing, health) and the need to balance innovation with safeguards for fundamental rights.

Implementation Framework

Implementation was designed as a phased, multi‑actor effort. Short‑term measures included the creation of working groups, launching pilot projects, and producing mapping studies of capabilities and gaps. Medium‑term actions foresaw targeted funding programmes, establishing national centres, and public procurement pilots to stimulate demand. Longer‑term measures targeted legal and regulatory adaptation aligned with EU workstreams. The roadmap emphasised iterative policy design, enabling experiments and rapid learning cycles — an approach later reflected in the Government’s 2020 policy and in the memorandum of cooperation among ministries (referenced on the official site Ministerial AI pages).

Monitoring and Evaluation

The roadmap proposed a monitoring approach based on measurable targets and regular stakeholder reporting. Recommended indicators included R&D expenditure, number of AI projects/pilots in public administration, workforce metrics (graduates and retrained professionals), data availability metrics, and indicators of uptake among SMEs. It recommended periodic public reporting, external expert reviews and alignment of national indicators with EU and OECD observatories to facilitate benchmarking and international comparison.

Penalties, Liability, and Appeals

As a strategic, non‑binding framework, the roadmap does not itself establish sanctions or enforcement mechanisms. Instead, it recommended that legal liability, remedies and appeals be addressed in sectoral legislation and in future binding regulations, consistent with EU rule‑making (including the EU AI Act process which followed). The roadmap called for clarity on liability regimes for AI used in high‑impact domains and for procedural routes for contesting automated decisions — matters later given concrete form in sectoral policy and EU‑level proposals.

Relationship to Other Instruments

The roadmap explicitly situates Poland’s approach within EU and OECD frameworks — notably the Commission’s Coordinated Plan on AI (2018), the EC Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI (2019), and OECD recommendations — and served as a national precursor to the 2020 "Policy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence in Poland from 2020". It recommended harmonisation with international standards and cited the need to leverage EU funding instruments. The roadmap also informed national memoranda and the formation of advisory groups and testbed activities referenced on official portals.

International Alignment

The roadmap called for active Polish engagement in EU and OECD processes and for bilateral cooperation with academic and industry partners. It underlined the need to align national principles with the EU's human‑centred approach and to participate in international benchmarking and standardisation efforts. That orientation led Polish authorities to participate in EU consultations, OECD initiatives and later the Global Partnership on AI, ensuring policy coherence and access to international cooperation and funding streams.

Implementation Timeline

Sources and References