In this episode, Maryjka Szurowska speaks with Piotr Arak, director of the Polish Economic Institute, who came to Poznań as the author of his latest book, "Pandenomia." We discussed with Piotr Arak how the debate on economics in Poland differs from the topics that intrigue the rest of the world.

Piotr Arak also revealed what he aimed to achieve by publishing this book.

It is no longer controversial that public and private entities want to make as many decisions as possible based on data. How can this be reconciled with democratic processes, so that data serves not only to build market advantages, but all of us? An example of this is open data policy and its use in creating smart cities. The foundation of the functioning of so-called smart cities is the comprehensive use of data, but not just any data. What data to collect, use, and share, or how to make data openness an advantage rather than an obstacle to its use, was the subject of one of the discussions in the thematic track Urban Next during the autumn edition of Impact’21. In the discussion titled “Open Data. How to Build a Functional City Based on an Openness Policy?”, moderated by the editor-in-chief of 300Gospodarki, Daniel Rząsa, participants included Piotr Uściński from the Ministry of Development and Technology, Michał Rzeszewski from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Monika Gościniak from A4BEE, and Paweł Krzyżak, representing the GZM metropolis. The panelists began the conversation with an introduction to the idea of open data and its use in Poland, presented by a specialist from A4BEE. Subsequently, Piotr Uściński spoke about the current state of open data policy in government administration. Referring to his area of expertise, the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Development and Technology indicated that, in his opinion, Poland is a "leader in Europe and the world when it comes to making geodetic data available." Recently, the way this data is shared has not only been digitized but also standardized nationwide. Freely available data, presented in a uniform, and therefore easily comparable, manner is the backbone of open data systems. Michał Rzeszewski also spoke about spatial management. When asked about how urban space is managed using algorithms and data, he pointed out that it is not only important what data is collected. It is also crucial how we use the data – meaning for what purpose and in what way we interpret it. Data itself cannot provide us with any solutions; we need to know what information we need and from what perspective to look at it. Monika Gościńska also referred to this issue. Discussing the situation regarding the use and availability of data in Polish cities, she indicated that currently, mainly information that has already been digitized is presented as open data. However, much more data awaits transfer into a digital register. However, this is not just a matter of administrative decision – which data and how to make it available. It requires specific technological solutions or financial investment. Since data sharing involves investing various forms of capital, the decision-making process regarding which data will be digitized first is not easy. Nevertheless, Paweł Krzyżak from the Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska Metropolis pointed out that the example of this metropolis shows that it is worthwhile to pursue an open data policy, despite the difficulties. "I hope we will convince other places and institutions of this as well," he indicated. As he emphasized, data currently shapes and influences many of our daily activities – from the simplest to the most serious decisions. In organisms like metropolises, where individual cities are interconnected in various ways, it is therefore worthwhile to think about a common data bank. This helps in making effective, fact-based decisions. In response, Piotr Uściński indicated that integrating some data, even at the national level, would be an interesting and necessary idea. This includes, for example, ensuring that data on the same topic stored by different units adheres to the same standard, so it can be analyzed and interpreted similarly. A positive and anticipated outcome could be, for instance, greater social participation in public decision-making. However, for this to happen, as citizens, we must learn to read the data available to us. Therefore, initiatives like the GZM's idea to present some open data in a visual format are commendable, as is accompanying data sharing with explanations on how to read and interpret it.