Innovation distance of Polish regions in relation to European models

This article deals with the subject of the level of innovative development that is characteristic of Polish regions in comparison with other nations of the European Union. Among the main measures of innovation, the following factors were taken into account: patent activity, employment in the R&D sector, expenditure on R&D, and human resources for science and technology. Based on numerous studies indicating that this is an issue, an attempt has been made to measure the innovation gap in spatial and dynamic terms using a number of statistical tools. The innovation gap index, the innovation level change index and the patent advantage indicator were used as measures. Each of these methods takes into account certain measures of innovation (and their different approaches), which allows the problem to be comprehensively studied. Statistical data from the Eurostat, OECD and EPO databases for 2009-2017, which are related to the availability of data presented in regional innovation rankings, were used in the study. The results clearly show a disproportion in the development of Polish regions in relation to their European counterparts, but also in the direction of change over recent years. There are in addition symptoms of positive changes illustrated by detailed assessments of the indicators examined for selected Polish regions.