An Assessment of Innovativeness, Innovative Activity and Innovation Implementation in EU-Funded Projects in the Śląskie Voivodship in Poland

In each subsequent financial perspective, the priorities and conditions for using EU funds and the business environment in which projects co-financed from European funds are implemented change. In the years 2014–2022, the Śląskie Voivodeship used funds from the Regional Operational Program of the Śląskie Voivodeship 2014–2020 to strengthen competitiveness and employment growth in SMEs implementing technological innovations. The Program's entry into the final settlement stage has allowed us to make a comprehensive assessment of the use of EU funds and enterprises’ attitudes regarding innovativeness, innovative activity, and the implementation of innovations in SMEs in the voivodship. The work aims to analyze the support of the Regional Operational Program of the Silesian Voivodeship 2014–2020 to increase innovativeness, innovative activity, and the implementation of innovation in the EU projects in the SMEs in the Silesian Voivodeship. The research area was the Śląskie Voivodeship, and the research subject was SMEs that applied for funds in the frame of the Program. The following methods were used: desk research analysis (literature, documents, publicly available secondary data for 2014–2022) and statistical methods. The authors’ analysis confirmed the dependence existing, in theory, has been confirmed, e.g., innovation (here: the number of settled, completed projects) is less compared to the innovative activity of enterprises (here: applications selected for co-financing). There is less creative activity than innovativeness, understood as creative attitudes (innovative ideas submitted as approved applications for co-financing).