Innovation has become an issue which is of interest to many entities; both companies, scientists and public authorities. The role of innovation in economic processes focused mainly on determining the competitive position of enterprises, sectors of the economy, individual countries, regions, municipalities and integrating countries. The local government, through its unique resources, which include: knowledge, learning ability, organizational culture, infrastructure, and many others, affects the competitiveness of local businesses and their innovative activity. The competitive advantage of having a local character, arise from the concentration of highly specialized knowledge, the presence of public institutions, competitors, business partners, consumers. Very important area of innovations implementing, which should serve local development, includes activities in aid of democracy.
The article presents selected aspects of the issue of innovation of public administration at the local level in Poland and its impact on local development. In the case of territorialisation progressive development of broadly understood innovation, it is the ability to create, implement and disseminate innovation is a prerequisite for raising the competitiveness of the economy of the local government, and thus increases the chances of success in the increasingly intense competition between local government units.
Innovativeness results from cooperation of persons and institutions with various possibilities and classifications, that is why it is successful when introduced into the market. The mechanism of stimulation for innovation results in the following classification:
• supply innovations: discoveries, inventions, the ideas of creators of new techniques resulting from own inquisitiveness. Supply innovations are very expensive, thus only large corporations or companies can afford financing research or patenting inventions.
• demand innovations: stimulated by the needs of the market, that is finding solutions which
respond to the demand for the given product or service.
The paper attempts to answer the following questions:
• How did the process of public administration reform in Poland occurred so far?
• What is the legal and theoretical basis for innovation in public administration?
• By what instruments: legal, strategic, economic and financial, did the process of changes in the formulation and implementation of innovation policy occur?
• What is the impact of EU policies on the development of innovations in Poland?
• What are the prospects and expected results of the development of innovations activity of local governments?
The hypothesis is based on a premise that the innovations in local government in Poland is a new element in the process of reforming the public administration, which takes into account, also the innovation activities of local government influences on local development and increases local goods.
To verify the questions presented in the article a descriptive method, system analysis, document analysis and surveys were used.
