Entrepreneurs have long been convinced about the power and possibilities of the Internet. Nowadays, the Internet is an integral tool for the functioning of a company, not only as an alternative distribution channel, but also as a channel of information and communication flow, a means of interaction with the environment. The increasing use of the Internet, and especially of social media, made it possible to escalate the activity of various social groups in various areas of the company’s activity, including innovation, leading to the development of crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing has redefined the existing production rules and ways of using labor resources. Its potential lies in openness, partnership, resource sharing and global action. There are already many studies on crowdsourcing and innovation, but little attention is paid to the relationship between crowdsourcing and the determinants of innovation activity. Thus, the aim of this research is examining whether the use of crowdsourcing while cooperating with product users in accordance with the concept of user-driven innovation (UDI) has an impact on selected aspects of innovative activity. An original questionnaire was used for the study. Fifty-seven R&D departments in Poland participated in the research. For the purpose of the analysis, the Kendall and V-Cramer tau correlation coefficient was used. These methods are complemented by the Ward agglomeration method. The research results show a cooperation with consumer results in the development of innovative activities in the studied R&D departments of enterprises in Poland. Using crowdsourcing results in the introduction of more product innovations, the introduction of new or significantly improved technological processes, as well as the implementation of a greater number of research and development projects.

Research background: In enterprise practices, innovation management is taking on more and more open forms. New, creative sources of inspiration are being sought. More and more companies are opening up to cooperation with external people or entities, thus entering a path of open innovation and crowdsourcing. This development is facilitated by increasingly large numbers of online and virtual communities. The idea is to use the potential of the crowd — collective intelligence and creativity. As the strategy is still developing, knowledge in this area is limited. There is a paucity of research on the impact of crowdsourcing on R&D departments and their innovative activities. Purpose of the article: The study aims to determine whether the use of customer support in the form of crowdsourcing affects the innovative activities of R&D departments that implement user-driven innovation (UDI). Methods: An original questionnaire was used for the study. Fifty-seven R&D departments in Poland participated in the research. A correspondence analysis, performed on the basis of the Burt matrix, was applied for the analysis. The authors also used Cramer's V correlation coefficients. Examination of the acquired correlation coefficients reveals the existence of four distinct categories of enterprises regarding the usage of crowdsourcing and implementation of product innovations, completed R&D projects, employment in R&D departments, and percentage of revenue allocating in R&D works. Findings & value added: Research has shown that R&D departments positively evaluate the effects of using UDI in market research analyses of customer purchasing behavior. It helps to create or improve products or services offered on the market, especially in the field of customization, using the information from national research and development units at the same time. Their purpose is mainly to increase the product range. The findings can help academics and practitioners improve the body of knowledge about the determinants of innovation activity, especially concerning relationships with customers and user-driven innovation practices.

The importance of studying civilization diseases manifests itself in the impact of changing lifestyles, on the number of deaths and causes of death. Technology transfer plays an important role in the prevention and treatment of these diseases. Through this, it is possible to transfer new treatments and diagnostics to clinics and hospitals more quickly and effectively, which leads to better healthcare for patients. Technology transfer can also aid in the development of new drugs and therapies that can be effective in the treatment of civilization diseases. The paper aims to evaluate the technology transfer process in the field of civilization diseases, using COVID-19 as an example of a pandemic that requires quick development and transfer of technology. To achieve the assumed goal, we propose a multivariate synthetic ratio in the field of civilization diseases (SMTT—Synthetic Measure of Technology Transfer) to analyze data from the Global Data database. We used sub-measures like SMTT_value (Synthetic Measure of Technology Transfer_value) and SMTT_quantity (Synthetic Measure of Technology Transfer_quantity) to measure technology transfer and put the data into a graph. Our analysis focuses on 14 diseases over a period of 10 years (2012–2021) and includes nine forms of technology transfer, allowing us to create a tool for analysing the process in multiple dimensions. Our results show that COVID-19 is similar in terms of technology transfer to diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and breast cancer, even though data for COVID-19 is available for only 2 years.

Culture financing is becoming particularly important due to the growing global demand for funds in culture, even as financial institutions attitudes to such financing become more prudent. One method of obtaining funds is by using crowdfunding platforms whose role is not limited to merely raising capital, but also to creating demand or interest among stakeholders of cultural projects. Social support for culture is growing rapidly in the United States and gradually in the EU. The analysis of the market of culture crowdfunding platforms in Europe allows researchers to formulate some conclusions on projects, support attitudes and follow market trends. Crowdfunding can be an opportunity to implement many cultural projects and verify support for them.

The crowd wisdom in financing cultural projects