Activities of the Science and Technology Intelligence in PPR: A New Monographic Interdisciplinary Study

Abstract

The article contains a detailed analysis of a monographic disciplinary study by the Polish scientist Miroslav Sikora (BlackBox. Wywiad jako instrument transferu technologii i wsparcia decyzji ekonomicznych w PRL 1955—1990, IPN Katowice — Warszawa, 2021, 1040 s.) dedicated to the activities of science and technology intelligence (STI) in the Polish People’s Republic. Brief information about the author and a description of his scientific heritage are presented, the methodology used by him in the process of carrying out the study is disclosed. The author’s conclusions on organization, methods and effectiveness of the Polish STI are summarized. The extraordinary thoroughness and factual richness of the publication is noted. It is emphasized that the most interesting problem for the author is not intelligence as such, but its interactions with economic and R&D sectors: having collected relevant empirical data, the author showed that the synergistic effect of such interaction was to supply the industry with technologies and economic information obtained through intelligence channels. Other important results of the study of archival materials on STI activities were the following: a systematic and even unprecedented increase in the employment in this field of intelligence, which indicated the importance of science and technology factor in the national security; the gradual increase in the share of the USSR among the users of Polish intelligence materials; the priority of high technologies in the mutual exchange of information between Soviet and Polish intelligence. It is concluded that the book is of considerable interest for researchers and a wide range of readers interested in the history of special services, economic espionage, the latest history of Poland, the history of the cold war and issues on the verge of technological and economic history.