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Determining the Smart Specialization of Russian Regions in the Context of Domestic and European Experience

  • INSTITUTIONAL PROBLEMS OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
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Abstract—

The relevance of applied engineering of new development mechanisms for Russian regions is due to the ineffectiveness of innovative strategies currently in force and isolation of scientific and technological development from the sectoral potential of the territories. Russia’s Spatial Development Strategy until 2025, approved in 2019, led to a conflict between promising sectoral economic specializations and the real problems of different types of territories. The “smart specialization” approach may take the lead in aligning the sectoral and territorial approaches. The article describes the differences between traditional and smart specializations. It is shown that in the case of smart specialization, it is not the selection of individual sectors as “points” that takes place, but determination of the set of types of economic activity in conjunction with regional competencies as a fuzzy core with blurred boundaries. The characteristics of the sectoral, patent, innovation, and publishing components as integral parts of the developed methodological approach, are given. All components are linked through the priorities of the Science and Technology Development Strategy, which plays the role of a national research platform (program) reflecting the long-term priorities of the economy and society. The coordinated choice of regional development prospects solves the problem of isolated technological forecasts for territories. Coordination of sectoral and scientific and technological priorities for a territory can be considered the basis for selecting regional investment projects. This will allow the federal executive authorities to set a general framework for the most desirable goals of scientific and technological development in a spatial context, and to take on venture risks with the support of technology start-ups and emerging sectors.

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Notes

  1. Smart specialization. http://www.oecd.org/sti/inno/smartspecialisation.htm. Accessed April 25, 2021.

  2. Midtkandal I., Sörvik J. What is Smart Specialization? http://archive.nordregio.se/en/Metameny/Nordregio-News/ 2012/Smart-Specialisation/Context/index.html. Accessed April 18, 2021.

  3. Foray D., Keller M., Bersier J., Meier zu Köcker G. Transformative Activity for Smart Specialization: Considerations on a Workshop Methodology // Working Paper, 2018. https://www.clusterportal-bw.de/fileadmin/media/Download/Downloads_ News_Presse/foray-keller-bersier-and-meier-zu-koecker-2018-.pdf. Accessed April 18, 2021.

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  5. Värmland’s Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialization 2015–2020. https://www.kau.se/files/2017-12/Strategy%20Smart%20Specialisation%202015-2020.pdf. Accessed April 18, 2021.

  6. Order of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 27, 2019 no. 3227-r Implementation Plan for the Spatial Development Strategy for the Period up to 2025. http://government.ru/docs/38742/

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  8. Order of the Russian Federation Government of December 13, 2019 no. 207-r Spatial Development Strategy until 2025. http://government.ru/docs/35733/

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Funding

The article was prepared within the framework of the applied economic research of the Council for the Study of Production Forces in 2019, Russian Foreign Trade Academy, Ministry of Economic Development of Russia.

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  1. Center for German Studies, Institute of Europe, Russian Academy of Sciences, 125009, Moscow, Russia

    A. V. Kotov

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Kotov, A.V. Determining the Smart Specialization of Russian Regions in the Context of Domestic and European Experience. Reg. Res. Russ. 11, 378–386 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079970521030084

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