Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation: Review of Current Status

Arho Suominen, Santtu Lehtinen

Research output: Book/ReportReport

Abstract

The scientific and technological (S&T) development of the Russian federation faces many challenges related to the isolation of science as a sector of the economy such as the lack of entrepreneurial culture, market competition and private R&D investments. In terms of our analysis, which is based on comparative publication and pa-tenting data, a particularly striking feature emerging from the material is China’s rise to overtake and surpass the Russian S&T trajectory by a number of key variables in various fields, both in terms of innovation system inputs and outputs.

Despite these problems, Russia has a long history of scientific and technological excellence that continues to this day. Moreover, during the last decades Russia has reformed its S&T system by improving the quality of its scientific enterprises and higher education, by developing its legislation and technology commercialization abilities, and by focusing top-down initiatives such as science-parks and other technology platforms. Indeed, there has been no lack of policy intervention in the field of Russian STI and R&D.

However, on the basis of our analysis, it seems that Russia has been unable to ad-dress the systemic weaknesses of the National Innovation System. Instead, Russia has focused on technocratic instruments, with little attention paid to societal issues. Without the right societal conditions, such as a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems, the impact of the various policy measures will remain modest.
Original languageEnglish
PublisherVTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
Commissioning bodyPrime Minister's Office Finland
Number of pages17
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021
MoE publication typeD4 Published development or research report or study

Publication series

SeriesVTT Policy Brief
Number2021

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