Development of innovation activity in the Russian Federation: problems and prospects

The purpose of the article is to identify key trends in the development of scientific and innovative activities in the Russian Federation. The methodology consists of comparative and structural analyses, analysis and synthesis, and the method of logical generalization. The study established the main trends in the process of development, implementation, and diffusion of innovations in scientific and industrial activities in the Russian Federation. In recent years, the innovation ranking of the countries of the world has not highly assessed the state of the innovation system of the Russian Federation. The country occupies a stable 45–47th place among 130 surveyed countries of the world with weaknesses including institutions, infrastructure, energy efficiency, and environmental friendliness of businesses, as well as the amount of investment, including foreign ones. Strong but improperly implemented aspects include the high quality of human potential, the results of creative details, and the scale of the market. The factors hindering the implementation of the innovation process have been analyzed, and despite decreasing over the past twenty years, the lack of own funds, high innovation costs, and lack of state financial support are still significant obstacles to enterprises. The process of implementing innovative activities by enterprises and their sustainable development directly depend on the state of science in the country. The analysis has shown that decisions made in the process of implementing state policy do not have a significant positive impact on its development; moreover, a number of indicators such as the number of personnel involved in research and development generally decrease annually. Thus, there is clearly a need to revise the quality, quantity, and essence of public administration measures so that the innovative and scientific potential of the Russian Federation is realized, ensuring the country’s economy to switch to an innovative development path.