Substantiating the Transformations in the Priorities of the Innovations and Technology Development of the Russian Regions amid the Global Crisis

The purpose of this research is to substantiate the necessity for Russia to adopt a neo-industrialization policy as a tool for overcoming the consequences of the global crisis. The research hypothesis assumes that the competitiveness of Russian regions in crisis conditions cannot be enhanced without transforming the regional innovation priorities with regard to modern science and technology developments, production demands for modernization and import substitution, and accelerated the formation of the high technology sector. The authors believe that one of the main reasons for the current structural crisis in Russia is ignoring the determining impact of the innovations and technology development on the country’s regional socio-economic systems as a whole. The verification of this hypothesis based on the analysis of the official statistics revealed a number of negative tendencies impeding the country in overcoming the crisis phenomena through accelerated development of modern technological paradigms: decreasing staff component and deteriorating quality of the Russian science, widening the gap between the financial support in Russia and developed countries, reducing opportunities for innovation business development, and a lack of motivation for manufacturers to engage in innovation activities. The authors substantiate the necessity to strengthen the state innovation policy for the recovery of Russia’s socio-economic situation. They propose a methodological approach to choosing the priorities of innovation support for the economic development of Russian regions based on a comprehensive review of the condition and challenges in the development of research potential, the region’s business environment, and its ability to master innovations. Calculations are made to assess the possibility of creating innovation activity centers in the Russian regions of various types aimed at increasing the specific weight of high-tech companies focused on the production of innovations to address import substitution and economy neo-industrialization tasks urgent for Russia. The authors developed their own methodology to evaluate the possibilities of forming various types of innovation activity centers in the Russian regions aimed at increasing the specific weight of the high-tech sector and creating domestic high-tech companies, and focused on the production of innovations to address import substitution and economy neo-industrialization tasks urgent for Russia. The article is addressed to innovation management experts.