Creating an effective innovation infrastructure to promote the transfer of results from the research and development (R&D) sector into the Russian and global economies, as well as developing small and medium enterprises in the innovation sphere.

Sub-tasks:

• creating financial institutions to provide uninterrupted funding for business projects at all stages of the innovation cycle;

• developing the production technology infrastructure for innovation activity (technoparks, innovative technology centers, business incubators, technology transfer centers, and so forth);

• promoting the development of cooperative ties among elements of the innovation system;

• developing the information, expert consulting, and education infrastructures for innovation activities.

Key Problems

• The existing innovation infrastructure does not provide balanced access to various resources (capital) and services for participants in the innovation process, which limits commercialization of the results of scientific-technical activity.

• The sector composed of new innovative companies is the fundamental source of novel products and technologies; however, the development of the innovation infrastructure is inadequate for the real development problems faced by small and medium innovative enterprises, while the state system for the support of such enterprises is oriented toward the needs of the majority of the small business community (as it now exists) and not its innovation-oriented segment.

• Innovative small- and medium-sized firms are insufficiently integrated into the value formation chain, and consequently the cooperative network of “science and education → innovative small- and medium-sized businesses → big business” is undeveloped. This hinders the “diffusion” of knowledge from the R&D sector and its capitalization in the Russian economy.

• A very important role in the innovation process is played not only by the participants in the process but also by the relationships among them; however, institutions that stimulate linkages among scientific and educational organizations and innovative firms or between major companies and small- and medium-sized enterprises are currently poorly developed.

• The low level of effectiveness of innovation activity results from the undeveloped (inefficient) nature of existing institutions (rules, laws) regulating economic relations in the innovation sphere. Institutions in the innovation sphere do not facilitate the civilized and harmonious functioning of the following four competitive markets within the framework of the global economy: (1) intellectual capital,2 (2) innovative capital,3 (3) innovative products, and (4) services in support of innovation activity.

Basic Measures

1. Creating financial institutions to provide uninterrupted funding for business projects at all stages of the innovation cycle; redirection of state financing toward programs to support innovative projects at the initial stage.

• Creating seed funds (for development and testing of product prototypes, patenting, and preparation of business plans); initiating seed funding programs in the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and other state academies of sciences.

• Expanding state support for new innovative start-up companies.

• Insuring against possible losses by start-up companies.

• Providing financial support for innovative start-up firms; expanding the START program of the Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises.

• Stimulating the development of venture financing; improving the legal regulation of the activities of venture funds; substantially expanding the scope of activities of the Venture Investment Fund.

• Forming the regulatory and organizational conditions necessary to establish a funds market for high-tech companies (creation of a “high-tech stock market”); assessing opportunities to create a specialized segment of the funds market for trading the securities of high-tech companies.

• Improving regulatory and legal conditions for the activities of state funds supporting innovation activities (primarily with regard to optimizing rules for the use of their financial resources).

• Determining procedures for establishing and transferring intellectual property rights in the course of carrying out innovation projects that have received support from state funds.

• Ensuring that support from state funds is awarded on a competitive basis and promoting the transparency of expenditures and results achieved.

• Improving the coordination of the activities of state funds supporting innovation activities to ensure the consistent support of innovation projects at all stages.

2. Developing the production technology infrastructure for innovation activity (technoparks, innovative technology centers, business incubators, technology transfer centers, and so forth).

• Facilitating the creation of technoparks for major universities and scientific organizations; developing normative mechanisms for transferring basic assets from universities or scientific institutions to technoparks, innovative technology centers, and business incubators.
• Developing regulatory and methodological documentation for determining the status of technoparks and business incubators that use state property to carry out their activities, as well as criteria for their creation and accreditation and for the duration of, and conditions for, their provision of infrastructure services to small innovative enterprises.

• Expanding the scope of activities of the Russian Fund for Technological Development with regard to the creation of elements of the regional innovation infrastructure, specifically innovative technology centers at major research and production complexes.

• Developing regulatory and legal procedures for transferring property complexes to innovative technology centers and technoparks in the course of privatization of state property.

• Forming technology transfer centers (patenting, investor searches, protection of intellectual property rights, and so forth) and resolving problems associated with budget financing and selection of optimal organizational and legal forms for independent technology promotion centers.

• Supporting the implementation of pilot projects resulting in the development of new mechanisms for the organization of scientific-technical activities (for example, with regard to the creation of Centers for the Commercialization of Scientific-Technical Developments at major scientific organizations).

3. Promoting the development of cooperative ties among elements of the innovation system.

• Providing financial support for R&D efforts carried out by small enterprises in cooperation with universities and scientific organizations.

• Developing the RAS “innovation belt,” specifically by implementing a special project to provide incentives for innovation activities in the RAS system within the framework of the TASIS program of the European Union.

• Adding innovation activities to the standard university charter as one of the basic types of chartered activities of such organizations.

• Developing and disseminating a sample format for contracts between an educational (or scientific) organization holding the legal right to intellectual capital and a small enterprise wishing to put this capital to productive use.

• Determining legal regulations with regard to special economic zones and on this basis creating technical innovation zones in close proximity to major scientific, production, and educational organizations.

• Expanding support for commercializing the research results of scientific collectives working jointly with small innovative enterprises (and expanding the corresponding joint program of the Russian Fund for Basic Research and the Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises).

4. Developing the information, expert consulting, and education infrastructures for innovation activities.

• Creating and supporting a federal-regional database on research developments of a technical nature created with the help of budget funds, including information on the application of these results in the economy.

• Promoting the staging of venture markets in the various Russian regions.

• Creating specialized databases for remote access to services related to innovation activities.

• Promoting the creation of expert consulting organizations to provide services related to problems of intellectual property, standardization, certification, and technology auditing.

• Supporting the creation of training centers to carry out information, dissemination, consulting, and training functions, in the form of both independent networks of centers as well as centers established at universities.

• Creating a system of multi-level continuing education programs in the innovation sphere, as well as a related process for shaping a culture of innovation in the research and business communities.

• Developing a list of required qualifications for specialists in the area of innovation activities.

• Creating a state order for professional retraining (continuing education) in the area of innovation activities for employees of state scientific and educational institutions.

• Organizing mandatory training for employees of state educational and scientific institutions in the form of professional retraining (continuing education) on innovation management.

• Developing a network of Centers for Continuing Education and Professional Retraining in the innovation sphere at universities licensed in this field in order to train instructors, and prepare educational and methodological materials.

• Implementing programs to support the training of personnel from new technology companies.

Programmatic Component

The programmatic component includes the following:

• Implementation of the section on development of the innovation infrastructure in the Federal Targeted Science and Technology Program entitled “Research and Development in Priority Areas for the Development of Science and Technology for 2002-2006.”

• Programs of the Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises.

• Implementation of the Federal Program for the Development of Education with regard to the training (retraining) of degreed specialists in the intellectual property sphere.