On June 5, during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), a meeting was held between the heads of the Association of Innovative Regions of Russia (AIRR) and the All-Russian public organization "Business Russia" under the chairmanship of Maxim Oreshkin, Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, with the participation of Rustam Minnikhanov, Chairman of the AIRR Council and President of the Republic of Tatarstan, and with the support of the Government of St. Petersburg.
The meeting was attended by Maxim Reshetnikov, Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Vasily Osmakov, First Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Alexander Smekalin, Director of AIRR, Alexey Repik, Chairman of "Business Russia", and governors of AIRR regions.
The participants discussed the goals and objectives set at the federal level for the implementation of the country's new scientific and technological policy, shared their opinions on which innovation support tools and infrastructure facilities have proven effective at the regional level, and what is still lacking.
Rustam Minnikhanov emphasized that the Association of Innovative Regions of Russia (AIRR) has established itself as an effective platform for exchanging best practices and scaling successful initiatives. Currently, the Association includes 18 regions that produce about a quarter of the GDP and over a third of the country's total innovative products.
Natalia Popova, the First Deputy General Director of the non-governmental development institute "Innopraktika," also participated in the meeting. She particularly noted that it is "critically important for small and medium-sized high-tech businesses" to have access to long-term and affordable financing and growth programs.
"The main role in the import substitution of high technologies belongs to this business – companies with a capitalization of 300 million to 10 billion, significant export potential, and substantial R&D expenditures. Almost all of them are represented in the regions of the AIRR," the speaker noted.
According to Ms. Popova, companies often turn to "Innopraktika" for assistance in establishing themselves in the territory of special economic zones (SEZ), which is not an easy task. Previously, regions considered special zones as "rusty trains," but today, thanks to the preferences they offer, they are seen as "golden."
The AIRR conducted its own in-depth research on the topic and developed the Regional Innovation Development Index (I-Index, hereinafter referred to as the Index).
"The Index combines six areas corresponding to the innovation life cycle: human potential for innovation, financial support for innovations, development of innovation infrastructure, conducting research and creating developments, technology transfer and commercialization of innovations, and socio-economic effects," explains Alexander Smekalin, Director of the Association of Innovative Regions of Russia. "We tried to correlate the effects that each of these support measures brings to the regions."
According to the AIRR study, there are about two thousand facilities for innovation and investment infrastructure operating in the Russian Federation. Notably, every third innovative facility is located in the regions that are part of the AIRR. Following numerous interviews and a review of practices, it became clear that many facilities could be more effective if they were not confined to "industry wells." They could complement each other.
Governor of the Tomsk Region Vladimir Mazur expressed the need to "systematize all support programs at the federal level and streamline development institutions" so that the programs offered by the state are as clear as possible to businesses.
"Considering the specifics of special economic zones of the technical implementation type, we propose to extend the benefits that apply in innovative scientific and technological centers to them," suggested the Governor of the Tomsk Region.
Alexander Smekalin also spoke about the regional index of demand for personnel for the innovative economy (STEM), which was created by the analytical group of the AIRR and published in May of this year. The study highlights trends and new centers of attraction for specialists in high-tech industries.
The AIRR team continues its work at SPIEF-2024. It is worth noting that the Association of Innovative Regions of Russia participates annually in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. In 2023, more than 100 business meetings and signings in the fields of economics, territorial development, and intergovernmental relations took place at the AIRR's venue during the forum. As a result of the forum, the AIRR regions reported multi-billion investments attracted to their territories.