Problems of innovative policy

Interest to research of modern innovative processes in economy is dictated by value of technological development as factor of competitiveness of the companies and countries. Became obvious that efficiency of use of scientific and technical achievements is defined not only level of scientific researches and development, but also a complex of the certain technical, production, organizational, marketing, financial operations which are making innovative process and being its integral elements. Formation of innovative policy demanded creation of adequate information base, and the answer to it was development of essentially new direction of national statistics of the innovations, urged to reflect processes of creation, introductions and distributions in the market of new or advanced products, services and technological processes.

Adequate reflection of specifics of national economy and features of the organization of domestic statistics were under construction so that to provide the logician of statistical inspections of innovations, reaching thus the maximum compliance to the standardized recommendations of the leading international organizations — OECD and Eurostat. We accepted the definitions used nowadays by the majority of the countries of the world, studying innovative activity. The end result of the innovative activity which has received an embodiment in the form of a new or advanced product or service belongs to technological innovations, introduced in the market, new or advanced technological process or a way of production (transfer) of the services used in practical activities. The innovation is considered carried out if it is introduced in production or in the market.

For use of this definition in statistics and the analysis, and also expansions of structure of signs for identification of the innovation-active enterprises the concept of innovative activity is entered also. Its following main types are allocated: researches and development; technological preparation and production organization; production design; start-up of production and preproduction development, including modifications of a product and technological process, personnel retraining for application of new technologies and the equipment, and also a pilot run if further completion of a design is supposed; marketing of new products; acquisition immaterial (the rights for patents, licenses, a know-how, etc.) and substantiated (in the form of cars and the equipment) technologies.

Thus, technological innovations in the interpretation nowadays accepted in statistics unite as radical innovations, i.e. essentially new products and technologies, and less significant from the point of view of novelty of change in products and the productions, prime costs conducting, for example, to decrease, production improvement of quality.

Qualitative content of innovative processes also undergoes eventually changes. The extremely unstable dynamics of the indicators characterizing activity of the enterprises for separate types of innovative activity testifies to it. Owing to the general disorder of reproduction activities for creation of innovative reserves for the enterprises now not a priority: if earlier their greatest number was occupied with performance of researches and development, in 2008 their share was sharply reduced — to 35 % of total number of the innovative enterprises. The similar situation makes negative impact on all innovative process, conducts to degradation of scientific and technical capacity of the industry, decrease in quality and level of novelty of carried-out innovations, loss by the independence enterprises in creation of innovations. When developing ready innovations only a third of the enterprises partially use services of the third-party organizations, another 19 % completely rely on them.

Present reference points of innovative activity are caused by insufficient competitiveness of domestic goods for a wide entry into the world markets. The enterprises in a bigger measure are inclined to production diversification, introduction of import-substituting production for fast satisfaction of internal demand.

Preservation of positions of domestic producers in domestic market is connected also with introduction of import-substituting production that is one more factor having essential impact on innovative strategy. The purposes of creation of new sales markets abroad had the smallest rating among other problems of innovative activity. So, advance of innovative production only 14 % of the enterprises which were carrying out innovations, for the markets of South East Asia planned 3, 1 % for the markets of CIS countries — 5, 6, Western Europe — 4, 7, and the USA and Canada — only.

In structure of expenses for technological innovations sharp disproportions between separate types of innovative activity are observed. Here obviously the expenses connected with introduction of innovations, reaching nearly 60 % of the general innovative expenses and including production design, technological preparation of production, and also acquisition of necessary cars and the equipment dominate. At the same time hardly sufficient it is possible to consider costs of acquisition of patent licenses (0, 4 %), training and personnel preparation (0, 4 %), market researches (0, 5 %).

At the heart of low productivity of innovations the complex of factors lies. The unstable economic situation in the country complicates a reliable assessment of demand for innovative production even on short-term prospect. Sometimes need for similar production can disappear even before its emergence in the market. In total with insufficient experience of market researches the called factors serve as a serious obstacle on a way of advance of new products to the consumer in domestic market. And low level of competitiveness of innovative production and services complicates their advance on foreign markets.

The analysis of use of various sources of information for implementation of innovations testifies that the highest ratings have internal sources at the enterprises. Most their part is compelled to count mainly on own forces. The similar situation remains for all last years, it is characteristic almost for all industries, excepting a number of the productions connected mainly with consumer goods (the textile, furniture industry) where the greatest distribution was gained by such source of information as exhibitions, fairs, other advertizing means. Presentation and relative availability put them in a row most used sources of information for implementation of innovative activity. On an equal basis with it is quoted also such, as opinion of consumers, as the most total and objective characteristic of internal demand for this production.

The factors interfering innovative activity can be divided into two main groups — economic and production. The greatest influence is made by economic difficulties, first of all a lack of own money; the rating of this factor reaches the second year the highest values. Affect also insufficient financial support from the state, the considerable cost of innovations, low solvent demand for new products, high economic risk and long payback periods of innovations [1].

Among the factors of production character interfering innovations, the greatest concern causes the low innovative capacity of the enterprise. In general, on the production reasons of the enterprise point less than to the economic. The lack of information on the new technologies, almost total absence of information on sales markets and insufficient opportunities for cooperation with other enterprises and the scientific organizations — all these negative circumstances are a consequence of a rupture of the developed in pre-perestroika times productive and economic and information communications. Recession of industrial production caused outflow of qualified personnel, and many respondents note their shortcoming as one more serious factor interfering innovations.

In total specified factors interfered with promotion of nearly 5000 innovative projects from which 39 % were long detained, 27 — are stopped or at all stopped, and 34 % — aren't begun even not.

Features of innovative activity in a services sector which in innovative activity is presented, generally two branches — communication and financial mediation. From the organizations surveyed by us development and deployment of technological innovations in 2008 was carried out only by 2,4 %, i.e. the domestic sector of services is characterized by lower level of innovative activity, than the industry. The highest size of this indicator belongs to communication branch — 5, 5 %, for it are necessary nearly 90 % of all innovative expenses in this sector of economy.

At the same time the analysis testifies to higher level of novelty of innovations in the sphere of small business in comparison with large and average. Confirmation to that is a considerable share of the small enterprises which are carrying out scientific researches and development in connection with estimated innovations. In 2010 a half of small enterprises was engaged in scientific activity, and at large and medium-sized enterprises this size made 35 %. Innovations help small enterprises to achieve competitive advantages in the market, promoting the solution of their main objective — to providing consumers with more quality goods, and it is desirable for the acceptable price, at the minimum costs of production. In this regard one more very characteristic line for small enterprises is highlighted: rather high productivity of innovative activity. At the small enterprises which have relied on concrete innovations, the indicator of specific weight of innovative production in a total amount of the shipped makes quite high size for our economy, almost by 4 times exceeding a similar indicator of the medium-sized and large enterprises.

Summing up the results told, it is possible to establish that fact that modern development of innovative processes is in all branches of national economy while at very low level. To it testify: low indicators of level of innovative activity, volumes of expenses for technological innovations and their productivity, insufficient use of scientific capacity of the country, backwardness of innovative infrastructure. It is obvious that independence and an initiative of the enterprises in advance of innovations have paramount value. At the same time, considering rigid character of the carried-out economic reforms, the indifference of legislative and executive power observed today to proceeding innovative processes is represented inadmissible. It is necessary to provide, first of all, more essential support of the state, and also adoption of the laws providing real guarantees and incentives for domestic and foreign investments into innovative activity.

References:

1.                  OECD, Eurostat (2010), Proposed Guidelines for Collecting and Interpreting Technological Innovation Data: Oslo Manual, Paris.