R&D management model is changing
Discussions at the “Foresight and STI Policy” conference the HSE Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge is hosting for the sixth year in a row, highlight the changes in approaches to studying the current state and expected development trends in the S&T sphere. Major trends of Russian and international Foresight studies include deep integration of their results into science, technology and innovation (STI) policies at all levels, growing number (and complexity) of analytical techniques, and involvement of new actors.
Strategy-making time comes for science towns
Science towns are becoming serious players in the national strategic planning system. The federal law “On the Science Town Status” becomes valid in the next year, obliging the local authorities to design long-term socio-economic development strategies. Science towns’ mayors, members of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science, and experts from the Higher School of Economics discussed practical aspects of meeting the law’s requirements at a conference hosted by HSE on 5 July.
Plans for water
Russia’s fresh water supply is among the largest in the world, but these resources are not always used efficiently. According to Yuri Golubkov, director of S&T Policy and Modernisation department of Renova Group of Companies, optimising the water sector management first of all requires sorting out organisational and legal issues, followed by solving technological problems. In the framework of a joint HSE — Renova foresight project, HSE experts analysed strategic approaches to managing the water sector suggesting four different scenarios.