The Thorny Path to Innovative Economy

Formation of an innovative economy in Russia is vital for ensuring national security and for improving the quality of life. A further rolling down of the Russian economy into export specialization can be interrupted only by creating an innovative economy, while the natural and physical capital are replacing by human capital. The essence of the concepts of modernization and innovation and their interactions and role in the innovative economy are revealed. The draft of the strategy “Innovative Russia 2020” is critically reviewed. The factors and characteristics of the innovation process, its main stages and generations are revealed from the standpoint of system analysis. Problems and main approaches to launch the innovation process and to formation of the National Innovation System "from above" are analysed. Based on the position of system analysis that those systems, which obtain information for their development based on self-regulation and self-organization, are the most organized, it is concluded that the formation of such systems with the necessary knowledge and creativity, should be the main concern of the education system and the condition of starting the innovation process “from below”.

innovation, modernization, innovation process, innovative economy, the national innovation system, system development, regulation, self-organization, knowledge