Journal of the National Research University Higher School of Economics

The new issue of the Foresight and STI Governance journal (2018 vol. 12 No. 3) presents various countries’ experience of managing innovation in the public and private sectors.

When the objective is to increase competitiveness, technological innovations are usually believed to be of paramount importance. Humanities and related aspects, which have a potential to significantly increase one’s advantages, typically are not taken into account. Jonathan Linton in his paper “Quiet Contributors: The Role of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences in Innovation” analyses the nature, and the depth of relationship between the humanities domain and innovation, and describes the contribution humanities and social sciences make to accomplishing socio-economic objectives in innovative ways.

Research aimed at solving social problems always enjoys unwavering public support. However, its potential effects are not usually taken into account by innovation policy developers. The publication by Irene Ek “Research Programmes that Address Societal Challenges — Aligning Policy, Implementation, and Expected Impact” presents an international analysis of interconnections between innovation policy and research programmes aimed at finding ways to meet social challenges.

The study “The Future of the Italian Electricity Generation Sector. An Analysis of the Possible Strategic Models” considers various development scenarios for the Italian energy sector. Vincenzo Bianco analyses the sector’s prospects in the light of the most recent EU regulations which promote development of renewable energy sources. Four different strategies are presented, along with an analysis of their consequences for energy producers.

The paper “Enhancing Innovation Performance at Companies” opens the “Company innovation” section of the journal. Jonathan Calof focuses on increasing productivity of innovation in the business sector. Introduction of targeted educational programmes for managers, designed taking into account specifically local economic and other factors would provide an optimal solution, and help businesses to advance to new heights.

Many companies face a difficult choice: develop innovations for the domestic market, or use their potential to move on to the international arena. In their paper “Internationalization and Innovation in Emerging Markets” Hein Roelfsema and Yi Zhang present a thorough analysis of numerous Chinese firms, which reveals a correlation between productivity, exports, and innovation activity. A new approach is suggested for designing support measures for different types of companies.

Elena Zavyalova, Artem Alsufyev, Inna Krakovetskaya, Wan Lijun, and Jessica Li analyse various ways to step up companies’ innovation activity, using Chinese experience as an example. Their paper “Personnel Development in Chinese Innovation-Active Companies” highlights the relationship between innovation activity results and the level of workers’ qualifications.

In recent decades IT transformed from a business support tool into a productivity driver, a major factor of innovation activity and digitalisation. In the paper “The Role of IT-Management in the Digital Transformation of Russian Companies” Volker Nissen, Tatiana Lezina, and Andrey Saltan look at specific features of IT management, assess its role in the digital transformation of large Russian companies, reveal hidden trends, and identify barriers hindering companies’ digitalisation.

Natalia Davidson, Oleg Mariev, and Andrey Pushkarev examine territorial aspects’ effect on companies’ ability to innovate. The paper “The Impact of Externalities on the Innovation Activity of Russian Firms” assesses these elements’ role in innovation activities of Russian enterprises.

You can buy the latest issue of the Foresight and STI Governance journal in Moscow at the HSE’s own shop BookVyshka (20 Myasnitskaya St.), or subscribe to the paper edition. The electronic version is freely available at the journal’s website, online libraries e-Library and Cyberleninka, and through mobile applications available at AppStore and GooglePlay.