Journal of the National Research University Higher School of Economics

The latest issue of the Foresight and STI Governance journal (2023 vol. 17. No. 1) presents multi-vector strategies banks adopted during the pandemic, addresses the relationship between knowledge sharing and entrepreneurial potential, analyses the progress in developing energy storage technologies and novel cybersecurity solutions.

In difficult crisis periods such as the COVID-19 pandemic, large companies tend to flexibly respond to the changing context, diversify their assets, and expand into new, potentially lucrative but previously unfamiliar areas. In their paper “Technology-Intense Service Offerings in the Light of Economic Complexity: Establishing a Holistic Service Ecosystem” Veronika Belousova, Nikolai Chichkanov, Gregory Gashnikov, Zhaklin Krayushkina, and Thomas Wolfgang Thurner analyse the diversification strategies large banks employ to offer new, digital technologies-based services. Banks have quickly created integrated high-tech platforms to provide a wide range of services in the educational and medical sectors, which turned out to be particularly vulnerable during the pandemic. The relevant mechanisms are based on complex robotic and blockchain solutions.

High-tech companies are adopting new debt-free strategies at all development stages, which do not involve the use of borrowed funds but rely exclusively on in-house resources. This especially applies to software developers, and manufacturers of pharmaceutical and biotech products. Maria Kokoreva, Anastasia Stepanova, and Kirill Povkh examine such players’ strategies, and explain why companies opt for them in the publication “The New Strategy of High-Tech Companies - Hidden Sources of Growth. Foresight and STI Governance”.

Advancing battery technologies plays an important role in energy transition strategies. The paper “Reconfiguring the Energy Storage Landscape” by José Silva, Guilherme Távora, and Sandro Mendonça studies innovation trends in this segment by analysing relevant patents. Various battery types and components are considered, along with the use of green technologies in their production; a typology of battery innovations is proposed. The results can help make green technology investment decisions.

In their study “Adapting Innovation Development Management Processes to Improve Energy Efficiency and Achieve Decarbonisation Goals” Alexander Melnik, Irina Naoumova, and Kirill Ermolaev suggest approaches to solving decarbonisation problems in the scope of a possible modernisation of the Russian economy. An integrated approach to addressing the decarbonisation issue in the “innovation - energy efficiency – decarbonisation” format is proposed.

The paper “Innovation Scenarios for Ecuadorian Agrifood Network” by Cristian-Germán Hernández, Fernando Barragán-Ochoa, and Joshua Hurtado-Hurtado is focused on assessing possible prospects for the agro-food sector until 2035. Four realistic scenarios are suggested, the analysis of which allows to outline the steps to encourage local production networks to switch to favourable development paths.

Francisco Paredes-Leon, Marisela Rodriguez-Salvador, and Pedro F. Castillo-Valdez In the publication “Evaluating the Impact of Technology Transfer from the Perspective of Entrepreneurial Capacity” analyse the factors which promote or, conversely, hinder the transfer of technologies from universities to industry, and their role in strengthening entrepreneurial potential.

The paper “Smart Automation for Enhancing Cyber-Security” by Ângelo Neves and Virgínia Araújo presents approaches to improving intelligent automation platforms in large international organisations. The use of DevSecOps methodology to secure various robotic systems is considered.

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