Project proposal Analysis of innovative ecosystem emergence
Project Proposal
Supervisors:
Moscow 2011
Abstract. Innovative ecosystems are a new phenomenon that can possibly change the global economy. The general purpose of this academic project is to examine existing innovative ecosystems and to study the possibility of appearance of one in the Russian Federation. The results anticipated could reveal more information on catalyst factors for evolution of innovative ecosystems and advance our understanding of making best conditions for the subject to grow. This issue requires further investigation and theoretical formalization. In future it seems worthwhile to focus on investigation of new possible innovative ecosystems like Skolkovo. Further research in this area could provide governments with tools for supplying growth of innovative ecosystems.
The proposal includes four sections: introduction to the study, review of the literature, methodology, and report on the results anticipated and summary.
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Introduction
The first part of the proposal includes four sections: the background of the study, the problem statement, the professional significance of the study and the delimitations of the study.
Background of the study. Innovation is a new trend in modern economy; it is becoming the key to successful business. Nowadays you can’t simply make a new product and hope that it will be bought. If you want to be a truly leader, you have to create an ecosystem around your product. The best examples to support this statement can be Apple or Google (Iphone and Android devices).
There is currently the growing interest in the problem of innovation and innovative ecosystems especially. Innovation is a core component of modern global economy because nowadays the owner of technology is a winner, technology and invention are the engine of modern society, speed of technology changes becomes more rapid every second. And an innovative ecosystem is said to be the center of technology.
In Russia the course of rebuilding economy was announced and it is expected to shift from resource-based economy to innovation-based one. The Russian government thinks that the key to make this happen lies in growing innovation ecosystems all over the country starting from Moscow’s Skolkovo. However, the process of innovative ecosystems emergence has not been carefully examined yet, so it is hard to give a clear answer to what causes appearance of innovative ecosystems.
The major problems while analyzing a wide range of contemporary studies investigating innovative ecosystems emergence are contradictory scholars’ theories about the role of the government in the process of innovative ecosystems emergence and almost impossibility to practically study the subject due to its complexity.
Problem statement. The general purpose of this study is to find out the most suitable conditions for innovative ecosystems to emerge and to grow, what factors can influence this process and what the role of the government in this process is. The present research could point out possible actions for influencing innovative ecosystems emergence.
It is still questionable what causes innovative ecosystems to emerge and how the government can interfere in this process to speed it up, so the goal of the present study is to solve these problems, to expand the existing model to make it more relevant, up-to-date and viable.
Professional significance of the study. Finding out key factors for innovative ecosystems to emerge will help scholars to work out a model for governments to supply an economy by speeding innovations up. Basic principles of innovative ecosystems emergence should be understood for adaption the American model to a national economy.
One part of the study will be focused on the possibility of innovative ecosystems emergence in the Russian Federation. The idea of creating innovatiove ecosystem in Skolkovo has been at the heart of numerous discussions by the renowned scientists and journalists. However this problem remains still uncertain and questionable. It is necessary to admit that economic and social conditions in Russian Federation differ from the ones in America and this fact will have the impact on distinctions between Russian innovative ecosystems emergence and American ones. Nevertheless there should be basic principles of this process that don’t transform depending on a country. It seems likely that the Russian government and Russian scientist should take into account American experience while creating necessary conditions for Russian innovative ecosystems and this study could reveal the most valuable information from American innovative ecosystems emergence.
It is significant to mention that although innovative ecosystems are of top priority for various scholars there almost was no effort to combine all results anticipated in previous studies and to distinguish basic principles of innovative ecosystems emergence that could work both in America and Russian Federation or any other country. Therefore I believe that the findings of the study will further elucidate the potential of growing an innovative ecosystem in Russia and deepen and understanding of the problem. To recapitulate the research findings it is possible to state that the results could be utilized for the Russian innovative ecosystem Skolkovo.
Delimitations of the study. The research study will be limited by the selection of innovative ecosystems. Primarily the Silicon Valley and Skolkovo will be in focus of this work. However, the present study will touch upon other innovative ecosystems, but it is obvious that all innovative ecosystems can’t be investigated.
The further limitations will be provided by the method of data collection. The usage of secondary data which will generally include non-quantitative information will constrict the bonds of the research.
There will be limitations concerning that the project of Skolkovo has not been fully started and it is hard to analyze it at present and predict its development.
Definitions of the key terms. Innovation is the process that renews something that exists and not, the introduction of something new. In economy innovation means the introduction of a new method of production, the opening of a new market, the conquest of a new source of supply or raw materials or half-manufactured goods, the carrying out of the new organization of any industry [10].
Ecosystem is a self-contained system In other words it is all-sufficient and reserved so it can be stable for a long period of time.
The concept of the innovative ecosystem describes the flow of technology and information among people, enterprises and institutions as a key to an innovations process. The interaction between the actors transforms an idea into a process, product or service on market.