The debate about the innovative development of the national economy is conducted in Ukraine for more than ten years. This issue was discussed at three Ukrainian conferences under the direct chairmanship of former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, at numerous meetings of the various governments in the prestigious international events, including the Innovation Forum under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (November 2010). However, the major public institutions in the innovation process in Ukraine were seen the research institutes, high-tech businesses and governments. Universities were not regarded as serious participants and partners in this process. The rector of the National Technical University of Ukraine "Kyiv Polytechnic Institute" Academician Michael Zgurovsky shares his thoughts on the key role of universities in the innovative development of Ukraine, the problems encountered in this field, and ways to solve them .
- Michael Zakharovich. why, in contrast to developed countries, in Ukraine, a university education and science are not regarded as defining units of innovative development of society?
- This approach emerged in the Soviet period and transferred to the inertia moment. It was believed that to the classical education is unnatural close interaction with the high-tech manufacturing, and not every student who acquires basic education required entrepreneurial knowledge and competence. In those days, the manufacturing sector, academia and higher education were tied in a single innovation complex by the bodies of centralized planning and control. Now the centralized management of the state is absent. In a market economy, the state has to offer only the rules of innovation development, policy and resource stimulate important projects and programs. All other types of interaction between participants in the innovation process should be carried out independently on the basis of their mutual interests.
On this occasion, it is interesting the point of view professor at Stanford University and the Center for Research in Entrepreneurship Business School, University of Edinburgh Henry Etzkowitz, author of a new model of organization of the innovation process, which he termed a model "triple helix" ("Expert", №49 (733) December 13, 2010).
Etzkowitz approach based on the fact that in today's society an University is appeared to be the core of innovation. It begins to work closely with the business, performing for his research and creating a flow of know-how in order to continuously improve the products and services produced by the business. In this model, the university becomes the main focus of state efforts and resources for innovation. Universities this type of research are called, or they are called by Etzkowitz - entrepreneurial. Of course, research university retains all the academic component, but it works simultaneously in three interrelated areas: teaching, research, innovative introduction of high technology and output them to markets (technology transfer).
- Are there any examples of the application of the model "triple helix" in Ukraine?
- The science park "Kyiv Polytechnic" at KPI, created in accordance with the Act of 22 December 2006, is working exactly by this model for the fifth year. On the legal form this is a corporation,based on a combination of interests of participants. It rallied today 55 foreign and Ukrainian high-tech companies, about a hundred research groups and laboratories KPI creating for them competitive flow of know-how. It includes more than 20 engineering schools that prepare high-quality staff for companies several venture capital and investment funds, which, if necessary, serve individual investors, start-up projects. To work the science park attracts more students who not only work in his company, but also create the structure of the business incubator park own little company to bring to market their inventions and projects.
The activities of the park are based not on tax and customs privileges, but on the interests of the participants of the innovation process. Companies are interested in a regular flow of new inventions in order to modernize and improve the competitiveness of products. Scientists are interested in the practical implementation of their inventions and receiving royalties from these activities; university faculties and departments - in getting places for the students, new jobs for graduates to upgrade their educational and scientific base with the help of companies; venture capital and investment funds - in search of new innovative projects that would enable them to gain new profits.
- Can the science park "Kyiv Polytechnic" already boast by some of its achievement?
- Synergies between participants Science Park leads to the creation of new high-tech products and technology transfer. Over the last five years, the Science Park was able to bring to market more than 150 new technologies and products with significant social and economic effect. Details of these developments can be found on the website (http://ukrainemade.com/). Experience has shown that such an innovative environment is extremely sensitive to rapid perception of the best international practices. Students and scholars who actually perform the role of R & D companies - in search of all the new things that appear in the world in areas of their cooperation with companies. In the future, such innovative environment could become "islands breakthrough" for the economic recovery of Ukraine and its entry into the international system of education, science and innovation.
- How are the relations with the state and the productive sector in the environment of science park your university?
- In the "triple helix" model of Etzkowitz the main participants in the innovation process are: the state, which provides resources, political and legislative support to such breakthrough islands, the universities, which are the backbone elements of the innovation process, and high-tech business, which is the principal customer and conductor to the high technology markets.
As for the science park "Kyiv Polytechnic", there are only two active participants: the university and the manufacturing sector (US companies Netkracker, USPolytech, EPAMSystems, "the European Institute of Innovative Technologies" (London), the German Research Center "Evrotsentrum"; Ukrainian companies - group DF, "Datagroup", "Nature Technologies", "Yuavia", Kherson enterprise "Sudmash", concern "Ukrpozhservis", Kiev enterprise "Meridian" and others). The state has practically no interest in work experience of the first science park of the country. Meanwhile, the state could make an order to the creation of high technology for mission-critical areas: the economy of resources, biotechnology for food agricultural sectors of industry, information systems for efficient management of the various levels of society, and the like. Such a policy would ensure the reduction of high-tech imports in these areas.
- What are the main constraints in Ukraine for accelerated innovation development?
- In our opinion, they are as follows:
Ukraine's rejection of the policy priority scientific and technological development, exclusion of the main productive forces of science, advanced education and innovation. Instead, it is the orientation of Ukraine's foreign borrowing, which, unfortunately, is not used for investment in new technologies and means of production in order to reproduce and increase the gross national product. Since independence, Ukraine has increased its foreign borrowing by 17 times, and at the end of 2010, total public and publicly guaranteed debt of the state amounted to 52 billion dollars. Now the debt is approaching 40% of GDP. Although this percentage is still far from the critical threshold (80-100% of GDP), the trend of deepening debt bondage is very worrying.
Repeated attempts to reform the national science and education remained and still remain "cosmetic" because they never had a holistic cross-sectoral nature and are not directed to the innovative development of the state. They do not united in a single complex manufacturing sector, creating public goods, products and services, and its personnel and scientific support. There is no concentration of intellectual resources on strategically important areas of development. In general, we have more than 30 managers of budgetary funds allocated for science. They act on their local programs, without overall coordination and common goals.
Urgent problem of Ukraine - an imbalance of the structure and volume of the state order for training to labor market needs and perspective directions of development of the country. And yet - the inconsistency of professional and educational qualifications, which leads to uncertainty educational levels and, in particular, the educational qualification of "Bachelor" in the domestic labor market, while this level in European countries has a very clear position.
- It is known that the state, who have learned to protect and effectively use its intellectual property, have made considerable progress in innovative development. How do you assess the state of affairs in this important area in our country?
- I think the ability to protect the intellectual property and effectively manage it is the weakest link in the Ukraine. Current legislation excludes from the innovation cycle state itself and research institutes and universities, as the authors of Ukrainian patents are only scientists who are unable to self-organize to market their inventions (technology transfer), in contrast, for example, from the American experience, where the Bayh-Dole act of 1980 clearly defined procedure for obtaining a university patent rights and transfer of these rights to the state in case of inefficient use.
Ukraine also has no experience writing patents by the patent attorneys, who, as lawyers, are able to protect the main grain of the invention. The vast majority of Ukrainian patents are written by the scientists that are easy to reveal the main idea of the invention, but are not able to protect it legally.
In addition, between the patent and the introduction of the goods / services in Ukraine, there is a huge gap. This is due to the fact that the research institutions or universities require from the scientists only preparation and registration of patents, rather than the number of licenses sold based start-up companies or volumes of money earned through the commercialization of inventions. Ukrainian institutes and universities do not establish a high-tech companies - because it is not accepted because they do not have that right.
In addition, we do not have mechanisms to promote and encourage innovation. On the contrary, the commercialization of inventions in Ukraine is resistance because not focused on innovative development of the tax system, contradictory legislation, raiding, etc.
And finally, in Ukraine there are small amount of foreign and national investors high-tech business. They do not go into this sector, given the lack of mechanisms for innovation, legislation and stability.
- What should be changed in the country, to move along the path of innovative development?
- In our opinion, the following steps are needed:
First. Start effective government policies to priority scientific and technological development (now such policy is only declared). It is obvious that this policy should be among the main policy frameworks major political parties in Ukraine, become a priority in real actions and executives and all levels of government - as an important component of the national idea.
Second. Create an innovative model of the state development on the basis of approved by the law of Ukraine (adopted in November 2010) six priority areas of scientific and technological development in accordance with the available natural and human resources, geopolitical situation and geographical position of Ukraine. On the basis of these priorities one should start strategic development program (national program) that will combine their own research and development, its own personnel support (advanced university degree), the domestic manufacturing sector and business. Improve governance innovation by improving the coordination of all components of the innovation process (competitive science, advanced education, high-tech manufacturing, business) on the examples of the USA, Japan, the United Europe.
Third. It is advisable to carry out a series of measures aimed at improving the competitiveness of the national science and education. From a wide range of scientific research and training, traditionally carried out in Ukraine it should be allocated those where there are appropriate conditions for the creation of so-called islets breakthrough (powerful scientific schools, material resources, leadership positions, etc.). In these areas (for Ukraine their number should not exceed ten) is necessary to concentrate the best human and financial resources to provide administrative support, integration, especially university research and segments for personnel support research programs. Numerous managers of credit funds allocated for science, must be coordinated by the authorities to direct these resources to important for the state lines of development.
To reduce the gap between the academic and university science one need to create such common educational and scientific environment in which science transfers to the education the latest advances, forming its advanced content, and educational component fills the scientific sphere with talented young people, which will increase future scientists owning modern methodology of science. In such environments, it virtually disappears the boundary between research and thesis or course work, between the teacher and scholar.
One need to get a proper understanding of the autonomy of the universities in our country. Autonomous should by those universities which have reached the objective relevant intellectual and moral standards and not the ones appointed by the high offices, as it happened in 2008-2009. And the state, being interested in the existence of such centers independent opinion, should guarantee and provide conditions for their activities.
Fourth. Lead to "common denominator" requirements for specialists of various skill levels from both the employers and by education. The main instruments to facilitate the process of effective interaction between the world of work and education, is compatible with the common European qualification framework of the National Qualifications Framework of Ukraine, balanced with the needs of the labor market and promising directions of development of the country's state order for training.
Fifth. Complete the formation of a single legislative field of innovation by making additions to the previously adopted several dozen laws and various departmental documents and their mutual agreement. But in general it is time for the preparation and adoption of the Innovation Code of Ukraine.
This code, in our opinion, is to eliminate a number of limiting factors for the development of innovation and investment business in Ukraine. A very important part of the legislative field of innovation should be laws and regulations that would have settled the question of granting tax and customs privileges technology parks. We believe that such preferences should be left only for a small number of national projects (no more than ten). The mechanism of state support for innovation technology parks should be greatly simplified in the formal part - with compulsory procedure for representatives of the market of high technologies.
Second, while not well designed, the type of innovation refers to the so-called mass innovation, which in developed countries to cover 90-100% of the total volume of high-tech business. This kind of activity in Ukraine is regulated by two laws concerning the science parks. It does not require the provision of any benefits from the state and is based solely on mutual interests and motivations of participants in the innovation process.
It is important to provide innovative development both in the main industrial and scientific development of the regions of Ukraine. The interest of local authorities to support and develop their innovative environments is that the latter give the region an additional and intellectually-oriented jobs, attracting external investment capital. Foreign experience shows that local authorities provide their innovative environment (science parks, Technopolis, business incubators, etc.) for the development of the territory, premises, sometimes owns part of shares to participate in the management of innovative structure.
- How do you assess the prospect of realization in Ukraine innovative project modeled on the Russian "Skolkovo"?
- I'm not an optimist possible implementation in Ukraine, as they say, from scratch, in the new territory ultramodern scientific and technological complex for the development and commercialization of new technologies. Firstly, because in the present state of the economy of Ukraine, the State would be very difficult to concentrate funds in the amount of 6.4 billion US dollars, as it is planned for the project "Skolkovo" on the construction of a new innovation city. Second, even assuming that the necessary infrastructure will be constructed, one can hardly hope that the current image of our country as a country without an effective innovation policy and that increasingly puts his head in "debt noose", we would go to the authoritative international companies with "high-tech". Third, in a new place one can to make modern buildings, equip them with the latest scientific equipment, but it is impossible, even decades, to create a research university of high level with recognized scientific schools, traditions and standards. Namely, the university should be a key part of the scientific and technological complex. Because the university is a place which tens of thousands of students with new ideas are going through, and these ideas under favorable conditions can be successfully commercialized and marketed. In addition, the effective functioning of these innovative cities is only possible if they have the necessary social conditions and cultural environment, it is not realistic to create a new place. Fourth, I do not really believe in the success of innovative projects in which the government takes an active role in the direct management of innovation, including participation in the management, budgetary financing, etc., as provided in the "Skolkovo". The main role of the state should be to create favorable conditions and rules of innovation.
Recall that the most innovative projects of the world were created by young inventors without the direct participation of the state. Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer in their student years, have come up with and implement operating systems for personal computers, gave life to the company "Microsoft". Steve Wozniak (by the way, Ukrainian origin) and Steve Jobs also still students created the first computers "Mac". Michael Zuckerberg as a student Harvard, has developed a social network "Facebook", young graduates of Stanford University Bill Gyulet and Dave Packard developed a new generation of testing and measuring equipment, which was the start of the world famous company "Gyulet-Packard." Such examples are many. But they have in common is that young inventors took advantage of favorable conditions for innovation, which established the state, and further, already without its participation, realized a global innovation projects.
If we go back to being able to create an innovative environment in Ukraine, then, in my opinion, such protection could be successfully developed on the basis of existing universities and research centers of industrial and scientific development of the regions of Ukraine, which has the scientific and engineering schools, where the new conditions revived high-tech industries, where there is the understanding of the power of innovative development of the region.