Transformation Processes and Innovation Potential Building

In the latest issue of journal "Foresight and STI Governance" (Vol 19 No 4 2025) transformation in various spheres and primarily in education is the unifying theme of most articles. There is no set pattern in transition processes, which could serve as a success recipe. Nevertheless, the first realized projects represent new, valuable experience for searching ways to contextual adaptation of transformation transition strategies.

AI implementation transforms many areas. Yaroslav Kuzminov and Ekaterina Kruchinskaia in the article "Efficiency Assessment of the Artificial Intelligence Market: Exploring the Limits" analyze the relative efficiency of the Generative AI (GenAI) market, comparing the component market size (the hardware market) with the market size of AI solutions (the software market). It turned out that the software market is in a catch-up position in relation to the hardware market. Large-scale investments in hardware infrastructure have not resulted yet to comparable growth of software sector. Identified imbalance serves as starting point to opportunities finding for more effective generative models development.

The need to comply with new economic models is driving toward social and technological transformation, which presents increasingly complex requirements. Michinaga Kohno and Irina Ilina in the article "Transformational Urban Transitions Towards a New Type of Sustainability" explore presence of specific potential as one of the key components determining a success of transformation projects. Empirical data from cities reveal key patterns, namely, consensus building among all participants, without which transformative initiatives risk adding to the dominant statistics of failures. The analysis of factors enriches our understanding of the specifics of transformational transitions, not so much from the point of view of technological capabilities, but rather from the perspective of contextual and cultural differences and a certain degree of maturity of urban management teams and the population. Its results may be useful for leaders initiating long-term radical transformations in various sectors to transition to sustainability and a new quality of development.

Concerning to transformation transition in economic sectors, Nicola Magaletti, Valeria Notarnicola, Mauro di Molfetta, Stefano Mariani, Angelo Leogrande share their knowledge in the article "Towards Innovative Production Model: Digital Transformation in Small and Medium Enterprises." This transition is particularly challenging for small companies. Even with the availability of advanced technologies, digital transformation may not happen if company's management models, strategy, and culture are not adapted to increasingly complex context. The case of Tecnomulipast (Italy) challenges established ideas about how to overcome structural constraints, demonstrates the possibility of breaking the old paradigm and escaping “path dependency,” and reveals a changing nature of potential for sustainable development. The study fills managerial, technological, and contextual gaps in research on the digitalization of SMEs and offers conclusions that are of practical use in shaping regional innovation policy.

Digital platforms are effective tool to optimize public service management and play key role in public procurement and investment planning. However, their role in value creation remains underexplored. Paolo Pariso and Alfonso Marino in their work "Beyond Compliance: Evaluating the Governance Capacity of Public Digital Platforms in Sustainable Supply Chains" fill this gap by analyzing five Italian platforms (ANAC, OpenCUP, MePA, Italia Domani и ReGiS) using multidimensional model. Documents analysis and maturity modeling enabled to identify different level of compatibility, traceability and potential for strategic coordination of platforms. This study contributes to understanding how digital infrastructures shape public value through supply chain reform.

Educational systems around the world meet inability to contribute to large-scale challenges consideration. The dominant model of higher education, rooted in disciplinary silos, objectivity, and linear knowledge transfer, prepares subjects with sets of competences that are inappropriate for the contemporary context. At the same time, a number of countries are already moving away from such principles and actively transforming their educational systems. Marcus Anthony in his publication "Rethinking Global Education for Sustainability: Learning from East Asia’s Relational Turn" reveals these processes in China, Japan and South Korea, where alternative ontological and pedagogical foundations are reviving for their introducing to renewed programs. Three key aspects are emphasized – new type of pedagogical relations, ethical self-cultivation, and self- renewal as modes of transformative engagement. Through a multi-level Causal Layered Analysis, the paper assesses the depth of current East Asian reforms penetration in structural, ideological foundations. These countries study proposes that sustainable educational transformation requires more than policy reform. It demands a civilizational shift from mechanistic cognition toward metamorphic learning, wherein education fosters planetary wisdom, systemic awareness, and compassion as the basis for sustainable human futures.

A feedback from students plays a major role in transforming educational system and increasing its effectiveness. To improve this component, new technologies, including AI have been used in recent years. Sabur Butt, Sandra Dennis Núñez Daruich, Joanna Alvarado-Uribe, Hector G. Ceballos in their article "Cutting-edge Technologies for Analyzing Student Feedback to Inform Institutional Decision-making in Higher Education" compare effectiveness of AI models in collecting and processing of students’ feedback. Comparisons of various models classes effectiveness show ambiguity. Large language models provide more complete understanding of responses diversity, while fine-tuned transformer models provide greater scalability and interpretability of survey results. Both tools transform unstructured feedback into structured insights, aiding educators and institutions in enhancing teaching quality and student engagement. The study results can serve as a basis for improving curricula, evaluating teachers, and management decisions making in higher education.

Olga Ustyuzhantseva in her paper "Imagining the Digital University: Infrastructural Logics and Institutional Futures in the Global South" examines national strategies of digital transformation in higher education in India, China and South Africa. It demonstrates how digitalization is changing the content, operational logic, and autonomy of universities. Three dominant models are identified: the Chinese model—a technocratic centralized strategy with algorithmic monitoring and STEM prioritization; the Indian model—open digital architectures preserving institutional discretion within a federal governance structure; the South African model—flexible decentralization emphasizing equity and epistemic decolonization. These models reveal contradictions between strategic coordination and autonomy, equity and efficiency, infrastructural control and pedagogical reflexivity. The study demonstrates that digital infrastructures determine not only access to education but also academic temporality, agency, and epistemic authority. The proposed understanding of digital transformation as an infrastructural imaginary contributes to critical debates on higher education reform and global governance under conditions of systemic uncertainty.

Open access to e-version of the issue is on the journal website. It will be available shortly in on-line libraries e-Library and Киберленинка, mobile platforms AppStore and Google Play. The printed version can be purchased at HSE bookstore "BukVyshka" (20 Myasnitskaya St.) starting from October 2025, as well as by subscription.