Race Against Time: Russia’s Path to Sustainable Development and the Role of Science and Technology
UNESCO has released its seventh official Science Report. The document is published every five years*. This Science Report’s title, ‘The Race Against Time for Smarter Development’, reflects the trajectory of global transformation stipulated by the United Nations in its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030, from ending poverty to protecting the planet’s natural resources. The authors of the Report describe how science contributes to these goals, analyze global scientific trends, and present 23 detailed regional and national cases. Below, IQ.HSE examines the objectives Russian science is pursuing in the context of the SDGs and what efforts it is taking to achieve them. This article is based on the Russian chapter of the Report prepared by Leonid Gokhberg, First Vice Rector, Director of the Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge (ISSEK) of HSE University, and Tatiana Kuznetsova, Academic Supervisor of the Centre for Science, Technology, Innovation and Information Policy at ISSEK, HSE University.
Figure of the Day: 85%
of Russians believe the current rate of S&T development is excessively high.
10% of Patents in G20 Countries are Registered to Women
The new IQ.HSE figure of the day is taken from the review published by the HSE ISSEK Information and Coordination Centre for Cooperation With the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, based on the OECD report 'Bridging the Digital Gender Divide: Include, Upskill, Innovate'.
How Equality Started in Research
Legally, the 1917 revolution solved the gender issue in the Russian academic community. The doors to the profession opened for women, but a ‘glass ceiling’ remained. Ekaterina Streltsova and Evgenia Dolgova studied who it affected and why. This study is the first to present a socio-demographic analysis of the female academic community in Moscow and Leningrad during the early Soviet era.
Figure of the Day: 0.1% is Russia’s Share in the Global Exports of ICT Products
Major exporters of information and communication technologies-based products (such as computers, communication equipment, household electronics, etc.) are China (32,3%), the US (9,7%), Singapore, and the Republic of Korea (7,6% each).
Russia Moves to the 10th Place in R&D Expenditures Ranking
IQ.hse.ru: The HSE Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge presented a ranking of 20 countries — leaders in terms of gross domestic expenditures on research and development (GERD).
The World Cup Did Not Change the Economic Mood in Russia
While the degree of pessimism of elderly consumers continues to decline, the optimism of young people has declined for the first time in the last 2.5 years. Almost a quarter of the population is still dissatisfied with their financial situation; income of half of the families do not allow them to make large purchases. HSE ISSEK Centre for Business Tendencies Studies studied expectations of Russian consumers in the II quarter of 2018. Director of the Centre for Business Tendencies Studies Georgy Ostapkovich spoke about the projections that resulted from the observations.
How the Industry Spends Money on Innovation
The proportion of innovative products from the Russian manufacturing industry on the global market is not more than 1%. Most of the products are either "breakthrough" for organisations, but already common in the industry (65%), or are an improvement based on previous products (about 23%), according to the HSE ISSEK information bulletin series “Science, Technology, Innovation”.
Infantilism as a Norm
Infantilism becomes a social trend, it is no longer perceived unambiguously negative, age boundaries are revised. Elena Sabelnikova, Deputy Director at the OECD – HSE Partnership Centre, and Natalia Khmeleva in their study examined the factors, due to which growing up is increasingly postponed.
Information Security and Mobile Applications Will Set Development Trend for the Russian IT Market
Software development is the current priority for Russian IT companies. If in 2010 only 36% of market players were engaged in this area, in 2017 their share grew to 61% — as was discovered by the HSE Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge Centre for Business Tendencies Studies (CBTS) through a survey of more than 600 companies active in the IT industry.