The well-being of the population directly depends on the state of the national economy. The Russian crisis of recent years, which arose due to lower hydrocarbon prices, once again proved the need for radical changes. The National Technology Initiative is designed to highlight the most promising sectors of the economy and stimulate them. Their development will entail the development of the entire economy as a whole and will make it possible to overcome dependence on hydrocarbon prices. For people, this means extending life and improving its quality.
Program content
The National Technology Initiative (STI) as a direction was first officially announced in December 2014. It was during this period that Russian President Vladimir V. Putin emphasized it in his message to the Federal Assembly and identified officials responsible for the implementation of this program. The essence of NTI is to highlight promising sectors of the economy and create Russian enterprises in them. With the right choice, such a strategy can bring multibillion-dollar turnovers in the future. Russia will be able to compete on equal terms with the most developed countries and conquer an increasingly large part of the world market. Most attention is paid to industries related to advanced technologies. One of the areas in medicine, in particular, is the extension of life. However, the success of the implementation of NTI depends not only on the government. State support programs are undoubtedly important, but the greatest attention should be paid to creating an effective system, the errors of which are quickly identified and corrected. According to D. Peskov, director of the Young Specialists department, NTI should be a system of priorities, a management matrix. A national technology initiative should not be seen as the basis for creating a large state structure.
Historical discourse
For the first time, the concept of “national technological initiative” was used in a report by the Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation D. Livanov at a meeting of the Presidium on Economic Modernization and Innovative Development in September 2014. It was about developing a project related to new manufacturing technologies (NTP). His goal was to accelerate the development of industries. The project received the status of the National Technology Initiative (NTI - NTP). However, they started talking about him only in December 2014. Such a surge of interest was due to the fact that NTI paid special attention in the Address of the President of the Russian Federation to the Federal Assembly. As planned, the National Technology Initiative should become a tool with which Russia will be able to take a leading position in the markets for goods and services. The need to make the right strategic choice comes to the fore.
To the question of prospects
It is very important to determine what will determine the economy in the future. For example, one of the promising areas today are considered intelligent transport systems. Their functioning is directly related to data transmission. So one industry pulls another. Another direction is the development of air transport, which would contribute to a significant reduction in the time required for the transport of goods and passengers. However, whether this choice is correct can only be shown by time. For example, in the early 2000s it was believed that a revolution in the Russian Federation related to nanotechnology would soon occur. In 2006, this market was expected to grow at a rate of 40% per year. But that did not happen. The implementation of the project for the development of nanotechnology in the Russian Federation did not lead to the re-industrialization of the country, nor to getting rid of raw material dependence, nor to a noticeable increase in the level of economic growth.
Priorities
The government of Russia is developing the concept of STI in pursuance of an order from the President of the Russian Federation. The so-called new production technologies were highlighted, which should become the engine of development. Their use is supposed to create a domestic system for designing, modeling and automating the work of high-tech industries. The minutes of the meeting of the Presidium in September 2014 contained a list of technologies that should receive support within the STI. Among them:
- Additive technology.
- Means of robotization and automation, intelligent transport systems.
- Technology design materials and structures.
- Digital Production Tools.
- Technologies of domestic programming that are necessary to create products.
Similar directions were proposed by the RF Ministry of Industry and Trade. In recent years, technological development programs have been implemented in all developed and new industrial countries. World experience shows that their implementation gives a tangible socio-economic effect and allows you to enhance the competitiveness of the national economy.
Market Criteria
It is important not only to combine the efforts of business, science and government, but also to correctly find the points of their application. Therefore, the NTI should be based on long-term forecasting, with the help of which it is necessary to determine what challenges Russia will face in 10-15 years. The following hypotheses are at the heart of the National Technology Initiative:
- The starting point is the needs of people who change over time.
- The markets of the future are networked in their construction.
- The planning period is 2018-2035.
NTI markets are distinguished based on the following criteria:
- The volume on a global scale by 2035 is more than 100 billion US dollars.
- Currently there is no market or there are no generally accepted technological standards on it.
- Targeting people as an end user.
- Network market construction in which intermediaries are replaced by software.
- The importance of the sphere for Russia to ensure the satisfaction of basic human needs and national security.
- The presence in the Russian Federation of conditions for achieving competitive advantages.
- The existence of aspirations of entrepreneurs to create new companies in this high-tech market.
Assessment of the potential of Russia
Within the framework of NTI, it is planned to create nine new high-tech markets:
- EnergyNet
- FoodNet.
- SafeNet.
- HealthNet
- AeroNet
- MariNet
- AutoNet.
- FinNet.
- NeuroNet.
One of the indicators by which one can assess the potential of government leadership in the development of production technologies is the number of patent documents published by it. The absolute superiority in this indicator belongs to China. Almost half of all issued patents as of 2015 are in the PRC. Russia is not in the top 10 for this indicator. The Russian Federation accounts for only 0.18% of the global number of documents protecting new technological solutions. Foreign technology companies register 4 times more patents in Russia than residents.
Risks and criticism of the project
The implementation of STI in the Russian Federation is associated with the following problems:
- The patent portfolio of Russian residents is hundreds of times smaller than that of the leading countries for new manufacturing technologies. Among them are countries such as China, USA, Japan and South Korea.
- Up to 60-95% of patents of the Russian Federation are issued to non-residents of Russia.
- Companies are leading the world in the field of new industrial technologies. In Russia, patent holders are mainly research and educational institutions.
Current state of affairs
At a meeting of the NTI working group, which was created by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives on June 22, 2016, they discussed the prospects for introducing teleportation (secure messaging), quantum communication, and a separate Russian programming language in the Russian Federation. The goal of this project is to reduce losses from cybercrime by 2035. It is expected that these measures will help maintain 0.1% of GDP. The SafeNet project involves the transition in some entities to the 5G communication standard, the creation of a network of centers for protecting the population from cyberthreats, the development of domestic intelligent management systems, operating systems, autonomous transport, and a compiled programming language. By 2035, it is planned to create a quantum communications infrastructure in the Russian Federation, which will provide completely secure communications. The implementation of this project requires about 10 billion rubles. Moreover, the state should finance most of it, including through venture funds and development institutions.
findings
Russia's leadership in the proposed areas of STI requires extraordinary efforts. New production technologies, undoubtedly, have enormous potential for economic development, however, there are significant problems for the implementation of the planned program. Their solution requires a long-term orientation. However, international experience shows that the achievement of technological leadership is possible in an extremely short time. For example, it took China only about seven years. The basis of this result is the formation of personnel, augmentation of existing backlogs, and the interaction between universities and business.