1. KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY FORUM IV Istanbul, March 22-24, 2005
Country Exercise: Russia

2. Diagnosis for Russia: Key issues to address
Russia’s readiness for Knowledge Economy: looking at three KE “pillars” of four
Missing link
Need for a national development strategy and tools to implement it

3. Diagnosis for Russia: KE Readiness - Business Climate
Underdeveloped legal system, high regulatory barriers
Poor rule of law, low security of property rights
Weak financial system, poor access to credit and to capital markets
High level of black economy
Source - KAM, The World Bank

4. Diagnosis for Russia: KE Readiness - Human Resources
Poor link to labor market
Lack of flexibility of educational system
Weak Life Long Learning
Insufficient ICT skills and experience of ICT use
Low number of Internet users (2004, half year audience: Russia - 16%, EU - 50%, Scandinavia - 70%)
Source - KAM, The World Bank

5. Diagnosis for Russia: KE Readiness - Innovations
Low share in world science intensive industry markets ( ,3%)
Low share of innovatively active enterprises in the economy (Russia, ,5%, EU, %, Germany, >60%)
Low R&D spending in private sector (Russia, <14%; Germany - >60%)
Innovation gap between R&D and productive sector
Source - KAM, The World Bank

6. Diagnosis for Russia: KE Readiness - Summary
Source - KAM, The World Bank

7. Diagnosis for Russia: Key Causes of Problems
Dependence on natural resources
Growing socio-economic divide between social strata and territories
Social passivity, very low preparedness of population to get involved in decision making
Lack of development vector for the country

8. government, business, civil society, research & education community
Missing Link
Knowledge Economy
Information Infrastructure
Business Climate
Human Resources
Innovation System
Partnership of key stakeholders:
government, business, civil society, research & education community

9. Objective of the Proposal
To promote consensus building on development goals
To make a national Knowledge Society development strategy a part of political agenda
To address the key stakeholders (government, business, civil society, academia)
Respective government bodies at federal and regional levels
Renowned professional business associations
Influential NGOs
Leading research & education institutions
etc.
To gain critical mass of KE actors

10. Description of the Proposal
Preparing a national strategy and action plan for KE development based on a comprehensive KE readiness assessment - $1,000,000
Build on
a distinct shift to knowledge society and innovation intensive economy in the recent President’s statements
the address by a group of outstanding figures to the President

11. Description of the Proposal
Preparing regional strategies and action plans for KE development - $500,000 x 89
Build on already existing regional initiatives and ongoing programs in Russian regions e.g. Moscow, Tomsk Region, Republic of Mordovia, etc.

12. Description of the Proposal
Creating a monitoring system for strategies and action plans implementation - $3,000,000 per year
Build on already available products: Knowledge Assessment Methodology (WB), methodologies for Russia and Russia’s regions e-Readiness assessment (group of experts coordinated by IIS.RU), and a Knowledge Economy Readiness Assessment (IIS.RU & UNECE), etc.

13. Description of the Proposal
Building nation-wide partnership for KE strategy and action plan implementation - $1,000,000 per year
Build on the Russian e-Development Partnership (over 260 organizations in 29 regions of Russia, 10 self-managed regional segments); on the newly established Russian Socio-Economic Forum led by M. Gorbachev; etc.

14. Description of the Proposal
Promoting and coordinating available activities - $500,000 per year
Build on ongoing programs and initiatives of development communities; on collaborative tools like Russia Development Gateway Network; etc.

15. Institutions involved
Russian Ministry for Economic Development and Trade - business climate
Russian Ministry for Education and Science - human resources, innovations
Russian Ministry of IT and Communications - information infrastructure
Regional governments
Partnerships of key stakeholders

16. Measuring Progress
Share of budget and matching funding for KE strategies/action plans preparation and implementation
Number of regional KE strategies adopted and programs launched
Level of inclusiveness (variety and balance of stakeholders involved)

17. Background Information
Russian Federation
Delegation
Irina Cherdantseva (Department of Economy, Tomsk Region Administration)
Tatiana Ershova (IIS.RU)
Yuri Hohlov (IIS.RU; e-Moscow Program)
Maria Sigutina (Russian State University for the Humanities)
Oleg Sokolov (Department of Science and New Technology, Government of Republic of Mordovia)
Contacts: