S&T Strategies of Six Countries Implications for the United States (2010) / Chapter Skim
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7 Russia
7 Russia
Pages 59-73
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From page 59... ...
. Although the breakup of the Soviet Union occurred along national territories, the Russian federation is very multicultural with more than 100 distinct national minorities.
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From page 60... ...
, it is generally clear that Russia is seeking to restore its past role as a major geopoliti cal force. One very important feature of this strategy is for Russia to become a global energy supplier, or "energy superpower." Russia is eager to control the Western energy supply and leverage that power as a bargaining chip to advance national interests (HJS, 2008; Mityaev, 2009)
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From page 61... ...
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russian science encountered significant challenges. First, because of the easing of emigration and travel restrictions, many Russian scientists left the country, and this brain drain con tinues today.
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The grants will fund projects from throughout the country in collaboration with universitybased incubators and private investors. In addition, major companies are being encouraged to fund research that will undergo an international expert evaluation and be carried out in partnership with foreign centers and industry.
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From page 63... ...
Advances in these areas will directly help Russia to expand its role as an energy superpower and major energy provider. A long-range planning document developed in 2006 and titled "Long-term Prognosis for the Development of S&T in the Russian Federation Till 2025" included the short-term (2-year)
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From page 64... ...
The committee's analysis has shown that Russia's strategy serves the following three objectives: • Leverage S&T to help Russia expand its leading role as an energy superpower and sole energy provider (nuclear, pipelines, energy infrastructure, etc.) • Use S&T to improve defense and national security and to modernize education, healthcare, transportation and the agricultural sector, and to rationally use environmental resources • Use Russia's well-developed basic research base to diversify the Russian economy beyond primary goods export It is quite conceivable that within 10 years Russia will achieve the first goal and part of the second as it relates to the aforementioned large-scale projects.
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From page 65... ...
If successful, reform coupled with mobilization of the highly educated Russian population could be the foundation for a future renaissance in Russian S&T. Five priorities for the Russian Federation were clearly enunciated by President Medvedev in his November 2009 Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly and later supported by Prime Minister Putin (Medvedev 2009a,c,d; TI, 2010)
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From page 66... ...
In addition, the Russian government plans to transition to digital television and fourth-generation mobile phone communications -- which means skipping over the third-generation mobile phone technology now used in most of the rest of the world. In addition to expanding broadband and mobile phone access, Russia plans to develop a unified emergency service, which works across all communication resources and is fully connected to the global communication infrastructure.
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From page 67... ...
Systems that provide Russian state services over the Internet are in development, and within two years more than 60 key state services will be electronically accessible. A pilot project will provide citizens with a "social card" for access to state services and medical and social insurance programs.
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From page 68... ...
On the other hand, Russia suffers from a weak innovation environment, a situation which has drastically worsened since the fall of the Soviet Union. Today's problems include a weakness in translating basic research into innovative technologies, the overwhelming domi nance of the government with few advanced S&T activities in private enterprise, obsolete (and often corrupt)
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Such metrics capture the extent to which Russia has been able to maintain and attract S&T talent through successful immigration policies and by providing desirable conditions for living and working. If the Russian brain drain continues and the overall Russian population continues to decrease or even remain static, there will not be personnel to staff the S&T institutions.
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Budget shortfalls forced the Russian government to cut R&D expenditures for its short-term programs by up to 30 percent of the initially planned allocations. The current global financial crisis and decreasing demand for Russian natural commodities will intensify budget constraints.
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Undoubtedly, this will have implications for the United States as the world's energy resources will be possibly controlled by Moscow. In order to monitor Russia's progress in S&T beyond the short term, there should be careful monitoring of the amount of nongovernmental funding, level of foreign investments, the education and age profiles of the Russian S&T personnel, and the entry of Russian products into international markets.
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From page 72... ...
2009c. Presidential Address to the federal Assembly of the russian federation.
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From page 73... ...
Last accessed March 26, 2010. World Economic Forum.
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