Olga Magomedova, Researcher at the Gaidar Institute's International Best Practices Analysis Department, commented for Nezavisimaya Gazeta on the initiative to divide regions into “technology donors” and “innovation recipients.”
The expert noted that “geographical disparities in the development of science are natural when it comes to a healthy clustering process.” The expert cited the example of the United States, where the spatial concentration of resources by sector stimulates innovation. "Such a concentration of scientific resources (primarily personnel and infrastructure for scientific work) increases both the quality and quantity of innovative activity. For example, quality increases due to the concentrated circulation of ideas among experts in the same field, while quantitative indicators are maintained even through the optimal use of resources, such as the shared use of infrastructure," said Olga Magomedova.
“However, geographical disparities become an issue when there are discrepancies between demand and access to the resources necessary for scientific development,” the expert emphasized, pointing out that a number of regions have high scientific potential that cannot be realized due to a lack of resources.
According to Olga Magomedova, the priority for the Russian economy should be to “close the gaps between the needs of existing scientific centers and access to relevant resources and opportunities,” rather than “stimulating scientific activity in regions that are ‘lagging behind’ in this indicator.”