On December 7-8, 2021, at the Institute of Digital Economy, Management and Service of Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University (Veliky Novgorod, Russia), the International Scientific and Practical Conference “Strategy of Development of Regional Ecosystems “Education – Science – Industry” was held. The conference was dedicated to a comprehensive theoretical understanding of the processes of strategic management of the modern multidimensional and multidimensional development of regional ecosystems and the development of practical recommendations for their strategizing.

Chairman of the organizing committee of the conference: Vladimir A. Trifonov, Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor, Director of the Institute of Digital Economy, Management and Service of Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University (Veliky Novgorod, Russia).

Conference co-organizers: State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education LEONOV Moscow Region University of Technology (Korolev, Russia), Federal State Unitary Enterprise “All-Russian Research Institute “Center” (Moscow, Russia), JSC “Institute for Regional Economic Research” (Moscow, Russia).

The relevance of the issues discussed at the conference is due to the need to solve problems and contradictions existing in economic science and public administration practice: the lack of a conceptual idea of the regional ecosystem “Education – Science – Industry” and its conceptual and categorical apparatus, the discrepancy between being in demand and the lack of an effective strategizing methodology consortia “universities – scientific organizations – enterprises of the real sector of the region's economy”, the lack of a unified methodology for assessing the mutual influence of the region, city and universities in the economic, social, cultural, political and other sectors of life and the low level of theoretical and methodological development in this area.

The launch of the program for development and modernization of higher education “Priority 2030”, the need for systemic interface and coordination of the strategy of scientific and technological development of the Russian Federation, the new adjusted national project “Science and Universities” and its constituent federal projects “Integration”, “Research Leadership”, “Personnel”, “Infrastructure” for the implementation of a scientific and technological breakthrough determine the relevance of the search for models and formats for effective cooperation between universities, scientific organizations, industrial partners, and regional authorities.

In order for the universities of Russia to be able to respond to the “big challenges”, including such important problems of modern society as the fight against poverty, ecology, healthcare, etc. taking into account the regional characteristics existing in the country, a different, fundamentally new methodology for strategizing the development of the ecosystem “Education – Science – Industry” is needed, which is fundamentally different from those currently used for regional development. In order for universities to become truly points of growth and the formation of socio-economic systems for regions, industries and the economy of the country as a whole, not only other criteria are needed to assess their performance, contribution to regional development, to the formation of innovative scientific and technological centers (ISTC), research and educational centers (REC), consortiums, but also a new method for assessing the effectiveness of the functioning of such forms of spatial and sectoral organization.

The structure of the organization of interaction between universities, scientific institutions and industrial partners in the regions is currently in a state of dynamic change. Over the past decades, the circle of forms of collaboration between universities, business, regional authorities, society actively studied in the economic literature has included REC, INTC, corporate ecosystems (Sberbank, Megafon, etc.), ideas of entrepreneurial, network and other universities are being developed. Each of these collaborations has its own characteristics, purpose, conditions for effective functioning and interaction with other forms. Despite the research devoted to each of these forms, the problems of their synthesis and system optimization remain unresolved. For the Russian economy, these problems are of particular importance not only in the context of the long-term search for a mechanism for the effective organization of cooperation between science, education, industry, and the regional environment, but also in view of the current difficult situation in determining the role and place of Russia in the scientific and educational space and technological development in the world.

Understanding the development trajectories and the current state of the regional “Education – Science – Industry” ecosystems in Russia, improving the methodology for strategizing and assessing the mutual influence of the actors of such ecosystems will allow for a more conscious approach to the management and development of these systems, as well as see potential opportunities for cooperation and fixing best practices, their potential transfer to other ecosystems.

The reports made at the conference were of interest both to scientists, heads of universities, and to decision-makers on the development and evaluation of the universities’ performance, INTC, REC, consortiums of universities, scientific institutions and enterprises formed as part of the implementation of the Priority 2030 program, and determining the strategy and priorities of the scientific and technological development of the regions of the Russian Federation.

The articles of the conference participants will significantly enrich the arsenal of Russian and international economic science, provide managers and specialists with a conceptual and methodological apparatus for regulating the processes of creating modern forms of organizing interaction between universities, research institutes, industrial enterprises and regional authorities.

At the Plenary session, a discussion was organized on the reports of representatives of federal authorities, big business, and leading Russian scientists. Thus, the head of the summary-analytical department of the Department of Regional Policy of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation V.I. Nikolaev (Moscow) presented the vision of the authorities regarding the implementation of investment projects in industry as a factor in ensuring the economic and spatial development of Russian regions A.E. Tsivileva, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Kolmar group of companies (Moscow), shared the results of her company's successful practice in strategizing human resource management in the coal mining industry. The report by Doctor of Economics, Professor of the Moscow Polytechnic University V.M. Tumin (Moscow) was devoted to the problem of developing industrial business ecosystems in Russia. S.S. Golubev, Doctor of Economics, Professor (Moscow) presented the results of a study on the prospects for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in Russia. In addition, the following reports by scientists from Moscow and St. Petersburg were presented: “Model studies of the effectiveness of the optimization of the educational process in the national system of higher education” by I.N. Drogobetsky, “Ecosystem thinking in economic strategy” by A.A. Nikonova, “Strategy of the bank of Russia to identify violations of AML/CFT legislation” by N.V. Kapustina, “Modeling a strategy for the development of higher education based on marketing concepts” by V.F. Averyanova.

The following sections were held within the framework of the conference:
• Methodology for strategizing the development of socio-economic facilities.
• Ecosystem development format: marketing, resources and potential.
• Strategic priorities for territorial development.
• Level and quality of life of the population: analysis, management, forecast.
• Modeling of socio-economic systems. Digital twins.
• Development of Agile management methods.
• The role of educational institutions in the formation of the ecosystem.
• Productive education: meta-competencies, self-organization, reflection.
• VUCA-world: the crisis of economic theories and the collapse of traditional business models.
• Digital transformation in manufacturing industry.
• Territory hospitality management.

The moderators and participants of the work of the sections noted the deep elaboration of the topics of the voiced reports, the scientific novelty of the results, while many of them had a high practice orientation, reflected the processes and results of the mutual influence of socio-economic subjects of regional development. So, in particular, the report by N.A. Kanishcheva considered the benefits and risks, as well as the role of distance learning in the development of the digital economy. T.L. Sergeeva, Ya.V. Patturi investigated the issues of improving the activities of the enterprise based on the use of lean technologies. Scientists of “All-Russian Research Institute “Center” (Moscow) in their works presented research on the development of the use of digital tools for the innovative development of the military-industrial complex. The work of M.V. Shendo, E.V. Sviridova, E.V. Kravets, O.P. Ivanova presents the structure of the implementation of regional marketing in the framework of the formation of the ecosystem of the region. In the article by M.Ya. Veselovsky, M.A. Sidorova, V.A. Trifonov, the problems of implementing the regional policy of using digital innovations to build a digital twin of the city are investigated.

Also, a round table “The University and the regional management system as factors of socio-economic development (on the example of Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University and the Novgorod region)” was held. The current results of a joint study by scientists from the National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow) and Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University, dedicated to the role of the university and the regional management system in socio-economic development, were presented (on the example of Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University and the Novgorod region). Thus, in the report of O.P. Ivanova it was said that in modern conditions of the transformation of the role of universities, including in their interaction with business, society, it seems necessary to use an ecosystem approach, to study universities in their collaboration with other subjects of the region. The ecosystem approach becomes the basis for the strategic integrated management of economic systems to ensure their conservation and sustainable development, is considered as a concept that describes the mutual influence of economic agents, their relationship with the functioning environment. Therefore, the Institute of Digital Economy, Management and Service research team, working in the framework of the Mirror Laboratories project with the HSE, developed a methodology for assessing the contribution of the university to regional development using the ecosystem approach. The purpose of developing the methodology is not only to present a map of the university's contribution to regional development but also to use the results obtained to reconfigure the development programs for the actors of the regional ecosystem “Education – Science – Industry” in order to achieve the objectives of technological progress and socio-economic development of the region.

In total, more than 250 scientists and specialists from Veliky Novgorod, Moscow and the Moscow region, St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, Kemerovo, Pskov, Novokuznetsk, Yekaterinburg, Stavropol, Penza, Astrakhan, Samara, Kazan, Tula, Glazov, Krasnoyarsk, Apatity, Chita, as well as Belarus, Czech Republic and Kazakhstan took part in the conference.

The participants noted the worthy organization of the scientific event, the relevance and depth of the reports presented, the complementarity of theory and practice, as well as the possibilities for further development of regional and international scientific cooperation.

Organizing Committee
of the International Scientific and Practical Conference
“Strategy of Development of Regional Ecosystems “Education – Science – Industry”