The Influence of Information and Communication Technologies on the Regional Innovative Activity

Abstract

Mechanisms for the assessment of the influence of information and communication technologies (ICT) on a number of significant indicators of the economic and innovative development of regions, such as gross regional product (GRP) per capita, the innovative activity of enterprises, the quantity of innovative technologies used at the enterprise level in the region and the volume of the realised innovative production are considered.

The main objective of the present research is the development of a methodological approach for the analysis of connections and dependencies between regional informatisation growth rates and some of their economic and innovative indicators.

In this paper, an integrated indicator of the informatisation of the economy, comprising the main indicators used in international and Russian research in the analysis of the development of information and communication technologies, is presented along with econometric models constructed for the analysis of the efficiency of information and communication technologies applied in regions of the Russian Federation.

Along with their correlation dependencies, the derived statistical results testify that ICT development is one of the most important factors influencing economic growth and innovative activity within regions.

As a result of the conducted research, it is possible to draw a number of conclusions. The development of ICT at the level of the region is one of the main tasks of its social and economic progress. The innovative and rational application of information and communication technologies can become the basis for the creation of a uniform economic information space, both within Russian regions and applying to the country in general, that will allow the realisation of a socio-economic development strategy. The development and practical deployment of models for assessing the influence of informatisation on the development of the economy of regions makes it possible to establish priorities in the choice of factors for increasing their competitiveness.