INNOVATION INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT OF ARCTIC ZONE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION: KEY APPROACHES AND TRENDS

The basis of the modern Russian economy current development is its transition from resource-oriented to innovative type. Innovative development of various economic agents at different levels has been the object of scientific research for a long time. However, despite the presence of a large number of researches on this issue, the innovative development of Russia as a whole and the Arctic zone in particular requires significant changes, which determines the need for such research. In view of the actuality of this direction, the Paper is devoted to problem of innovation infrastructure development in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. The necessity of development of innovation infrastructure as a fundamental part of the innovation process is substantiated.
The characteristic of the main areas of innovation infrastructure is given. It includes the following functional areas: technological sphere, finance, information and consulting sphere, human resources and marketing. The condition of the innovation infrastructure of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation for each of functional areas is described. It was noted that the best developed area in the Arctic region is a technological sphere. However, in spite of existence of a sufficient number of technology parks and innovation centers there is a lack of financial institutions and marketing structures, which leads to an imbalance in the innovation infrastructure.
Also, the main approaches to the development of innovation infrastructure are analyzed. It is proved that the model of «technology demand» should be used for the development of innovation infrastructure of the Arctic zone. It means that the end-consumer is one who defines the purpose of research or creation of technologies, not a researcher. This model will allow strengthening the competitiveness of Russian innovative technologies and products in the market, as well as contribute to the effective development of innovative infrastructure.