Innovation is a key factor in the economic development of modern states. Their development and implementation require significant resources - labor, financial, organizational, but the solution of the corresponding tasks is necessary in order to ensure the effectiveness of the country's economy. What are the innovations? What are the conditions for their successful implementation?
The essence of innovation
By innovation, it is customary to understand some innovation in the field of technological development, the implementation of managerial decisions, the organization of business processes, which is based on the use of advanced achievements in various fields of science. Examples of innovations can thus be observed in a wide variety of business sectors. An important criterion for recognizing a solution as innovative is a fundamental improvement in a given technological or managerial process during its implementation.
Classification of Innovation
The corresponding type of innovation can be represented in different categories. So, the classification of innovations based on:
- degree of novelty;
- object of application;
- potential scale of implementation;
- factors determining the development of a specific solution.
We will study them in more detail.
Classification of innovations by novelty
Consider, for example, the specifics of criteria reflecting the degree of novelty. They are divided into:
- radical;
- optimizing;
- modifying.
Innovations of the first type involve the introduction of the results of fundamentally new, advanced developments that can affect the economy on the scale of the infrastructure of entire industries, spheres of science and technology. Which radical innovations have recently been introduced into world socio-economic processes? Examples of developments of the appropriate type are mobile Internet, 3D printing, or, for example, the introduction of cryptocurrencies as an alternative to traditional cash.
All of the noted technologies have influenced the global socio-economic processes, and this impact has great potential for further growth. Moreover, the development of relevant innovations can be expressed not only in quantitative indicators, for example, in the form of the coverage area of mobile Internet or the introduction of 3D printing in new industries, but also in qualitative ones. Say, in the form of increasing the speed of downloading and downloading files from devices, upgrading 3D printers in order to print technologically complex parts and devices with their help.
There are optimizing innovations. Sometimes they are called improving. Their essence lies in the implementation of solutions capable of providing local optimization of various technical or managerial processes. What are the most noteworthy enhancement innovations? Examples of such innovations can also be considered in various fields. In principle, they can be traced within the framework of the technologies mentioned above, that is, in the field of mobile solutions, in the field of 3D printing, in the segment of financial services.
If we talk about mobile technologies, then the invention of multi-touch screens that can recognize several simultaneous finger taps on the display of a smartphone or tablet can be considered an improvement innovation that relates to this field. Of course, today this feature will not surprise the owner of a mobile gadget, but the first screens of the corresponding type of devices did not support multi-touch. In the field of 3D printing, there are a large number of improving innovations. Examples of these are the adaptation of 3D printers to new types of materials. So, if the first devices for three-dimensional printing could use mainly special types of plastic, then modern modifications of 3D printers can, for example, cast metal products, print them from nylon, photopolymers.
There are so-called modification innovations. Their essence is to improve productivity, consumer characteristics, the effectiveness of existing solutions. What are some noteworthy modern modification innovations? An example of an appropriate solution is the invention of a new technological process in the production of computer processors.
A few years ago, chips manufactured with a technological process of the order of 80-90 nm were considered advanced. Today, a desirable indicator that allows for optimal microcircuit performance is not more than 30-40 nm. At the same time, modern models of processors on a PC operate on a manufacturing process of the order of 14 nm.
Classification of innovations: object of application
The next criterion for classifying innovations is the object of application. So, according to it, researchers highlight innovations: infrastructural, technological, process, as well as complex. What are their specifics?
Infrastructure includes innovations related to the production of goods and services, using fixed assets of industrial enterprises. What kind of innovation can this be? An example of such innovations is the introduction of robotic factory lines. As an option, they can be used in engineering, instrument-making enterprises.
There are technological innovations - they are aimed at introducing new approaches to the release of goods and the provision of services. As a rule, their implementation involves the use of fundamentally different technical solutions. What kind of innovation can this be? An example of such is the use of mobile payment terminals for plastic cards. Their implementation allows you to accept payment from customers almost anywhere where there is a coverage area for mobile Internet, as a result of which the company selling goods or services can grow significantly.
There are process innovations. They suggest the establishment in the company of some organizational structures that allow the implementation of fundamentally new management decisions. What kind of innovation can this be? An example of such is the implementation of the KPI system, that is, key performance indicators of the organization’s employees.
Classification of Innovation: Scale
Another criterion for classifying innovations is the extent of application. It involves the division of innovations into intra-corporate, intra-industry, as well as inter-industry.
Innovations of the first type involve implementation at the level of a specific enterprise. Often they constitute a trade secret, so their distribution outside the firm may be limited. Innovations of the corresponding type can be very different. For example, those associated with the receipt and use in production processes of fundamentally new substances, mechanisms, programs - which can significantly increase the efficiency of the company.
Intra-industry innovations - innovations involved by several enterprises operating in the same sector of the economy. For example, the robotization of factory lines, which we mentioned above, can be sequentially implemented at the facilities of most companies in the segment, especially if they are direct competitors (that is, are not combined into a holding) and are interested in continuous improvement of production.
There are cross-industry innovations. They involve the introduction of various innovations at the level of the national economic system with the participation of enterprises representing different sectors of the economy. Examples of innovations of the corresponding type are the use of electronic signatures (in reporting, in document circulation) by various enterprises, the introduction of remote methods for managing the organization’s infrastructure.
The following criterion for classifying innovations is based on the factors of their occurrence. So, reactive and strategic innovations are distinguished. What are their specifics?
Classification of Innovation: Innovation Development Factors
Reactive innovations are understood as innovations that were developed due to the urgent need to modernize production - in the company, in the industry, in order to enhance the competitiveness of business entities. An example of reactive innovation is the introduction of the same mobile payment terminals. If some firms start using them, others will have to do the same, otherwise they will lose market share.
What is strategic innovation? An example of this is updating company software at the level of basic infrastructure funds. The presence of new software - on local PCs, on servers, on devices that ensure the security of the organization and solve other production problems. The strategic purpose of these innovations is that they are supposed to be used to ensure competitive advantages in the future. Installing advanced software modifications on the computers of the organization is one of the most important factors in successfully maintaining the competitiveness of a modern enterprise.
This is the classification of innovation with examples. Consider other important aspects of the development and implementation of innovations. Among these are preparations for introducing innovations. We will study this aspect in more detail.
Preparing for Innovation
Most innovations appear in the economy and society for a reason - there is a certain stage of preparation for their implementation. She may assume:
- analysis of the relevance of certain innovations;
- An assessment of the resources available to a potential developer for creating innovation;
- analysis of the prospects for market demand for innovation.
An important aspect of preparing for the introduction of innovations is the study of the needs of society. In connection with what can this be important?
The social dimension of innovation
With all the advantages of innovation, their implementation should be carried out taking into account the characteristics of society. Moreover, people's opinions may not always be a determining factor. People may wish to introduce innovations, consider them as a necessary process. But, from the point of view of the development of society, such initiatives may not always be useful.
The examples of innovations of various kinds that we examined above are associated, first of all, with increasing production efficiency. In fact, this most often means that many of the person’s labor functions will turn out to be unclaimed. For example - due to the fact that it is replaced by a robot in a number of production operations. Improving computing power may also not play in favor of the demand for a person in a given production.
Consequently, with too intensive innovation in industry, unemployment can increase significantly. The number of specialists that were needed before the implementation of innovations may not be required by the economy. At the same time, it is not always possible to occupy people who have a certain qualification - they will have to compensate for the lack of their employment with state support. Whether the country's budget can handle this is a question.
Of course, innovation is needed primarily in terms of ensuring the competitiveness of the state economy. However, their excessive introduction can provoke an increase in unemployment, and in the long term - the emigration of qualified specialists. There is a version that innovations in the world - examples of such we examined above, have largely become a factor in the emergence of a crisis in the labor markets of many developed countries.
But it is worth noting that not all experts adhere to this point of view. There is another version. It lies in the fact that innovation stimulates the capitalization of the economy. The enterprises of the country, having introduced certain innovations, can develop more efficiently, expand sales markets, and attract foreign investment. Capital in the state economy stimulates the creation of new jobs, and just the same in those industries where it is difficult to replace human labor. Thus, in accordance with this point of view, innovations are useful for society in any case.
Innovation in Russia
Let's study how innovations are developing in Russia. Examples of such can be found in various sectors of the Russian economy. So, in principle, all those technological innovations that we have reviewed above are functioning at Russian enterprises — mobile Internet, 3D printing, and financial services using cryptocurrencies.
One of the most technologically advanced military-industrial complex in the world is Russian. Experts see Russia as a technological leader in the space, nuclear industry. A significant number of popular types of software are of Russian origin. These include, for example, well-known anti-virus brands, production automation systems, and cryptographic protection programs. Microprocessors are produced in the Russian Federation, albeit so far in small quantities, which in a number of parameters are comparable with the products of leading brands.
Thus, there are innovations in Russia that are being introduced quite well. Examples of such, perhaps, so far do not always correspond to decisions whose use is widespread. But the very fact of their successful development indicates that the Russian Federation has the technological, scientific, infrastructural, financial potential to maintain the necessary dynamics of innovation in many sectors of the economy. Of course, the pace of such innovative modernization in the Russian Federation is often assessed as insufficient. But experts value the potential - it exists. It is important to support it by stimulating scientific research in the Russian Federation, organizing the exchange of experience between Russian and foreign scientists, creating the necessary infrastructure for the practical implementation of the technologies being created in various industries.
