Innovation policies for economic growth: objectives and instruments

Dear Madam/Sir,

State University - Higher School of Economics and Embassy of France to the Russian Federation are pleased to invite you to take part in a European Union - Russia Conference NNOVATION POLICIES FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH: objectives and instruments.

As a key factor of the economic and social development, innovation is a major challenge for policy designers and decision makers. The Lisbon Strategy has fixed a very ambitious goal that the European Union becomes the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world; and enhancing its innovative capacities is a great part of the road map. 

The new President of the Russian Federation, very soon after his election, made a statement about the crucial contribution of innovation to insuring long-term growth, recalling that today innovative products represent only a very small part of industrial production of the country.

Both the EU and Russia emphasise the strategic role of innovation and both have designed policies in order to respond to this challenge. But innovation is an area in which they both still need to gain ground.

Against this background, the conference aims at bringing together recent analyses and applied research work on innovation policies. Mixing academic and decision-making approaches, the conference will focus on the design, the indicators and the instruments of innovation policies from a European and from a Russian perspective. It will also deal with the foresight of science and technology and with the prospects of reinforced EU-Russia cooperation in S&T and innovation.

The conference is organized by the Higher School of Economics and the French Embassy to Russia, with the support of the Delegation of the European Commission to Russia.

It takes place within the framework of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The conference will be held at the Higher School of Economics on 12-13 November 2008.

Conference venue: 20, Myasnitskaya str., Moscow, Russia

Registration deadline is 3 November 2008. Please use the attached registration form.

For registration and additional information please contact: Higher School of Economics, Mrs.Anna PIKALOVA, Tel. (+7 495) 628-3254, Fax (+7 495) 625-0367, APikalova@hse.ru

Looking forward to welcoming you at the conference.

Organisers:

• Prof. Pierre-Bruno RUFFINI (Embassy of France to Russia

• Prof. Leonid GOKHBERG (State University - Higher School of Economics)