SUBSTANTIATION OF CONDITIONS AND FACTORS FOR REDUCING REGIONAL DIFFERENTIATION OF INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY
A comparative analysis of innovation activity in the Russian Federation and EU countries is carried out. The comparison revealed that modern innovation policy should be aimed not only at increasing labor productivity, but also at solving social problems related to ensuring food security, environmental protection and improving the quality of life of the population. Maintaining a balance between the demand for digital technology and the supply of high-tech products on the market is a basic element in the transition to a new stage of scientific and technological structure. Factors that negatively affect the development and implementation of technological, organizational and marketing innovations are identified. It is shown that the synchronization of the chain of implementation of all newly created or improved technologies ensuring the continuity of the innovation cycle requires the combined efforts of all subjects of innovation. The level of diffusion of innovative activity in federal districts of the Russian Federation is estimated. It is concluded that there is a significant differentiation of regional and sectoral intensity of innovative development. It is substantiated that in order to reduce regional differentiation when introducing advanced practices into the production process, one should take into account the type of innovative activity. According to the attractiveness for investment, digital economy instruments are divided into three categories that characterize one or another stage of their life cycle: maturity, sustainable growth, and a breakthrough trend. It was revealed that the further massive penetration of technological innovations into all links of the production chain should clearly follow the global trends of production digitalization, where the key factor for the success of innovation-oriented companies is the search for the most promising investment projects at the stage of filing a patent application. Based on the analysis, recommendations were developed to stimulate innovative susceptibility in the regions of Russia.