?
State-Funded Basic Research: Stakeholder Engagement in the Digital Environment
We present the results of a study that provides the basis for proposed changes to the system of stakeholder engagement in basic research funded by the Russian Federation’s state budget. This research was commissioned by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation with the aim of expanding and improving stakeholder participation in the planning, monitoring, and approval of the results of state-funded basic scientific research. The goal is to make basic scientific research more practical and shorten the time between the development of a basic idea and its actual implementation. As a result of the study, a new stakeholder group, qualified customers, was identified and included in the process of development and implementation of basic research. We defined the characteristics of qualified customers as parties motivated to request basic scientific results aimed at solving practical problems within the institutional conditions of the Russian Federation’s science and innovation sector. A practical outcome of this study is the establishment of stakeholder engagement regulations that set out the rules and procedures for interaction within the digital environment of the ‘Science and Innovations’ domain. This paper also describes the technological queries service as an element of the domain’s structure, designed to support effective communication among stakeholders. To test the proposed changes, an experiment was conducted, along with an awareness campaign to involve potential customers and researchers in the project. The test involved major companies-customers from various industries and public administration bodies, including regional executive authorities. The greatest interest was shown by organisations from the oil, gas, and petrochemical sectors, as well as from the engine manufacturing sector. Over 1500 responses from potential researchers were received to the queries placed in ‘Science and Innovations’ domain.