The sense generator broke down
Big challenges still remain unaffordable for Russia
In the expert scientific and technological community, more and more often in recent months, especially in the context of the national projects "Science" and "Education", the conviction is expressed that the country lacks "meanings" and "meaning-generating" policy subjects for full-fledged socio-economic development.
Meanwhile, the most important document in this regard in recent years has become the Strategy of Scientific and Technological Development of Russia until 2035 (approved by decree of President Vladimir Putin on December 1, 2016). And indeed, the emphasis on big challenges that is made in this document is impressive: how to equip the vast and undeveloped territories of Russia, find new resources and preserve nature, preserve population growth and develop technologies. In fact, the Strategy-2035 is a "road map" of scientific and technological development of the country until 2035.
Where did we come to two years later, consulting this map? The Institute for Statistical Research and Economics of Knowledge of the Higher School of Economics conducted an assessment of the country's technological specialization based on an analysis of the patent activity of Russian applicants in 35 technological areas. It turns out that such topical areas as information technology in management, fine and organic chemistry, chemistry of high-molecular compounds, polymers, chemistry of materials, machines for the production of paper and textiles have ceased to determine the technological specialization of Russia… Areas such as biomaterial analysis, surface treatment and coating, materials and metallurgy, environmental protection technologies, engines, pumps, turbines, microstructural and nanotechnology may soon fall out of the sphere of technological specialization in Russia. (By the way, for the last 10 years we have been reading the cheerful releases of one of the development institutes – the state corporation "Rusnano".)
In other words, big challenges still remain unaffordable for Russia. That is, it seems that the Strategy-2035 is useful, but only a self–reflection of the authorities. The condition is necessary, but insufficient. It is high time to fill these meanings with technological "stuffing". Here are the difficulties with this (see above).
At a meeting of the presidium of the Presidential Council for Strategic Development and National Projects, held recently in Gorki, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev set the task "to achieve productivity growth at a rate of at least 5% per year. This is necessary for our country to become one of the largest economies in the world." Again – what is not a big "semantic" challenge? But I would like to hear suggestions on how to achieve such an increase in labor productivity. Nothing but symbolic phrases, they say, programs will soon be launched to retrain employees, improve their skills.
Or news from the Skolkovo Innovation Center (another development institute) – presentation of the urban flight laboratory, "flying taxis"…
All this is undoubtedly intriguing, but it has nothing to do with high technology or science. Does it generate new meanings? Not at all – take a look at least in the Strugatsky novel "The Return. Midday. XXII century" (1962) or revisit the Hollywood blockbuster "The Fifth Element" (1997).
Nevertheless, there is at least one positive aspect in all this polemic around meanings: the internal self-reflection of power has evolved to the stage of verbalized utterance. And it was clearly formulated by the main "meaning generator" in Russia – Vladimir Putin. At a meeting of the Presidential Council for Science and Education at the end of November, he admitted: "If we continue ... chewing over yesterday's problems, we will simply be late, and we can be late forever, even we won't have time to jump into the last car of the technological revolution."
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