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DOI: https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2023.65.05.16
How to Cite:
Otych, O., Ordina, L., Ordin, Y., Ivasenko, B., & Velyka, K. (2023). Innovative infrastructure of higher education as a factor of the
development of the economy of Ukraine. Amazonia Investiga, 12(65), 164-174. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2023.65.05.16
Innovative infrastructure of higher education as a factor of the
development of the economy of Ukraine
ІННОВАЦІЙНА ІНФРАСТРУКТУРА ВИЩОЇ ОСВІТИ ЯК ЧИННИК РОЗВИТКУ
ЕКОНОМІКИ УКРАЇНИ
Received: May 15, 2023 Accepted: June 2, 2023
Written by:
Olena Otych1
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2686-2832
ResearcherID Web of Science: R-1198-2018
Larisa Ordina2
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3372-6524
ResearcherID Web of Science: IAR-1927-2023
Yuriy Ordin3
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8547-5608
Boris Ivasenko4
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6187-441X
ResearcherID Web of Science: B-7901-2019
Kateryna Velyka5
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8419-5092
ResearcherID Web of Science: B-8076-2019
Abstract
The purpose of the article is to determine the
possibilities of the innovative infrastructure of
higher education of Ukraine to influence the
development of the state’s economy. The results
of the conducted research are based on a critical
analysis of the problems that stand in the way of
the formation and further development of
innovative infrastructure of national higher
education. During the research, it was identified
that now Ukraine has created a regulatory
framework that will ensure this development, but
in practice, a few higher education institutions
have an innovative infrastructure. An analysis of
the main forms of innovative infrastructures
operating in Europe and the United States was
conducted to determine the most favourable
conditions and opportunities for their
implementation in Ukraine. In particular,
technology parks, business incubators, and
1
Doctor of Science in Pedagogy, Full Professor, Chief Researcher of the Department of Interaction of Higher Education and Labor
Market of the Institute of Higher Education of the National Academy of Educational Science of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine.
2
Ph. D. in Pedagogy, Associate Professor of the Department of Philosophical and Political Sciences of the Bila Tserkva National
Agrarian University, Bila Tserkva, Ukraine.
3
Ph. D. in Veterinary Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Obstetrics and Biotechnology of Animal Reproduction of
the Bila Tserkva National Agrarian University, Bila Tserkva, Ukraine.
4
Ph. D. in Veterinary Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Obstetrics and Biotechnology of Animal Reproduction of
the Bila Tserkva National Agrarian University, Bila Tserkva, Ukraine.
5
Asst. of the Department of Psychology of the Bila Tserkva National Agrarian University, Bila Tserkva, Ukraine.
Otych, O., Ordina, L., Ordin, Y., Ivasenko, B., Velyka, K. / Volume 12 - Issue 65: 164-174 / May, 2023
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clusters were considered. The most successful
forms of innovative infrastructure in the world
were identified, in particular, Silicon Valley and
Plastic Valley. Based on the results of the
research, recommendations were developed for
the development of innovations
commercialisation centres in higher education
institutions. The practical value of the obtained
results lies in identifying the main ways of
establishing and developing of the innovative
infrastructure of higher education in Ukraine,
which can provide an opportunity to increasing
the level of efficiency of the Ukrainian economy
and bringing the level of educational services to
the level of compliance with international
standards.
Keywords: European integration, clusters,
innovative infrastructure, system of higher
education, higher education institutions.
Introduction
Ukraine’s transition to a market economy led to
the formation of a goods and services market and
a labor market in our country. The labor market
regulates the social demand for specialists in
various fields and balances the demand for
specialists in certain professions with the
available offer of applicants for positions.
The modern labor market is very competitive,
makes strict requirements for job applicants and
has high selection criteria.
Higher education is designed to ensure that
employees meet these criteria. Therefore, today
it has become a source of human capital
development, the basis of the formation of social,
cultural and economic potentials of society, a
center of integrative educational and creative
activity, which combines innovations in all
spheres of social development into a new
productive integrity.
The focus of higher education on the introduction
of innovations in the content of training and
scientific activity of students has become a
guarantee of ensuring the quality of university
education. In addition, it actualized the
recognition of universities as an important
component of the National Innovation System,
which is responsible for training innovative
workers and managers capable of implementing,
producing, transferring of innovations and
commercializing the results of innovative
activities.
To fulfill this function, universities should
become subjects of the formation and
development of innovative infrastructure.
One of the steps on this path is digital
transformation, which concerns all the most
promising areas of the economy and is a priority
area for ensuring the competitiveness of the state
in the modern globalised world. According to
M. Kopp et al., (2019), the key condition of the
digitalisation course is the establishment of
internal demand for technologies and their
corresponding consumption by economic sectors
and the population, and the elimination by the
state of various barriers of institutional,
economic, legislative nature that hinder the
development of an innovative economy. As the
study by S. Montazer et al., (2020) notes, the
ability of technologies to influence the efficiency
and productivity of the business and the economy
convincingly allows concluding that it is
appropriate to take a number of measures that
will provide an opportunity to initiate and
stimulate large-scale transformation projects,
including within the framework of public-private
partnerships. Notably, the modernisation of
many fields of public life, such as medicine,
education, transport, public security, ecology
based on the principles of electronic management
allows creating of a new system for citizens to
implement the competencies of the digital plan
and human capital to adapt to rapid changes in
technology, the labour market, and the economy.
Educational activities in the context of
digitalisation and globalisation are undergoing
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drastic changes. They are related to the
development of technology, new competencies
and professional requirements in the labour
market, and an increase in the growth rate of
knowledge. In accordance with this, the modern
education system requires new approaches to the
organisation and creation of innovative forms,
due to which it is possible to transfer and
assimilate the acquired competencies and
knowledge. As N.G. Ugur (2020) notes, the
accelerated development of digital technologies
provides an incentive to further introduce
innovative forms of education that can keep up
with changes.
Thus, the purpose of the study is to establish the
possibility of forming an innovative
infrastructure in higher education institutions in
Ukraine. According to this, it is necessary to
analyse the latest trends in the introduction of
innovative infrastructure in the educational
system, identify the main problems and ways to
overcome them.
Literature Review
According to the results of the World Economic
Forum Annual Meeting (World Economic
Forum, 2020) analysis, which was held in 2020,
the top 10 competencies that will be most in
demand in the future were identified. These
include emotional intelligence, creativity, critical
thinking, complex problem solving, cognitive
flexibility, service orientation, making
judgments and decisions, coordinating actions
with others, interacting and negotiating, and
coordinating actions with others.
In accordance with the opinion of O. Ahel and
K. Lingenau (2020), the Bologna Process is
aimed at harmonising and accelerating the
improvement of educational systems in European
countries, while simultaneously unifying and
converging them. In this regard, it is necessary to
highlight the main features, namely the
transformation of the European education system
into a competitive and attractive space, lifelong
continuing education, mobility of the educational
services market, a system of comparable
academic degrees and credits, and a simplified
procedure for recognising educational
qualifications. The current educational situation
in Ukraine in comparison with European
countries is characterised by a number of
problems. According to position L. Kharitonenko
(2022), these are the insufficient cooperation of
higher education institutions (HEI) with the
modern labour market, low level of student
mobility, reduced methodological equipment of
teachers, and a gradual deterioration in the
quality of educational services. Notably, the
development of innovative infrastructure is the
key to the full functioning of an effective
economic system. This determines the relevance
and expediency of the analysis of the interaction
of higher education and the labour market in the
context of European integration of Ukraine.
Methodology
The study was performed using various analysis
methods. In particular, the method of logical
analysis was aimed at identifying the main
problems that hinder the establishment and
development of innovative infrastructure in
higher education institutions in Ukraine. The
functional analysis method provided an
opportunity to identify the main advantages and
disadvantages of each of the forms of innovation
commercialisation centres, namely technology
parks, clusters, and business incubators. The
formal legal method was used to analyse the
normative legal doctrine of Ukraine and a
number of other documents. Thus, the provisions
of the following documents were investigated the
Law of Ukraine No. 991-XIV “On Special
Regime of Innovation Activity of Technological
Parks” (1999), Magna Charta Universitatum
(1988), Convention on the Recognition of
Qualifications concerning Higher Education in
the European Region (Council of Europe, 1997),
Sorbonne Declaration (National Aviation
University, 1998), The Framework for
Qualifications of the European Higher Education
Area (Ministry of Science Technology and
Innovation, 2005), Joint Declaration of the
Ministers of Education of Europe “European
space in the field of higher education”
(Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, 1999), Law of
Ukraine No. 1556-VII “On Higher Education”
(2014) and Association Agreement between
Ukraine, on the one hand, and the European
Union, the European Atomic Energy Community
and their member states, on the other hand
(Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, 2014). The method
of legal hermeneutics was also used to conduct a
detailed analysis of the provisions of the legal
doctrine. Its value was the identification of gaps
in Ukrainian legislation and ways to improve the
quality of the educational process.
The analysis of the main forms operating in
Europe and the United States was conducted to
determine the most favourable conditions and
opportunities for the dissemination of innovation
infrastructure in higher education institutions of
Ukraine, using the method of comparative
analysis, which allowed determining the
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effectiveness of such clusters and technology
parks as Silicon Valley and Plastic Valley.
Regarding this aspect, the method of abstraction
was also used, which provided an opportunity to
highlight the essential features, signs, and
features of the functioning of foreign centres for
the commercialisation of innovations, which will
help to determine the prospects for implementing
a similar mechanism in Ukraine. Due to the use
of the deduction method, the current state of the
innovative infrastructure of higher education
institutions was characterised based on practical
activities. The induction method, in turn, allowed
for determining the prospects and possibility of
the establishment and development of innovative
infrastructure through the analysis of resources
and the scientific-technical foundation of
institutions of higher education in Ukraine. In
particular, the synthesis method helped to
determine the range of recommendations for
improving the level of efficiency of this segment,
considering certain aspects of the theoretical and
practical area.
Notably, this study was conducted to cover all the
fundamental principles of implementing the
mechanism of innovation infrastructure in
Ukraine. Thus, the aspect of highlighting the
current state of innovation processes in the higher
education system in Ukraine and their resource
support was of particular importance. Based on
this, the range of problems that hinder the
development of innovative infrastructure of
Ukrainian universities was identified. In
accordance with this, the analysis of the most
promising and favourable forms of
commercialisation of innovations in higher
education institutions was conducted and ways of
their further development were proposed.
Results and Discussion
The establishment and development of the
Ukrainian economy, which will be characterised
by a high level of competitiveness and based on
innovation, is possible only if the full-fledged
infrastructure of higher education institutions
operates. It should include innovation centres,
technological and scientific parks, investment
and venture funds, technology transfer centres,
etc. Such structures are endowed with the ability
to ensure the integration of education, science,
and production in the most favourable and
efficient way, and promote the rapid
implementation of scientific findings and
advanced discoveries. Notably, the integration of
science with entrepreneurial activity ensures the
passage of a certain cycle, namely: the
emergence of an idea, the development of a
prototype, its patenting and further
implementation. Referring to the experience of
such developed countries as the United States,
Great Britain, Germany, France, etc., it can be
concluded that the creation of most of the
innovative structures was conducted by
institutions of higher education of a research type
(Miranda et al., 2021). The peculiarity of these
educational institutions is that in addition to
training highly qualified personnel, the activities
of institutes and universities also include
conducting studies and developing innovative
products. However, the experience of Ukraine in
this area is not perfect. This is due to the practical
lack of commercialisation of technologies and
knowledge. In accordance with this, there is a
need to form and further develop the link of the
innovative structure in higher education
institutions. The creation of scientific-
educational complexes and centres, research
laboratories, departments, and technology parks
will play an outstanding role to solve these
issues.
Notably, such centres are independent systems of
an innovative type. This provides an opportunity
to develop innovative activities and
commercialise their results within the institution
of higher education, integrating science,
production, education, and business into a single
innovation complex. The post-industrial
economy, which is based on knowledge, sets
three main tasks for an educational institution,
namely, training personnel, researching, and
commercialising the results obtained. One of the
forms of interaction between entrepreneurship
and science is a business incubator. It is
structured as a multifunctional type complex,
which aims to provide the most favourable
conditions for the implementation of effective
activities of newly formed innovative forms that
will produce new ideas. A business incubator is
a commercial organisation that can provide
specially equipped premises for new small and
medium-sized businesses on preferential terms
for a limited amount of time. Among its
functions, the administrative and technical
services, consulting and business planning,
conducting seminars and trainings are notable.
The purpose of the business incubator is to help
small and medium-sized businesses, promote the
level of competitiveness of companies, establish
and develop the infrastructure, create new jobs,
and provide bases for practical training of HEI
students in production (Benavides et al., 2020).
Thus, the creation of a business incubator based
on a higher educational institution is not only the
development of commercialisation of scientific
inventions but also the prospect of creating new
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jobs and bases for practice. In addition, the
advantage of this organisational form is the
provision of all the necessary conditions for the
implementation of scientific ideas into reality.
Another form of innovation infrastructure that
may include a higher education institution is a
cluster – a territorial branch association of
business structures on a voluntary basis with
scientific institutions and educational
organisations. Its goal is to promote the
economic development of the region, increase
the level of competitiveness of its own products,
and attract students of higher education
institutions to real practical activities, which
substantially increases the level of their
professional training. There are several types of
clusters that are distinguished by features of
innovation. The first type is one that is built on
knowledge and belongs to enterprises
characterised by a high level of intensity of
development and research. Usually, such clusters
are formed around leading scientific institutions,
among which the chemical, pharmaceutical, and
aircraft industries are most often chosen. The
second type of cluster is vendor-dependent. In
other words, their innovation activity depends on
the ability to implement cooperation with
developers of innovative technologies; they are
usually identified in the field of agriculture and
forestry. The third type of cluster is those that are
built on information. They operate complex
systems to provide specialised services to clients;
publishing, finance, and tourism are more
common areas for such businesses. There is also
such a cluster that specialises in provision. Their
specific feature lies in the fact that much
attention is paid to relationships with consumers.
They are characterised by the production of
specific goods. There is another type of cluster,
namely the one that is built for the purpose of
creating innovative technologies. It is most often
identified in the field of instrument engineering
and mechanical engineering (Den Hertog &
Bilderbeek, 2019).
Clusters play an important role in organising
research-type work for both teaching staff and
students. Notably, due to the implementation of
clusters in higher education institutions, teachers
have the opportunity to improve their
competence and qualifications, apply new
interdisciplinary theories and concepts, and gain
experience in modern scientific laboratories. As
for students, clusters provide them with the
opportunity to gain practical experience in
laboratories, work in a team, together with
mentors and teachers and, accordingly, learn
from invaluable research experience, develop
scientific thinking and communication skills.
Equally important, clusters help to
commercialise scientific achievements, and thus
their development will contribute not only to
increasing university funding and gaining
experience for researchers but also to developing
the economy of the country. One of the most
well-known and powerful clusters internationally
is Silicon Valley, located in California
(Audretsch, 2021). Its scale covers thousands of
high-tech companies, whose activities are
concentrated in computer activities, software,
biotechnology, etc. Well-known companies such
as Hewlett-Packard, Kodak, General Electric,
Lockheed, and Shockley Transistor operate in
Silicon Valley (Gray & Suri, 2019). In Europe,
the most famous cluster is the Plastic Valley,
located in eastern France near the border with
Switzerland (Runiewicz-Wardyn, 2019). In
general, its activities are focused on the design of
products, plastic cases, processing polymers into
finished products, etc. The creation of such
clusters and the establishment of innovation
clusters in institutions of higher education
provides an opportunity to both develop
scientific activities and contribute to improving
the economic development of the state.
When analysing technology parks – the third
form of innovation infrastructure of
universities – this is a scientific-technical type
complex, which covers higher education
institutions, commercial firms, scientific
institutions, consulting and information services
and operates on the principles of
commercialisation of scientific-technical
activities (Rahmadoni et al., 2022). This is one of
the most common forms of interaction between
venture firms and developers in the United States
and Western Europe, which provides an
opportunity to implement the high-tech products
of new generations quickly and efficiently. An
example of this is Silicon Valley created based
on Stanford University in California (Samosir et
al., 2020). This scientific-technological park
unites about 3 thousand small and medium-sized
firms with a total of 200 thousand people; Silicon
Valley employs qualified specialists in the field
of information technology from all over the
world, including Ukraine. Notably, this
organisational form is the most favourable,
which is confirmed by the experience of other
countries. Thus, this form of combining business
entities with higher education institutions will
contribute to creating the necessary conditions
for the implementation of scientific-technical
activities, the commercialisation of inventions,
and ultimately, the development of the state
economy.
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In general, modern universities need to be
reorganised into innovative structures that will
commercialise the results of studies and
innovative projects. The concept of “innovation-
integrated structure” should be understood as a
set of business entities that are connected by a
network system and are aimed at increasing the
level of efficiency of innovation activities of
participants by optimising the provision of
resources. That is, it can be argued that this type
of structure in comparison with others is
endowed with a large number of advantages,
which is due to the ability to ensure not only
sustainable economic development and a
corresponding increase in the competitiveness of
the economic system but also the national
security of the country. This provides an
opportunity to improve the quality of
professional training of graduates of higher
educational institutions. This is due to the
convergence of theoretical and practical
components: the graduates will implement the
acquired knowledge and be included in the
production process, in accordance with which
they will achieve high professional results and
improve the level of competitiveness in modern
international labour market conditions.
There are several ways to create technology
parks that can be implemented in Ukraine.
Primarily, it is the creation by academic
employees of higher educational institutions of
enterprises that aim to commercialise the results
of their own scientific findings. Other small firms
can also join them. The second way is to create
large industrial associations by the scientific and
pedagogical staff of the higher education
institution, who left the company to create their
own business. Usually, large firms do not create
obstacles in this regard, but on the contrary, they
will contribute to this since they can join the
creation of new promising products. The third
way is to create a technology park through the
reorganisation of existing enterprises that want to
take advantage of the benefits created for such
parks under the current legislation and operate
based on higher education institutions. A special
feature of technoparks is the association of
companies that implement their own activities in
the most advanced areas, namely, science,
technology, and microelectronics. Due to their
compact location, most of the organisational,
secretarial, and managerial functions are
performed by qualified personnel.
In other words, the activities of scientific-
technological parks are aimed at promoting the
establishment of market relations in the field of
education and science, organisational and
financial support for the innovation activity of
HEIs, the introduction of new inventions and
technologies, creation of competition between
the subjects of innovation activity by attracting
free financial resources, support for the
introduction and development of the know-how
and new technologies using licenses and patents,
attracting investors on a competitive basis for the
implementation of the state scientific-technical
programmes, and saturation of the market with
new competitive goods. In other words, it
provides higher education institutions with the
opportunity to commercialise scientific
achievements and develop this sector.
Ukraine is endowed with a powerful scientific,
educational, scientific-technical potential, and
strong research structures created based on
universities (for example, National Technical
University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv
Polytechnic Institute”, National Technical
University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute”, and
other technical universities). However, data
centres in universities are still insufficiently
developed, which is confirmed by a number of
regulatory legal acts, which regulate the national
policy on the development of scientific-technical
activities at universities. In particular, these
include the Law of Ukraine No. 991-XIV “On
Special Regime of Innovation Activity of
Technological Parks” (1999). The purpose of
these legal documents is to activate the scientific
activities of higher educational institutions to
train highly qualified specialists. In other words,
a special regulatory framework has been formed
in Ukraine, which will ensure the sustainable
development of commercialisation of scientific
achievements in higher education and scientific
institutions. However, as practice shows, only a
few universities have technology parks.
In accordance with this, there are a number of
problems that hinder the development of
innovative infrastructure in Ukrainian
universities. The first of them is the shortage of
personnel in universities. This is due to the fact
that such high-tech centres require specialists
who will understand both the technical and
economic aspects of issues. The second problem
is the post-Soviet mentality. Is it quite difficult
for Ukrainian researchers to combine business
and science, to recognise their authorship of the
study, this results in public disclosure of
information, which makes patenting impossible
in the future. The next problem is insufficient
funding of higher education by the state and
commercial enterprises, according to which the
scientific and technical base of most higher
education institutions is outdated. The creation of
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subsidiaries is notable. This is due to the
inhibition of the complex approval mechanism,
namely that it is necessary to obtain the written
consent of the ministry to receive a share. For
universities in other countries, it is a daily
practice to enter into the authorised capital of
companies with their own patents and sell them
licenses. For example, the British company
Imperial Innovations has created more than 60
spin-out companies and attracted 175 million
external investments; this has provided an
opportunity to create about 550 jobs (Martineau
& MacLachlan, 2019). In particular, The
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA)
received the funds under license terms. Their
distribution is as follows: 15% – to the invention
licensing service, and from the rest – 1/3 – to the
university, 1/3 – to the faculty, and 1/3 – to the
inventor (MIT Technology Licensing Office,
2023).
The development of real and favourable
conditions for creating technology parks,
clusters, and business incubators is important to
overcome the above-mentioned problems in
Ukraine. It is also necessary to attract not only
professors and teachers of higher education
institutions, but also students, postgraduates, and
graduates who will work in the real sector and
introduce non-standard innovative ideas. It is
important to provide ample opportunities for the
appropriate creation and further development of
technology parks, business incubators, and
clusters based on the enterprise sector and private
capital. In other words, to implement an effective
educational process, it is necessary to create
conditions for cooperation with scientific
institutions and enterprises, the main idea of
which is the commercialisation of scientific
findings.
The Ministry of Education and Science of
Ukraine initiated the development of a
programme to support Ukrainian startups
(Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine,
2022). This is due to the rapid establishment of a
promising area – innovative enterprising. This
can happen even at the local level. In the context
of decentralisation and digitalisation, this
provides opportunities for local authorities to
implement strategic long-term planning to create
an economy of a new type. Thus, the creation of
conditions that will help scientific and technical
institutions develop favourably will have a
positive impact on the establishment of
sustainable economic development in Ukraine.
Further research will be aimed at analysing the
activities of clusters and technology parks in
Ukrainian universities in accordance with the
legislation.
The complexity of developing innovative
infrastructure in higher education institutions in
Ukraine is due to a problems faced by the higher
education sector in the context of its interaction
with the labour market. In particular, this is the
lack of regulation of the current legislation, the
underdevelopment of mechanisms for regulating
the socio-economic and regulatory nature of the
implementation of these processes, and the
insufficient number of highly qualified
specialists in the commercialisation of research
and innovative development of education.
According to this, aspects of the functioning of
commercialisation of higher education as one of
the areas of innovative development require a
more detailed analysis. As noted by P.R. Oeij et
al., (2019), this is stated in key European
documents, and one of the most important steps
in integrating education is the creation of the
European Higher Education Area (EHEA). It is
worth agreeing with this and adding that the basis
of this process is three important regulatory acts,
namely Magna Charta Universitatum (1988),
Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications
concerning Higher Education in the European
Region (Council of Europe, 1997), and the
Sorbonne Declaration (National Aviation
University, 1998). In the above normative
documents, the agreement between the states on
the main terms and criteria of higher education in
Europe is recorded, the main principles of
qualification, the powers of state bodies, training
periods are defined, mechanisms for recognising
higher education qualifications are highlighted,
the mechanism for implementing the provisions
of conventions in the educational process is
described, etc.
One of the most important achievements of the
EHEA in the context of the establishment of the
legislative framework is the creation of the
Framework of qualifications in the European
educational space (Zakharchenko, 2017). In
accordance with this, compatible and
comparative qualifications for higher education
systems were developed that describe them
considering certain factors, and two main cycles
with different profiles and orientations were
provided that will meet the needs of teachers,
students, and the conditions of the labour market.
The key objectives of this regulatory act are to
ensure transparency, mobility, and recognition of
these principles at the international level. As
highlighted by V.J. García-Morales et al., (2021),
digital literacy is recognised by the countries of
the European Union as one of the 8 important
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competencies for a fulfilling life and work.
Notably, the development of this area is based on
the use of the indicator of digital intelligence,
which implies the use of digital technologies in
higher education, business, professional
activities, everyday life, media, etc. Notably, the
development of digital literacy provides an
opportunity to implement and develop innovative
infrastructure in universities, which, in turn,
helps to design the content of practical training
for future professionals in higher education
institutions.
The Bologna Declaration has had and still has a
substantial impact on the educational process in
Europe (Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, 1999). Due
to the Declaration, an unprecedented and
ambitious process of integration into traditionally
diverse national systems has been implemented.
Despite the fact that the Bologna Process has
made a great contribution to the establishment
and development of the higher education
platform in many countries, now there is a need
to reconsider the main trends and ways. One of
these trends is the commercialisation of the
innovation process in internal higher education
institutions. According to Article 27 of the Law
of Ukraine No. 1556-VII “On Higher Education”
(2014), institutions have the right to establish
educational, scientific, industrial, and
educational-scientific complexes, and science
parks, be a part of consortia, all participants of
which retain financial independence and the
status of a legal entity. The commercialisation of
innovation is a fairly effective mechanism for the
development of higher educational institutions,
scientific institutions, and individual researchers,
and the practical implementation of their
scientific findings both on the territory of
Ukraine and abroad. According to A. Oke and
F.A.P. Fernandes (2020), partner selection is
based on an analysis of various aspects, including
the assessment of reputable experts, a specialised
database, publications, advertising materials, etc.
Automated information systems for the
commercialisation of innovations in Ukraine
were created to overcome problems of local,
regional, and national nature. For example, the
Ukrainian integrated technology transfer system
(Ukrtechinform, 2023) is designed to accumulate
and ensure the exchange of information about
innovative products between the developer and
the consumer. As S.L. Robertson (2022) states,
the main goal of this organisation is to create
conditions for the promotion of high-tech
products, information technologies, and services
to the internal and international markets, reduce
the costs of higher education institutions to find
customers and partners, and ensure the
legitimacy of concluded agreements on the
results of studies. When creating this institution,
the principles of building the Enterprise Europe
Network (Chamber of Commerce and Industry of
Ukraine, 2023) were observed. Thus, the activity
of the Ukrainian integrated technology transfer
system (Ukrtechinform, 2023) is related to the
implementation of tasks in the segment of
commercialisation of scientific findings and
research of higher educational institutions and
assistance in establishing technological
cooperation. It is worth noting that the
Agreement on cooperation in the field of
technology transfer was signed in 2018 between
the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine
and the Academy of Technological Sciences of
Ukraine (Pysarenko et al., 2018). During the
period of validity of this Agreement, the
Academy developed methodological and
conceptual principles for the establishment of the
National Technology Transfer Network, which
were the basis for the operation of the pilot
project – the Ukrainian technology transfer
network (UTTN) and its corresponding
segments.
According to P.J. Ramísio et al., (2019), to
ensure a high level of efficiency in the
implementation by higher education institutions
of the processes of commercialisation of
innovations and technological findings and
inventions, appropriate centres should be
established. It is worth agreeing with this opinion
and predicting that their main goal will be to
determine the feasibility of innovations,
formalise copyrights, conclude license
agreements, promote the creation of startup
companies, and distribute royalties among
participants in scientific development. As
P. Goodyear (2022) states, the main result of the
work of the centre for commercialisation of
innovations of higher education institutions is to
encourage researchers of these institutions to
create scientific inventions and transfer them to
industry, in which, accordingly, they would
create a large flow of financial plan and
contribute to the innovative development of the
economy. That is, according to this position,
increasing the level of functioning of the
innovative economy is possible with the
assistance and provision of conditions for the
development of scientific-technical activities.
Among the problems that hinder the functioning
of the centres for commercialisation of
innovations in higher education institutions is the
imperfection of the current legislation regulating
this process, and the low level of demand for
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research results in the field of industry in
Ukraine. However, as a result of signing of the
Association Agreement between Ukraine, on the
one hand, and the European Union, the European
Atomic Energy Community and their member
states, on the other hand (Verkhovna Rada of
Ukraine, 2014). This fact is confirmed by the
recommendation of parliamentary hearings on
legislative support for the development of the
scientific-technical field of the state. Another
problem that reduces the effectiveness of the
commercialisation of studies in higher education
institutions is post-Soviet attitudes. As noted by
V. Kaputa et al., (2022), most teachers,
supervisors, and researchers believe that the main
task of an institute or university is to create new
knowledge, but their implementation is entrusted
to the state. This is an erroneous approach since
the state and science must interact to
commercialise scientific inventions and increase
the level of the economy.
Attention should also be paid to the internal
potential of higher education institutions, which
consists of human, financial, material, and other
resources. In other words, to create centres for
the commercialisation of innovations at a
university or institute, it is necessary to consider
the legal status of the institution, its size,
financial capabilities, and efficiency of
implementation of activities. The royalties that
the centre will receive should not be less than the
cost of maintaining such a centre. Thus, to
improve the level of the Ukrainian economy and
the quality of educational services, the state
needs to create innovative centres for the
commercialisation of scientific inventions and
findings based on higher educational institutions.
In particular, these can be technology parks,
clusters, and business incubators. In order for the
activities of these centres to be implemented
effectively, it is necessary to provide wide
opportunities and favourable conditions for their
functioning. This applies to making appropriate
changes to the current legislation and introducing
a new national policy. Due to this, Ukraine will
be able to develop as a state with a high
scientific-technical base, an innovative economy,
and a high-quality educational system.
Conclusions
The conducted study, the purpose of which was
to determine the conditions for the establishment
of the innovative infrastructure of higher
education institutions for the development of the
state economy, provided an opportunity to
identify several main aspects that will contribute
to improving the efficiency of the educational
and economic systems of Ukraine through their
harmonisation. Primarily, the main problems that
hinder the development of innovation
infrastructure in higher education institutions of
Ukraine were identified. Among them, the
shortage of personnel in universities, the post-
Soviet mentality, the insufficient level of funding
by the state and commercial enterprises of the
scientific-technical base of higher education
institutions, and the creation of subsidiaries are
notable. The main forms of commercialisation of
scientific inventions and findings in higher
education institutions were considered to
overcome them. The importance of this analysis
is due to the fact that it provides an opportunity
to create the most favourable conditions for the
development of innovative infrastructures in
higher education institutions on the territory of
Ukraine. This will have a positive impact on the
development of the economy of the state.
International experience in the mechanism of
commercialisation of innovations, in particular,
in Silicon Valley and Plastic Valley, was also
considered. It was proved that in order for these
forms of commercialisation centres to implement
their activities most effectively, it is necessary to
create favourable conditions and opportunities,
in particular, to amend the current legislation of
Ukraine in the field of higher education. It is also
worth involving teachers, students,
postgraduates, and graduates of higher
educational institutions in the activities of
innovative infrastructures. This will help to
introduce non-standard innovative ideas that can
then be implemented and commercialised. It is
necessary to emphasise the need to create and
further develop an innovative infrastructure of
higher education institutions based on
establishing interaction with the enterprise and
private capital sectors. The offered
recommendations will contribute to improving
the quality of educational services provided by
higher education institutions and developing the
innovative economy of Ukraine. This will be due
to the development of innovative infrastructure
in higher education institutions and the
corresponding commercialisation of their
scientific inventions and findings. Further
research will be aimed at analysing the activities
of existing technology parks and clusters in
higher education institutions in Ukraine.
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