An indicator model for measuring the innovative potential of an urban community

The article presents the results of a study aimed at developing and testing tools for quantifying the innovation potential of urban communities. The relevance of the work is determined by the need to move from abstract concepts of innovation potential to measurable parameters that allow making informed management decisions. The scientific task solved within the framework of this study was to develop and substantiate a methodology for quantifying and evaluating the innovation potential of a territorial community. The authors proposed a theoretical justification for the indicator model, described in detail the process of its construction and presented the experience of its practical application through the calculation of the integral index of innovation, which made it possible to operationalize this socio-cultural phenomenon. Empirical testing of the methodology was carried out on the data of two large cities of the Vologda Region – Vologda and Cherepovets. The results confirmed the diagnostic capabilities of the toolkit for detecting inter-urban differences. It was found that the population of Cherepovets demonstrates a higher willingness to technological changes, whereas Vologda is characterized by the predominance of respondents with medium and low values of the innovation index, which correlates with conservative attitudes and employment structure. It is concluded that the proposed model can serve as a basis for monitoring the dynamics of innovation attitudes, evaluating the effectiveness of development strategies and timely adjustment of management impacts. The toolkit allows authorities to move to targeted work with various segments of the population: to support innovation leaders, involve pragmatists, and reduce anxiety among conservative groups through differentiated communication strategies. The possibility of scaling the methodology for the analysis of professional and youth communities, as well as for the typologization of municipalities, is substantiated. The study proves that measuring innovation potential is an effective tool for managing territorial development, allowing combining technological modernization with reliance on the social capital of local communities.