Innovative potential of the university as a basis for innovation development of regional economy

Any organization or company seeks to gain significant competitive advantages that are impossible without the use of intellectual capital. In particular, for the country, in our opinion, this is the starting point for creating a sustainable basis for modernizing the country's economy, improving its functioning and creating regional innovation centers with the aim of transferring technology and knowledge [1]. The solution of national problems, one way or another, depends on the satisfaction of local regional needs. In the particular case - from providing the local labor market with the necessary number of highly qualified personnel of certain specialties with innovative potential.

In advanced countries, the development and introduction of technological innovations is the main factor of economic and social development that ensures economic security. Research universities in Western countries occupy a leading place in the development of the country's economy, their profits from innovation are much higher than the profits from paid educational services. The increase in gross domestic product is due to new knowledge, introduced in technology, equipment and organization of production and ranges from 50-85%. The volume of the world market for innovative products is $ 2.5 trillion. [1].

For Tajikistan, the problem of stimulating innovation, increasing the role of science, preserving production and scientific and technical potential is particularly relevant today, during market reforms. Commercialization and practical application of new developments, introduction of new products and services to the market are directly connected with representatives of university, academic and departmental science. It is in these institutions that advanced innovations are created.

Higher vocational education is the only area that creates the main resource that constitutes the productive forces of society — specialists with high qualifications for various industries. It is also one of the most important institutions that ensure the development of universal human capital, its accumulation and preservation [2].

Imagine the mechanism of reproduction of innovation-active personnel, developed by the researcher O.A. Latuha [3]

Figure 1. The mechanism of reproduction of innovatively active personnel

Production of innovatively active personnel is possible only if there is an innovative potential at the university itself. Kinds of innovative activity of the university can be grouped in three directions:

• 1)    activities to create innovation, as a factor in the development of innovative activities of the university;

• 2)    training in innovation, as a factor in the production of innovative personnel;

• 3)    educational activities as a factor in the development and support of innovation.

Thus, the first direction includes those types of work that are related to the process of creation, development and dissemination of innovations.

The second direction is a special kind of university work that stimulates innovation activity both in the industry and in the university itself, which is essential in the conditions of the formation of an economy based on knowledge.

The third direction is traditional for universities, but in modern market relations it acquires a new meaning: advanced training courses, round tables and seminars, trainings on the development of various industries have become popular in universities [3].

Important conditions for the formation of the innovation system of universities in the region, in our opinion, are:

• -    assessment of the potential of the university, the real results of its activities and readiness for innovative transformations;

• -    focus on the current and especially promising needs of regional economic structures and, therefore, ensuring consistency of supply and demand in the market of higher education services [4];

• -    developing partnerships with public and private organizations, introducing them to the learning process [5];

• -    assessment of the quality of graduates, regular surveys of employers;

• -    analysis and improvement of the system of university management [6];

• -    transparency of the management system and flexibility of the bureaucratic apparatus.

We propose an approach according to which the innovation contribution of each university can be estimated by a preliminary analysis of the qualitative and quantitative performance indicators in each of the described areas. The information obtained by this way can be framed into a general ranking of universities and used by regional authorities, employers and applicants.

An equally important factor in the development of an innovative economy in the region is the assessment of employers' satisfaction with the quality of graduates, their qualifications, and their willingness to introduce and defend new approaches in their professional activities. This feedback, in our opinion, will help identify and solve pressing practical problems in the country's economy and in the educational system. The result of such a dialogue of social institutions can be an adjusted training program taking into account the interests of production, in particular, taking into account the needs of the main enterprises-employers in certain knowledge, qualities, skills and abilities [7].

Thus, to determine the vector of innovative development of the region, it is important to assess the innovative potential of universities. On our a glance, it is necessary to proceed from three fundamentally important points:

• 1)    assessment of the resources of the university and its internal activities;

• 2)    assessment of the quality of specialists produced and interaction with enterprises in the region;

• 3)    the degree of interaction with the authorities, providing the region with the necessary personnel.

At the present stage, to improve the efficiency of the economy, qualitative changes are needed in the system of managing the internal potential of higher education institutions - knowledge, creativity, and intellectual potential. The estimated comprehensive information will allow to measure the innovative contribution of each university to the structure of the regional economy, as well as to identify discrepancies between the needs of the produced and required personnel, their “quality” and quantity relative to the needs of the region [8].

Such strategic information would contribute to the emergence of healthy competition between educational institutions in terms of gaining promising market segments and improving the quality of educational services. In our opinion, this information will greatly help to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the system of strategic planning in the field of education not only at the level of an individual educational institution and the region, but also on the scale of the state as a whole.