Scientific and educational environment as an essential factor for innovative development of a region

The content and factors of innovative development of the region are investigated in two important aspects: so-ciological and educational ones. The authors use a systematic approach, considering scientific and educational environment of the region as a basis of formation of innovative potential which lays the conditions for innova-tive development of the region. On the basis of statistical material of 2008-2013 years the paper investigates indicators and factors of innovative development of the regions in the Volga Federal District. These are the indicators of innovative activity in the region, the index of socio-economic development of the region, innova-tive ranking of regions, scientific and technical potential, quality of innovation policy. It is shown that there is a correlation between the ranked results of innovative activities in the region and socio-economic conditions of this activity, and the quality of innovation policy in the region. The trends in the development and use of scientific potential of postgraduate and doctoral studies in the formation of scientific-educational environment of the region is characterized based on the analysis of statistical data on the functioning of postgraduate and doctoral studies. It is proved that the place and role of scientific and technical intelligentsia in the social struc-ture of the region create the sociological preconditions for contribution to the development of scientific and technical potential of the region. The factors of innovative development of the region are defined: objective (creation of socio-economic conditions of innovative activity; the formation of scientific- technical potential of the regions; development and realization of innovative policy of regions), and subjective (social perception of the scientific-technical intelligentsia of necessity of transition to innovative development in the region; the satisfaction of the state programme of transition to innovative type of development; the scientific competence of youth that enables you to actively participate in the innovation development). The classification of groups of regions of the Volga Federal district is presented depending on the conditions of innovative development: the group of promising and active regions with successful scenario of innovative development; the group of regions with the best and quite promising, sustainable scenario development; the group of regions with an uneven pace of development, in which the rises alternate with recessions in the development process.