Possibilities of sociological knowledge to promote intellectual development of the region: experience of practical application in the Republic of Bashkortostan

The modern development of the society is focused on the accumulation of intellectual capacity and its capitalization. It is recognized by the international community. The first phase of the World Summit in Geneva in 2003, devoted to the contradictions of information society as a global humanity goal in the third Millennium, resulted in the adoption of the “Declaration of Principles”. It declares the common desire and commitment to build a people-centered, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society, where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full potential in promoting their sustainable development and improving their quality of life [1, p. 59-87]. People’s social activity is becoming more intelligent. Knowledge becomes the main resource of human development. Being applied in the practical sphere in order to obtain economic, political, cultural, scientific-technological and social effect, it turns into innovations that stimulate the growth of new knowledge. Thus, the triad “knowledge–money–knowledge” is implemented in the society.

As sociological knowledge is to objectively correspond to, and sociological imagination is to stay ahead of the development processes of society, we should have the mechanism to attract investments in sociology, boost sociological knowledge and promote its transformation into sociological innovations that will lead to a new round. In this process there are certain limitations at all stages.

The possibilities of sociological knowledge give an opportunity to study, predict and design intellectual development. The uniqueness of cognitive sociological experience lies in the potential of retrospective and prospective study of complex phenomena in the framework of the self-developing professional competencies of sociologists. The limit of professional competences is enclosed in the phenomenon of their half-disintegration and the sociologists’ ability for analysis, diagnosis and forecast. Despite a certain universality of sociological knowledge, the sociologists in the regions know their specifics and development characteristics better.

The Republic of Bashkortostan is a RF subject, located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, rich in natural, infrastructural, human, social, cultural and other resources.

Over the last hundred years in the region, as in the country as a whole, the educational potential of the adult population has been developing. According to the 2010 census, the education level of the adult population has been growing, but the average growth rate is lower than in Russia and the Volga Federal District.

There is a gap between intellectual potential and its capitalization, as in the Republic of Bashkortostan there is asymmetry between the innovative activity of economic entities (position in the top ten regions of the Russian Federation) and the creation of advanced technologies and their use (position in the fourth ten regions of the Russian Federation) [2].

The sociologists of the Republic of Bashkortostan contribute to the intellectual development of the population. The rise of social science in the republic is associated with N.A. Aitov, who created a sociological laboratory at Ufa Aviation University in the early 1960s. On the initiative of Professor Dzh.M. Gilyazitdinov, the applicants of Bashkir State University can be admitted to a specialist program in Sociology since 1991 and a master degree program in Sociology since 1997. By 2000 the region has had four Dissertation Councils awarding degrees of Doctor of Sociology and Ph.D. in Sociology: three – in Bashkir State University, one – in Ufa State Aviation Technical University. All this contributes to the development of human potential in the field of sociology. Nowadays there are a number of sociological schools in universities and scientific institutions of the republic. In addition to social and liberal training, theoretical and applied sociological research is carried out, its results are published.

Possibilities of sociological knowledge to promote intellectual development of the region: experience of practical...

There are research-to-practice conferences and other events of international, national, interregional and republican level. Experts-sociologists participate in the development of state programs and strategies.

The possibilities of sociological knowledge and competencies of sociologists are implemented to promote intellectual development of the region. The Regional Centre for Innovation and employees of the Social Engineering Sector of the Center for the Study of Human Potential at the Institute of Socio-Political and Legal Researches of the Republic of Bashkortostan in November 2012 initiated the drafting of the strategy for the development of intellectual property market in the Republic of Bashkortostan. The Ministry of Industry and Innovation Development of the Republic of Bashkortostan formed the Advisory Council and the working group, but after several meetings the work was discontinued. The development of the state document “from below” did not succeed.

In January 2014 due to the Decision of the Intellectual Property Council for Chair of Federation Council and Article II “On the development and submission for approval to the Government of the Republic of Bashkortostan of the draft program “Development of the intellectual property market in the Republic of Bashkortostan for 2014–2030”, list of the Government decrees adopted at the session “On the development of science in the Republic of Bashkortostan” (December 18, 2013), participation of colleagues from the Republic of Tatarstan, a draft concept of the subprogram for development of the intellectual property market in the Republic of Bashkortostan was developed.

The concept is aimed at forming an ideology of development of the program “Formation and development of the intellectual property market in the Republic of Bashkortostan”. It pursues a number of objectives.

The goals are connected with the analysis of the level of development of the regional intellectual property market, with the elaboration of the system principles to foster innovation performance on the basis of intellectual property commercialization, with the formation of the approaches to create the system of intellectual property use, with the development of the infrastructure model and the staffing of market development, with the modelling of state-market intellectual property management and legal regulation, with the design of the mechanism to monitor the establishment and development of the intellectual property market.

Despite the mention of the development of intellectual property market in several legal documents of the Republic of Bashkortostan, which have already been adopted and are being implemented or developing (“Promotion of innovative activity in the Republic of Bashkortostan”, “Strategy for investment development of the Republic of Bashkortostan to 2020”, the project “Strategy for development of scientific and innovation activity in the Republic of Bashkortostan to 2020”, “Development of industry and increase in its competitiveness for 2014–2020” (currently is not developed), it is not clear, part of which program the subprogram “Formation and development of intellectual property market in the Republic of Bashkortostan” will be.

Thus, the region has not only sufficient capacity to target intellectual development, but also destructive limitations that can be eliminated by means of a constructive dialogue and integration of the efforts of academic experts, representatives of state authorities and local communities.

Cited Works

• 1.    Lenskii B. V. Research and Materials . Moscow: Nauka, 2006.

• 2.    Regions of Russia. Socio-Economic Indicators. 2013: Statistics Digest . Rosstat, Moscow, 2013. 499 p.

• 3.    Sociologists of the Republic of Bashkortostan: Handbook . Ufa: Vostochnaya pechat’, 2012.