University infrastructure of innovations: looking for collaborative models

This conceptual article describes the study of Russian universities’ place in the regions as compared to international universities. The data were collected within preparing analytical materials for the Priority Project «Universities as Innovation Centers», which was launched by the Ministry of Science and Education of the Russian Federation in 2016. This study develops the authors’ interpretation of the universities’ innovation practices management challenges. The article develops the collaborative model of managing innovations within universities, businesses, territories. The authors engage themselves in a discussion on the three university functions with a comparative study of national and international university practices. The objectives of the study are determined by the importance of generalizing and analyzing university transformational practices for identifying factors that contribute to a qualitative change in the way of managing the university infrastructure. The article is based on the methodology of comparative analysis and reconstructive analysis. The authors prove the urgency of collaboration which would ensure synchronization of transforming the region into a place for consumers of new practices, universities, businesses, and society to concentrate within the course of innovative change in the quality of life and production practices that create a gravity center for human capital. The research has its certain limits due to the experience of the universities in the study sample. The article is addressed to university leaders, to university research authorities, and to regional governmental officials, who are challenged with the task of improving the quality of life and creating conditions for the growth of social and economic systems that could be attractive for human capital.