TECHNOLOGICAL LEADERSHIP TRAJECTORIES OF OLD INDUSTRIAL REGIONS

This article substantiates the need to develop a new assessment model and strategy for the technological development of Russia’s old industrial regions in the face of sanctions pressure, disrupted global supply chains, and intensifying technological competition. It is shown that the development of such regions is unfolding within a field of three key contradictions: between significant industrial and engineering potential and slow technological modernization; between growing demand for technological sovereignty and persistent dependence on imported technologies; and between high scientific and innovative potential and weak integration of R&D results into industrial production. The theoretical basis of the study is the author’s concept of “six foci” of technological leadership, which combines innovation, sovereignty, institutional cooperation, modernization, standardization, and anti-crisis measures. Based on this concept, a system of internal complex parameters and external conditions/shocks is proposed, allowing for the formalization of a region’s technological potential. An index of technological leadership potential (ITLP) has been developed, defining the threshold level of technological sovereignty and adjusting it if insufficient. Using methods of systemic and institutional analysis, multicriteria assessment, and matrix modeling, a qualitative assessment of the status of old industrial regions of the Volga Federal District was conducted. A positional map of the regions and a dynamic four-stage model of strategic states were constructed, describing the transition from shock damping to global technological leadership. For each group of regions (leaders, local leaders, and catch-ups), typical development trajectories and key policy priorities are proposed. The practical significance of this study lies in the development of a methodological toolkit for government agencies and regional development institutions, enabling the linking of the assessment of the technological potential of old industrial regions with the choice of modernization strategies, deepening cooperation, expanding export opportunities, and achieving technological leadership.

technological leadership, old industrial region, technological sovereignty, innovation potential, industrial modernization, cooperation chains, integral index, strategies, trajectories, standards, digitalization, sanctions, interregional integration, matrix modeling

Galimova M. P. Technological leadership trajectories of old industrial regions. Biznes. Obrazovanie. Pravo = Business. Education. Law. 2025;4(73):104—113. DOI: 10.25683/VOLBI.2025.73.1491.