Moscow, July 4, 2007. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents information concerning what role in the development of our country Russians assign to innovations, how they evaluate the possibility that in the next few years Russia will become a state with the economy based on high technologies rather than natural resources.

Innovations are a necessary condition of Russia's future well-being, as 63% of the respondents assume. However, 12% think that innovations are not going to become a significant factor in Russia's economic development. As much as 59% of respondents mention that one should place as much investments as possible into innovations, and the investment will pay off in the long run, against are 11% of the respondents who consider this a waste of money. The role of innovations is going to increase, they will be introduced into all branches of economy, as 56% of respondents identify; 15% disagree with that and forecast that innovations will rather be occasional and will not obtain wide distribution. The higher the education level of the respondents was, the more important the role of the innovations seemed to them.

At the same time, every second Russian (53%) found it difficult to explain what innovations are. 22% of respondents consider this term to denote all novelties; 15% think that it means implementing new technologies; 6% expect it to consist in making use of scientific achievements and technological advances. 3% define innovations as massive social changes and another 3 % name specific examples of innovations. 1% assume that innovations are investments into the promising branches of economy.

Innovations are exactly what is going to help bring our economics and social life on a new higher level consider 56% of the respondents. 14% disagree with them and do not hope that innovations will bring about crucial changes to life. The share of optimists rises from 31% characteristic of respondents with junior secondary education to 74% for respondents with higher or incomplete higher education. The number of respondents who found it difficult to explain the notion of innovation decreases simultaneously (from 59% to 12%).

According to 35% of the respondents, innovations should be implemented in all branches of economy and all spheres of social life. 16% remark that innovations are mostly needed in the industry (in Moscow and St. Petersburg 29% of respondents share this point of view); 12% consider that innovations are mostly wanted in medicine (28% in the two capitals); 11% that in agriculture (17% of the respondents in population areas agreed with this point); 10% in science and education (18% in the capitals). No more than 1-3% of the respondents mentioned the social sphere, ecology, high technological branches, that being power engineering, oil and gas industry, space industry, nanotechnology, genetics, electronic engineering, communication, informatics.

More than half of respondents believe that Russia will only become a highly developed state with the economy based on science and high technologies rather than natural resources not earlier than in 10 to 15 years (35%) or even by the middle of the XXI century (20%). The share of optimists forecasting that this will happen within the next five years does not exceed 13%. About the same share of pessimists believes that Russia will never become a high-tech country (11%). The younger the respondents are, the more optimistic are their predictions: 19% of the respondents of 18-24 years of age think that high-technology will start dominating the Russian economy within the next 5-7 years; 5% of people 60 years and older agree with them. 41% and 29% in these age groups suppose that it will happen within the next 10-15 years. 6% of the youth and 15% of pensioners do not believe that it is ever going to happen at all.

The All-Russia opinion poll was conducted by VCIOM on June 16-17, 2007. 1599 respondents were interviewed in 153 population areas of 46 regions of Russia. The statistical error does not exceed 3.4%