Different views on innovation

Dmitry Medvedev and the Russian public have different views on where modernization should begin, Vedomosti reports citing ZIRKON research group. The citizens prioritize reducing the number of state officials, ensuring independent courts, fair competition and re-introducing elected governors. Russia's modernization has been interpreted by Russian citizens not in terms of technological innovation, but as political change, according to a survey conducted by the ZIRKON research group, a nongovernmental think-tank, and OMI Russia. This trend was particularly pronounced among respondents deemed to be in the leading segments, such as qualified specialists or managers, who live in large cities, are very active on the Internet and have high incomes. Citizens still do not understand where Dmitry Medvedev's modernization path will lead them. The majority considers "modernization" an abstract word, says Igor Zadorin, General Director of the ZIRKON research group. The general public is right in its instinctive response: modernization should not only apply to the economy but to political institutions as well, says Evgeny Gontmakher from the Institute of Contemporary Development.