The history of technology parks began in the fifties of the last century. It was at this time that Stanford University, located in the state of California (USA), decided to lease out empty premises and unused land. Contracts were concluded with a variety of organizations. These were both large companies and small firms engaged in knowledge-intensive business.
All these organizations at that time carried out government orders. Small industries developed in direct contact with the university. This benefited both sides. As a result, a community was formed, which later became known as Silicon Valley.
Further implementation of the project
It took almost thirty years to completely build up the empty territory and debug the necessary infrastructure. This was the first creation of a technopark. Silicon Valley has become known around the world due to its achievements in high-tech industries. Especially computer and information technologies developed here.
Small firms with two or three employees grew rapidly, turning into companies with more than one thousand employees. In 1981, more than eighty companies worked on the territory where this technopark was located. These are giants such as Polaroid and Hewlett-Packard, the aerospace firm Lockheed and other industry leaders.
Since the 80s, technology parks began to appear in large numbers in the United States. They contributed to the development of those regions that were gripped by unemployment and economic recession. And today in America there is the largest number of these industrial and scientific zones. In terms of numbers, they make up one third of the world's number.
Appearance of technology parks in Europe
A great idea crossed the ocean in the 70s of the last century. It was during this period that the Research Center arose at the Scottish University of Edinburgh. Similar organizations began to develop in Cambridge at Trinity College, in Belgium at Leuven-la-Neuve, etc. The technopark movement in Europe was significantly intensified due to the crisis that erupted in the 80s. It was then that in order to help the problem centers of the coal and textile industries, Margaret Thatcher ordered the creation in the UK of a whole network of industrial zones with existing universities. This idea paid off. And today in England about fifty technoparks are successfully operating. They also exist in other European countries. There are about 260 such formations on its territory.
European technology parks, which include two thousand different innovation centers, used overseas experience in their development. This allowed them to go through a shorter path of becoming. "Business incubators" have gained great popularity in a short time. Their services were used by small companies and private firms, as well as public sector organizations. What role did the technopark play in this? It was the link between industry and R&D.
Technopark movement in China
The American experience in creating unique industrial zones was picked up by China. In this field, the country has achieved stunning success, attracting the attention of the world community. The accelerated development of knowledge-intensive industries in China was made possible thanks to the active participation of the state.
Already at the beginning of 1986, the government of the country approved a program for the development of technology and science. It identified those priority sectors that the technopark was supposed to include. The Center for Cosmonautics, Informatics and Electronics, Biotechnologies and Genetic Engineering, Fiber Optic Communications and Energy Saving Technologies was supposed to be located on this territory according to the project. In addition, it was planned that the industrial and scientific zone would include production facilities for the creation of medical equipment.
Government help
Already two years later, a program called "Torch" was launched, which was the next stage in the project, according to which it was supposed to build a technopark. This was another decision of the government of the country, the purpose of which was to commercialize and industrialize the successes already achieved in the creation of high technologies. The Torch program involved production facilities worth over $25 billion.
During the implementation of this project, such technopark zones were created, which, in addition to developing the latest technologies and promoting their own products to the foreign and domestic markets, played a huge role in attracting foreign investment and advanced developments to the country.
China's first technology park is the Beijing Experimental Zone, located in Haidan Province. Since its opening in 1988, 120 such formations have already been created in the country. At the same time, fifty percent of them work to fulfill government orders.
The Chinese government has provided tremendous assistance in the creation of technology parks. Moreover, it was expressed not only in significant amounts of financial injections. At the government level, favorable conditions for doing business in these zones were also established. This is a reduction or complete exemption from income tax, benefits for capital construction, as well as the possibility of duty-free import of imported equipment.
Global technology park movement
In the eighties of the last century, the idea of creating scientific and industrial territories experienced a real boom. Technoparks began to be created not only in economically developed countries. Their constructiondeployed in Australia and Singapore, India and Malaysia, Brazil and Canada, as well as in many other countries.
Begin construction of technology parks in Russia
The creation of industrial and scientific zones in our country began in the 80s-90s. It was a difficult period when, in connection with the outbreak of the crisis, the state stopped financing industrial and applied sciences. One of the ways to retain qualified personnel was the idea of creating a zone where a technopark should be located. The Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Tomsk, the Russian Ministry of Higher Education, the State Committee for Education, as well as large enterprises became the founders of the first of these formations. This technopark was state property.
Later there was a reform. Technopark became a CJSC. At the same time, the share of state property in its authorized capital decreased to 3%.
Post-Soviet period
Young technoparks in Russia experienced great difficulties. They were affected by the lack of experience in managing the changed economic conditions. During these years, the industrial-scientific zones have not been able to make a breakthrough in the creation of the latest technologies. It was a time when any enterprise was faced with the task of simply surviving. Technoparks in such conditions were considered as institutions capable of receiving state support.
In 1990, the program of the Ministry of Economy "Technoparks of Russia" appeared. It was scheduled for five years. However, funding under this program did not allow the purchase of real estate and organizeall necessary infrastructure. With the allocated amounts, some universities launched only commercial activities, which were far from scientific.
Further work of the state
In the same years, the Technopark Association was created. She was tasked with studying and adapting foreign experience to the conditions of Russia. In addition, the Association was supposed to promote the creation and operation of technology parks as an effective link in supporting and developing small businesses in an innovative direction.
In this work, the Russian government provided not only material, but also legislative assistance. However, there was an opinion that the technopark should not enjoy any tax benefits. Production in it must be carried out on the same conditions that have developed throughout the country. It was assumed that otherwise such zones would easily turn into internal offshores, where assets would be withdrawn.
By the mid-1990s, the Technopark program in Russia continued to gain momentum. The number of such zones grew. Their creation took place on the basis of scientific centers owned by the state. However, among these formations there was some stratification in development. The most advanced were the science parks of Tomsk and Moscow, St. Petersburg and Zelenograd, Chernogolovka and Ufa.
Technopark in Saransk
Based on the accumulated world experience, we can say that the technopark is a special economic zone with a rapidly developing science-intensive industry. That is why such formations are under the special control of the government,The task of developing them was set by the President of the Russian Federation V. Putin back in 2005. Five years later, the development of a federal program to create industrial and scientific zones in Russia in the field of high technologies was completed. To date, twelve technoparks have already been opened in our country. It is worth mentioning that in December 2014 the implementation of the federal program was completed in full. It is assumed that the budgetary efficiency of all technology parks will be within 55%. At the same time, they will produce at least 12% of export products.
Another project
One of the objects of the federal program was the Technopark Mordovia complex. Its construction began after the signing of the relevant order by Putin, issued on September 12, 2008. The total area of this structure is about 6,000 sq.m. Its territory hosts companies that develop software, as well as those organizations whose activities are related to the information environment and the creation of databases based on modern technologies.
By the end of 2014, the second stage was put into production in the Technopark Mordovia complex. To date, fifty-one resident companies are successfully operating throughout the zone, providing 1,634 jobs. The total annual revenue of the technology park is 1 billion rubles.
Technopark in Tolyatti
The largest scientific and industrial zone in Russia is the Zhiguli Valley. This is a technopark built near the city of Togliatti. The area of this zone is 65000sq. m. The main areas of work of the technopark "Zhigulevskaya Dolina" are telecommunications and information technologies, energy saving and energy efficiency, transport, chemistry, as well as developments in the field of space exploration.
Today, 22 companies operate here, the number of which should grow to a hundred in the future.
