Strengthening competitiveness, science, technology, and innovation system in the department of Amazonas: A management analysis and intervention proposals

Assessing the impact of the digital economy on sustainable development in the underdeveloped regions of western China

Subject/topic. The article is devoted to the scientific problem of sustainable development of the region. Issues of sustainable development have become acutely discussed in the international community at all levels of government, in connection with environmental pollution, ecosystem depletion, and climate warming. The problems of reducing the quality of life and the economic inexpediency of regional investment projects are added to environmental problems. The subject of the study is a methodological approach to forecasting the sustainable development of the region. Goals/objectives. The purpose of the study is to develop an author's methodological approach to forecasting the sustainable development of the region, taking into account its specific features and taking into account the accumulated experience in this area. Methodology. The research methodology was a systematic approach, which used: a retrospective analysis of significant indicators of regional development, approximation, statistical methods of information processing, correlation and regression analysis. The empirical basis of the study was Rosstat data on the socio-economic development of the regions. Results. The author's methodological approach to forecasting the sustainable development of the region includes methods and techniques for building an economic model and assessing its quality. A universal algorithm for the formation of an economic model for forecasting the sustainable development of the region has been developed. The selection of independent and dependent variables - factors influencing the sustainable development of the region - has been carried out. The presented economic model of forecasting the sustainable development of the region, developed on the basis of correlation and regression analysis, reflects the peculiarities of the development of a particular subject of the Russian Federation. The model is quite reliable from the point of view of statistical estimates, which makes it possible to conclude that it describes the sustainable development of the region with high probability. Conclusions/significance. The novelty of the study lies in the development of the author's methodological approach, which includes an algorithm for the formation of such an economic model, which will identify social, environmental and economic factors affecting the sustainable development of the model region and assess the degree of their influence. As a result, it was possible to identify priority areas of activity of public authorities to achieve sustainable development of the Moscow region. Application. The proposed algorithm for forming an economic forecasting model is universal and can be applied to predict the sustainable development of other regions, taking into account the assessment of the quality of the economic model. The results obtained can be useful for substantiating management decisions of public authorities on the sustainable development of regional systems, forecasting the sustainable development of the region, taking into account its specific features affecting the development of the ecosystem.

Currently, at the end of the programming period 2014–2020 and in the view of the new programming exercise, 2021–2027, knowing where South-Muntenia is positioned on the path to sustainable regional development and how the main determinants can be integrated in regional development policies in order to continuously support the development of the Romanian regions becomes even more important. In this context, the paper aims to evaluate the progress made by the South-Muntenia region towards sustainable regional development for the period 2010–2017 highlighting the main implications for regional development strategies and revealing local initiatives promoting broader sustainable regional development. Thus, more in depth, the paper aims to identify the main determinants of sustainable regional development at the level of South-Muntenia counties using multiple principal component analysis (MPCA), to build an advancement sustainable development index based on panel data for the period 2010–2017 and to reveal the main sustainable development poles at the county level for the year 2017 using hierarchical clustering technique. The empirical results revealed the importance of business environment, public services infrastructure, education, and social protection as main determinants of South-Muntenia sustainable regional development. The advancement composite index pointed out that South-Muntenia recorded a slow but continuous advancement in terms of sustainable regional development, almost doubling its performance in these seven years. At the county level, if Prahova, Argeș, and Dâmbovița exhibited a so-called stagnation, Ialomița and Teleorman were still behind, registering an advancement over the period but remained only halfway on the path to sustainable development, while Calarasi and Giurgiu tried to recover the huge gap, registering very low rates of sustainable development index. On the path to regional economic development, the relevance of two main sustainable regional development drivers can be highlighted—a better allocation for active measures with the reduction of unemployment as a target together with a better infrastructure of public services. National, regional, and local administrations play an important role in promoting sustainability in the economic, social, and environmental activities, in a coherent manner. Regardless of the level at which development policies are designed, local, county, or regional, they must take into account and monitor the sustainable development determinants if the ultimate goal is the overall regional development of South-Muntenia.

Editorial 10 (1)

“Innovation driven” is the proper term for promoting regional sustainable development under the general goal of national high-quality development. University–industry collaboration (UIC) has become an important innovation resource for regional sustainable development. The study aims to analyze the influencing factors and mediating mechanisms of university–industry collaboration scientific and technological (S&T) and business activities oriented for regional sustainable development in 30 provinces in China (excluding Tibet). Specifically, we used the partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling method to test the effects of innovation climate and resource endowments on regional sustainable development through two mode pathways of university–industry collaboration activities. The results show that the innovation climate and resource endowments significantly affect UIC in scientific and technological innovation activities, and then affect the regional economic development and human capital. UIC S&T innovation activities play positive mediating roles in promoting regional sustainable development. In addition, the innovation climate does not significantly impact the business activities of UIC. Therefore, region can get a greater sustainable development through UIC S&T innovation activities than business activities. Much more UIC S&T activities can improve the economic development, human capital, and environmental conditions in the region.

One of the main directions of state policy in education is the development of scientific and innovation activities at institutions of higher education. It imposes on them additional features related to the inclusion of scientific activities in universities united innovative process for the creating and practical application of new knowledge. The purpose of the article is to establish the relationship between scientific and innovation activities and clarify the essence of scientific and innovation activities by building a coherent structural model of the process, which includes scientific, «scientific and innovation», and innovative components and corresponding levels of transfer of scientific results. In this paper, using theoretical research methods (analysis of philosophical, economic, educational scientific literature and regulatory documents, comparing and matching different views on studying the problem, generalization, systematization, classification, modeling), defined the interrelation between scientific and innovation activities and allocated a special kind activities – «scientific and innovation activities». There has been singled out the difference between the concepts of «innovation process» and «innovation activities», and between the categories of «innovation activities» and «scientific and innovation activities». The author’s definitions as to the given terms have been provided. It is shown that «scientific and innovation activities» is the process of introducing scientific new knowledge in scientific innovations (new materials, methods, technologies, software, know-how, organization, production, management systems and processes, etc.) and their subsequent distribution to be used in innovation activities. The phases of «scientific and innovation activities» are the processes of generation, creation, implementation and diffusion of scientific innovations. The paper presents a structural model of the innovation process, which can be roughly divided into three subsystems: scientific, «scientific and innovation» and innovation. The science subsystem is associated with the production of new knowledge resulting from scientific activities, and its transfer to knowledge market transfer (transfer of the first level). The “scientific and innovation activities” subsystem is responsible for the transformation of new knowledge into scientific innovations. This is the result of «scientific and innovation» activities, and their transfer to the market of objects of intellectual property (transfer of the second level). The third, innovative subsystem, is associated with the transformation of scientific innovations into innovations (new products, services, etc.), which are the results of innovation activities and their transfer to market of goods and services (transfer to third level).

BackgroundIn Colombia, published studies on the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium vivax malaria with chloroquine-primaquine are scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic response to two treatment regimens at the 28-day follow-up and the occurrence of adverse events in patients with P. vivax malaria.MethodsA quasi-experimental clinical trial was conducted at 3 sites in the Department of Amazonas. Patients received supervised or unsupervised anti-malarial treatment (chloroquine plus primaquine), and the primary effectiveness endpoint was the clinical and parasitological response. Safety was assessed through adverse event surveillance.ResultsA total of 103 patients were included: 53 in the 7-day primaquine group (Group I) and 50 in the group receiving primaquine for 14 days (Group II). Among the patients in group I, an adequate treatment response of 100% and 89.5% was found in patients who received supervised and unsupervised treatment, respectively. In Group II, adequate responses of 100% and 95% were reported for patients who received supervised and unsupervised treatment, respectively. No adverse events were detected.ConclusionsThe response to combined treatment with chloroquine plus primaquine continues to be adequate for treating P. vivax malaria in the Colombian Amazon region; however, a response to unsupervised treatment in the region is recommended.

While the internet can drive economic development, social progress, and environmental improvement, its influence on sustainable regional development remains unclear. The paper constructed a more comprehensive synthesized assessment indicator system for regional sustainable and internet development, respectively. By incorporating internet-relevant elements into the research framework of regional sustainable, we examined the influence of the internet on regional sustainable development and its mechanism of action. Research has found that the internet has had a positive effect on regional sustainable in China. The heterogeneity analysis revealed that internet infrastructure, internet information resources, and the internet construction environment have had a positive effect on regional sustainable in China. Furthermore, the transmission mechanism analysis suggested that the internet can positively contribute to China’s sustainable development by promoting economic growth, industrial upgrading, and financial development. This study provides new ideas for fully understanding the impact of internet development, especially on regional sustainable development, and is a useful reference for policymakers on the internet and regional sustainable development.

The digital environment has brought to the forefront the issues of sustainability and sustainable development, posing new risks, threats and opportunities and disrupting the socio-economic landscapes of countries, industries, and regions. The transition to the digital economy has determined the need to revise the existing theoretical concepts, analysis tools, and sustainable development management methods. The existing assessment methods insufficiently consider the digital environment and the role of digital technologies in solving sustainable regional development problems. Therefore, they cannot be used as a tool for transforming digital technologies into the digital asset of sustainable regional development. The aim of the study is 1) to analyze and assess the sustainable development of regional entities in the digital environment depending on the level of solving sustainable development problems and the available digital potential; 2) to analyze the dependence of sustainable development results on the use of digital technologies in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The hypothesis of the study is that the use of digital potential has a significant impact on the indicators of sustainable regional development, while the depth and direction of this impact are determined both by the nature and number of digital solutions, and their integration into the existing socio-economic systems of the regions. The methodological base and research methods include content analysis, logical deduction and induction, system analysis, taxonomic rating methods, clustering and virtual structuring. The statistical base is formed by data from the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation and statistical collections of the Higher School of Economics National Research University. The authors consider the essential features of the sustainability of socio-economic systems and the role of the digital environment, analyze the theory of the digital economy and the impact of digital technologies on sustainable development, systematize and clarify the categorical apparatus in sustainable regional development and create its theoretical model in the digital environment, as well as develop and test a methodological approach to assessing and analyzing sustainable regional development in the digital environment. The paper confirmed the dependence of sustainable development results on the use of the potential of digital technologies for most regions, with the most pronounced effect registered in leading and outsider regions. The obtained results can be used by federal and regional executive authorities to coordinate socio-economic development and digital transformation strategies.

Research background: Sustainable development is the agenda for many countries including Ukraine, which adopted it at the national level and promoted through its regions. As the country is constantly struggling with the results of the military conflict and the impact of the occupation of its part by separatists, which led to economic decrease and emergence of numerous social and environmental issues, the transition of Ukraine to sustainable development path becomes especially important. At the same time, there is no official methodology adopted by the Ukrainian government, how to assess sustainable development of its regions. Availability of objective assessments would contribute to development of the relevant policy recommendations.
 Purpose of the article: The purpose of the article is to assess sustainable development of the regions in Ukraine and to show the dynamics of performance of the regions before and after the beginning of the military conflict in the East of Ukraine.
 Methods: We suggest the methodology of calculation of the integral index of sustainable development of the regions in Ukraine. This methodology takes into account the three pillars of sustainable development concept (economic, social and environmental) and uses the data available for all Ukrainian regions from the official statistics source. In order to determine the position of individual regions in the development of the Ukrainian economy and to identify certain groups of regions according to their level of sustainable development, we apply the method of statistical grouping.
 Findings & Value added: The conducted analyses showed the dynamics of indicators of sustainable development of the Ukrainian regions, the performance of the regions and their affiliation to the corresponding attributive groups. The situation and interrelation of the regions in Ukraine totally changed after the beginning of the military conflict in the East of Ukraine. The Luhansk and Donetsk regions, which are directly affected by the military conflict, became the outsiders among other regions in Ukraine, though before the conflict the values of sustainable development indicators had been above the average values in Ukraine. The leaders among the regions also changed, and the difference between the leaders and the following groups became significant. The results of the analyses allowed to visualize the dynamics of sustainable development of the regions in Ukraine and define the key directions for future development.

A number of studies have analyzed the performance of malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) in Colombia with discrepancies in performance being attributed to a combination of factors such as parasite levels, interpretation of RDT results and/or the handling and storage of RDT kits. However, some of the inconsistencies observed with results from Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein 2 (PfHRP2)-based RDTs could also be explained by the deletion of the gene that encodes the protein, pfhrp2, and its structural homolog, pfhrp3, in some parasite isolates. Given that pfhrp2- and pfhrp3-negative P. falciparum isolates have been detected in the neighboring Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon regions, we hypothesized that parasites with deletions of pfhrp2 and pfhrp3 may also be present in Colombia. In this study we tested 100 historical samples collected between 1999 and 2009 from six Departments in Colombia for the presence of pfhrp2, pfhrp3 and their flanking genes. Seven neutral microsatellites were also used to determine the genetic background of these parasites. In total 18 of 100 parasite isolates were found to have deleted pfhrp2, a majority of which (14 of 18) were collected from Amazonas Department, which borders Peru and Brazil. pfhrp3 deletions were found in 52 of the100 samples collected from all regions of the country. pfhrp2 flanking genes PF3D7_0831900 and PF3D7_0831700 were deleted in 22 of 100 and in 1 of 100 samples, respectively. pfhrp3 flanking genes PF3D7_1372100 and PF3D7_1372400 were missing in 55 of 100 and in 57 of 100 samples. Structure analysis of microsatellite data indicated that Colombian samples tested in this study belonged to four clusters and they segregated mostly based on their geographic region. Most of the pfhrp2-deleted parasites were assigned to a single cluster and originated from Amazonas Department although a few pfhrp2-negative parasites originated from the other three clusters. The presence of a high proportion of pfhrp2-negative isolates in the Colombian Amazon may have implications for the use of PfHRP2-based RDTs in the region and may explain inconsistencies observed when PfHRP2-based tests and assays are performed.

The Andhra Pradesh Community-Managed Natural Farming programme represents a paradigm shift in agricultural extension by emphasizing decentralized governance, community participation, and agroecological transformation. This study was undertaken to analyze the roles, actions, types, and nature of linkages among key stakeholders in the Andhra Pradesh Community-Managed Natural Farming innovation system, with a focus on understanding how learning processes are shaped within this decentralized extension framework. The research was conducted in Anantapur district, a drought-prone region with high adoption of natural farming, during the period 2023–2024. An exploratory research design was employed to investigate the stakeholder dynamics within the agricultural innovation system. Three mandals: Kalyandurg, Rapthadu, and Gooty were purposively selected for their sustained involvement in natural farming and to capture agro-ecological and geographic diversity, and data were collected from 80 respondents representing seven key stakeholder categories including Department of Agriculture, Rythu Sadhikara Samstha, Self-Help Groups, Panchayati Raj Institutions, Farmer Producer Organizations, Community Resource Persons and natural farming farmers. Data collection involved structured interviews, focus group discussions, and use of an actor linkage matrix to map relationships and associated learning types. The findings reveal that Andhra Pradesh Community-Managed Natural Farming project demonstrates a decentralized, multi-actor innovation system anchored by the Department of Agriculture and Rythu Sadhikara Samstha, with strong community engagement through Community Resource Persons, Self Help Groups, Farmer Producer Organisations, and Panchayat Raj Institutes. Role-frequency and actor-linkage matrices reveal strong vertical and horizontal coordination, with Rythu Sadhikara Samstha and Community Resource Persons acting as central nodes. Community Resource Persons maintain dense field-level linkages, facilitating knowledge transfer and behavioural change. Farmers exhibit strong reciprocal ties with institutions and peers, driving informal scaling and peer learning. Social media enhances communication, feedback, and training. Learning across stakeholders is primarily interactive and experiential, supported by trust-based networks rather than formal contracts. The model’s participatory design and convergence-based implementation enable inclusive, scalable, and resilient agroecological transitions. In conclusion, APCNF illustrates a robust, participatory innovation system where learning is collaborative, experiential, and rooted in local contexts. Strengthening multi-stakeholder linkages, investing in grassroots capacity, and expanding digital engagement are essential for sustaining and scaling agroecological transitions.

A rapid development in regional economy is often accompanied by an increase in energy consumption and the intensification of environmental pollution, which brings great pressure to the social economy and the natural environment. In order to solve the integrated problem of economic, social, and natural factors, we propose an evaluation method for the sustainable development of the regional economy, based on emergy. By analyzing the statistical data of Henan’s economic development from 2010 to 2018, an evaluation index system of regional eco-economic sustainable development was constructed based on four aspects: natural subsystem, economic subsystem, social subsystem, and sustainable development index. The index system was then used to measure and comprehensively evaluate the sustainable development of the ecological economy and the environmental friendliness of Henan Province. The assessment results showed that the emergy self-sufficiency rate decreased, indicating decreased self-sufficiency. Moreover, the environmental load rate was high, indicating high environmental pressure. The emergy currency rate declined with a rise in the emergy investment rate, indicating economic growth. Additionally, the population carrying capacity was consistently > 1, indicating that the population was overloaded. Collectively, the emergy-based evaluation method of regional economic sustainable development in this study provides a comprehensive and scientific evaluation framework, which can help decision makers and researchers better understand and evaluate the problems brought about by the rapid development of regional economy, and provide targeted decision making suggestions. It includes four sub-systems: natural, economic, social, and sustainable, which have important theoretical and practical significances, while also serving as a useful reference for the evaluation of the sustainable economic development of similar regions.

The city of Wrocław is an important Polish center for creating innovations and modern technological solutions. In general, Polish innovation system is having problems with a lack of cooperation among different actors, a low level of commercialization and a weak uptake of technologies. Based on that, the objectives of this paper were set on the identification of the local innovation and entrepreneurial opportunities, the analysis of the current innovation system and the development of a community’s ecosystem theoretical concept. Currently, in Wrocław, many organizations are dealing with innovation. To assess the regional situation of the innovation system the ethnographic analysis was conducted. Each of the stakeholder segments was analyzed based on the resources, activities, value addition and value capture factors. The research showed a huge potential for creating an innovation ecosystem, however due to the variety of different activities, there is no common Innovation Ecosystem. Based on the analysis results, the Ecosystem Pie Model tool was used to create the ecosystem model concept. Research showed a huge potential for creating an innovation ecosystem. Therefore, Wrocław should aim to create a development policy framework that favors entrepreneurial innovation and will allow sustainable regional development.

The work is devoted to identifying patterns of coupling scientific and innovative activities and the intensity of digital development in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation with the gross regional product (GRP) per capita in the regions of Russia. The relevance of the study is determined by the importance of ensuring technological leadership and sovereignty in the framework of achieving the National Development Goals of Russia. The purpose of the work is to identify the level of mutual influence of scientific and innovative activities and digital development with the level of GRP per capita in the regions of Russia. The work used a methodological approach based on the involvement of a wide range of statistical and other indicators reflecting scientific and innovative activities and the development of information and communication technologies. The study used Rosstat data for 2021 and 2022 (indicators of GRP per capita, science, innovation and development) of information technology, as well as the results obtained by the author through the search engine of the Scopus database (publication activity of scientists in the regions of Russia, by main branches of science). The analysis was conducted on a sample of 77 regions (excluding a number of northern and far eastern regions of the Russian Federation with a very high level of GRP per capita, associated with the predominance of the extractive industry in the structure of the economy). The construction of models of the relationship was carried out on the basis of correlation and regression analysis and obtaining formulas for multiple linear regression. The main results of the study: it was found that scientific, innovative and digitalization activities in the regions significantly correlate with GRP per capita; while the highest level of correlation was shown by such factors as the number of publications in Scopus in the field of economics, econometrics and finance, relative costs of applied research, the volume of innovative goods and services, as well as the volume of information transmitted via the Internet. The constructed econometric model of multiple regression, demonstrating the interdependence of key indicators of science, innovation and digital development with the level of the economy, showed high explanatory power (R2 = 0.72), which indicates a significant positive impact of the studied indicators on economic development and provides a certain indicative «recipe» for the formation and implementation of regional scientific and innovation policy and regional policy in the field of digital development. Cases of significant deviation of the simulated indicators of GRP per capita from their real values are analyzed separately. The scientific novelty of the study is associated with the breadth of the list of indicators used for the analysis, the complexity of the approach to assessing the impact of innovation on the regional economy, including a joint consideration of the scientific and innovative and information and communication components as a single innovative factor for economic growth. The results obtained are of practical significance for strategizing the development of the regional economy. The ratio of the regression model indicators indicates the most promising strategic guidelines in planning the development of scientific and innovative systems in the regions, taking into account their digitalization processes.