Formation of smart specialization at the heart of innovative development of agriculture in regions of Russia

Innovations are the main driving force for ensuring an intensive vector of socio-economic development and are the main lever for creating comfortable living and working conditions for the population, including rural ones. The adoption by the regions the concept of «smart specialization» is a manifestation of their conscious transition to a strategy of selective or point-wise investment in the active innovative growth of those areas of economic activity that are endowed with high innovative potential and are able to bring the region the greatest socio-economic, environmental and demographic prospects. The attractiveness of this approach is confirmed by the degree of prevalence of the principles of «smart specialization» in the world, when about 200 countries made a choice in favor of the development of «smart» technologies. The article substantiates the directions of the formation of «smart» specialization, contributing to the innovative growth of both agriculture and regional development in general. It is established that the introduction of information technologies into production and economic activities, on the one hand, contributes to the development of a new work culture, on the other hand, provides a strategic reorientation of the principles of activity.