IDENTIFYING INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICES AND KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES IN UKRAINE

Abstract

The article explores the basic principles of the knowledge economy concept in modern realia of Ukraine and the European Union together with identifying the relationship between GDP growth and social welfare, on the one hand, and the quality of education and science – on the other. The European Union best practices on the implementation of knowledge economy and the opportunities it provides to Ukraine have been reviewed. The study offers insights on the current state of knowledge economy implementation in Ukraine and the major indicators that affect its successful development. Based on the research data, the key reasons behind the low level of knowledge economy in Ukraine and the bottlenecks to its development have been disclosed, specifically they are the low innovativeness of the Ukrainian economy and the lag in the area of information and communication technologies. Complex solutions to the above problems are proposed along with providing benefits of investing into research and education. In the context of enhancing the competitiveness of Ukraine’s economy, emphasis is put on the need to create a favorable organizational and economic environment for developing the intellectual property market, promoting innovative entrepreneurship and facilitating innovation infrastructure. It is argued that the suggested pathways will contribute to handling the current economic challenges providing proper background for implementing an innovation model of Ukraine’s economic development. Integrated approaches to conducting an in-depth-study of the knowledge economy in Ukraine are proposed with a focus to enhance investments into education and science. The theoretical significance of the study is to establish a relationship between education, science and economic development in the frameworks of knowledge economy in Europe and Ukraine. The practical implications of the research are aimed at identifying the most successful pathways to implement the sustainable knowledge economy paradigm in Ukraine.