An approach to determining “smart specialization” of regions using big data technology

Relevance and goal. The relevance of this work is due to the need of finding effective approaches to determining the long-term structure of the regional economy for an alternative strategy for making management decisions in order to ensure balanced development of the internal territory. The research analyzes the capabilities of big data technology and demonstrates promising analytical tools for more effective use of the “smart specialization” approach in order to determine industry priorities for the structural transformation of regional economies. Materials and methods. The research is based on general scientific (induction, deduction, comparison, system-structural, etc.) and special research methods – big data analysis of the social network VKontakte, comparative analysis, analysis of the regulatory framework. This study was carried out using materials from two regions of the Russian Federation: Kaliningrad oblast and Penza oblast. Resources such as portal “RosNavyk”, social network VK, analytical platform PolyAnalyst were used. The data sources were the Spatial Development Strategy of the Russian Federation until 2025 and HeadHunter.ru, a website providing job search and recruitment services. Results. The authors obtained the following specific results: firstly, promising sectors of the regions were identified, taking into account the main parameters of the labor market; secondly, the authors conducted a comparative analysis of the results obtained with the data from the Spatial Development Strategy of the Russian Federation; thirdly, a relationship between promising regional specializations and the attitude of local residents towards popular professions in the region was identified based on social media data. Conclusions. The use of end-to-end big data technology to identify promising specializations in the region opens up new opportunities in this area and allows to operationalize the concept of “smart specialization” as a promising tool for implementing spatial development policies. The information about the attitude of local residents of the regions towards certain professions is of high value from the point of view of further connecting industry priorities identified as a result of the analysis of regional contexts, as well as the research and innovation potential that they possess, with the views and expectations of participants in regional economic systems. The practical use of this approach will allow to make effective management decisions and pursue a balanced industry policy that takes into account current patterns emerging in the labor market and the attitude of the region's population towards certain professions. Stakeholders of this information may be universities, employers, professional communities and associations, regional authorities, as well as relevant ministries and departments.