Assessment of Innovation Cooperation of Ukraine and Scandinavian Countries in Terms of the New Industrial Revolution

Research background: The article explicates the approach of assessing the factors of innovation cooperation of Ukraine and Scandinavian countries in the face of the new industrial revolution.Purpose of the article: The paper aims to assess the current state of cooperation between Ukraine and Scandinavian countries and define the most critical factors for its further development in the new industrial revolution.Methods: The article presents the research scheme of cooperation between Ukraine and Scandinavian countries based on qualitative and economic-statistical analysis, comparative advantages analysis, correlation-regression analysis.Findings & value added: As a result of the research, it was revealed that the main directions of innovation cooperation between Ukraine and Scandinavian countries are investment projects, technical assistance initiatives, experience and technologies transfer. The cooperation is mainly implemented in energy, information technologies, education, science and high-tech trade. Based on the eco-nomic-diplomatic component analysis, a forecast and the dynamics of trade turnover of Ukraine and Scandinavian countries are presented, including the critical for Ukrainian economy time-frame of 2013-2014. It has been revealed that economic diplomacy plays a vital role in establishing and expanding trade relations. To deepen the innovation cooperation between Ukraine and Scandinavian countries, the authors see the need for: (1) expanding spheres of cooperation through joint projects in infrastructure, energy, aerospace and pharmaceutical industries, and the production of components for automobiles; (2) conducting joint research on biotechnology and nanotechnology; (3) signing of agreements in order to establish partnerships between the universities of Scandinavian countries and Ukraine; (4) the introduction of state support for the aerospace industry, the creation of scientific and production clusters in this field; (5) further development and diversification of the Ukrainian IT services market and interaction with Scandinavian countries in this field