Development of Innovation Infrastructure: foreign experience and its application in Russia

The article deals with the key issues of creating innovation infrastructure in Russia and abroad. The authors focus on the “innovation brokers” as an intermediary institute for innovative agents. According to them, innovation brokers are able to fill in the gaps of the innovation infrastructure system, created by the governmental administrative measures. International practices of the countries, that are world economic and innovation development leaders (the USA, the Netherlands etc.), indicate the fact that innovation brokers can be rather effective in solving many problems of providing the infrastructural support to innovation companies. The paper provides guidance on the possible ways of involving innovation brokers in the Russian national innovation system as one of the main tools of providing the effective infrastructural support to innovation processes by greater “soft infrastructure” involvement (ICT-facilities, social, professional and organizational networks).