Institutional and infrastructural support for innovation activity of the entrepreneurial sector in the Black Sea Region: features and directions for improvement

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to study the features of institutional and infrastructural support for innovation activity of the entrepreneurial sector in the Black Sea region, to identify trends in its functioning, and to substantiate practical recommendations for its improvement in the context of digitalization and post-war economic recovery.

The study employs a set of general scientific and specific methods, including: a systems approach - to consider institutional and infrastructural support as an integrated system; comparative analysis - to assess the development of innovation infrastructure in Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Kherson regions; statistical analysis - to generalize the dynamics of innovation infrastructure elements; structural and functional method - to determine the role of individual institutions in shaping the innovation ecosystem; and the method of generalization - to formulate practical recommendations.

Results. The study finds that the institutional and infrastructural support for innovation activity in the Black Sea region is uneven and structurally imbalanced. It is demonstrated that Odesa region is a leader in terms of innovation infrastructure development, showing both quantitative and qualitative growth, particularly due to the expansion of industrial parks, clusters, and intellectual property centers. Mykolaiv region is characterized by gradual but limited development of infrastructure elements, while Kherson region has a critically low level of support and a fragmented institutional base. The dominance of certain support institutions alongside the insufficient development of such elements as innovation platforms, acceleration networks, and technology parks is identified. The necessity of transforming the infrastructure into more flexible, digitalized, and integrated forms is substantiated.

Conclusions. A set of practical measures aimed at improving the institutional and infrastructural support for innovation activity of the entrepreneurial sector in the Black Sea region is proposed. These include reorienting scientific potential toward the commercialization of research results, creating a unified digital platform for innovation projects, developing a network of sectoral accelerators, strengthening the integration of universities and business through corporate laboratories and dual education programs, and modernizing technology parks into the Smart-Tech Park format. The implementation of these recommendations will contribute to enhancing innovation-driven entrepreneurial activity, strengthening the interaction between science and business, and forming a competitive regional innovation ecosystem.