FORMATION AND MOTIVATION OF INNOVATION LEADERSHIP IN INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMS

Abstract

In the context of global competition, dynamic digitalization, and the growing role of knowledge in generating added value, innovation leadership is emerging as a key driver of long-term economic development. However, innovation leadership is no longer limited to technological advantage or the volume of R&D investment. Increasingly, it is defined as a country’s ability to create a favorable environment for generating and commercializing innovations, mobilizing human potential, building trust, fostering partnerships, and ensuring systemic cooperation within an innovation ecosystem. Particular importance in this process is attached to the cluster-based model of organizing innovation activities, which strengthens inter-institutional interaction, activates local resources, and enables the achievement of synergistic effects. The purpose of this article is to conduct a theoretical and methodological analysis of the processes of forming and motivating innovation leadership in the context of modern innovation ecosystems, to identify key determinants, approaches, and tools for stimulating innovation activity, and to substantiate opportunities for adapting effective models to the Ukrainian context. The research methodology is based on an interdisciplinary approach, systems and ecosystem analysis, institutional and comparative analytical methods, as well as elements of taxonomic generalization. The study draws on materials from the OECD, WIPO, European Commission, World Bank, and the works of leading scholars. The article analyzes various approaches to interpreting innovation leadership at the national level. It establishes that innovation leadership derives from the effectiveness of the innovation ecosystem, which functions as a complex network of interconnected actors—business, science, government, and civil society. The study shows that critical elements of such ecosystems include trust, a culture of collaboration, innovation motivation, and openness to external sources of knowledge. Special attention is paid to the cluster approach as a means of organizing economic interaction that ensures a synergistic effect through the joint use of intellectual, informational, financial, and organizational resources. It is also determined that in wartime conditions, it is critically important for Ukraine to develop its own models of innovation leadership based on the advancement of human capital, digital infrastructure, and partnership-based ecosystems. Innovation leadership in the 21st century is shaped at the intersection of strategic innovation management, the development of innovation culture, and an effective institutional environment. Key roles in this process are played not only by the state and large corporations but also by universities, SMEs, innovation clusters, partnership networks, and collaboration platforms. For Ukraine, a crucial condition for moving closer to the group of innovation leaders is the implementation of a systemic policy to support cluster development, stimulate innovation activity, and build a favorable environment for open innovation and cross-sectoral cooperation. The approaches proposed in the article can serve as a foundation for developing innovation development strategies at both national and regional levels.