Flagship Regional Universities: Framing of the Goals and Development Strategies in Context of Digital Economy

Abstract

The article studies the processes related to the flagship universities of the South Russia in context of the modern digital economy. Last one is the one of the general factors, like mobilization government strategy, the ideology and some instruments of new public management (new managerialism), geoeconomic and geo-politic competition which determine specific features of modern reforms in public sector i.e. in educational sphere. The flagship universities are expected to become one of the key element in reforming higher education to stimulate the processes of development of the digital economy. Our analysis of the programs of South Russian flagship universities allowed identifying as the unevenness of their possibilities in progress of digital skills as their weaknesses and problems in this sphere. The decisions of these problems require non-trivial approach in government policy in higher education, its financial resources for reanimation and forming new structures-the centers of education of new competency and skills for the digital economy.