Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues is a peer-reviewed journal which publishes original research papers and case studies

The article evaluates current trends in the development of science and innovation in Kazakhstan. Analysis of scientific and innovation activities in Kazakhstan show that among the main sources of financing science there are almost no business representatives. An assessment of the current state of the national innovation system demonstrates that with the existing system of financing science in Kazakhstan there is no possibility to increase the costs of research and development. The overall reduction in domestic R&D expenditures over the period analyzed had the most negative impact on the financing of basic research. The results of the study show the need to revise some of the value settings for building a national innovation system in Kazakhstan.

Production conditions of crop growth have a considerable effect on the labour productivity rate because of the changes in the level of yield performance. In this paper the calculations have been made to estimate the correlation between production, including hydrothermal and grain yield indices in the Zelinogradsky district of the Akmolinskaya oblast (province) of Kazakhstan. As a result of estimation process, only the most significant factors have been included in the econometric model. A considerable inconsistency has been discovered in the correlation dependence between grain productivity and hydrothermal indices during a period of the years before the 1990s and afterward (due to the changes in economic and climatic conditions, as well as in the use of production technologies). The numerical parameters of the above-mentioned model were calculated on the experimental site of the agricultural enterprise “Rodina” LLP located in Zelingradsky district of the Akmolinskaya oblast.

Shaping energy-saving behavior in education system plays huge and obvious role in economic and social development. While there is a large amount of literature covering the issues of technical advancements in implementation of energy-saving technologies, organizational and technical aspects of world experience, there is still a lack of publications exploring the scale and features of energy-saving behavior in education system. This paper analyzes features of shaping energy-saving behavior at three levels: school, university, and communities. It systematically reviews 119 WoS and Scopus studies, which allowed us to determine influence factors and prospects of shaping energy-saving behavior for the younger generation and community reps. The paper sets four research questions aimed at data analysis. The results showed (a) the lack of research on issues related to shaping of energy-saving behavior at the school and university levels; (b) that mainly, literature focuses on a comprehensive study of individual and socio-demographic factors affecting energy-saving behavior of communities; (c) that at the university and school levels, situational and individual factors have the greatest impact on energy-saving behavior of students; gaps in socio-demographic factor research; and d) as prospects of shaping energy-saving behavior of students, development of educational programs, implementation of state policy on energy conservation, information on energy conservation issues can be highlighted – all from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to the present. The paper is intended for researchers, education and energy experts interested in possibilities of educational technologies in shaping energy-saving behavior.

The following paper explores the development of a statistically based index evaluating digitalization processes to assess the digital divide between the regions of Kazakhstan: resource-based (oil and gas) regions and regions where the service sector dominates the GRP. As a method for forming such an indicator, the authors suggest using factor analysis, which reduces the dimension of factors while maintaining the reasoning behind a significant part of the data variability. This approach is preferable because the index is formed on the basis of statistically objective estimates rather than that of subjective expert opinion. The results of the factor analysis were interpreted as the following two qualitatively different subindices that formed the final Economy and Society Digitalization Index, namely, for resource-based (oil and gas) regions: subindex of digital consumption by households and subindex of digital consumption by organizations; for service-dominated regions: subindex of digital consumption by households and organizations, and subindex of digitalization of labor management processes. The combined values of the calculated subindices allowed us to conclude that the introduction of information and communication technologies into the consumer environment is greater than into the activities of economic entities. Open innovations are revealed to create additional opportunities for obtaining new knowledge and additional tools and ideas that can lead to bridging the digital divide in the regions of Kazakhstan. The analysis of descriptive statistics of these values allowed us to draw a number of conclusions available that can be used to form regional digital policy. First, the regional population shows a fairly homogeneous high level of consumption of telecommunications services, which indicates their availability. Second, the majority of economic entities throughout the country have successfully passed the first stage of digitalization, which consists in the use of Internet technologies; although, not all of them are characterized by a trend toward the digitalization of business processes. Thirdly, for most organizations, the digital development of human capital still remains an important task. Further statistical research of regional differentiation of the values of the proposed digital development indicator will allow a deeper understanding of the reasons for the digital divide in Kazakhstan.