According to the official Russian statistics only about 2, 5 mln people with disabilities work (and registered in the Pension Fund of Russia). Nevertheless, according to the Labour Law of Russian Federation, if a company employs more than 100 people, it is required to have working quotas for the disabled and to hire them. [Versia, 2015]

Aging

The World Health Organization suggests the following classification of a person's age: young people are considered to be from 25 to 44 years old; middle age ranges from 44 to 60; old people have the ages between 60 to 75; and finally representatives of the elderly range from 75 to 90.

Old age is the official period of human life starting with the loss of the body's ability to produce labour ending with death. It is characterized by deterioration of health, mental capacity, and various functions of the body. During this period people who are employed have the right to stop work and to retire (in Russian Federation, women at 55, men at 60 years). But there is also a certain percentage of the total number of working seniors.

Aging is divided into several shorter life periods:

Advanced age: 65 - 75 for men, 55 - 75 for women

Senile age: 75 - 90 for men and women

Centenarians: more than 90 years.

Discrimination

Sexual minorities

According to the ILGA-Europe, organization which protects LGBT rights, Russia is recognized as the one of the worst European countries concerning attitude to members of sexual minorities. Russia is one of the few countries which received the lowest evaluation of ILGA-Europe with a total of 9% on the scale of tolerance for sexual minorities. The top rated countries are Malta, Belgium and the UK, the percentage of tolerance there is about 80%. [Annual Review..., 2016]

Women vs. men

Inequality between men and women may be considered through several aspects. Firstly, we need to pinpoint that there is an unfortunate education gap between men and women as far as educational trajectory is concerned. The figure below shows how dramatic the gap becomes between high school and university degrees. If the number of male high school graduates equals the number of female graduates, then the ratio at doctorate level is 1:4 in favor of men. Nowadays we witness an educational shift regarding women. For example, women are more welcome in doctorate programs; there are even special web resources which help them find a postgraduate degree (http://www.scholarshipsforwomen.net/phd/).

Figure 3. Percentage of male and female in educational trajectory.

Source: Data retrieved from http://www.lorealusa.com/foundation/Press.aspx?topcode=CorpTopic_Secondary_Root_Press_study on April, 6, 2016.

Russia occupies 75th place in the rating of Gender Gap Index (GGI) in 2015 [The Global Gender Gap Report, 2015]. According to the Federal State Statistics Service, in Russia women receive about two-thirds of men's wages [Muzhchiny I zhenstchini v Rossii, 2014]. The difference in earnings between men and women, as a rule, is due to the inequality in the distribution of certain professions and sectors (horizontal segregation) of men and women in wage inequality within occupations and activities (vertical segregation), and a low estimate of work which involves women.

As we see, there are certain problematic groups in Russia, which suffer from exclusion nowadays. Some of them will be later analyzed in the following sections.

1.2.3 Inclusive innovations

“Inclusive innovation is the means by which new goods and services are developed for and/or by those who have been excluded from the development mainstream; particularly the billions living on lowest incomes” [Foster & Heeks, 2013]. This short but eloquent definition will function as the main one in the present thesis. However, in this section we shall briefly describe the rest multitude of meanings under which the concept of inclusive innovation hides.

Innovations are the driver of economic progress; they promote well-being of various groups in society. However, under certain conditions, innovations may also deepen social inequality and exclusion. For example, new devices or inventions are often expensive and are available only to few groups of people, leaving the rest of majority overboard. That is why the development of “inclusive” innovation becomes an increasingly urgent question since innovative products are aimed at improving the welfare of the disadvantaged and marginalized groups with regard to their access to basic public services (education, infrastructure, healthcare).

The accessibility of inclusive innovations to a large group of people who are in need of them is one of the aspects with which most of the scholars studying inclusive innovations agree. Jenny de Boer et al. state that “although many inclusive innovation projects nowadays aim for a market based approach, they are working in an environment that has a history of aid and development cooperation” [de Boer, et al. 2013]. Carl Dahlman in his definition of inclusive innovation mentions that its “key characteristic [is] access to low income population” [Dahlman, 2014]. David Ireland suggests a more detailed definition: “Inclusive innovation is the creation, acquisition, absorption and distribution of knowledge that is focused on meeting the needs of those in need, regardless of access to resources” [Ireland, 2015]. Ireland suggests its 5 main aspects and all of them touch the needed population in this or that way. “Inclusive innovation:

- engages with end users;

- builds the capabilities of the users to ensure sustainability;

- is affordable, to ensure that costs do not prohibit engagement of those in need;

- is focused on developing high quality products and services; and

- is focused on delivering wide spread positive impact.” [Ireland, 2015]

The concept of inclusive innovation appeared in developing countries, where poverty is faced by many residents, deprives them not only from the benefits of scientific and technological progress, but also from the access to meet their basic needs [Pierre and Metka, 2013]. Some other terms such as “innovation in the interests of base of pyramid”, “invisible innovation”, “innovation activities in the interests of the poor”, as well as “economical innovation activity” and “reverse innovation activity” are also connected with efforts to address the needs of people with low income [Gerard et al., 2012].

The World Bank defines inclusive innovation activities like any innovation, which helps to expand access to quality products and services which create and increase the possibilities of marginalized communities to receive the means for existence [World Bank, 2013]. It identifies five specific notions of inclusive innovation: reasonable access; sustainable production; goods and services, creating opportunities for reception of means of existence; focus on marginalized population, particularly in the “base of the pyramid”; as well as its widespread.

The concept of inclusive innovation, apparently, has some similarities with the concept of appropriate technology. This concept appeared in the 1960s, when it was recognized that technological progress was largely designed to meet the needs of the population with high level of income and had to be utilized in developed countries. This meant that it was not to be used for low-income countries. The development and dissemination of appropriate technologies was carried out mainly by non-governmental (NGOs) and humanitarian organizations; there is an important point to consider here is that appropriate technologies were not profit-oriented [Kaplinsky, 2011].

Although the concept of appropriate technology played an important role in political debates during the 1970s, it eventually lost its importance due to three main reasons. Firstly, it was due to the lack of innovation entrepreneurship activities in low-income countries. Secondly, the necessary innovation potential was concentrated solely in high-income countries. Thirdly, there was a significant deficit of high demand for appropriate technology in low-income countries among poor consumers. However, the rapid growth of countries with considerable potential for cumulative demand among people with low incomes contributed to the resumption of interest to innovation [Kaplinsky, 2011]. Although the methods have changed, the tasks of inclusive innovation do not differ substantially from the tasks pictured in the framework of the concept of appropriate technologies. [Bhatti, Ventresca, 2012]

As far as innovation activity is concerned, the development of inclusive innovation does not necessarily require the development of technologies with complex technical characteristics. It can also involve the type of modernization by means of adaptation and improvement of the effectiveness of products and services. [Bound, Thornton, 2012] Inclusive innovation relies not only on technological innovation, but also on the automation of work processes, delivery systems and innovation within business processes which reduce costs and provide access. [World Bank, 2013] This means that inclusive innovation may be developed on the basis of both advanced studies and by means of rather rudimentary or already existing technologies. Nevertheless, it does not limit their potential for significant impact.

A couple of examples of inclusive innovation in India are provided below:

Mobile technologies for rural women in India

This inclusive innovation is aimed at growing of the business potential for women in an India's state of Gujarat with support of Cherie Blair foundation and mobile company “Vodafone”. A mobile application designed specifically to meet the needs of women busy in Rural Distribution Network was developed which allows them to socialize in real time, check amounts of stocks and instantly send messages with shipping orders. This mobile app uses Java interface, through which women can receive and place sales orders with their simple mobile phones. This information is collected and then is transmitted to a central database by means of simple text messages. This project should enable, in particular, time saving and reduction of travel costs and time, as well as to efficiently use processing time that should eventually lead to an increase in revenue and time that women can devote to other activities, such as development of their business enterprises and family affairs. By placing orders through a mobile application women will no longer have to travel to the warehouse, a process of which may sometimes take up to seven hours (one trip to order goods, another to receive them). After placing orders they are packed and delivered to women to their respective villages. [UNCTAD, 2014]

Available water filters and ECG-studies in India

Consulting company “Tata” developed a low-technology filter for water purification on the basis of rice husk, which is a common byproduct in India. “Tata chemicals”, the inventor of this device, suggested the initial price of this device at 24 USD and 4 USD for a new filter. Similarly, “General Electric” decided to contribute to the treatment of cardiovascular diseases through the creation of a portable device for the electrocardiogram (ECG) study. “Mac 400”, created in “General Electric” public health laboratory in Bangalore is a compact gadget, which may fit in a backpack with just four buttons, is produced for less than 800 USD per unit (instead of 2000 USD), and shoots the ECG for just 1 USD for the patient. Both these devices are based on the so-called “economically reversed” or “limited” inclusive innovations and offer solutions for 2 mln people in India, who die every year from consumption of contaminated drinking water, and for 5 mln people who annually die from cardiovascular diseases. [The Economist, 2010]

The concept of inclusive innovation and application of innovative tools do not merely imply economic growth, but rather the process of socio-economic integration. [Foster & Heeks, 2013] Inclusive innovation is mainly focused on ensuring access to basic goods and services and the expansion of economic rights and opportunities at the expense of the efforts to create, receive, adapt, assimilate and disseminate the knowledge, which directly targets to satisfy the needs of marginalized population which is mainly located at the “base of the pyramid”. The pivotal point of inclusive innovation are structures and processes necessary for the development and application of innovative technologies for people living in poverty. The majority of developing countries such as India, China, Brazil and South Africa consider inclusive innovation as one of the most important objectives for socio-economic development. [Gupta Anil, 2007]

1.3 Inclusive innovation in Russia

A study of inclusive innovation in Russia shows very few results on the issue. Even a simple Google search of the title of this section helps to understand that there is a lot of room for creating new knowledge. Indeed, there is a lot of information about inclusive education, but inclusive innovation is not such a widely scholarly developed topic.

The practical part of this work will show several examples of inclusive innovation in Russia, most of them being a product of private sector. Indeed, private sector not only in Russia, but all over the world may help to largely improve the living conditions of poor people primarily by three ways: by creating jobs and enhancing the productivity of the poor, by satisfying some of their needs via promoting social responsibility of corporations and by developing of affordable products and services that meet the necessities of low-income consumers. [World Bank, 2010] Inclusive innovation policy in Russia is aimed primarily at providing assistance for the third way. In this regard, the poor and other groups at risk of social exclusion may participate in inclusive innovation activities either as innovators, or as users of innovations.

Typically, private sector in Russia is not eager to be engaged in creating products and services for excluded groups due to the widely held view that low-budget market segments do not bring large profits. It is important to bear in mind two factors when we define the potential market for innovation for poor segments of the population. Firstly, the poor often pay much more for basic products and services than the richer part of a society's population. For example, banks or private moneylenders tend to offer a bigger interest rate for the poor. Secondly, the total purchase ability of people with low incomes may open significant opportunities for market strategies aimed at improving their productivity and facilitate the integration of the poor into formal economy [Prahalad Coimbatore, 2006]. Thus, inclusive innovative activities may give private companies the opportunity to carry profitable operations in this segment of the market by offering to the poor cheaper and better quality goods.

The purpose of developing products and services for low-income groups is to create for them opportunities to increase their income and as a result consume more. Expanding opportunities for consumption are based on three principles: cheaper prices, affordability and availability of funds:

1) Better prices should be achieved without compromising the quality of proposed new products or services.

2) As far as affordability is concerned, the conditions of life and work of the poor should be taken into account, i.e. since consumers at the “base of the pyramid” rarely have a chance to travel long distances, the shops for them should be located as close as possible. In this connection, great attention should be given to the geographical factor of distribution.

3) Speaking about the availability of funds, the low-income consumers usually make their consumer decisions depending on the amount of available funds at the moment. This means that they usually cannot delay their buying decisions and save money for later. Therefore, the availability of funds and the effectiveness of distribution are chief factors for the needs of low-income consumers.

Besides, we should not underestimate the paradox, which exists in Russia, associated with the size of companies and their inclusive innovation activity. Small companies are usually led by young and ambitious social entrepreneurs who are interested in generating and implementing ideas for inclusive innovation. However, they seldom have sufficient resources for the implementation and development of these initiatives. Large multinational companies, in contrast, often have necessary resources, but lack motivation to utilize them for the sake of inclusive innovation.

The aforementioned ideas and results shall be widely discussed in the practical part of the present work.



1.4 Bibliometric analysis of academic publications on the topics of “inclusive innovation”, “pro-poor innovation”, “below-the-radar innovation”, “grassroots innovation”, “base of the pyramid innovation”

In this section we shall review the aforementioned terms by means of bibliometric analysis. The selection of this method is justified by the fact that bibliometric analysis is a way to accurately show the trend for future development of various topics. Since we discover the prospects of inclusive innovation, this method is inevitable for our study.

First step of bibliometric analysis will be targeted on general understanding of the capacity/volume of academic information of main concepts/terms “inclusive innovation”, “pro-poor innovation”, “below-the-radar innovation”, “grassroots innovation”, “base of the pyramid innovation”. Bibliometric analysis was received through Web of Science and Scopus search engines, which may include and work with several characteristics; in this paper, though, we shall utilize only the following ones:

· number of publications,

· leader-countries in this topic

· research areas of this topic

Results of general analysis of the terms show (Table 1) that there is not a huge number of publications about all these topics (only 1383 publications available on Scopus and 882 publications available on Web of science in May 2016). It is quite logical since the interest for an academic notion of the terms “inclusive innovation”, “pro-poor innovation”, “below-the-radar innovation”, “grassroots innovation”, “base of the pyramid innovation” is quite new. As we see from the table, the last 5 years witnessed a burst of publications connected with this complex of terms (on avarage 65% of total puplications).



Table 1: First step of bibliometric analysis of papers on terms: “inclusive innovation”, “pro-poor innovation”, “below-the-radar innovation”, “grassroots innovation”, “base of the pyramid innovation” (2 periods: for all years and for last 5 years (2010-2015, without 2016)).

Search engine	Search in	Period of search	Approximate number of publications	Percentage of publications in 2010-2015
Scopus	Title, abstract, key words	All years	1383	63%
		2010-2015	874
Web of Science	Topic	All years	882	68%
		2010-2015	603

Figure 4: Graph of documents' numbers on terms about inclusive innovations by years (created by Scopus)

According to Table 2, leader-countries for these topics are the United States and the United Kingdom, the countries with a good history and interest in contemporary academia, followed by other developed countries like Canada, Germany, Netherlands, and Australia. Besides, it was peculiar to find out that India and China (in bold) - countries with significant amount of poor population - also show academic interest in these research topics. This is a good sign for future development of inclusive innovation, as far as prospects are concerned. Russia (in italics), on the contrary, is only starting to gain interest in these issues ranking 24^th and 31^st in Scopus and Web of Science respectively, in total having 16 registered publications for all these years.



Table 2: Second step of bibliometric analysis of scientific papers on terms: “inclusive innovation”, “pro-poor innovation”, “below-the-radar innovation”, “grassroots innovation”, “base of the pyramid innovation” (by country, all years).

Scopus		Web of Science
Rank	Country	Number of publications		Rank	Country	% of total of 882 publications
1	United States	347		1	United States	29, 2
2	United Kingdom	226		2	United Kingdom	16, 6
3	India	81		3	China	6, 8
4	Canada	72		4	Canada	5, 8
5	Netherlands	69		5	Netherlands	5, 4
6	Germany	60		6	Germany	4, 8
7	Australia	55		7	India	4, 8
8	China	54		8	Spain	4, 3
9	Spain	46		9	Australia	3, 9
10	Italy	35		10	Italy	3, 6
24	Russia	10		31	Russia	0, 7

The third table is devoted to specific research areas for the abovementioned topics. We can see that the majority of published papers deal with the topics connected with social sciences, business, and economics (in bold). It is not surprising, since the majority of excluded groups of people belong to the poor, or those in need of welfare. The subject area of education, though, is surprisingly not popular (in italics). To our opinion, Education is a very long-range and a promising subject which should help to include people with disabilities, for instance, into a regular way of knowledge acquisition. Hopefully, more publications in this subject area will emerge.



Table 3: Third step of bibliometric analysis of scientific papers on terms: “inclusive innovation”, “pro-poor innovation”, “below-the-radar innovation”, “grassroots innovation”, “base of the pyramid innovation” (by subject area).

Scopus		Web of Science
Rank	Subject area	Number of publications		Rank	Subject area	% of total of 882 publications
1	Social science	589		1	Business, economics	29, 5
2	Business, management, and accounting	292		2	Environmental science	12, 9
3	Medicine	197		3	Public administration	12, 6
4	Environmental science	172		4	Education	11
5	Engineering	155		5	Engineering	10, 4

1.5 Conclusion to literature review

After analyzing large amount of literature we would like to pinpoint the main issues which rose in this chapter:

1. The term “inclusive societies” has not been widely used in academic circles and has only recently assumed prominence in the international policy-making lexicon. It is a society where every individual, each with rights and responsibilities, has an active role to play.

2. Social exclusion is a relatively new research frame, which reveals problems of poverty, discrimination, intolerance, prejudice and stigmatization of human rights. It is a multidimensional concept, which may have various shapes: cultural, economic, environmental, legal, physical, political, relational, social and spatial.

3. There are certain problematic groups in Russia, which suffer from exclusion nowadays, the most evident being the poor, the disabled, the retired, sexual minorities, women.

4. Inclusive innovations are activities, which help to expand access to quality products and services creating and increasing the possibilities of marginalized communities to receive the means for existence.

5. The concept of inclusive innovation and application of innovative tools do not merely imply economic growth, but rather the process of socio-economic integration.

6. Small Russian companies are often eager to get involved in inclusive innovation but seldom have sufficient resources for the implementation and development of these initiatives. On the contrary, large multinational companies often have necessary resources, but lack motivation to utilize them for the sake of inclusive innovation.

7. Years between 2010 and 2015 witnessed a burst of academic interest to inclusive innovation. The US and the UK are the most prolific countries as far as academic publications on inclusive innovation are concerned, with India and China expressing a growing interest in it. Russia is lagging behind in this issue. The majority of published papers on inclusive innovation deal with the topics connected with social sciences, business, and economics.



Chapter 2. Practical analysis.

2.1 Methodological basis of research. Selection and justification of research methods

Research methods serve as a bridge between theoretical and methodological conceptualization of research problems and practical application knowledge to reality. By research methodology in this work we understand “a system of models, procedures and techniques used to find the results of a research problem” [Panneerselvam, 2004, p.2]. It is also “an operational framework within which data are placed so that their meaning may be seen more clearly” [Leedy, 1997, p.204].

In this section we shall look at the methods which we consider the most relevant to use in the study of prospects for inclusive innovations in Russia. In order to accomplish this task we shall refer to advantages of several methods: analysis of documents (literature review and bibliometric analysis); methods of questionnaire, interview and cases analysis.

It seemed logical to include analysis of documents (literature review and bibliometric analysis) in the first chapter of the present work in order to prove that analysis of documents may reveal interesting observations about inclusive innovations theory-wise. In this chapter, though, we would like to briefly justify this method and its selection against others.

“Analysis of documents is a research method in sociology when text references which are contained in various documents, that is protocols, reports, resolutions, newspaper publications, journals, letters, works of art, illustrations act like sources of information.” [Dobrenkov, Kravchenko, 2008] This method includes two types of document analysis: traditional and formal. Under traditional analysis (which may include literature review with structuring of knowledge) there is a reference to the diversity of operations aimed at the interpretation of the information contained in the document from a certain point of view.

The information which a researcher is looking for is often hidden in a text. Carrying out the analysis by traditional way, makes it possible to convert the original form of this information to the necessary research form. In fact, it is the same as interpretation of the content of documents. Traditional classical analysis allows to reveal deep, hidden messages of documents content: this analysis helps us to delve deep into structure of knowledge. This method was used for writing of the first chapter of the thesis, namely, to determine main theoretical concepts of this work.

Bibliometrics is a field of research that examines bodies of knowledge within and across disciplines. Citation analysis, a component of bibliometrics, focuses on the quantitative assessment of citation patterns within a body of literature. This analysis is used to examine the quantity and the impact of the work of individuals and academic institutions [Holden et al., 2013, pp.1-2].

Bibliometrics is a new direction in research science, which originated in 1960s and is associated with quantitative analysis of documentary flows. Bibliometrics itself is constructed on the analysis of bibliographic data publications. The objects of study in bibliometrics are publications, which are grouped according to different criteria: by authors, journals, subject headings, countries, etc. It is important to emphasize the two sides in this method of analysis:

1) huge tracts of secondary information presented in the various databases are easily available when bibliometric approach is applied;

2) bibliometrics is a quantitative research, which is aimed not to obtain specific information about the issues, but to identify trends, and, mainly, the long-term trends, which relate to strategic tracking (monitoring) for the development of science.

Mainly the second point moved us to apply this method because when working on the present topic we may not do without peeking into future if we are concerned about prospects for inclusive innovations in Russia. Thus, bibliometric analysis functions as a link towards other methods used in this work, which are sociological methods of opinion poll (survey by questionnaire and interview) and cases analysis.

In order to achieve the goal of this study the opinion poll will be utilized in this work. The poll contains all the necessary requirements to obtain reliable and accurate information from respondents. Osipov G.V. in his famous work “A sociologist's workbook” gives the following definition to the opinion poll: “Opinion poll is a method for obtaining primary sociological information, based on oral or written request to the target audience with questions, the content of which is the research problem at the empirical level.” [Osipov, 2006, 343] Opinion poll is the method that allows the researcher to obtain the necessary information when the phenomena are inaccessible to direct observation, when it is impossible to understand, to evaluate the phenomena only through the use of documents. When there is a need to get information about the motives, beliefs, values, relationships and interactions in order to assess and explain the processes or social changes then the method of opinion polls is a perfect way to allow a researcher to get the needed information.

Yadov V.A. identifies two large classes of polling methods: interview and questionnaire. Recognition of problem situation is the starting point in the qualitative and quantitative studies. In the quantitative study (questionnaire), the researcher enters with ready distinct concepts, hypotheses and measuring instruments which are not subject to change during the study. In a qualitative study (interview), concepts, hypotheses, assumptions may be changed in the course of the study. Here a sociologist launches their research already prepared by their previous social experience, background knowledge and they have the right to change their initial assumptions or add new ideas.

In this thesis we refer to the method of interview so that we may collect the necessary information on this multifaceted, ambiguous, and deep issue of inclusive innovation. An interview is “a conversation structured with a certain plan, which supposes a direct contact of an interviewer with a respondent, when the recording of the latter's answers is carried out by the interviewer either in writing or by means of electronic devices” [Yadov, 2007, 202]. Using this method helps to obtain circumstantial information about the views, motives, perceptions of respondents. This method allows a sociologist to fully adjust the questionnaire to a respondent and erase the influence of third parties on him [Osipov, 2006]. But this method does not allow a researcher to disseminate the obtained characteristics to the universal degree, create objective knowledge.

Therefore, in our study, we also used a questionnaire that will allow us to go beyond the limits of subjectivity and to identify and establish a stable relationship between the variables of the study. Questionnaire (or opinion poll) is an effective way of collecting primary social information based on indirect socio-psychological interaction between a sociologist and a respondent. Opinion poll is also a method of collecting primary information, which is based “on a structured questionnaire for filling in by respondents from a certain group in order to obtain certain information from them” [Malhotra, 2003, 228]. This method helps to obtain a large bulk of data and is very flexible: a respondent may always ask a researcher about the procedure of filling in, should he fail to understand something procedure-wise. Another advantage is also the fact that via a combination of closed (multiple choice) and open (opinion) questions we not only receive the information that is needed immediately for the study, but also possess additional information which may be utilized for further research.

There are several classifications of a questionnaire which are based on the following:

1) according to the number of respondents questionnaires are divided into:

a) an individual questionnaire, which is carried out personally with each individual respondent;

b) a group questionnaire, which takes place simultaneously with the group of respondents;

2) According to the type of interaction with a respondent, questionnaires are divided into:

a) a postal questionnaire

b) a telephone questionnaire

c) a newspaper questionnaire (a rudimentary one)

d) an electronic questionnaire / online questionnaire

Due to limited resources, we used the online type of questionnaire. In order to achieve the objectives of the study we shall use an individual questionnaire, which is sent to respondents by social networks. This type of questionnaire has a number of advantages: direct communication between the interviewer and a respondent, the access to people from other cities, its inexpensiveness. We refused to use other types of questionnaires, since, firstly, an individual questionnaire is very time consuming, and secondly, we do not have data on the number of innovators and potential innovators, making it difficult to select the respondents on the individual basis.

Therefore, an online questionnaire for the target audience from members of online groups devoted to innovation is the most appropriate, since, firstly, the issue of representativeness is evident due to the specific audience on special online resources; secondly, there is no need to distract respondents from work or study; they may fill in the form at any convenient time; and thirdly, online survey gives a chance to quickly carry an opinion poll with respondents from different cities, thus providing geographic availability.

After justifying the advantages of online questionnaire method as an excellent tool for reception of primary information, it seems necessary to review the method of cases analysis.

Case is a multifaceted concept, which in this work is interpreted as an example or instance, therefore, case studies (case-technology) method is a method that involves analysis of instances or examples. The leading role in the dissemination of the case method rightfully belongs to the Harvard Business School, where at the beginning of the 20^th century this technology was widely used for training in the field of management and marketing. Specially designed materials for the study of different situations (cases) were absent back then, that is why the School would often invite entrepreneurs, who would present cases and problems from their daily practice. These cases were analyzed in small groups, suggested solutions were discussed and then compared with real-life solutions in businesses or in the court. The method then migrated to other fields of training and it is now successfully used in the field of law, medicine, economics and others.

People daily face the need to quickly identify problems and their sources, to make decisions in a particular situation not only in the professional sphere but also in personal life. Therefore cases, according to their objectives may be of various types: organizational, economic, administrative, legal, socio-psychological, and so on. There exist “field” cases, which are based on real-life examples, and the so-called “couch” cases - confabulation ones, specifically designed.

Case method is a technology based on modeling of any type of situation, in order to identify problems, find alternatives and make the best solution for the problem.

In this section we have analyzed the justification of the methods that we shall use in the next sections. It is necessary to say, that in order to avoid repetition of information, method of interviews is combined with cases in the next section.

2.2 Findings

2.2.1 Several cases of inclusive innovations.

Braille glove (a communication device)

In this case we shall review a mobile communication device for the blind and deaf-blind people called “Braille Glove”, operating on the principle of the six-point font of Louis Braille. The case is based on open materials and interview with developer Fedor Belomoev.

Problem situation:

Deafblindness is a complex disability. “The estimated number of deaf-blind people in the world amounts to about one million. Currently, deaf-blind people are those, who have visual and hearing impairment: children with congenital or early acquired deafblindness; children with congenital visual impairment, who lose their hearing with age; deaf or hard hearing people since their birth; people who have visual impairment appearing with age; people who lost hearing and vision in their middle or old ages” [Basilova, 2003]. A number of reasons can lead to deafblindness. For example, Basilova T.A. notices various utero, prenatal and perinatal illnesses. “Approximately 11% of premature infants have an abnormal development of the eye, which may lead to visual impairment and even blindness (congenital glaucoma, cataracts, etc). Hearing impairment may also be observed as a consequence of severe prematurity.” [Philantropy, 2015]

According to the result of census of the deaf-blind, which was organized by the Deaf-blind Support Fund “So-edinenie” (Connection) together with the Fund "Obshestvennoe mnenie" (FOM), there is information about 2200 deaf-blind people in Russia. But based on global statistics there is 1 deaf-blind person for every 10 thousand people. Thus, it can be assumed that the number of people with simultaneous hearing and visual impairment in Russia amounts to 12-15 thousand people. Results show that the vast majority (96%) of the deaf-blind in Russia has little obstructions to vision or hearing, which, however, does not allow them to lead a full life. Loss of vision and hearing in many cases is acquired. Both deaf and blind people amount to 4% of respondents.

More than half of the deaf-blind (59%) are people between 61 and 90 years old. Another major age category (31%) is between 31 and 60 years, that is active working age people. 10% of deaf-blind are employed, another 17% would like to find a job. The President of the Deaf-blind Support Fund “So-edinenie” Dmitry Polikanov noted that “the number of jobs for the deaf-blind has been steadily declining due to rapid development of machine industries. The objective of the Fund is to promote creation of new jobs and training for people with hearing impairment” [Philantropy, 2015].

The study also revealed that there is about only 15% of respondents who can read books, which are written in Braille, and only 10% of the deaf-blind can write in Braille. 9% of the deaf-blind want to learn Braille. But Braille displays are very expensive, because the technology is very expensive to produce - a portable Braille display may cost from 100 to 500 thousand rubles and more [Deafblindness…]. Not everyone may afford to buy it. Nevertheless, the problem of communication and interaction of deaf-blind and also people who have problems with speech due to a stroke, needs to be solved.

Solution:

A young developer Fedor Belomoev began to tackle this problem in 2015. He hired a small group of people who had a task to create the glove, which displays information from the screens of mobile phones or computers, and also transfers speech to the Braille font signals. The idea was to make Braille glove for the people, who are deprived of both hearing and vision by providing access to text information on a computer or mobile phone. Device works via a mobile phone by means of special web-application. Deaf-blind person can “hear” the interlocutor, when the latter speaks into a microphone - the program recognizes the voice and literally (based on Braille font) translates the speech to the glove by means of tangible tactile signals. In order to answer a deaf-blind person needs to place his fingers on the contacts located on the gloves, and the program will immediately synthesize the transmitted signals to speech and the interlocutor will hear the answer.

By connecting the glove to a computer and using a screen reader, a deaf-blind person can have access to text information. The program analyzes the text on the screen and sends it as tactilely perceptible signals on the glove to the person. It is also possible to write letters by using this glove.

The biggest advance of this innovation is that Braille glove is the most inexpensive alternative to Braille display. The cost of 1 unit is about 20 thousand rubles. And according to the belowmentioned interview, it could be even cheaper, if a large shipment is ordered.

Idea development:

Belomoev says that the idea of creation of his glove appeared as an alternative to expensive Braille display. On first stages of this project he was the only investor of the gadget. The development team consisted of 3 people only: an IT-specialist who was in charge of creating an app for the mobile phone, an engineer who was physically assembling the glove, and a needlewoman who sew the glove itself.

Development:

Currently there is an application for a patent in Russia, there are also plans for patent acquisition abroad. It is too early yet to talk about commercial success, though; even investments still have not been returned. But Belomoev does not want to increase the price of this device in principle: “If there is a chance to make money out of this idea, this will be great, but I do not have a plan to make millions and billions out of it”.

Market startegy:

Initially Belomoev did not plan to go to foreign markets. But after he met some obstacles in Russia he plans to change his strategy. He chose the following strategy: to donate free gloves for libraries and schools because the deaf-blind may get acquainted there with his device and understand whether they need it or not. However, the issue with a free bulk of gloves is not decided yet.

Financing:

At first the investments included only Belomoev's money. Later Fund “Sodeistvie” (Cooperation) got interested in this gadget and provided financial support - 150 thousand rubles for development of the project. Belomoev himself currently fundraises at www.planeta.ru in order to produce a bulk of 200 gloves for its free donation to schools and libraries for the blind. However, fundraising is very slow and does not justify Fedor's expectations: “After fundraising is over, I might understand that nobody is interested in my gadget here and I will have to go abroad for market development. If I am lucky, I will succeed, and my device will return to Russia, as it usually happens with innovations”

Price:

The price of one glove varies between 15 and 20 thousand rubles, the price depends on the number of gloves ordered.

Government and funds support:

Belomoev says that technically there is no support from the State and various Funds. There is only informational support from TV and newspapers. In ideal world, Belomoev believes, the State's support should be both financial and informational.

Sales:

Even though beta-testing and testing has been done, the device has not been sent to mass production. Belomoev says that even though there is a demand for the glove, it is not enough to launch mass production. This happens due to the fact that the ideal number of bulk in order to keep the price low is about 1000 items.

Prospects for inclusive innovation in Russia:

According to Belomoev, conditions for the development of inclusive innovations in Russia are unfavorable: “there is no interest on behalf of the State for such projects”. Fedor thinks that it is too early to talk about social and inclusive innovation trend in Russia.

CloudInterpreter

In this case we shall review “CloudInterpreter” - service for different groups of people, who need assistance with translation, including the deaf and sign language interpreting for them. The case is based on open materials and interview with CEO Gregory Harutyunyan.

Problem situation:

Harutyunyan mentions that there is a generalized shortage of sign language interpreters [VOG…]: “the problem is urgent for remote regions of Russia; even in Moscow we witness their huge deficit. So, if there is no sign language interpreter somewhere, a deaf person may have a chance to have one remotely”. In daily life, deaf people need services of sign language interpreters everywhere: in education (even though here we allegedly already have inclusive environment); in job search, where there is at least a need to go to an interview; healthcare, where there may be even false diagnoses due to a wrong translation, and also sometimes deaf people do not go to hospitals only because they cannot explain what their problem is; their security and communication with the police; services (banks, shops, restaurants). So even if we take just one function of CloudInterpreter - sign language translation - we may help the deaf solve many of their problems without paying a lot for this service.

Besides, in many cases the State is supposed to compensate the costs of sign language translation (Russian Parliament order N608 dd. 25.09.2007, edition of 08.04.2011).

It should be noted that even though official statistics in Russia concerning the deaf is quite ambiguous, at least 90 thousand Russian people have hearing impairment.

Another problem is unabated migration, similar to Europe's one. This application may also help migrants in order to solve the problem of communication, since they sometimes have to cooperate with government authorities. Russian statistics shows that in 2014 there were about 4, 6 mln migrants in Russia, while about 5% of them are forced migrants, refugees, or people with status of temporary refuge [Demography…], that is people who are potentially not ready for migration and who might have language barrier.

Solution:

CloudInterpreter allows people who speak different languages see each other and talk in real time without downloading additional complicated software. This is an alternative for a face-to-face interpreter. Currently, in Russia it can be used as an interpreting service from Russian into English, English into Russian, and for Russian sign language. As a rule, the services of a face-to-face offline sign language translator are more expensive than those of an online one based on a pay-per-minute scheme. The quality does not suffer in this case.

Idea development:

Harutyunyan says that original idea belongs to his team, even though he does not consider it as a cutting edge one. The development of the idea was carried out together with colleagues from the US. Nevertheless, CloudInterpreter is a more technologically prone one.

History of development:

The first stage of development lasted for about a year and a half, when the first functional prototype appeared. Harutyunyan remarks, though, that this service may always be improved and advanced. For example, the function of conference call was recently introduced, where a sign language translator and a deaf may both participate not only online, but also via a regular landline or mobile phone. Another significant example of inclusive innovation of this project is cooperation with schools and universities. At Moscow State Technological University named after N.E.Bauman there is an option for online sign language interpreter participation at lectures. Soon, there will be an option for seeing him not only at the screen, but also at the mobile gadget of a person who may need their assistance.

Market strategy:

Harutyunyan talks about the importance of input into social life of Russia that is why initial market strategy was aimed at Russian market. Nevertheless, at the time of the interview CloudInterpreter was already present in Europe: “We let our platform to one of European countries in order to help solve issue with migrants”. The CEO confirms that further development of the company will also be connected with solving migration problem in Russia.

Target audience:

Company's target audience are those who do not know other languages, but it is not limited to them only: other important customers are the deaf, migrants, expats, Russian tourists travelling abroad, organizations which deal with foreigners, police officers, courts, hospitals. Employees work remotely, which lets Harutyunyan hire people from all over Russia and world, where good Internet connection is available.

...