摘要：Having conducted a comparative analysis of higher education and science reforms in France and in Russia in recent years, we have concluded that with obvious progress in a number of areas of reform, the link between education and science and the implementation of their innovative results in practice is significantly more successful in France. This connection is implemented within the framework of cluster policy, the development of poles of competitiveness and technopolises. They became the basis for promoting a new economic model of development based on the knowledge economy in the early 2000s. A new impetus to the rapid development of clusters in European countries was given by the processes of digitalization, which penetrated into all spheres of activity – research, education, commercialization of ideas, production of new products. The closest connection between science (University and academic science), education (higher educational institutions, their laboratories) and the development of territories (primarily cities) with the help of digital technologies is becoming an everyday reality, the engine of social progress. The growth points that appeared in different regions, expanding within the framework of projects that were selected on a competitive basis and supported by the state, showed the successful result of a targeted policy of supporting innovation, helped to find a way to get the economies of a number of European countries out of the permanent crises of the late 90s, 2008-2009. What is the secret of the success of cluster policy in France? Which role does each of the leading players in the cluster play? Who is the coordinator, connecting link – government institutions? Universities? Research laboratories? Companies? What unites clusters, poles of competitiveness and technology parks? This article is devoted to the answers to these questions.
