Региональная диагностика, ее сущность и основные характеристики. Пример дальневосточных субъектов Федерации

At the present time, the regional diagnostics in the Russian economic reality exists as a conglomerate of the private analytical and methodological approaches. At the same time, it did not grow an independent and officially identifiable line neither of research nor a discipline in higher education institutions. Such a situation does not contribute to the solution of practical problems within the competence of authorities, and in the sphere of vital interests of large companies. Accordingly, the authors consider the essence, subject and method of implementation of the regional development diagnostics. The article demonstrates that the detailed interpretation of regional diagnostics involves a number of special information and analytical technologies, which allow describing the regional problems in the system parameters, which are specific to them. The regional diagnostics facilitates identifying problems, by means of linking them to the known typological groups, provides a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the identified problems, and helps to evaluate the internal and external causes of diagnosed problems. The paper considers the specifics of the regional diagnostics and the need, while implementing it, to take into account, compare and "lead to a common denominator" diverse parameters and problems. Each stage of diagnostics requires a specific set of research techniques and technologies, unifying principles of a systematic methodology. In general, the method of the regional diagnostics constitutes a combination of the regional systems approach (as a general methodological original assumption) with a variety of instructional techniques, which were tested in various areas of applied computer science, economics, sociology and other disciplines. The paper demonstrates that the main characteristics of regional diagnostics can be reduced to integrated nature, practical orientation, availability of initial information, degree of standardization and simplicity of the techniques used, and also to the relative nature of the estimates, reproducibility and clear presentation of results, and formulation of practical recommendations.