On November 1, 2012 the Government of the Russian Federation issued a decree creating special territories to attract investment and develop the IT-industry in the region.

A special economic zone provides its residents and partners with tax and customs benefits, insurance premiums, rental incentives and a number of other preferences.

[7] At the end of 2017, shares of both “Alabuga” and “Innopolis” worth about 32 billion rubles were transferred to right-to-use arrangements to the government of the Republic of Tatarstan.

[10][11] The SEZ administration believes that the reduced tax rate will attract investment in small and medium-sized business projects in the IT sector.

[13] In the summer of 2012, an office of SEZ “Innopolis” was opened in California to attract investors as well as to help Russian entrepreneurs gain access to international business infrastructure and recruit foreign specialists under special conditions.

[14] In August 2020, the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and General Director of Russian Post Maxim Akimov signed an agreement on creating Russia's first free economic zone for cross-border Internet commerce in Innopolis.

By November, the company plans to build a new bonded warehouse and create a hub to accelerate international mail transport between Europe and Asia.

These include Acronis, Cognitive Technologies, Schneider Electric, MTS, Yandex, Gazprom Neft, Alfa-Bank, Sberbank, Tinkoff Bank, Magnit IT Lab and others.

The main site with a total area of 192 hectares is located in downtown Innopolis and accommodates the offices of IT companies and laboratory facilities.

As of 2020, the city had a kindergarten, a school, an IT lyceum for 153 students, a sports complex, a medical center, post offices and banks, supermarkets, bars, cafes, restaurants and other facilities.

[25] The SEZ infrastructure includes a multifunctional technology park named after Alexander Popov with offices, development centers and conference halls.

Five test stations are located near main destinations like: the university, the stadium, the medical center, the Zion residential complex and the technology park.

In August 2020, the Prime Minister of Tatarstan, Roman Shaykhutdinov, announced the joint plans of the Innopolis University and Kamaz to launch an unmanned heavy truck.

To ensure a regular water supply to the SEZ, new treatment facilities and pumping stations were built in a short timespan of three months.

[39] In 2018, the Innopolis SEZ received an award for the federal Special Economic Zones in the category of the Social Environment for the development of the region's business ecosystem.