A special greeting goes to those I met on my January-February round-the-world trip which included
Sweden (a visit with an international team reviewing VINNOVA’s major innovation programme and attending an EU Conference) and
Canada (in
Ontario,
Saskatchewan and
Alberta).
The European Presidency Conference on Innovation and Clusters
attracted 400 people. Whilst 26 of the EU’s 31 countries now have
national cluster programmes in place, the conference concluded that
cluster policy needs a step-change in ambition and effectiveness to be
a real driver of prosperity. For further information and to download
the European Cluster Memorandum: http://www.vinnova.se/In-English/misc/Speciella_sidor/Innovation-and-Clusters/
2. Reinforcing Green Lightsin the process of cluster development
Cluster
development remains an art, with better practices being shared and
debated at conferences such as those of The Competitiveness Institute (www.competitiveness.org ). Drawing on this material and Cluster Navigators’ own experiences, we offer this Green Lights summary:
·On
initiating a cluster intervention, move early into action. Establish
small scale projects that quickly offer benefits to the clusters
stakeholders, rather than yet more analysis and workshops. It is not
too difficult through a workshop process to quickly identify some ‘low
hanging’ fruit and engage. Avoid paralysis-by-analysis; SMEs in
particular have a low tolerance for delay and will fall away.
·Develop a portfolio of projects, spreading the pay-offs and the risks.
·Ensure
there is a trained cluster facilitator in place, a person who is a
comfortable networker, able to build bridges between diverse
stakeholders.
·Nurture and support the front-line facilitators; bring them together regularly to share their valuable experiences.
·Empower
the private sector, encourage business to take the lead with
short-term, self-destruct task forces; not committees in perpetuity.
·Build collaboration on multiple fronts: clusters and supply/value chains, hard & soft networks
3. Caution: Red Lights in the process of cluster development
·Expecting
short term results; resource for a two year minimum. Ideally 5+ years.
Removing clumps (local agglomerations of isolated firms with little
trust between them) and addressing clutter (unaligned public agencies /
donors, each second guessing the needs of a cluster, working with
individual firms in isolation) requires perseverance.
·Over analysing published statistics; use surveys to gather the very necessary hard data.
·Being parochial over cluster boundaries; the functional region of a cluster may well extend over local political boundaries
·Viewing cluster development as a static process; new clusters emerge from the more traditional: Nelson is
New Zealand’s ‘seafood capital’, it is also now a centre for marine engineering and marine lawyers.
·The
clustering initiative remains ‘owned’ by the public agency; whilst a
public agency often starts a clustering initiative, ensure that it is
handed over. Who does the cluster belong to?
·The
cluster’s development agenda is being decided by a few, perhaps an ‘old
boys network’, the ‘usual suspects’ or a public agency. Ensure that a
transparent decision-making process involving the stakeholders from
across the cluster is needed.
·Having
a narrow development agenda. Clustering initiatives resourced by
technology agencies tend to be R&D intensive; those resourced by
export agencies tend to over focus on internationalisation and supply
chain links. Ensure the development agenda is broad enough to cover the
scope of the cluster.
4. Cluster training workshops in
Scandinavia
In April, Ifor is leading a number of 3 day cluster training workshops in
Scandinavia that are being organised
by Oxford Research. Over 3,000 economic development professionals from
35 countries have attended similar workshops. Places are still
available at a workshop in
Norway, 7-9 April in
Kristiansand, the language is English. Want more information? Then make early contact with:.
5. Pan African Competitiveness
Forum,
Ethiopia
Addis Ababa is hosting the 1st Pan African Competitiveness Forum 14-16
April, 2008. This new forum provides a focus on innovation and cluster
based competitiveness approaches. It is tailored for national and
regional economic development across
Africa, and donors. The forum is
sponsored by the African Union (AU) and the Swedish International
Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) in collaboration with The
Competitiveness Institute. Registrations to date cover 23 countries.
See you there?
Comments
are welcome on the content of this newsletter. The next one will focus
on the central role of universities and tertiary institutions in the
process of cluster development.
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