RED case study and emerging
themes
WHAT ECONOMIC ACTIONS ARE
YOU INVOLVED IN? WHAT WORKS
AT LOCAL SCALE? WHAT WORKS AT
REGIONAL SCALE?
Case study 1: LM
• Small town municipality on
the edge of the metro
• Stagnant economy with
services challenges
• DBSA partnership
• Agricultural economic base
(60%) with excellent natural
resource base (7 dams, 15
mountain ranges, country
lifestyle, world heritage site)
• Located between 4 thriving
tourism regions
• Opportunity and gap analysis
identified tourism as a quick
win opportunity
The Cape Country Meander
• Eight towns, 4 tourism associations, 2 brands
• All struggling with visitor numbers, length of stay and spend
• Industry quick to identify that umbrella brand and offering
would add value to every town and member
• Launched a collaborative platform and common brand, The
Cape Country Meander at municipal level
• Developed product offerings
Tools
• Growth:
– Branding and marketing:
Municipality and industry
– Infrastructure – soft (TCCM and
MTB team) and hard (Steam
train): Industry and Municipality
• Development:
– Value chain mapping and
enterprise development
programme : Municipality
– Tourism grants conditions:
Municipality
• Inclusion:
– Jobs
– Track development contractors:
Private sector & NGO
– FET training: Local FET college
Regional Scale
• Tourists , Businesses, surrounding municipal put pressure to move
to regional scale
• Recognition that municipal boundary limiting and need to work
across 3 municipalities – regional platform needed
• Political constraints so needed industry leadership
• Regional scale sets strategy and brokers relationships
• Local scale implements tools
Garden
Route
Case study 2: DM
• Large rural district
outside Nelson Mandela
Bay Metro with low
population densities,
arid declining hinterland
and growing coastal
strip
• 9 local municipalities
• DBSA partnership
• Sluggish agri-economy
• Interesting capacity and
opportunities for
innovation
Facilitating innovation
• Strong focus on innovation systems linking industry,
agriculture and HEI to generate growth and jobs. Key
initiatives included:
– Natural Fibre Cluster – linked to innovative beneficiation of plant
and animal fibres (pineapple, agave, wool)
• Pineapple: (ECDC, DM, DEDAT, CSIR and Industry)
• Agave: from low tech community craft applications to hi-tech natural
fibre composite development for motor and aeronautical industry
(ECDC, CSIR, DEDAT and Industry)
– Renewable energy initiative – as major new opportunity for
farmers
• Policy and regulatory guidelines to manage major wind farm
investments so as to mitigation of negative effects: (District)
• Wind training and research facility (BCEDA, DM, CSIR, HEIs)
• RE value chain exploration linked to automotive industry
manufacturing and assembly strengths: (Industry)
• Related industries opportunities – green energy and electric cars: (HEI,
TIA and Industry)
– Eco-system restoration linked to green jobs and community
asset creation: (Municipalities)
Tools
• Growth:
– Investment promotion
– EE: Formalising the
innovation system
• Development:
– Natural Fibre sector
initiative
– Linking SMMEs to new
markets
• Inclusion:
– Community Trusts linked to
Wind farms
– Green jobs
Regional scale
• Extensive exploration of cross boundary
alliances and extending focus of regional
action
– Regional fibre cluster reconstitutes as provincial
fibre cluster
– Energy Initiative becomes joint NMB and Cacadu
Western Eastern Cape Regional Innovation Forum
• Regional strategy, regional networks, local
action
Case study 3: Province
• Competitiveness
drive
• Political
commitment to
green economy
• Dedicated SPV
• Extensive
knowledge
economy
• High levels of
innovation in smart
systems
Green is Smart framework
Finances
Smart enterprise
Capabilities
Smart agri-production
Knowledge & Innovation
Smart eco-systems
Rules and Regulation
Smart mobility
Infrastructure
Smart living & working
Tools
• Growth:
–
–
–
–
Investment promotion
Infrastructure
Business climate
Brand development
• Development:
– Sector development
– Skills training
– Linking entrepreneurs to investors and
markets
• Inclusion:
– Contractor development
– Green works
– Green Procurement
Regional Scale
• Metropolitan Functional Region – focus of
innovation system and investment attraction
• Western Cape – brand, green works, energy
infrastructure
• Western, Northern, Eastern Cape – renewable
energy economy
• Gauteng – green economic sector finance
• Global – investment attraction
Brainstorm
PART 2: EMERGING THEMES
LEADERSHIP
RED leadership
• Vision, strategy, and agenda setting
• Good understanding of the economic system and your role
• Customer orientation that recognises business and investors and
people as customers
• Good communication and people skills
• An able to broker and lead coalitions of actors from different
sectors
• Collaboration and alignment between different tiers of government
and horizontal alignment
• Strong on facilitating and building networks
• The ability to sequence and balance interventions at different scales
GOOD ADMINISTRATION
Administrative systems
• Efficient machinery to support the
collaboration and partnerships
• Excellent stakeholder management
• Good information and knowledge
management
• Responsiveness
• Good communication
• Good M&E and feedback loops
INNOVATION
Innovation system
•
•
•
•
The market place is important
Partnerships with HEI key
R&D important part of innovation process
Innovation doesn’t always entail giant leaps forward.
Rather it is about gradual step-by-step improvements
• Innovation often means changing something that for
the time being at least works
• Innovation requires a system of support to stimulate
and manage flow of knowledge amongst partners
COLLABORATIVE COMPETITION
Working with competitors
• Identify competitors
• Identify gaps in the value chain
• Identify common agendas with competitors
and how you can support each other to secure
the agglomerations needed, expand the value
chain
• Limit areas of competition
NETWORKS AND LINKAGES
Relating Local to Regional to Global
• RED is all about linkages into an economic
system – HEI, R&D, BA, DFIs, Govt
• Linkages up and down: local-regional-nationalregional cluster-global
• Reviewing the local and regional boundaries
on a regular basis is also important and
shifting these as market needs change
INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
Organising for RED
• No single institutional model
• Depends on who is part of the system and where
capacity and leadership reside?
• Focus on what is the platform for engagement
and collaboration?
For example:
– In TWK: Coalition of business. Model used in North
America where economic councils have been created
to create a ‘top table’ for co-ordination purposes.
– In Cacadu: HEI and EDA similar to Europe where RDA
used to lead and coordinate RED activities
– In Western Cape Government has played the role of
supporting the RED process similar to Asia.
UNDERSTANDING ROLES AND
RESPONSIBILITIES
Role of government in supporting RED
• Understand the private sector – who are the key
players, who are the intermediaries?
• Understand how to work with the private sector
• Create a supportive and responsive environment
• Facilitating partnerships and building relationships and
networks
• Act as a catalyst not driver
• Ensure that there is adequate decision making
authority and funding at the right level to work
effectively with the private sector – no empty promises
Role of private sector in support RED
• Understand their role in the regional economy
• Understand the advantages of collaboration
• Drive the economy: Generate economic activity,
income and jobs
• Share market information and research and work
more with HEI
• Invest in innovation and training
• Partnerships and building relationships and
networks
Role of HEI in supporting RED
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Understand their role in the RED
Supply education and training
Knowledge management
Undertake R&D linked to real businesses
Commercialisation of innovation
Monitoring, reflection and learning partner
Partnerships and building relationships and
networks