Striving for cluster excellence:
the European approach
Genoveva Christova
President BFC / CMEI
Why clusters are powerful policy tools,
and particularly relevant to SMEs?
• How to stay competitive in an increasing global
competition?
• How to be noticed when coming from a small country?
• Clusters offer a vibrant environment for SMEs
(cooperation, infrastructure, skills)
• SMEs can get top-quality customised business services
through cluster organisations
• Cluster organisations facilitates SMEs access to
international markets
Europe has hundreds clusters and
many cluster organisations
But haven’t they made us any more competitive?
How to be better, more efficient and successful?
What is the key objective of the new
EU strategy?
It is to assist Member States developing more
world-class clusters in traditional and emerging
industries by:
• strengthening cluster management
• promoting cluster cooperation
• providing a sound statistical analysis
Timeline
High-level advisory
Group on Clusters
European Cluster
Policy Group
European Cluster Alliance
European Cluster Observatory
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Clusters in CIP
Benchmarking and labeling
555 cluster organisations (bronze)
– 72 from ICT industry
39 (gold) – 7 from ICT
Training – cluster instructors
and cluster managers
40 new instructors and about
100 cluster managers
Clusters cooperation
7 international MoUs signed;
6 CIP projects supported;
And the Future…
High-level advisory
Group on Clusters
European Cluster
Policy Group
European Cluster Alliance
European Cluster Observatory
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Clusters in COSME
Invest on
cluster excellence
Promote cluster
cooperation
Cluster Excellence Programme
(First Call for proposals in May 2014)
Cluster Internationalisation
Programme for SMEs
(First Call for proposals in May 2014)
Cluster Analysis
European Cluster Observatory
Cluster management excellence training
Cluster Economics
Industry Analysis and
Segmentation
Cluster Initiatives
Screenings
Value Chain Analysis
Benchmarking
Change Management
Cluster Organization
Management
Continuous Policy
Input
Project Management
Cluster Policy
Evaluation
Бранщови
Орган.
НПО
Суровини
Висши
учеб.
заведения
Производители на мебели
Office
furniture
Мебели от
метал
Shop
furniture
Мебели от
дърво
Hotel
furniture
от друг
материал
Техника
Софтуер
Финанси
Правителство
Туризм
Недвижими
имоти
Министерство на икономиката, енергетиката и туризма
Висши
учеб.
заведения
Дизайнерс
ки студиа
Износител
и
Логистика
Преработв
ащи
дистрибут
ори
11
The Field Project
“Vision without action is a daydream.
Action without vision is a nightmare”
Japanese proverb
Hotels
Markets
Products
Contract furniture
Re-manufacturing
• Further development and
promotion of Cluster Excellence
programme
• Further development of
benchmarking accreditation and
recognition of REAL clusters
• Development of
clusterpreneurship !
• Case studies based
• Practical examples
• Inter-active approach and
provocation!
• Excellence supervision and tuition
• Focus on building strategic vision
and capacity
• Sharing experience and
networking with colleagues from all
over Europe
• Supporting cross-sectoral and cross-regional
collaboration to unlock innovation and growth
• Using cluster organisations (& regional policies)
to support innovation in SMEs and facilitate
structural change
• Near-market demonstrators to test new value
chains and give rise to emerging industries
17
Cluster facilitated projects for new industrial value chains (I)
• Launch in 2015 with € 24,9 mio, (indicative;
expected overall budget € 140 mio for 2015-2020)
• 5-10 projects expected to be supported in 2015
• Support for Innovation Actions with max 70%
funding except for non-profit entities (100%).
• At least 75% of budget shall be allocated to support
innovation in SMEs (directly or indirectly).
Horizon 2020 Innovation in SMEs Work programme 2014-2015 (INNOSUP1):
http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/wp/2014_2015/main/h2020-wp1415-sme_en.pdf
18
Cluster facilitated projects for new industrial value chains
(II)
• Standard eligibility criteria (i.e. minimum of 3 legal
entities from 3 different Member States/ Associated
Countries)
• Two-stage submission procedure (first only a
concept note of max. 10 pages)
• Expected significant impact on SME innovation,
business growth and capacity to leverage other
support sources (e.g. ESIF/RIS3 context)
Horizon 2020 Innovation in SMEs Work programme 2014-2015 (INNOSUP1):
http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/wp/2014_2015/main/h2020-wp1415-sme_en.pdf
19
SMEs: Clusters and Emerging Industries Unit (D5)
SMEs and Entrepreneurship Directorate
European Commission, Enterprise and Industry Directorate-General
Entr-SMEs-Clusters-and-Emerging-Ind@ec.europa.eu
Horizon 2020 work programme (with Cluster facilitated projects for new industrial value chains)
http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/h2020-section/innovation-smes
COSME 2014 work programme (with Cluster internationalisation programme for SMEs)
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/initiatives/cosme/index_en.htm
European Cluster Collaboration Platform
http://clustercollaboration.eu
European Foundation for Cluster Excellence
http://www.clustercompetitiveness.org
European Cluster Observatory extension work on "Emerging Industries"
http://www.clusterobservatory.eu/index.html#!view=aboutobservatory;url=/about-observatory/emerging-industries/
Smart Guide to Service Innovation
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/regional-sme-policies/documents/no.4_service_innovation_en.pdf