Striving for cluster excellence: the European approach

Genoveva ChristovaPresident 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

2005 2006 2008 20102007 2009 201320122011 2014

High-level advisory Group on Clusters

European Cluster Policy Group

European Cluster Alliance

European Cluster Observatory

Timeline

CIP COSME

Clusters in CIPBenchmarking and labeling555 cluster organisations (bronze) – 72 from ICT industry39 (gold) – 7 from ICT

Training – cluster instructors and cluster managers40 new instructors and about100 cluster managers

Clusters cooperation 7 international MoUs signed; 6 CIP projects supported;

2005 2006 2008 20102007 2009 201320122011 2014

High-level advisory Group on Clusters

European Cluster Policy Group

European Cluster Alliance

European Cluster Observatory

And the Future…

CIP COSME

Clusters in COSME

Invest on cluster excellence

Promote cluster cooperation

Cluster Analysis

Cluster Excellence Programme(First Call for proposals in May 2014)

Cluster Internationalisation Programme for SMEs(First Call for proposals in May 2014)

European Cluster Observatory

Cluster management excellence training

Cluster EconomicsCluster EconomicsCluster Initiatives

ScreeningsCluster Initiatives

Screenings

Value Chain Analysis

Value Chain Analysis

Industry Analysis and SegmentationIndustry Analysis and Segmentation

BenchmarkingBenchmarkingChange

ManagementChange

ManagementCluster Organization Management

Cluster Organization Management

Continuous Policy Input

Continuous Policy Input

Project Management

Project Management

Cluster Policy Evaluation

Cluster Policy Evaluation

Производители на мебели

Министерство на икономиката, енергетиката и туризма 11

Office furniture

Shop furniture

Hotel furniture

Мебели от метал

Мебели от дърво

от друг материал

Дизайнерски студиа

Износители

Логистика

Преработващи

дистрибутори

Суровини

Техника

Софтуер

Финанси

Правителство Туризм

Недвижими имоти

НПО Бранщови Орган.

Висши учеб.

заведения

Висши учеб.

заведения

The Field Project

“Vision without action is a daydream.

Action without vision is a nightmare”

Japanese proverb

Markets

Products

Hotels

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 !

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• 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

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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

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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

SMEs: Clusters and Emerging Industries Unit (D5) SMEs and Entrepreneurship Directorate

European Commission, Enterprise and Industry Directorate-GeneralEntr-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 Excellencehttp://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 Innovationhttp://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/regional-sme-policies/documents/no.4_service_innovation_en.pdf