Clusters are individuals - VDI/VDE-IT
Clusters are individuals - VDI/VDE-IT
Clusters are individuals - VDI/VDE-IT
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Competence<br />
Cluster<br />
Centre of<br />
Expertise<br />
Centre of<br />
Expertise<br />
Centre of<br />
Expertise<br />
Centre of<br />
Expertise<br />
Centre of<br />
Expertise<br />
Figure 39: The organization of a Finnish Competence Cluster<br />
Competence <strong>Clusters</strong> as Umbrella Organizations for<br />
Centres of Expertise<br />
Superordinated to the centres of expertise the program established<br />
competence clusters that gather the key organizations<br />
at centres of expertise located in different regions,<br />
to collaborate and implement strategic development programs.<br />
A competence cluster will enable the more effective<br />
utilization of fragmented national expertise-based resources<br />
and, at the same time, increase the ‘critical mass’ required<br />
for research and product development thereby creating<br />
more attractive centres of expertise. Competence clusters<br />
will collect currently fragmented regional resources, make<br />
their utilization more efficient, and create a new, effective<br />
channel for the dissemination of knowledge and expertise<br />
for the benefit of regional business and research. A national,<br />
cluster-based alliance of the best centres of expertise will<br />
channel the attention of the regions away from competition<br />
with each other and towards intensifying international<br />
competition. Cluster-based collaboration among centres of<br />
expertise will also sharpen regional specialization and the division<br />
of duties. Networking will also encourage universities<br />
to specialize in strong fields of research, and thereby also to<br />
increase co-operation between institutes located in different<br />
regions.<br />
Managed by a cluster coordinator, who is based at a Centre of<br />
Expertise, a competence cluster comprises complementary<br />
fields of expertise of at least two centres of expertise located<br />
in different <strong>are</strong>as. Today the program is implemented by 13<br />
national competence clusters (see Figure 40), each of which<br />
comprises four to seven regional centres of expertise. 59 Rather<br />
than aiming comprehensively to develop entire industrial<br />
sectors, a competence cluster seeks to develop its more<br />
functional fields of top-level expertise or promising new sectors<br />
worthy of development, through which the centres can<br />
work together to develop the competitiveness and business<br />
of the whole cluster. The fields of expertise contained in the<br />
clusters may include not only technology-based sectors but<br />
also other <strong>are</strong>as such as the service sectors or the so-called<br />
creative sectors.<br />
A competence cluster must have a management team that<br />
controls and supervises cluster (and coordinator) activity. If<br />
necessary, a cluster may also have a broader-based committee<br />
that meets less often, and which sets operational targets<br />
and encourages the commitment of different organizations.<br />
59 For further information about the different competence clusters please see www.oske.net/<br />
en/competence_clusters/.<br />
104