Clusters are individuals - VDI/VDE-IT

The majority of cluster management organizations (77 out
of 143 cluster management organizations) depend to more
than 60 per cent on public funding. The budget of 43 cluster
management organizations (roughly one third of the comparative
portfolio) depends to more than 80 per cent on public
funding. Only 29 cluster management organizations depend
to less than 19 per cent on public funding (see Table 4).
SHARE OF PUBLIC FUNDING IN TOTAL FUNDING 0 – 19 % 20 – 39 % 40 – 59 % 60 – 79 % > 80%
NUMBER OF CLUSTERS 29 11 26 34 43
Table 4: Share of public funding in total funding of cluster management organizations.
2.3 KEY FINDINGS
The analysis of the data that was gathered through the
benchmarking of 143 cluster management organizations
has yielded five key findings which are further detailed in
this chapter. The key findings (see Table 5) give further insight
into the characteristics of clusters, particularly with regard
to the difference between research- and industry-driven
clusters, the impact of cluster management organizations
on the cluster in terms of business and R&D activities, the
effect of the technology area on cluster characteristics and
the impact of services provided by the cluster management
organization on the development of the cluster. With regard
to the key findings there is no country-specific analysis as
there are no significant differences that can be explained by
country-specific variables.
KEY FINDINGS
1. Research-driven clusters are much more similar to industry-driven clusters than expected
2. Clusters with a low or high share of public funding are similar in terms of structure and governance, but different in terms of impact
3.
The visibility and attractiveness of a cluster and the impact of the cluster management organization on SME development depends
on its size, age, institutionalization and degree of industrial orientation
4. The characteristics of a cluster depend on the technology field it is operating in
5. Clusters with a high impact on business activities of SME feature an active cluster management
Table 5: Overview of key findings
2.3.1 RESEARCH-DRIVEN CLUSTERS ARE MUCH MORE SIMI-
LAR TO INDUSTRY-DRIVEN CLUSTERS THAN EXPECTED
Research-driven clusters whose objectives and activities are
set by research-actors such as research institutions or universities
are much more similar to industry-driven clusters
whose agenda is set by companies than previous research
suggested.
Between these two types of clusters there are no or only minor
differences in terms structural factors such as financing,
governance, legal form, regional concentration and degree
of specialization. R&D-driven clusters are a little bit smaller
in terms of numbers of members than industry-driven clusters.
They are also significantly younger than industry-driven
clusters (see Figure 8).
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