Clusters are individuals - VDI/VDE-IT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In economic and innovation policy the term „cluster“ is
usually used to explain geographical concentrations of economic
and innovation activities. According to conventional
wisdom clusters support economic development through
the specialization of regions in activities within which companies
gain higher productivity through accessing external
economies of scale or other comparative advantages. During
the past 15 years clusters and innovative (competence)
networks have gained more and more importance as an element
of economic development and innovation strategies
of the European Union and its Member States. The analyses
in this report challenge conventional wisdom of what drives
development and innovation within a cluster. Based on the
largest international analysis of its kind involving a simultaneous
benchmarking of more than 140 cluster organisations
and of cluster policies from nine European countries it
is found that the economic impacts of clusters depend on
many more factors not related to the specialization of regions
through the geographical concentration of the cluster
than earlier research suggests. Cluster management excellence
and the spectrum and frequency of business-related
services of the cluster organization are important determinants
for the impact of a cluster. The analyses of cluster
organisations and cluster policies also show many other key
determinants for the development and characteristics of a
cluster such as internationalization activities, R&D activities,
age, technology areas etc.
The Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation,
supported by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and
Technology and its national cluster program “Initiative Kompetenznetze
Deutschland” (Competence Networks Germany),
the Nordic Council of Ministers and Nordic Innovation
(NICe), has initiated the project „NGPExcellence – Cluster
Excellence in the Nordic Countries, Germany and Poland“.
Further partners were VINNOVA (Sweden), Tillväxtverket
(Sweden), the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology
and Innovation (TEKES), the Finnish Ministry of Employment
and the Economy, Innovation Norway, the Icelandic Centre
for Research (RANNIS), Innovation Centre Iceland, the Bavarian
Ministry of Economic Affairs, Infrastructure, Transport and
Technology (Germany) and the Polish Agency for Enterprise
Development (PARP).
The overall objective is to contribute to the development
of outstanding clusters through excellent management
and excellent cluster programs. Conducted from October
2010 to July 2011the project pays particular attention
on the characteristics of cluster management organizations
and their effects on cluster development. More than 140 cluster
management organizations from eight countries were
benchmarked to base the analysis on a comprehensive comparative
portfolio. 16 cluster programs from nine countries
supporting most of the analyzed cluster organisations were
analyzed to facilitate a better understanding of successful
strategies and mutual learning between the program owners
and to develop recommendations for a “perfect” cluster
program.
The analyses has provided a comprehensive set of information
and new knowledge about the characteristics
of cluster management organizations and clusters in
terms of age, size, composition of membership, regional
concentration and financing. The key findings of the
comprehensive benchmarking analyses of cluster management
organizations include:
• Research-driven clusters are much more similar to
industry-clusters than previous research suggested;
• Clusters with a small or high share of public funding are
similar in terms of structure and governance, but different
in terms of impact;
• The visibility and attractiveness of a cluster and the
impact of the cluster management organization on SME
development depends its age and size; apparently,
larger and matured clusters provide a much better
environment for results and impacts through activities
of a cluster management organization;
• The structural characteristics of a cluster in terms of e.g.
size, governance structure or degree of specialization
as well as the impact of the work of a cluster management
organization depend on the technology field it is .
operating in;
• Clusters with a high impact on business activities of SME
feature an active cluster management organization in
terms of spectrum and frequency of business-related
services.
The results suggest that several key determinants matter in
terms of a cluster’s impact on the business activities of its
members; this applies in particular to SME. Structural factors
such as size, age, governance and the share of private
funding in the total budget of the cluster management organization
as well as the type of agenda setter (industry or
research stakeholders) have an effect on the spectrum and
intensity of services provided by the cluster management
organization and thus on the development of business activities
of SME.
The benchmarking of 16 cluster programs provides new
knowledge and detailed insights into program characteristics
in terms of objectives, strategic focus, instruments,
target groups, evaluation methods, terms and
financial aspects. The key findings of the analysis are:
8