El cluster aeroespacial - Helice Foundation

in the aeronautical scene, with the advantage of being well defined, having
a notable tradition and being a meeting point for all agents of the sector.
The plan also aims a strategic goal, rather in a long term, which is to make
the right movements to fulfil the requirements in order to become a world
class cluster, able to lead the aerospace industry’s growth in the international
field and to coordinate its development toward activities that need the
collaboration with other productive sectors, that is to say, becoming a driving
force or link among them.
Consolidation at the main international scenarios
The internationalization plan of Hélice is developed according to five main
lines, some of them, already started. That is the case of the participation at
main international events in the aeronautic sector, an activity in which Hélice
has the support of Extenda, the Andalusian Agency of Foreign Promotion
(within the Economy, Innovation, Science and Employment Regional Ministry),
which has been collaborating for several years in order to increase the
presence of companies in the foreign markets. Among the initiatives resulting
from that process, there must be highlighted the organization of Aerospace
and Defense Meetings (ADM) Seville 2012, held in May, which was
the first international business event for the aerospace and defence sector
in Spain, which has become a shuttle to widen international relationships of
Andalusian aerospace companies.
The actions started by the new Helice plan, within this sphere, have had
the most important international aerospace fairs as main players: Farnborough
(United Kingdom), held in July, and ILA Berlin (Germany), last month
of September. The Andalusian attendance in both events was a complete
success, since attending companies and institutions held important business
meetings and commercial contacts with international firms of the
sector, which could enable the arrival of new contracts and orders for the
de información y conocimiento y la cooperación entre todos sus clusters
asociados, que permitan a éstos apoyar a sus respectivas empresas,
centros de investigación e instituciones públicas para trabajar juntos en
proyectos comunes que impulsen el desarrollo y la innovación del sector.
Los esfuerzos de Hélice dentro de EACP están encaminados a respaldar
la actividad de esta red de excelencia entre clústeres, de manera que contribuya
a potenciar la competitividad de la industria aeronáutica europea,
incluida la andaluza, en el mercado global. En este sentido, Hélice está
implicado en los diferentes grupos de trabajo creados en la asociación, y
que se centran en materia de formación, finanzas e internacionalización.
Como tercera línea del plan, y vinculada a la anterior, se encuentra
la colaboración con otros clústeres europeos de EACP para la preparación
de un proyecto en el VII Programa Marco de I+D de la Comisión
Europea, en concreto, dentro de la línea destinada a crear redes de conocimiento
común entre socios potenciales europeos (Creating cohesive
links and common knowledge between potential partners in EU Framework
Programme Collaborative Projects). El objetivo de esta iniciativa
es poner en contacto a los coordinadores y partners en potencia para el
desarrollo de proyectos conjuntos dentro del programa en el campo de
Aeronáutica y Transporte Aéreo.
Con esta acción se pretende, en primer lugar, disponer de un mapa de
las capacidades aeroespaciales de cada región o cluster europeo e identificar
aquellas regiones que tienen una baja participación en los Programas
Marco en relación a sus capacidades, que se beneficiarían así de tener
mejores contactos en áreas tecnológicas concretas de otros clústeres, especialmente
entre la Europa Oriental y la Occidental. De esta manera, las
empresas del cluster aeroespacial andaluz podrían establecer importantes
colaboraciones tecnológicas con firmas de otros puntos de Europa y
compartir su experiencia y conocimiento para mejorar su competitividad.
Proyección nacional e internacional con marca propia
La presencia en foros especializados del ámbito nacional e internacional
constituye la cuarta acción integrada en el plan de internacionalización de
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aeronautical industry in the region. In fact, Andalusia was the only Spanish
region with its own pavilion in both fairs, with the participation of companies
like Alestis, Aerosertec, Cesa, Ghenova, Prescal, Sofitec, UMI Aeronáutica,
Indaero-Tecnigrab and Aerotecnic-Mecatecnic, as well as the Andalusian
Aerospace Technological Park, Aerópolis.
As a result of the different meetings held in both fairs by Andalusian
companies (about 320 approximately), there were established important
international agreements of collaboration, such as the one subscribed by
Prescal and Sogeclair Aerospace, a subsidiary firm of the French company
Sogeclair, with the purpose of complementing activities and capabilities in
the field of engineering to participate in the common management of new
projects in the sector. On its turn, Hélice held meetings with different business
organizations and aerospace clusters from different countries like
USA (Oklahoma, Missouri, South Carolina); Mexico (Proméxico, Chihuahua);
Italy (Campania Aerospace, Torino Piamonte); Canada (Ontario), Belgium
(Flag and Skywin) and Germany (Aviabelt Bremen, Hamburg Aviation,
BavAiria, Niedersachsen Aviation).
The actions of the plan for the coming months include the participation
at Aeromart, the most important aeronautic business meeting of the year in
France that is held in December in Toulouse, and the attendance to the next
edition of Le Bourget, in July 2013 in Paris.
Fostering a European excellence network
Another important subject of the internationalization strategy of the Hélice
Cluster regarding the Andalusian sector is the collaboration with the other
European clusters through the EACP (European Aerospace Clusters Partnership).
Hélice is also member of this association, which aim is to be a driving
force and to enable the transnational dialog, the information and knowledge
exchange and the cooperation among associated clusters, which
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