Cluster Excellence Management training takes off in Kazakhstan

EFCE, Competitiveness and KIDI, together for a great start.

The Cluster Excellence Management training programme for capacity building with the 'Kazakhstan Industry Development Institute' and its partners went off to a great start in Astana. Focused on Cluster Policy Deployment, the training programme will propose an in-depth review of the most updated knowledge on value-chain development and cluster excellence.

During 11 months training participants will be given the opportunity to discover, learn and apply new concepts as they go through a comprehensive and field-oriented curriculum based on the methodology and material developed under the European Cluster Excellence Initiative (ECEI).

To the organizers and stakeholders, the first day of the training was the much-awaited culmination of months of planning.  In order to build-up the strongest possible programme EFCE joined forces with international consulting firm Competitiveness, sharing teams and creating synergies.

The Foundation is looking forward to continuing its work with the great team at KIDI.

Catalonia celebrates 25 years of cluster policy

Enric Pedrós, Cluster Manager at FEMAC: The Catalan Cluster of Agricultural Means in Lleida

On Thursday June 8th, the President of the Generalitat, Mr. Carles Puigdemont, invited institutional representatives, entrepreneurs and keynote speakers to celebrate the 25th anniversary of cluster policy in Catalonia.

In his allocution President Puigdemont stressed the disruptive impact that a pioneering cluster policy - started in 1992 - had on the competitiveness of the Catalan economy.

An early leader in cluster policy, Catalonia now counts with 30 robust clusters bringing together more than 2.000 companies, accounting for 300.000 jobs and generating revenues equivalent to 29% of the Catalan GDP. “The Catalan cluster policy was and will remain a benchmark for the world”, President Puigdemont said in his closing remarks.

A long-time supporting partner for the Catalan cluster ecosystem, the European Foundation for Cluster Excellence feels certainly proud to have played its part in such a captivating journey from regional to global competitiveness.

Empowering clusters management in textile and machinery sectors

Last February the CLUSTEM consortium members started their training in Cluster Excellence Management with EFCE. As suggested by the acronym, CLUSTEM aims at empowering CLUSters management and services in TExtile and Machinery sectors. The consortium's philosophy relies on two observations:

• Clusters are vital for the support of the international competitiveness of European SMEs.
• Through collaboration, and the sharing of added-value, clusters are an efficient tool for the economic development of regions.

Two months later, after going through the rollercoaster ride of a demanding program combining case-study based classes and practical exercises in strategy formulation, the managers of the 4 clusters - hailing from Italy, Spain, Turkey and the UK - were successfully awarded in Cluster Excellence Management.

Now back to their respective regions for the implementation phase, the partners will have the opportunity to improve the performances of the companies forming their clusters. We wish them success in this endeavor.