EFCE at the 19th TCI Global Conference

An opportunity to meet and exchange with the world's best cluster experts

This year TCI - The Competitiveness Institute brought together a vibrant community of policymakers, cluster managers, entrepreneurs, opinion leaders, academia and visionaries to exchange ideas and experience on the most recent developments on clusters, innovation ecosystems and economic development.

A recognized protagonist of the Clusters and Value Chains landscape, the Foundation engaged into the discussions and rich debates of the 19th TCI Global Conference. Taking place November 8-10, 2016 in the creative city of Eindhoven, the conference proved to be a fantastic opportunity to get inspired, learn, exchange and return home with new ideas, skills and approaches.

EFCE awarded at Cluster World Congress

EFCE gets recognition and distinction at Cluster World Congress, Dabrowa Gornicza, Poland

On March 24-25, 2015, the city of Dabrowa Gornicza held the first edition of Cluster World Congress, the biggest event dedicated to clusters ever organized in the country. Created as a communication platform and a forum for ideas exchange, Cluster World Congress allowed an animated dialogue between education, employment and business representatives and provided participants with technical and practical knowledge about cluster-based competitiveness.

Upon completion of a successful week that revealed rich in debates and contrasted lectures delivered by international experts in clustering and cluster-based economic policies, the organizing committee of the Congress closed the event by an awards ceremony celebrating the work and impact of notable cluster experts and practitioners. 

Several representatives of the Foundation had the honor to be distinguished during the ceremony. Amongst winners in the different categories, the Award for the Ambassador of the World Innovation went to:

• Antoni Subira - Member of the Parliament of Catalonia, former Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism of the Government of Catalonia (Spain), and President at the EFCE Board of Trustees.
• Reza Zadeh - Executive Director at EFCE.
• Enric Pedros - Manager at the Catalan Cluster of Agricultural Machinery (Spain) and longtime partner of the EFCE training programs.

The Award for Best Contribution to the Development of International Clustering went to:

• Klaus Haasis - Director of TCI Network (Germany) and contributor to the EFCE curriculum.
• Ekin Taskin - Managing Director at TABU Solutions (Turkey) and visiting professor of the EFCE in-class trainings.

Cluster Excellence Day 2015, Brussels

On Thursday 19th February 2015 the Foundation marked the completion of its third Train-the-Trainers programme in Cluster Excellence Management in style by holding a Cluster Excellence Day in Brussels. The Cluster Excellence Day was addressed to those wishing to learn more about the European Cluster Excellence Programme as well as the training activities of the Foundation. 

Many delegates joined the current cohort of the training programme.

Training programme showcase

During the event in Brussels a number of participating teams presented their experience of undertaking the training and showcased their projects in reinforcing the competitiveness of their regional and national clusters. Videos of the showcases are available below.

Cluster based economic development: the experts viewpoint

There was extensive opportunity to find out the details of the policy frameworks and instruments that support cluster economic development from Olivier Brunet, DG Research and Innovation, Katja Reppel, DG Regional and Urban Policy, Germana Ricciardi, DG GROW as well as Nicolas Singer of the recently launched INTERREG Europe programme.

The afternoon session saw Emiliano Duch of World Bank provide a global examination of cluster based economic development and Kirsi Ekroth-Manssila, Head of Unit, SMEs: Clusters & Emerging Industries DG GROW, outlined the latest developments in EU Cluster Policy. Thomas Lämmer-Gamp, of European Secretariat for Cluster Analysis (ESCA), set out the role of cluster organisations and their quality standards within a cluster based economic development policy framework.

During the day participants, guests and speakers exchanged and discussed specific aspects of the work of the Foundation, and of current state-of-the-art in economic development among European Regions.

Presentations and videos of the speakers can be accessed by clicking on the following links:

Projects developed through the Cluster Excellence Programme were showcased, highlighting the key learning points and explaining how the methodology transformed their approach to economic development:

1. North West Romania & Mazovia Region (Poland) on Cosmetics. You may download the presentation on cosmetics clicking on the link.
2. Trinidad & Tobago on Cocoa. You may download the presentation on cocoa clicking on the link.
3. Malta on Aviation services. You may download the presentation on aviation services clicking on the link.

Please scroll down the page to watch corresponding videos of the showcases.

EU policy instruments for cluster development – Views from different angles

1. From FP7 to Horizon 2020 by Olivier Brunet, DG Research and Innovation.
2. Smart Specialisation Strategies by Katja Reppel, DG Regional Policy.
3. EU Policy Instruments by Nicolas Singer, INTERREG Europe.
4. Role of Cluster Organisations and their Quality Standards by Thomas Lämmer-Gamp, ESCA.
5. The Global Take on Cluster Development by Emiliano Duch, The World Bank Group.
6. Overview of Latest Developments in EU Cluster Policy by Kirsi Ekroth-Manssila, Head of Unit, SMEs: Clusters & Emerging Industries DG GROW.