Stimulating transsectoral innovation in mature clusters

13th TCI Global Conference, Delhi NRC 2010Session 1.3: Mature Clusters

Frank EetgerinkDevelopment Agency East Netherlands (Oost NV)

Development Agency East Netherlands Oost NV

Oost NV is an agency of the Ministry of Economic Affairs that focuses its activities and projects on strengthening and stimulating the economy of in the East of the Netherlands

Shareholders: Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture & Innovation Province of Gelderland Province of Overijssel

Total of approximately 75 employees

Offices in Arnhem and Enschede

Activities divided in four parts Regional Development & Innovations Business Environment Foreign Investments PPM Oost (Participation Company East Netherlands NV)

Government Agency, all activities confidential and free of charge

≈ 170 Million Customers

within 300 Miles

≈ 244 Million Customerswithin 600 Miles

The Netherlands in Europe

The Netherlands has about 16 million inhabitants. But, more importantly: approximately 160 million people live within a 300-mile radius of the Netherlands.

Access to such commercial and industrial centres such London, Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt and Hamburg, and the Ruhr Valley, is just a few hours' drive from Amsterdam.

Europe is a large consumer and industrial market and home to the world’s largest trading block (60% of world trade).

The Netherlands is member of the European Union.

R&D Clusters in East Netherlands

Europe’sEurope’s

Golden Triangle for Golden Triangle for

Food, Health and Food, Health and

TechnologyTechnologyAmsterdam

Rotterdam

Netherlands, an empty city, not a crowded country

Food R&D in the Netherlands

The Netherlands

€ 47 bln Euro (10% of GNP) 700,000 jobs 2nd worldwide exporter of agrifood

products Export = € 23 bln Euro/yr

FoodValley

100 miles

225 miles

INITIATIEFGROEP FOODVALLEY AMBITIE 2020© / FEBRUARI 2009

Strategies to (re)vitalize mature clusters

Increase efforts in existing strategies Strenghten cluster organisation Food Valley Campus development Attract new businesses

Enlarge boundaries of the cluster Align regional policy with national and EU Open up networks, open innovation Visualise qualitative mapping of business networks Share facilities like equipment and incubators

Enlarge domain of development through increasing quality of the environment (e.g. FoodValley Ambition 2020)

Housing, recreation Urban amenities Accessibility (transport and connection to general public) Multi stakeholder regional support, increase visibility

Regional branding, grounded story telling connecting networks and domains Societal Challenges as market driven innovation programs Stimulate transsectoral innovations (other clusters/domains)

Can Clusters ‘freeze’ the System?

Clusters start off, grow, institutionalize, start defending existing interests When to change en who decides? New clusters are born, mostly below radar at early stage

Backing winners, picking winners?

A Way out? Related variety & cross over's

Red Medtech Highway Biobased Economy Sports, food, life style (gezonde mens)

Societal Needs: “De Gezonde Mens” & “Feed the World”

Cluster Life Cycle

From The Cluster Policies Whitebook, Andersson, Schwaag-Serger, Sörvik, Wise Hansson, 2004

More: Process on a Chip, Food Applications, Prisma & Partners

Creating Knowledge Combinations

Why Knowledge Combinations? (aka Transsectoral Innovations) The Power of Heterogenous Networks Building Knowledge Combinations Example: Process on a Chip Revitalizing Clusters

• Science has a tendency to ongoing specialization• Start ups usually start from a single discipline in science • SME don’t have time, money or staff to explore knowledge

areas beyond the horizon of their own specialization• Even large companies cannot explore the full field of science

There is a large potential in creating and exploring new combinations of knowledge, resulting in heterogenous networks

Why Knowledge Combinations?

• Contacts between university and companies follow the boundaries of disciplines

• Intercompany contacts are mainly based on a single shared knowledge area

• Drivers for innovation and growth are generated by a single discipline

• Homogenous networks live in isolation from each other

U

U

U

CC

C

C CC

C

CC

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Homogenous Networks

UC

C

C

CC

C

C

C

CC

U

U

• New contacts between universities by actively creating new combinations of science disciplines

• Impulses for new research• New intercompany contacts develop

as networks are combined and merge

Heterogenous Networks

Building Knowledge Combinations

Knowledge combinations hardly form spontaneously, so…

you need to create !

Identify the high level researchers at university Assess their capability to look far beyond their discipline Make a map with triplets of unlinked scientists Imagine the science and innovations that such triplets may generate Find potential benefits for companies (knowledge, applications) Probe the willingness to cooperate (scientists and large companies) Prepare meetings to set up a joint innovation agenda Set up organizational structure and procedures

Agrofood applicationsOrganic synthesis

Miniature sensor devices

BiomembranesTissue engineeringDisease control

Miniature power plants

Genome analysis

Disposables

Combination-driven Research leads to many new Applications

Example: the NEW Triangle

For the Gelderland / Overijssel region in The Netherlands, a comprehensive Knowledge Map was prepared

The Knowledge Map covered the expertise of 30 top level research groups at the universities of Nijmegen, Enschede and Wageningen

Fourteen new knowledge combinations were identifiedOne of them is Process on a Chip

Example: Process on a Chip*

Goal: screen, analyze, synthesize and manufacture compounds on a single chip.

Very efficient, precise and sustainable processing

Applicable for a wide variety of compounds Strong reduction of time-to-markt Cutting edge technology for food

compounds, pharmaceuticals, contamination detection and health monitoring

Combines: chip design, organic chemistry, biosynthesis, microfluidics, sensor technology, process technology

Current Status of Process on a Chip

5 Universities involved 10 Companies (multinationals and SME) SME platform uniting participation of SME 20 projects started after tender procedures International cooperation Budget 8,5 M euro New industry-industry relations have developed Embedded in national and international programs

One time only

One out of fourteen combination topics taken Stop after one pilot program

Why? Started from knowledge, without up front guarantee of company

commitment Existing political paradigm: demand driven innovation policy Risks not predictable

Revitalizing Clusters and Knowledge Combinations

Creating new knowledge combinations is a powerful mechanism

to revitalize existing clusters:

It makes use of existing strengths and (homogenous) networks It gives an impuls to these networks: new knowledge, new contacts, new

inspiration and new applications It gives a natural focus for innovation efforts, concentrating on cutting edge

technologies and finding new niches It serves the interests of large companies, SME and start ups

Competencies for collaboration

From The Cluster Policies Whitebook, Andersson, Schwaag-Serger, Sörvik, Wise Hansson, 2004

Regional (economic) System

Complex (adaptive) system We as practioners and policymakers do not fully understand the system in

all its complexity Pattern recognition

System of multiparty collaborations

Multiparty collaboration, agenda building

Agenda arena

Task – Role – Person: Conflict & Collusion

From: Leopold Vansina, 2008

Multiparty collaboration

More information

Development Agency East Netherlands (Oost NV)

Frank Eetgerink

Senior Project Manager - Regional Development & Innovation

E-mail: frank.eetgerink@oostnv.com

Phone: +31 26 384 42 22

Internet: www.oostnv.com

@eetgerink

http://nl.linkedin.com/in/frankeetgerink