Titel presentatie[Naam, organisatienaam]

Working Day - Track: Academic TrackCluster Evaluation

James Wilson, Orkestra and Deusto Business School

Cluster evaluation

Cluster EvaluationAcademic Track Sessions | Eindhoven, Netherlands10th November 2016

Cluster Evaluation Working Group• Over four years of work• Workshops, conference presentations & discussions• Newsletter updates and website zone

• #TCI2016 Eindhoven Two academic track sessions (10:00 and 16:30) Modern cluster policy track: Evaluation in Nordic countries (11:15) Cluster evaluation working group meeting (Tomorrow, 9:00)

The Overall Challenge

Despite proliferation of cluster initiatives, there is a shortage of evaluation research and practice

• How do cluster policies/programmes/initiatives justify their investment?

• How do we learn from what we are doing and generate knowledge collectively?

How then do we develop better approaches to capture the impact of cluster policies and foster learning around how to improve them?

This MorningEvaluating Clusters: What do different approaches and techniques offer? • Academic approaches fragmented• Significant gaps between theory and practice

Quick-fire presentation of 4 studies/approaches, leading into a discussion:

• What are the benefits and limitations of different approaches?• How can they strengthen cluster evaluation practice?

A Quick PollWhat is the biggest barrier to analysis/evaluation of clusters and cluster policies informing practice? • It is too time-consuming/difficult to collect the necessary data• By the time the necessary analysis is available it is too late for

the evaluation to be useful• Academic approaches typically need too much theoretical

knowledge (and seem remote from practice)• Academic approaches do not adequately address the

needs/questions of policymakers• Academic analysis is typically difficult to communicate to

stakeholders

This AfternoonEvaluating Clusters: What lies beyond traditional indicators and approaches? • Clusters play a wider social role in regions, beyond the purely

economic: ‘shared value’• Evaluation should play a role beyond ‘accountability’ or audit,

fostering cluster and cluster policy learning

Quick-fire presentation of 4 studies/approaches, leading into a discussion:

• How to capture impacts of clusters ‘beyond GDP’?• How to ensure that cluster evaluation supports policy learning?

A Quick PollWhich direction should be prioritised in the search for new indicators to evaluate clusters? • Indicators that demonstrate the social impacts of clusters in

their cities/regions• Indicators that demonstrate the environmental impacts of

clusters in their cities/regions• Indicators that are timely and flexible enough to support

continual strategic learning• Indicators that capture the value of collaborative working