Stratinc Meeting –Thessaloniki Oct. 7/ A contribute to a rationale (a preliminary view) DRAFT Maximiano Martins / Scientific Board

Interlinked activities – which frequently are regionally concentrated – create synergies, increase productivity and lead to economic advantages

clusters, industrial districts, complexes, growth poles, networks, chains of production…

development gaps among regions and countries can be explained (and measured) by the differential in the availability of human resources for innovation, organisation and conglomeration, effectiveness of public finance schemes for both innovation and organisation and capacity to access innovation networks.

beyond the quantitative aspects of human and financial inputs… the importance of physical proximity but increasingly face-to-face knowledge flows; institutional and relational capacity

“the technology gap in the less developed regions can be seen not just in the differential in financial and human inputs in the various regional science and technology systems but, most importantly, also in terms of their structural factors related to their productive sector, institutional framework and specific features of the regional demand for innovation”.

“sets of complementary firms (in production and service sectors) as well as public, private and semi- public research and development institutions characterized by closed interrelations and a regional dimension”

Economic Policy: intervention of a pro-active nature

coordinate cluster activities – making people and organizations work together in order to increase effectiveness and desired results

a role of catalyst for cooperation, collector and diffuser of information anticipate risks and opportunities provoke cooperation for potential or embryonic clusters Risk capital/finance initial phases of the cluster building process or try to shape its evolution...

Good principles of governance. It requires: business-government collaboration and public-private partnerships Act quickly, flexibly and comprehensively new methods of policy-making, collaboration and decentralized processes

substantial structural changes as well as a new set of relationships between the key regional players

Stronger regional institutions and dynamic networking arrangements are crucial for this approach and are at the very centre of new public policies for development and competitiveness.

a competitive regional economy does not depend solely on the individual capacity of firms or on the individual capacity of organizations

“cluster-based local economy development” requires instruments of cluster facilitation

territories are no longer mere physical passive entities to become complex active cooperative (but also competitive) realities with people, institutions, companies and organisations, flows of goods and services but also cultural and immaterial processes…

But if clusters development needs actors and agents, policies and resources they deal, in our modern societies, mainly with information and knowledge

“as society becomes increasingly knowledge- based, more and more companies are finding it necessary to change their corporate culture and to focus more on developing their knowledge resources and core competencies (…) organisations have to become more dynamic, more open and more responsive to changing demands, changing technology, changing markets, in order to survive. This requires more knowledge about all aspects of production, distribution, marketing, financing, etc, and greater foresight and flexibility”.

In time of global competition and within the framework of modern information societies human talents and skills are key factors for success.

knowledge accumulation and interactive learning determine innovative processes

To organise knowledge management and learning processes is crucial for territorial competitiveness and clustering

knowledge management Technology, hardware, software Humanware Orgware Different corporate culture principles Shared knowledge and connection...

“the more an organisation is connected the more it can combine insights and knowledge to get creative breakthroughs”

STRATINC PROJECT strategic information / knowledge; Intermediation, platforms and collaboration culture partnerships, communication and face- to-face interactions; learning; innovative processes and development; clustering.

PSIP tool / catalyst of the process

“method STRATINC” all the organizational and learning devices set up to provoke clustering through knowledge, relational resources and capacity for mobilisation.... in order to attain STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

Micro levelMeso level Macro level Meta level

MICRO LEVEL A cluster must provide added value to its constituent members. Cluster development is essentially action-oriented and addresses individual companies’ needs.

Through the project companies realise that using collective intelligence and resources may lead to jointly solve common problems and achieve mutually beneficial ends.

MESO-LEVEL inform and stimulate a mobilising and shared vision of players; building up a forward looking perspective; “federating” different interests. the level of the collective efficiency dimension of clusters

MACRO-LEVEL Actually, to provoke innovation, new jobs and long term growth and continuity is the ultimate aim of the project

“the quality of social capital tends to reflect the special characteristics of a particular cluster community in terms of mores, manners, and in the hearts and minds of those live in it. Social capital thus differs from one cluster to another, and each cluster is unique…”

META-LEVEL / TRUST the quality of social capital deeply affects the cluster performance