Wind Power Cluster to be Built in Finland

Cursor Oy which is the regional development agency for Kotka-Hamina in Finland has announced that a a wind energy cluster will be developed in cooperation with the Finnish company WinWind.

The parties would endeavor to get new companies join the wind energy cluster at the Kotka-Hamina region and help in the creation of new jobs for Finland’s wind energy sector.

According to Guru Vijendran Winwind’s Chief Operative Officer, the location was very significant for Winwind. The wind turbine factory would offer professional assembly of logistic advantages, turbines and also better customer service in Finland and in the neighboring areas. The 3 MW wind turbines could be altered to suit the domestic conditions for both onshore areas with stronger winds and for inland low wind speed regions. This would be a great opportunity for Winwind to increase the utilization rate of the Hamina factory in the next three years.

The LOI signed by TuuliWatti Oy, Cursor Oy and Winwind also includes development of a project comprising  30 turbines on Cursor land. The first project is the Virolahti wind farm where six Winwind 3 turbines would be installed before 2012.

Russia’s “Silicon Valley” – Gateway for Russian Industry to Access Western Technology..?

In two previous posts we have brought up the ongoing effort among Russian policy makers to “create” a Silicon Valley in the country. Recently, Vivek Wadhwa concluded that it is likely to fail in an article posted at TechCrunch. Vivek’s arguments is large based on numerous examples of how “top down” approach for creating clusters seldom work.

I share this view with Vivek, that “Cluster Activation” is a much more effective approach, and carries less risk and less need for investments and resources. In a previous post, I have brought up the “creation vs. activation” challenge.

On a blog post at Forbes.com, cyber security expert, Jeffrey Carr weighs in on the issue, claiming that they will in fact “build it from the ground up and even provide a “special internet” for entrepreneurs. It seems to me that Jeffrey may have has missed a critical points presented by Vivek – when it comes to what “bottom-up” versus “top down” means. A bottom-up approach is a market driven approach, where the authorities are acting as a catalyst, allowing the forces of innovation and entrepreneurship “roam” and minimizing bottlenecks in the path from innovation to market.

Jeffrey also points to the Chinese Zhongguancun Science Park as an example of how the park/region has been successful in attraction foreign investments. This certainly is a notable force in China’s high-tech industry, with more than 12,000 companies located in the ‘zone’. As Jeffrey points out, the Zhongguancun Science Park has attracted significant foreign direct investment – as with many regions in China and elsewhere in the developing markets, I think it is safe to say that these investments are likely motivated by the access to low worker compensation, low material cost, loose regulatory framework – making it ideal for manufacturing and large scale operations – not necessarily fostering (long term) innovation and entrepreneurship as is the main objective with a “cluster initiative”

It is also very interesting to read that according to Jeffrey, the main objective of the “Silicon Valley” to be developed in Skolkovo is less about driving innovation and entrepreneurship, but more about creating a massive honeypot of technology that the Russian industry can tap into, copy  and use as basis for creating a competitive technology industry.

Very interesting issue indeed.

Creating a Silicon Valley in Russia..?

We have previously referred to article by Vivek Wadhwa (here and here) and his thoughts about cluster creation. Following on our link to NYAS report on a Fifteen Steps to an Innovation Economy in Russia, an article by Vivek Wadhwa posted at TechCrunch provides an interesting insight to the challenges Russia (and other jurisdictions) face when taking on the effort of creating a cluster based on a top-down approach.

Read the article from Vivek

Fifteen Steps to an Innovation Economy – New York Academy of Sciences Roadmap for the Russian Federation

The New York Academy of Sciences is an independent, not-for-profit organization committed to advancing science, technology, and society worldwide. NYAS has close to 24,000 members in 140 countries. Earlier this year, NYAS was invited to advice Russian Federation President Dmitry Medvedev on steps his country must take to evolve an innovation economy.

The report titled “The Yaroslavl Roadmap 10-15-20″ presented to the Russian President last week at a summit in Yaroslavl describes 10 Years to Implement, 15 Steps to Take, 20 Pitfalls to Avoid—International Experience and the Path Forward for Russian Innovation Policy.

More information

Serbian Medical Tourism Cluster Launched

A Belgrade based Serbian Medical Tourism Cluster has been set up to involve all interested state and private organisations involved in providing medical and tourist services – spas, hospitals, clinics, institutes, hotels, tourist agencies, restaurants, and others who provide services connected to medical and wellness treatment. It currently has 19 members. The aim is to enhance the marketing position of the Republic of Serbia as a medical tourism destination and to offer highly professional services to all that are seeking medical treatment abroad. The 300 natural springs, 40 health resorts and 25 rehabilitation centres illustrates the tremendous potential in Serbia.

More info

U.S. Federal Funding for Business Incubators

A recent study by Commerce Dept.’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) found that investments in business incubators yield a higher return than that of traditional public-works projects such a infrastructure upgrades etc. As a result of this, EDA is increasingly providing funding to incubators and incubator programs around the U.S. In 2009, EDA invested $80.7 million in incubators, which it says resulted in 8,746 jobs.

Two recent bills introduced would significantly increase the federal investment into business incubators around the country. These initiatives have top-level support, and U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said in an interview, “We really think they’ll have tremendous payoffs for job creation and business across the country.”

More information

Clustering critical to boost chemicals innovation in Europe

Europe’s future competitiveness in chemicals will require strong innovation and improved logistics. Clusterdevelopment is expected to play a central role according to Fred du Plessis, President of the European Chemical Site Promotin Platform (ECSPP).

Following suit of other sectors in Europe, the implementation of mega-clusters or cluster networks is critical for securing. According to Mr. du Plessis, improving the efficiency of Europe’s chemical sites, chemical clusters, networks and mega clusters is paramount for the survival of the European chemical industry and for making it more attractive for further and future investment. Continue reading at ICIS

Build it and they will come…?

In several previous posts, I have touched up on the cluster creation vs. cluster activation approach.

In short, with Cluster Activation I am referring to a “bottom up” approach, where the foundation and growth strategy is based upon the local/regional assets, industry and how this can best serve the demand in the market. Basically, the government and local policy makers role is to act as a catalyst and help remove bottlenecks and growth hurdles for local industry and R&D sector.

On the other hand, with a Cluster Creation approach, I am refereeing to a situation where through a “top down” approach, government or policy makers are creating an industry or a cluster presence by investing and in many cases building from “scratch”. Both approaches may be successful, but there is no doubt that the latter (Cluster Creation) will also carry more risk and likely demand a significant investment.

In a recent article published at Businessweek.com , Vivek Wadhwa shares his thoughts and insights about the challenge of “engineering or creating clusters” using a top-down approach. Interesting read indeed.

ScanBalt Health Region on a Fast Track

ScanBalt Health Region (SBHR) is on the fast track and makes swift progress. First project activities will focus on the collaboration between health service providers and SMEs, public procurement practises and innovation in the health care systems.

A project consortium of 9 partners and 15 associated partners has been established. An overarching aim of the project activities is to provide better health care, reduce costs of the health care systems and promote regional economic development.

More information about this initiative here.

The European Cluster Excellence Initiative

Pro Inno Europe is funding a pan-European Cluster Excellence Initiative with the objective to bring together experienced leaders fromorganizations throughout Europe with the objective to share experiences and promote excellence of cluster management. The overall objective with the initiative is to develop quality indicators and peer-assessment procedures to improve cluster management practices.

Cluster-Excellence.eu will act as a central hub and gathering point for professionals and organizations in order to promote and share cluster management excellence and best practices.

The initiative was launched in October 2009, and will run for 36 months.