Clusterpreneur

The Greater Peterborough Area in Ontario Canada is Considering Developing a Water Cluster

admin — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 01:59:19 +0000

The Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Corporation is considering developing a water technology cluster.

A study last year identified 14 local businesses that are already doing work in the water sector and another five that are interested in the industry.

Recently a workshop was held to further explore the opportunity.

Upstate New York Receives Federal Funding for Food Processing Cluster

admin — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 01:53:54 +0000

Rochester Institute of Technology’s Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies, has been awarded more than $1.5 million in funding through the Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge, a multi-agency competition to support the development of high-growth industry clusters across America’s regions. The award will go towards RIT’s Finger Lakes Food Processing Cluster Initiative.

Portland (Oregon,USA) lands $2.1M for cleantech initiative

admin — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 01:51:26 +0000

The Portland region recently was given $2.1 million of the $37 million made available by the White House and multiple federal agencies through the Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge announced in May.

The program will focus on job training and facilitating access to capital for startups developing promising clean technologies. It will also seek to connect the region’s manufacturing capacity with its growing cleantech cluster.

Russia’s Innovation Town

admin — Mon, 30 May 2011 00:56:50 +0000

Russia, once a hotbed of Soviet-funded research, is clearly feeling left out of the world’s technological developments. The country is trying to make up for it by packing lots of thinking into Skolkovo, a so-called “innovation town” to be built outside Moscow

Fast Company

The Guardian

‘Cluster’ strategy helps Holland (Michigan) industries find prosperity

admin — Thu, 05 May 2011 01:05:57 +0000

Holland, MI is currently considering several industry sectors that may be focus for cluster based approach for economic development. Among the industry sectors currently under evaluation are food, furniture, automotive parts and battery technology. The region hosts anchor companies in each of these sectors.

More info

Is Global Competition Weakening the Benefits of Clusters ?

admin — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 20:12:21 +0000

In a recent article published by The Economist, and using Italy as an example, the tendency to outsource manufacturing and supply to low-cost countries and regions (for instance China) is presented as a threat to existing cluster.

Although we can agree with the author that “picking apart” an established industry cluster with up and downstream relationships established can disrupt the dynamics of the cluster, it is also an opportunity to bring in new strategies for growth and industry development.

Leaning in the traditional cluster thoughts by Michael Porter as tools for economic development, perhaps it is time and an opportunity for the challenged clusters to further tighten their focus and strategy.

Facing increased competition, clusters can adopt traditional business strategies to further grow and strengthen its market presence. This can include strategic partnerships (to other clusters and complimentary R&D communities around the world), maketing strategy to create awareness and recognition around the world, business led growth strategies and more.

The European Cluster Manager’s Club

admin — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 21:59:17 +0000

Set up under the European Cluster Excellence Initiative with financial support through the European Union, The European Cluster Manager’s Club is an organization that that is seeking to organize Cluster Managers as a professional networking tool, sharing of best practices and help to grow the overall quality among Cluster Managers.

More information at the organization’s Web site

Top Ten Cleantech Cities in the United States

admin — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:36:01 +0000

Cleantechies recently presented a list of the leading 10 cleantech cities in the United States, in large driven by Innovation, Policy and industry support. The top three cities are:

Boston, Massachusetts
San Jose, California
Austin, Texas

The entire list can be found here: CleanTechies

Regional Innovation Cluster (RIC) in Long Island, New York.

admin — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:22:44 +0000

Long Island, New York, will soon be home to a Regional Innovation Cluster (RIC) combining the resources of Stony Brook University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

The project reflects an Obama administration strategy to establish RICs around the country that will stimulate business and the economy.

Cold Spring Harbor Lab

Long Island, New York, will soon be home to a Regional Innovation Cluster (RIC) combining the resources of Stony Brook University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

The project reflects an Obama administration strategy to establish RICs around the country that will stimulate business and the economy.

Additional information :

Clusterpreneur

Areadevelopment Online

Danish Partners Pull Plug on Oresund Cluster Funding

admin — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 17:37:00 +0000

In what seems to be a surprising decision, the Board of Vice-Chancellors for Øresund University has decided to close down all the Øresund platforms for cluster facilitation, including Oresund Food, Oresund IT, Oresund Logistics and Oresund Environment.

Activities will likely re-emerge, but under Swedish management and focus. Lund University in Sweden will become the base of the activities. It was the main Danish financiers (DTU and University of Copenhagen) who decided to stop funding of the various Oresund Cluster platforms.

Programs and activities will continue as planned. The various Oresund Clusters had a management staff of 40 people, this is likely to be reduced as new clusters are defined in and around Sweden.

Oresund Food