Canadian Federal Government Funds Dairy Research Cluster

Funding of $8.7 million is being provided by the federal government to help the dairy industry create a cluster of scientific and technical expertise to study the health benefits of dairy products and ways to improve animal productivity through health and breeding.

The funding includes up to $7.2 million under the Agri-Science Clusters initiative, with a $1.5 million contribution from the Canadian Dairy Commission and $121,000 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The funding will support the Dairy Farmers of Canada’s contribution of $3 million for the cluster.

The Government of Canada is also providing up to $995,000 in the Dairy Farmers of Canada’s Canadian Quality Milk (CQM) food safety system, which helps producers proactively strengthen on-farm food systems. This funding will help the DFC develop a national database (National Electronic Administration System – NEAS) to track on-farm audits and manage the validation and registration processes for the system.

Russia: Federal Funding for Cluster Development

Following suit of recently announced US federal funding for cluster development, the Russian Economic Development Ministry hasindicated a forthcoming funding commitment dedicated to cluster development.

There are about 10 well developed clusters, and about 100 emerging cluster in Russia. In the past, cluster development and policy has more or less been managed solely by regional government. In the new initiative the federal government will provide matching grants to regional governments as well as establish centers for cluster development that also will be developed in the regions with co-financing from the federal budget. The centers will coordinate the activities of cluster participants, provide informational and consulting services and will function as intermediaries between entrepreneurs and the authorities

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Cluster Activation vs. Cluster Creation

When I am interacting with cluster stakeholders, either through project work or presentations, there is always a significant interest on the issue of cluster activation vs. cluster creation when planning and launching a cluster initiative.

The vast majority of clusters are a result of an activation effort – or more specifically the government or policy makers have taken on the role as a catalyst and enabler in a collaborative process to engage stakeholders and activate a cluster around the resources, strengths and assets native to the region. Leaning on the industry and existing asset base, this approach will typically have a strong market pull. In other words, the need of industry and the market will define the cluster.

On the other hand, there are also examples of how policymakers attempt (and succeed) in creating a cluster around a technology sector industry that is not significant or perhaps native to the region.  Hence these economic development efforts will typically be a “push” effort, where economic incentives, investments and asset creation from the government will be important ingredients.

When a cluster activation approach is executed, the government and policy makers will focus on removing the most serious bottlenecks and hurdles for higher productivity, improved collaboration and innovation within a cluster by mobilizing the capacity of a cluster and participants to act jointly.

One will see cluster development efforts by changing the business environment, and by creating institutional structures that help to speed up the process of cluster evolution over time.  This approach can obviously be applied to any industry, but will perhaps be most applicable to a sector that has critical mass by numbers and activities. Further on, there are many motivations to launch such an effort. It can be the need to better coordinate efforts and assets in a growing industry (life sciences) or perhaps used as a tool to rejuvenate industry sectors that has reached more of a mature level with regards to innovation and entrepreneurship (food and agriculture).

Cluster creation on the other hand, is typically found within emerging sectors (one example could be the effort of creating a solar energy cluster in New York) or where there is a policy decision in place to create new set of assets or a skill base within a jurisdiction/region.

Another example of a cluster creation effort could be the effort to attract The Scripps Research Ins

titute to the Jupiter campus of Florida Atlantic University in 2004. Authorities committed at the time US $310 million in state

incentives, opened a 40,000 square foot research facility on the campus. An analysis by Florida economists predicted that Scripps would generate about $1.6 billion in additional income and boost the state’s GDP by $3.2 billion in 15 years.

Both cluster activation and creation are feasible approaches – each building on different policies and commitments. Both will have a fairly similar end-objective, economic development through increased commercialization, entrepreneurship and inward investment.

French approach to cluster based innovation policy seems to pay off

In 2004, the French government  announced shift towards a “functional approach” in their national innovation policy. This was anchored in an initiative (Pôles de Compétitivité initiative) to develop a number of Cluster Initiatives around the country.

As a part of this process, a consortium of French governmental organizations committed to fund the development of 66 clusters with 1.5 billion Euros over 3 years.

The clusters selected to receive funding was selected based on 105 proposal submitted by regional economic and industrial development organizations.

The selection was based on the following criteria:

• The clusters must be anchored into a regional dynamic economy, able to compete internationally. The fit with local industry and strengths was perhaps the most critical criteria.
• The clusters must be built around leading and world-class technology, being able to provide credibility and take a leadership role in its sector worldwide.
• The cluster must incorporate R&D partnership among academia, R&D centers, industry etc.
• The cluster must demonstrate a governance policy / model.
• The overall goal of the cluster is to help bring R&D and innovation to market, and further grow the knowledge based economy in France – improving the country’s competitiveness and create jobs.

Since the initial launch in ’04/’05, an additional 5 clusters have been launched.

Following the Cluster Initiative model, each cluster has a governance model, membership structure, central management and marketing activities.

Since the inception, more than 2,000 R&D projects have been launched within the clusters, and  more than 5 billion euros have been committed (half funded by the French government).

In all, there are 10,000 researchers working on these projects with 5,000 businesses, including SMEs. The French government has committed to maintain the funding until 2011,  with 1.5 billion euros over three years.

Local and regional authorities are funding projects launched by their respective clusters.

As of today, 500 foreign businesses are involved in the clusters and their projects.

Backed by a significant public funding, it seems that the French government continue to believe in the Cluster Initiatives as a central pillar in the country’s innovation and economic development policy.

Milwaukee receives federal funding to develop water technology cluster

In September of this year, the city of Milwaukee was awarded a federal grant to explore the opportunity to develop a water technology cluster. The grant was awarded to The Milwaukee Water Council, who will match the funds in order to study will develop  research and development plan for the water cluster. The study will look at the regulatory as well as technology landscape for water technology.

Previously Michigan Economic Development Corporation launched an effort to develop a water technology cluster. The US water technology market is valued at US$ 14 billion and MEDC is looking to capture a significant share of this market.

The overarching objective of the initiative is to fuel innovation and corporate growth by linking public and private R&D, manufacturing and capital investments in the areas of water technologies for industrial and municipal use.

Digital and Creative Industries Cluster takes shape in Liverpool, UK

After a somewhat rocky history (and here) the development of the Baltic Triangle, a large mixed-use area in the down-town part of Liverpool, UK will receive a significant investment towards the vision of creating a cluster for digital, creative and performing arts.  A £5.2 million investment has been announced as a joint effort between The North-West Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and the European Regional Development Fund.

The cluster is named the Baltic Triangle after the community interest company managing the initiative. According to NWDA the cluster will support 60 new businesses by creating 2,790 sq meters of floorspace and is eventually expected to contribute £1 million a year to the Liverpool economy.

We look forward to see and learn more about how Baltic Creative will develop tools and programs that will attract and grow companies in such a wide and dynamic industry.

Additional funding secured for solar energy cluster in New York state

Congressman Maurice Hinchey has announced that an additional US$ 2.25 million has been secured in federal funding to further develop a solar energy cluster in New York’s Hudson Valley. The effort is organized by The Solar Energy Consortium, and has with the help of Congressman Hinchey secured more than US$ 20.0 million in federal funding.

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