What People Say

Clodagh Barry - member of regional, Irish and EU expert panels, founder of The Hub co-working space in Headford, Ireland and designer of strategic Enterprise, Innovation & Research programmes for NUI Galway & the Western Region, Ireland After participating to the first webinar in the series "The COVID-19 cluster response: Solutions for dealing with ecosystem supply chain disruptions" organized by the European Cluster Collaboration Platform (ECCP) together with the European Clusters Alliance, Clodagh Barry authored an article on The Cluster Centre platform wrapping up the learnings and impact...
Luboš Komárek, Cluster Manager Nanoprogress z.s., Czech Republic, interviewed by the ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania.
Ionut Tata, President of the Innovation and Technology Cluster Romania, interviewed by the ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania.
David Fernandez Terreros, representative of the SPRI Regional Development Agency of the Basque Country, interviewed by the ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania.
Gál Korméndy, President of the Hungarian Association of Innovative Clusters (IKOSZ), interviewed by the ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania.
James Wilson, Research Director at ORKESTRA, Basque Institute of Competitiveness and professor at Deusto Business School, interviewed by the ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania.
Petr Tomášek, Cluster Manager of the Moravian Aerospace Cluster, z.s., Czech Republic, interviewed by the ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania.
Daniel Cosnita, President of the Romanian Cluster Association - CLUSTERO, interviewed by the ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania.
David Seoane, Project manager of the <IMPACT> Connected Car, winner of the INNOSUP-1 project of the year award, interviewed by the ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania.
Luboš Komárek, representative of AdPack² - winner of the ESCP-4i partnership of the year award, interviewed by the ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania.
Dr. Ulla Engelmann, Head of Unit for Advanced Technologies, Clusters and Social Economy at the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROWTH) of the European Commission shares her impressions from the high-level Regional and Economic Diplomacy Summit in Warsaw following her introduction of the EU Cluster Policy – Clusters as a Competitive Advantage of Regions. The event was organised on 9-10 September 2019 by the Polish Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology in collaboration with the Polish Clusters Employers' Association. [video:http://www...
Interview with Merete Daniel Nielsen, Managing Director of Cluster Excellence Denmark and President of the TCI Network Merete Daniel Nielsen, Managing Director of Cluster Excellence Denmark and President of the TCI Network, gave ECCP an interview during the European Cluster Conference 2019 highlighting the importance of the circular economy and of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on clusters’ agenda in Denmark.
Interview with Antonio Novo, cluster Manager of iDIA cluster and President of FENAEIC Antonio Novo, Cluster Manager of iDIA cluster and President of the Spanish National Federation of Innovative Business Groups and Clusters (FENAEIC), interviewed by the ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania.
Interview with Prof. Paul Svasta, President of the ELINCLUS cluster, Romania Prof. Paul Svasta, President of the ELINCLUS cluster, Romania, interviewed by the ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania.
Interview with Silvano Bertini, Head of the department Research, Innovation, Energy and Sustainable Economy of the Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy Silvano Bertini, Head of the department Research, Innovation, Energy and Sustainable Economy of the Emilia-Romagna Region, interviewed by the ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania.
Interview with Robert Ranzi, cluster manager of Standortagentur Tirol GmbH: Cluster Wellness Tirol, Austria Robert Ranzi, cluster manager of Standortagentur Tirol GmbH: Cluster Wellness Tirol, Austria, interviewed by the ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania.
Interview with Hervé Floch, Cluster Manager Alpha-RLH and chairman of the European committee of the French Association of Pôles de Compétitivité (AFPC) Hervé Floch, Cluster Manager ALPHA-RLH Route des Lasers et des Hyperfréquences and chairman of the European committee of the Association Francaise des Pôles de Compétitivité (AFPC), interviewed by the ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania.
Interview with Kádár Rezső, Cluster Manager of PRO WOOD Cluster, Romania Kádár Rezső, cluster manager of the PRO WOOD Regional Wood Cluster Romania, interviewed by the ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania.
Interview with Mathea Fammels, Head of EIT Liaison Office Brussels Mathea Fammels, Head of the European Institute of Technology (EIT) Liaison Office Brussels interviewed by the ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania.
Interview with Teodora Jilkova, representative of the Association of Bulgarian Clusters Teodora Jilkova, representative of the Association of Bulgarian Clusters, interviewed by ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania
Interview with Martin Muehleck, Policy Officer, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (EAC C.2) Martin Muehleck, Policy Officer, MSCA, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (EAC C.2) interviewed by ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania.
Interview with Maria Hollander, Cluster Manager of The Paper Province, Sweden Maria Hollander, cluster manager of The Paper Province ekonomisk förening, interviewed by the ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania.
Interview with Demos Spatharis, Head of Unit for State Aid for Research & Development & Innovation, IPCEI and environment (COMP.H2) Demos Spatharis, Head of Unit R&D&I, IPCEI and environment, interviewed by the ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania
Interview with Pavla Bruskova, President of the Czech National Cluster Association Interview with Pavla Bruskova, President of the Czech National Cluster Association Pavla Bruskova, President of the Czech National Cluster Association interviewed by the ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania
Interview with Andrea Halmos, Policy Officer at DG CONNECT Andrea Halmos, Policy Officer - Technologies and Systems for Digitising Industry, Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (CNECT.A2), interviewed by ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania
Interview with Christophe Guichard, Team Leader Cluster Internationalisation at DG GROWTH Christophe Guichard, Team Leader Cluster Internationalisation at the Unit Advanced Technologies, Clusters and Social Economy of the Directorate-General Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (GROW.F2), interviewed by the ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania
First interview of Bianca Muntean, Cluster Manager Transilvania IT, European Cluster Manager of the Year 2019 Bianca Muntean, Cluster Manager Transilvania IT, European Cluster Manager of the Year 2019 was interviewed by the ECCP at the European Cluster Conference 2019 in Bucharest, Romania. Watch her message to the European cluster community.
The wrap-up of the European Cluster Conference 2019 Dr. Ulla Engelmann, Head of Unit of Advanced Technologies, Clusters and Social Economy at the European Commission (DG GROWTH) wraps up in a video the European Cluster Conference 2019 that took place in Bucharest from 14-16 May under the Romanian Presidency.
A new example of cluster collaboration between Polish and Ukrainian clusters. A dialogue with: Michal Pukacz, CEO of the Polish Research and Development Cluster of the Internet of Things and Alexandre Yurchak, General Director of the Association of Industrial Automation of Ukraine about cluster collaboration.
"Within the framework of the Operational Programme Growth of the Economic Competitiveness, for the measure 1.3.3. Attraction of SMEs in suppliers chains and clusters there were €20 million allocated, while for the measure 1.3.1 Development of support structures with national and international vocation/competitiveness poles the budget was of €60 million. 39 clusters (emerging or mature competitiveness poles) were financed from the two budgets." Mr. Ilie Calin Bodea – State Secretary, Ministry of Economy (Romania)
"We are very proud that Central and Easter European regions are now visible on the European Cluster Map thanks to the hard work of our countries over the last 10-15 years. As a result of it, speakers and participants from 12 countries, from Sweden to Georgia, came to this conference to share their experiences, successes and challenges." Mr. Balázs Greinstetter – Deputy State Secretary, Ministry of Finance (HU)
"Excellent clusters are not a privilege of more developed Western European countries. Not anymore. ‘Gold’ can also be found in lagging regions, as is the case in Romania (Transylvanian Furniture Custer and iTech Transylvania) and Hungary (Archenerg). They proved that competitiveness based on innovation and internationalisation can be achieved by strengthening intra and inter cluster cooperation. From this particular point of view stronger emphasis should be put on bridging gaps between West and East, not in a one-way manner, but by also promoting the transfer of Eastern European best practices...
"Clusters are organic systems. They can grow into powerful and versatile tools, and the most important task of any cluster policy is enabling this growth. This conference clearly showed that cluster organisations, intermediaries/associations and policymakers find value added if (1) the clusters consciously manage their missing competences, (2) there exists a platform to supply for this demand, and (3) there are both funds enabling easy access to said competences and opportunities for those reaching the next step. This interplay of shared interest among levels is essential for clusters to...
For the first time in European cluster history, two countries decided to bring their already existing cluster collaboration to another level and merged their national cluster conferences into one big joint Romanian-Hungarian cluster conference. Under the motto: ‘Bridging countries reaching Europe’, it became an inspiring example for a joint approach in organising a large cross-border event dedicated to raising awareness on the role clusters play at the European level to the broad European cluster community. “It had the format of a large international cluster conference, with the presence of...
"In Hungary, the emphasis is placed on supporting clusters showing close and deep cooperation and presence on the international market instead of supporting a large number of new cluster initiatives. the Hungarian clusters are increasingly stronger in the international arena due to the concentration process. In our work, we heavily relied on successful European cluster development models and European standards. Now our clusters have to move towards opening more on the European and global markets and a joint international event like this one can be a huge help in the process. The cluster policy...
“The EU-Korea Matchmaking Event was well focused. The double approach of an intra-European together with the international focus to Korea was appreciated. There are some opportunities identified during the different bilateral comments with the Korean counterparts where the domain of batteries, well represented by the Korean delegation was of a great value. The model presented by the Korean Polytechnic University, which is operational within an industrial complex, gave ideas for an Erasmus type of cooperation which is to be further explored.” Vincent Civita, Aria Normandie
Analysis of the survey for profiled cluster organisations: Executive Summary, October 2018 In July 2018, the European Cluster Collaboration Platform (ECCP) invited the profiled cluster organisations to a survey related to their activities and interactions with the platform. The survey was launched on July 20th, 2018 and stayed open until September 23rd, 2018. The main aim of this survey was to check the users’ satisfaction with the ECCP. The survey brings to light a great deal of information on how the ECCP could improve its services to better respond to the expectations of its users. The...
Bianca Muntean, cluster manager iTech Transilvania Cluster by ARIES T about the JOINT ROMANIAN – HUNGARIAN INTERNATIONAL CLUSTER CONFERENCE 2018: We had the honour to be a part of the Joint Romanian - Hungarian International Cluster Conference at the end of November and the opportunity at the same time to bridge the cluster success stories of 2 neighbouring Eastern European countries which have followed different ways in reaching the same result- the establishment of a competitive and sustainable cluster landscape – in order to scale it up on the wider European perspective.
David Fernández Terreros, Clusters Coordination and Research Unit, SPRI - Basque Country Business Development Agency about the JOINT ROMANIAN – HUNGARIAN INTERNATIONAL CLUSTER CONFERENCE 2018: It was a great pleasure and honour to speak at the Joint Romanian – Hungarian Cluster Conference 2018 and to share with an engaged audience the Basque experience on cluster development, convergence and integration, a hot topic across Europe. Brilliantly organized by the Hungarian Min. of Finance, @Peter Keller, and the Romanian Cluster Association, Daniel Cosnita, it featured lively panels on topics such...
Why and how a Romanian and a Moldavian cluster started to cooperate – an interview with: : Ion Muntean - Member of the advisory board, Energy and Biomass Cluster in the Republic of Moldova Mária Gáspár - Project manager; Green Energy Romanian Innovative Biomass Cluster
An example of collaboration initiated between a Ukrainian and a Hungarian cluster organisation – interview with : Lyudmyla Shyyko - Managing director and founder of Precarpathian eco-energy cluster (Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine) Ramón Vivanco Mugarra – International Project Coordinator (also for the ESCP-4i COSMENERG-4i), ArchEnerg Cluster, Hungary. Tbilisi, July 2018, during the workshop "Towards EU – EaP cluster collaboration"
ANALYSIS OF SURVEY AMONGST THE ECCP PROFILED CLUSTER ORGANISATIONS: Executive Summary, July 2017 In June/July 2017, the European Cluster Collaboration Platform invited the profiled cluster organisations to a survey to learn about the users‘ satisfaction and enable the ECCP to provide better services to its members. Over 50%1 of the invited cluster organisations participated in the survey and more than 70% of the respondents are cluster organisations with over 5 years of experience. The survey looked for valuable feedback from the participants in relation to their internationalisation...
ANALYSIS OF SURVEY AMONGST THE ECCP PROFILED CLUSTER ORGANISATIONS – Executive Summary, January 2017 In January 2017, the European Cluster Collaboration Platform invited the profiled cluster organisations to a survey to learn about the users‘ satisfaction and enable the ECCP to provide better services to its members. 42% of the invited cluster organisations participated in the survey and more than 70% of the respondents are cluster organisations with over 5 years of experience. Read here the full executive summary.
Bianca Muntean, Cluster Manager, iTech Transylvania Cluster by ARIES T, Romania
Andrei Kelemen, Executive Director, Cluj IT Cluster Romania
Pieter de Jong, EU Representative, Wetsus & Water Campus, Netherlands ESCP-4i: EnW
Veronica Elena Bocci, Coordinator DITECFER District for Rail Technologies, High Speed, Networks' Safety & Security, Italy ESCP-4i: PERES
Why and how started 2 Cluster Excellence projects to collaborate? Katherina Ulrich, INNO-DROP Coordinator and Ewa Rekosz, CLUSGRID Coordinator
"The ECCP represents a gateway to the world and a powerful tool for developing international projects" Alberto Pezzi, Director of Competitive and Clusters Strategy Division, Area of Business Development, ACCIÓ | Government of Catalonia
"You should register on ECCP to be up there, to share your information about your Cluster and to find knowledge about other Clusters" Merete Daniel Nielsen, Director, Cluster Excellence Denmark
"We consider the ECCP as a very important tool for internationalisation of Cluster organisations." Pavla Bruskova, President, National Cluster Association of the Czech Republic (NCA)
"The ECCP is the one-stop shop for all clusters managers of the world to gather online, exchange good pratices, to gain international visibility and to find partners for collaboration projects." Emma Vendrell, Head of International Projects Clusters Unit - ACCIÓ | Government of Catalonia
"Without the European Cluster Collaboration Platform it would be a “game of hazard “ to find or not the right partner to participate in future business cooperation." Alexandra Stoica, Cluster Manager - Transylvania Energy Cluster – TREC
"The big advantage to have the ECCP platform is that it’s a one-stop-solution, so you can go to only one place and have all the information at hand." Peter Simkens, DSP Valley - Belgium
"The ECCP has become a very useful way to give more visibility to our activities and our projects." José Ignacio Hormaeche, Cluster Manager - Basque Energy Cluster
"At NEPIC we use the ECCP as part of our international marketing of our capabilities, but also to show the type of projects we get involved with - in order to find some partners and share good ideas." Stan Higgins, North East England Process Industry Cluster (Nepic) - United Kingdom
The new cluster collaboration Platform promises to be a very interesting and useful tool for the day-to-day work of a cluster manager. It will help us to present our products and services and companies... Christiane Egger, Oekoenergie-Cluster, AUSTRIA "Business today in globally connected industrial economies is all about relationships; so being able to demonstrate our relationship with complementary expertise across Europe is a crucial ingredient." Jonathan Williams, Marine South East - United Kingdom