Germany has a very diverse cluster community that spans all German regions. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action's ‘go-cluster’ programme brings together more than 80 outstanding, strong and efficient innovation clusters. Long-term cooperation between different stakeholders from business, science and other fields clearly benefits everyone involved. By working together, the partners can pool their strengths and achieve better results. There are many factors that help make an innovation cluster strong and competitive, but a key element for its success is professional cluster management.
So what exactly happens behind the scenes of a cluster initiative? How does it operate? Who works with whom and what role is played by cluster management? There are many different answers to these questions – in fact, they are as diverse as the cluster initiatives themselves. The cluster initiatives’ working procedures and structures vary, depending on the field of technology they work in and their objectives in terms of cooperation and organisation.
As part of the ‘2nd German cluster week’, which was held in 2019, the ‘go-cluster’ programme team took a tour around Germany to find out more about the clusters. It selected eight members from very different German regions and fields of technology. This has resulted in eight highly interesting and timeless documentations, with both cluster
managers and individual stakeholders from the clusters sharing their experience. The following pages provide an insight into the diversity, working procedures and people behind the ‘go-cluster’ programme.
Of course, the selection of clusters presented here is not exhaustive. All the innovation clusters that form part of the ‘go-cluster’ programme are special and unique. They all add value to the German economy and serve as role models for innovation. There are plans to provide more insights of this kind into the world of clusters in the future. All relevant information, contacts, an overview of Germany’s cluster landscape and cluster policy and the success stories linked to the ‘go-cluster’ programme can be found on www.clusterplattform.de.