16 Catalan Clusters travel to the future in New York

Submitted by Alina Danieles… on 13 November 2018

The 16 attending cluster managers participated in specific trainings on cluster development with Eric Hansen from the Economic Transformation Group who shared his extensive international expertise, deeping into the Silicon valley re-invention in the early 90's. They also went through a masterclass on strategy held by the Columbia Business School professor Rita Gunther McGrath, who is ranked number 1 on strategy by Thinkers50. Last but not least, they received a training on strategy implementation from the Cornell University professor Samuel Bacharach, who pointed out how to avoid becoming a clunky organization.

The delegation also had the chance to network with Catalan executives based in New York and the ones dealing with consumer goods participated in a retail tour, led by the expert Paco Underhill. They analysed flagship retails such as Strand Bookstore, Chelsea Market or Brookfield Place.

The clusters with potential opportunities working with the World Bank and the Interamerican Development Bank (agritech, water and energy, mobility, mental health, educational technologies, interior furnishings and hotel contract) went for a day to Washington DC. In both organizations they started with a joint meeting with the Banks’ executives sharing views on their programs and how cluster fit into them. Emiliano Duch, one of the greatest cluster experts globally, hosted the delegation in the World Bank, sharing his approach to development through inclusive value chains.

In previous editions, ACCIÓ has lead strategic trips for cluster managers to Singapore, Korea, Québec and Israel, besides other USA destinations, such as Boston and Silicon Valley.

Catalonia has a 25 year old cluster history. Nowadays the Catalonia Clusters program consists of 28 cluster organizations who receive specialized services, the Strategic Training Week being one of the highlights.

For more information, please contact Joan Martí Estévez at jomarti [at] gencat.cat   

Third Country
United States of America
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