1. Carsten Schierenbeck SMEs: Clusters and Emerging Industries unit
Enterprise and Industry Cluster facilitated projects for new industrial value chains SMEs and H2020 Info Day, Brussels,
Carsten Schierenbeck
SMEs: Clusters and Emerging Industries unit

2. Why clusters? SMEs are more innovative!
Cluster firms …
- are more innovative than non-cluster firms
- register more trademarks and apply for more patents
- cooperate more
Source: European Commission 2006 Innobarometer on clusters‘ role in facilitating innovation in Europe and 2008 Staff Working Document on the concept of clusters and cluster policies and their role for competitiveness and innovation: Main statistical results and lessons learned. See 2

3. Why cross-sectoral collaboration matters?
...offers opportunities for new knowledge combinations and innovation.
... shapes new products, value chains and industries.
... diversifies specialisation patterns that are more likely to boost economic prosperity.

4. Nurturing emerging industries

5. What role for cluster organisations?
- Provide entrepreneurial support to SMEs (e.g. coaching, vouchers, benchmarking)
- Act as cross-border bridge-builders (regional integration and international strategy)
- Act as catalyst for cross-sectoral collaborative projects
- Create a favourable open space to promote value chain innovation via a systemic approach
=> €140 million for cluster animated projects for new industrial value to support innovation in SMEs
Channel better support to SMEs to unlock the transformative power of innovation to help shaping new industrial value chains that can develop into emerging industries

6. What role for cluster organisations
Customised SME support
Value Chain Innovation
Regional and
International Strategy
Cross-sectoral
Collaboration

7. Near-market demonstrators
A powerful means for de-risking the development and scale-up of novel service systems, encouraging engagement with stakeholders and users …
- identifying clusters of expertise and opportunities for partnerships
- working back from user-needs to solutions
- moving from small-scale prototypes to larger-scale
Final report (2011) of the Expert Panel on Service Innovation in the EU
Smart Guide to Service Innovation (2012)

8. Near-market cluster-led demonstrators
Testing a range of technological and service concept solutions under real-life conditions
Moving from small-scale pilot projects to large-scale near-market actions
Bringing together all relevant players (public and private), following a user-driven approach
Creating entrepreneurial opportunities for SMEs
Exploiting the transformative power of innovation to address societal challenges or specific problems 8 8

9. Near-market cluster-led demonstrators
Real-life
Opportunities for SMEs
Near-market
Societal challenges
User-driven

10. Conclusions
- Supporting cross-sectoral collaboration to unlock innovation and growth potential
- Using cluster organisations (and regional policies) to facilitate structural change and innovation
- Near-market demonstrators to test new value chains and give rise to emerging industries

11. SMEs: Clusters and Emerging Industries Unit (D5)
SMEs and Entrepreneurship Directorate
European Commission, Enterprise and Industry Directorate-General
European Cluster Observatory "Emerging Industries" report
European Cluster Collaboration Platform
Expert Panel on Service Innovation in the EU (2011) final report
Smart Guide to Service Innovation

12. Enhancing Innovation Capacity of SME12 WP
Enhancing Innovation Capacity of SME
Brussels, 18 October 2013