The book I’m launching next month – ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ค ๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ – is packed with practical advice and case studies. Here’s a sample of what’s in the book regarding industrial clusters…
The UK has oscillated between active industrial strategy and market fundamentalism for decades. The result? Expensive policy cycling that undermines the 10-20 year commitments industrial cluster development demands.
Meanwhile, regions that get it right share five specific practices:
๐ญ. ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ณ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด
Denmark’s cluster organisations employ dedicated professionals who actively matchmake, develop projects, and provide strategic guidance. They’re not networking groups hoping collaboration happens spontaneously. Canada’s Global Innovation Clusters programme invests nearly $2 billion into industry-led, professionally managed ecosystems. Voluntary networks often lack the institutional capacity to drive sustained collaboration between competitors.
2. ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐๐ต๐, ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐
Research Triangle Park didn’t try to replicate Silicon Valley. It leveraged North Carolina’s three research universities to create distinctive competitive advantage. Singapore built biomedical clusters around governance capacity and geographical position, not despite lacking natural resources. Focus on sectors where you possess comparative advantage.
4. ๐ง๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐
France’s Pรดles de Compรฉtitivitรฉ fund collaborative R&D projects requiring at least two firms plus a research institution. This creates shared risk and reward. Simply co-locating universities and businesses achieves nothing without mechanisms enabling genuine knowledge transfer and aligned incentives for participation.
๐ฐ. ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ณ๐น๐ฒ๐
๐ถ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐
Silicon Valley’s evolution from defence electronics to internet technologies to AI demonstrates adaptation within consistent direction. Denmark maintains relatively stable cluster policy across political cycles whilst adjusting sector priorities based on evidence.
๐ฑ. ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ-๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐
French clusters face rigorous three-year reviews determining continued support. America’s Cluster Mapping Project enables evidence-based decisions about where genuine concentrations exist.
The difference between success and expensive failure isn’t more funding. It’s applying these principles with discipline over decades, not abandoning them when immediate results don’t materialise.
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