The Seville conference sponsored by the OECD, European Commission and Government of Andalusia in November was instructive at numerous levels. Rod Brown of the Cockatoo Network gave a paper proposing that Spanish and EC stakeholders start getting serious about linking with clusters in Asia,North Americaand elsewhere via the Sunrise Project.
Conference highlights were:
- Sectors that might be priorities for international collaboration with Andalusia via the Sunrise Project are aerospace, marine, engineering & construction (significant capability – was booming but now in bust phase), solar energy, building materials, new materials, aquaculture, processed food, beef and pork (home of the Iberian pig), education, creative arts and eco-tourism.
- The S3 agenda allows the private sector (with academia) to identify development nodes, while providing the means by which governments can facilitate them. An EC speaker said it will also assist it in directing Structural Funds expenditure (interesting message).
- S3 is evidence-based and ‘entrepreneurial’ (hence bottom-up) and is designed to identify potential competitive advantages in a global context. It’s about ‘helping a locality to excel in something specific’, and thereby attract investment and develop critical mass.
- There are 12 countries about to commence case studies to basically understand the S3 processes. The case studies are worth tracking by Cockatoo members. Examples:
- Australia(focus on rural industries)
- Austria(mechatronics, Green Buildings)
- Belgium(nanotechnology for health)
- Finland(activating R&D in future growth markets, incl. test markets)
- Germany(healthcare, ICT, creative industries, energy, transport, logistics)
- Turkey(automotive)
- UK(electric vehicles)
Rod Brown raised the possibility of EC firms using Australiaas a springboard into Asia. He stressed the importance of connectivity between stakeholders across regions, especially informal contacts to get the ball rolling. The message was to identify potential collaborators and then jump on a plane. This could be a precursor to a formal investment mission, if and when that is required.
