“SHORT VIDEO INTERVIEWS OF CLUSTER MANAGERS ABOUT INCUBATION
AND OF INCUBATOR MANAGERS ABOUT CLUSTERING… ”
A CLUNET PP IDEA PROPOSED BY PACA/MEDITERRANEE TECHNOLOGIES
[pitch]
There are probably a thousand ways to weave together clusters and incubators policies. We would like clusters and incubators managers themselves to share their views and recipes in front of a video camera, during short (3mn) interviews in English. They could briefly present their organization, and address the core topics of CLUNET, namely incubation and internationalization. The interviews would have been prepared very precisely beforehand, with a set of questions or topics (Cross-incubation with different clusters? Business model for incubation funding? Role of clusters larger players in the incubation business? Immigrants as better candidates for incubation ventures?). The interview would end with a success story illustrating a practice at the crossroads of clustering and incubation.
There is a hidden agenda in this project: if the idea catches up within CLUNET, we could extend the collection of video sequences to most of our clusters managers. One problem we have with interclustering is mutual knowledge. How can cluster managers express partnership aspirations that are not just theoretical if they have never met, if they have never visited the other clusters? One way to overcome this limitation would be to build a larger web database of these short video interviews, in which clusters managers could also present key figures, specific areas, and a couple of their major players.
[who]
The leading partner would be Méditerranée Technologies, the French PACA regional innovation agency. This CLUNET pilot project could benefit from the current thinking up and design of a new innovation web portal for PACA innovation players, to be launched on-line by mid-2009. One of its key features should be the ubiquitous use of video and audio interviews, lectures, blog posts, etc to make communication about innovation policies more reactive and vibrant. Since the CLUNET pilot project is not sector-based, all CLUNET partners are more than welcome to join. Being mostly an on-line project, there is no real limit to the number of project members! The targeted beneficiaries are all clusters and incubators managers across Europe who want to listen to stimulating ideas on “how to best mingle incubation and clustering”.
[classify]
This PP is definitely not sector-based, but we are very interested in the way incubators-clusters links depend on the industry/service area concerned: is it easier to incubate start-ups in a clustered environment when you work in ICT compared to clean energies? What’s the spinning-off rate of large companies within clusters in health biotech compared to automobile industry? This PP is not supposed to have geographical limits, the only requirement is being able to express one’s opinion in English in front of a camera…
[magnitude]
In terms of budget, this could start as a relatively cheap project since we don’t need to travel across Europe, and the filming/editing equipment could well be basic (MPEG4 video camera). If each involved CLUNET partner was to organize 5 local video interviews, the average cost per partner could well be under 10000€. If the quality of videos needs to be professional (with script design, filming crew, postproduction, webmastering, etc.) a first quotation we got from a local company amounted to 15000€ for 3 interviews. If implementation of this project started in the second-half of 2008, the final set of videos could well be available to be presented during CLUNET final conference. This pilot project has a high “sustainability-potential” since we could continue growing the database with other clusters interviews well after the end of CLUNET…
[whose idea]
This pilot project idea is proposed by Méditerranée Technologies, in the wake of its own web portal that will heavily use those video sequences. Because it is included in our 2008-2010 strategic plan, this might open the door to PACA regional council co-funding.
[deliverable]
All the video collected will be compressed and formatted to a common web standard. They will then be uploaded on a common platform (like PRO INNO EUROPE web site for example) with standard viewing tools and matching tools to start building connections. We could also organize, at the end of the project, a conference gathering all the interviewed participants.