Cluster Governance - Business Upper Austria
About this good practice
Problem Addressed:
In the 1990s Upper Austria faced multiple challenges related to high levels of unemployment, a large traditional industry in need of transformation and digitilisation. To deliver effective change policy makers sought to develop clusters in Upper Austria to transform the region as an industrial, research and scientific location.
How Objectives are reached:
Business Upper Austria (Biz-UP) developed several cluster organisations, with public ‘seed financing,’ in the beginning of the process and ‘public-private partnership financing,’ in the long run. The focus of the cluster organisations was innovation through cooperation to attract, develop and retain talent, kickstart transition and develop international markets for Austrian firms. Biz-UP developed clusters by forming industry sector focused cluster organisations as business units within their organisation under the overall Biz-UP legal entity. Each of the 8 cluster organisation has its own Advisory Board, with a chair and vice-chair drawn from industry. The chair of each cluster sits on the overall board of Biz-UP which includes ministers, state representatives and the CEO of Biz-UP to drive overall strategic policy for the region, aligned with the needs of industry.
Shareholders:
Business Upper Austria, State of Upper Austria; Upper Austrian Chamber of Labour; Upper Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Austrian Industry and cluster members.
Resources needed
Cost of Biz-UP Cluster and Co-operation Department:
Staff: 1 FTE Manager; .5 FTE EU Research and .5FTE Communications €170k + Common CRM and PM software €35k, Cluster Training €30k. and overheads €15k. Total costs €250k.
Evidence of success
• 8 Cluster Organisations Operating on a Public-Private Partnership Basis (Automotive, Building, Cleantech, IT, Plastics, Food, Mechatronics & Medical) all with a 70% competitively won self-financing rate.
• Employing 75 Managers and Cluster Staff.
• 2,210 Members, 81% of which are SMEs.
• 130 Representatives in 8 different Advisory Boards.
• 26 Advisory Board Meetings for Agenda Setting.
• > 300 Events & Training; > 500 Speakers, > 10.000 Participants and > 100 Bench-Learning Groups per Year.
Potential for learning or transfer
The Biz-UP Cluster Governance programme is a compelling model for other regions due to its governance and make up which makes it an exemplar in Europe.
Through having all of the regional clusters in Upper Austria legally defined under the one entity this has allowed Business Upper Austria to develop significant competence in the area of cluster management and furthermore, a support system within the region that allows each of the clusters, which operate as separate business centres within the organisation to grow and thrive in a supportive, collaborative but also competitive environment.
This has allowed Biz-UP to develop a management team that supports all clusters and links their communications and access to EU projects to bring additional co-ordinated supports to the clusters based on need. Biz-UP and its cluster and cooperation programme is a key conduit to reducing unemployment and transforming the region as an industrial, research and scientific location.
Further information
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
Business Upper Austria - OÖ Wirtschaftsagentur GmbH
