After years of experience through the work with clusters in Norway, Innovation Norway has found that the best way of creating a well-functioning cluster is that the cluster is mainly developed through a bottom-up approach. The cluster manager and cluster organisation should facilitate processes where the interests of the companies within the cluster are fostered and heard as the main input to the common development and priorities of the cluster initiative.
Since early 2000, several Norwegian clusters have been successfully implemented and gone through scenario based Foresight processes, conducted as an integrated part of the cluster initiative. The process is based on a collective dynamic effort with input and participation from a wide variety of actors in the cluster with different perspectives, exploring the long term challenges and opportunities for the cluster and the industry.
The main learnings from these processes are that they require time in the planning phase, especially for recruiting committed participants to the task at hand. The experience of Innovation Norway is that the process should be facilitated by a professional who is external and neutral to the cluster. The demand for professional organisation grows as the cluster cooperation is getting more complex. Further, regular meeting arenas are a must to enable a successful process, typically with at least four two-day workshops a year.
As stated by one of the clusters that now has a five year experience with Foresight processes:
“… it is the single most important project that has had the greatest significance for the cluster’s development. Through the systematic use of scenario techniques and collective strategic thinking among the participants in the cluster, the project has identified forces for future development in the industry and the cluster”.
A Foresight process must be customised to the specific cluster, copy-paste is not an option, there is, however, much to learn from experiences from other clusters that have undergone similar processes. The programme management of the two Norwegian cluster programmes − the Arena Programme and the Norwegian Centres of Expertise − has made an effort to create arenas where these experiences can be shared among cluster managers.
For more information about the experiences of the Norwegian clusters with the use of Foresight Processes, please contact the author.
