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> Cluster identity > History
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History of competitiveness clusters |
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(source www.competitivite.gouv.fr)
Following the call for project closed on 28 February 2005 the National Spatial Planning and Development Council (CIADT) at the meeting of 12 July 2005 attributed the “competitiveness cluster” label to 67 projects.
On 5 July 2007 new applications were received and certain clusters merged, bringing the current total to 71. |
Definition of competitiveness clusters |
“A competitiveness cluster is a combination, on a given geographic area, of companies, research centers and educational institutions, public or private, which generates a synergy in the execution of common innovative projects. This partnership gets organized around a market and a technological & scientific field to which it is attached, and has to search for a critical mass to reach competitiveness and international visibility”. |
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Objectives of competitiveness clusters |
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To develop competitiveness of the French economy by increasing the innovation effort
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To reinforce on territories activities, mainly industrial, with high potential of technology & creation
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To increase French attractiveness, thanks to a reinforced international visibility
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To favor growth and employment
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Strategy of competitiveness clusters |
From a vision shared with the various players, each competitiveness cluster elaborates its own 5-year strategy, which allows it to :
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Give concrete expression to partnerships between different players which have recognized & complementary competences
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Build collaborative & strategic projects in R&D which can benefit from state aids, notably the FUI (“Fonds Unique Interministériel”, i.e. interdepartmental unique fund)
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Promote a global environment in favor of innovation & players of the cluster, through leading, accompanying members of the cluster upon a set of themes such as training, human resources, patent rights, private financing, international development, and so on.
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MAUD cluster genesis |
MAUD cluster was born from the convergence of 3 local players :
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The "Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille" (USTL), through the « Institut des Molécules et de la Matière Condensée de Lille », together with the « Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Lille »
At the end of 2005, a local cluster formed itself around this hard core, gathering in the beginning players in the fields of plant chemistry of starchy products, of tableware industry and of materials physical chemistry.
The MAUD cluster, focused in those days on Materials for a Domestic Use, extended since 2007 its set of themes around materials and tableware to two extra important fields : graphic industries and packaging.
The intention in redefining a new perimeter is to allow a real mixed fertilization between branches of industry strongly present in the region, with impact through innovation (competitiveness) in the field of materials, and sensitive to new European regulations as regards sustainable development. At the beginning of 2008, the MAUD cluster got a new acronym : “Materials and Applications for a Sustainable Use”.
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