Supporting Innovative Clusters: the Evolution of Formats
On the third day of the VII Open Innovations Forum Evgeny Kutsenko, Head of the HSE ISSEK Russian Cluster Observatory took part in two panel discussions. The first one focused on new tools for providing support to innovative clusters – world-class investment appeal leaders, while the second was devoted to Moscow’s prospects of becoming a global innovation centre by concentrating its creative and production potential around an innovative cluster.
At the panel session 'Innovational developmet of regions. In the search for new formats' hosted by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development Evgeny Kutsenko presented the portal for monitoring implementation of leading clusters’ roadmaps established by HSE jointly with the Ministry and the Russian Venture Company. Clusters upload their roadmaps there, and members of the ministry can check the progress and, if necessary, help with their implementation. According to Evgeny, the portal has already proved its value as an efficient communication channel between cluster managers and government officials.
The speaker also summarised leading clusters’ experience and announced the coming updated report on the subject. The report will be presented in Kazan at the conference 'Partnership for Cluster Development' on 31 October and 2 November.
Evgeny also spoke at another panel session, 'Urban Platform for Science and Industry Cooperation'. This discussion sponsored by Moscow City government continued a series of the summer debates on the mayor’s new initiative to set up an innovative supercluster. We’d like to remind that Moscow authorities are designing the cluster’s concept jointly with HSE, specifically with the Russian Cluster Observatory experts.
The cluster will be established as platform for cooperation between R&D organisations, businesses, and the educational sector, to provide support to startups and quickly growing companies (gazelles), attract international investments and highly skilled personnel from abroad. The main goals set by the Moscow City government include supporting development of high-tech industries, strengthening inter-industry and international links, and promoting the capital city’s brand as innovation centre not just on the national, but macro-regional and global scale.
Evgeny stressed the interdisciplinary nature of the Moscow supercluster. Sectors more important to the city in the long term include knowledge-intensive services (such as education, finance, insurance, and marketing), creative services (publishing, performing arts, telecommunications, media, content creation), and advanced high-technology production.
Healthy development of these sectors cannot be achieved without broad international cooperation and major investment projects, which have to be specifically organised and promoted. A good example is the Russian initiative 'Stepping Up International Cooperation Between Innovative Clusters and Regions of the APEC Economies'.
Valeria Vlasova, student at the HSE Faculty of Business and Management, contributed to this publication