IMAGO-MOL was among other over 60 European clusters which participated at EU-Western Balkans Cluster Policy Learning and Matchmaking Event that took place in Croatia, at Zagreb between 22 and 23 November 2018 and has been represented by Mrs. Carmen Mihai, innovation manager within the cluster. The participation followed a selection process with 90 clusters’ applicants, out of which 60 have been selected.

The event was co-organized by PwC and European Cluster Collaboration Platform, on behalf of European Commission, DG GROW.

EU-Western Balkans Cluster Policy Learning and Matchmaking Event aimed to bring all together clusters representatives from Balkans, EU and other COSME participating countries. 65 de clusters’ representatives from the following areas participated in: ITC, Agro/Food, Manufacturing/Automotive, Tourism/ Maritime, Textile/ Apparel/ Footwear, Pharmaceuticals/ Chemicals, and Energy.

The first day of the event was dedicated to EU cluster’s policies, supported by Mr. Christophe Guichard, DG GROW team leader presentation, followed by Austrian cluster’s good practices delivered by Mr. Herwig Mayer, Referent, Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs

A good practice model in relation with S3 Cluster Pilot on Swedish expertise was presented by Mrs.  Ewa Andersson, Programme Manager within Agency for Economic and Regional Growth.

The intro session was followed by a discussion panel on cluster’s policies in Balkan countries with Governmental representative from Serbia, Voievodina, Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro and a presentation of the European Cluster Collaboration Platform, supported by Mr. Marc Pattinson, coordinator within the structure.

All the clusters had to deliver an 1 minute pitch in order that participants get familiar one with each other rapidly.

A short workshop on cluster management was delivered by Mr. Alain Tubiana, international expert and consultant on cluster management, which offered some tips for a functional cluster.

The session Clusters and Smart Specialization included the presentation of a study on Croatian clusters, of Smart Specialization Strategies from Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro, followed by a debate on how these strategies should work.

The second day was destined to matchmaking sessions between clusters. IMAGO-MOL cluster partners were Cluster Information and Communication Technologies from Bulgaria, ICT Cluster – Burgas from Bulgaria, Latvian IT Cluster from Latvia, Croatian Competitiveness Cluster for Personalized Medicine from Croatia, MACES – Macedonain Cluster for Export of Software and ICT Services from Macedonia, Vojvodina ICT Cluster from Vojvodina and The Balkan, Baltic and Black Sea ICT Clusters Network. Most of the meetings were with IT&C clusters, which are open to project development on medical field through new technologies’ use.

Croatian Competitiveness for Personalized Medicine Cluster is dedicated to personalized medicine – http://www.aik-invest.hr/en/competitiveness/personalized-medicine/, gathering public authorities such as Split municipality, professional association and scientific research, hospitals and universities. One of the cluster’s members is Genos Company, an academic start-up, founded in 2007 and one of the Croatian leaders in DNA analysis and one of whole world leaders in glucans with research projects on national and European level. (http://genosdna.hr/en/).

Within a short debriefing session suggestions for future clusters’ events were offered: more cluster management sessions, extended length of the event, organizing meetings on clusters on specific topics.

For more details you can access the link of the post- event presentation available on ECCP platform: https://www.clustercollaboration.eu/news/2018-eu-western-balkans-cluster-policy-learning-and-matchmaking-event.