Clusters & competitiveness, collecting success stories

On Friday 29 May, Barcelona Nautical Cluster participated in the last session of the Clusters Summer School, organised by IESE, and focused on the policies and actions needed to increase the competitiveness of cities and the opportunities for development. Toni Tió took part in a round table accompanied by Antoni Subira, IESE professor and now president of the advisory councils of The Competitiveness Institute (TCI) and the Clusters and Competitiveness foundation; Josep Maria Piqué, director of the 22@ Barcelona project; Josep Ramon Ferrer, director of Smart City strategy at Barcelona City Council, and Austin Kilroy, from the World Bank's Cities and Competitiveness area. The aim was to discuss practical cases of implementing clusters as a policy to promote the development and competitiveness of cities and regions by analysing the contexts and factors that influence it.

The starting point of the day was the presentation of the latest research conducted by the World Bank around the competitiveness & cities concept, collecting case studies and analysing the factors and conditions that make it possible to promote what, in the words of Austin Kilroy, could be called "the growth coalition", in reference to elements for promoting industrial growth of a city, such as the Turkish example of Gaziantep. Some of the key elements mentioned during the presentation were the presence of local firms, chambers of commerce, the municipality in fostering an ideal environment for business, and cooperation between private companies, universities and civil society, plus funds for education and research, tax incentives and support to SMEs.

In an interesting display of actions to foster positive economic results and a better standard of development - measurable using indices such as labour productivity and income level rather than in terms of Gross Domestic Product -, talent and a skilled workforce were two key elements mentioned for boosting the competitiveness of a city or region. This idea was also set forth by Josep Maria Piqué, in a presentation that offered a glimpse of the 22@Barcelona project and of the development model for which the city had opted. Entitled From the industrial economy to a knowledge-based economy, Mr Piqué's presentation underscored the importance of the triangle comprising authority, universities and industry in connecting people talent and the role of urban clusters as key actors in the development of cities and the economic transformation of districts.

These two presentations, and the context presented by the speakers, led to a roundtable discussion that addressed more practical issues around cluster policy and urban development strategies. The presentation by Toni Tió, president of the Cluster, set out the specific case of Barcelona Nautical Cluster in very practical terms, from the origins and competitive advantages of the sector and the city to launch this initiative to the strategy developed by the organisation to define its lines of action and its goals. Toni Tió's words made plain once again the importance of specialised training for creating skilled jobs. The excellence and involvement of the key companies and players from the sector and the reasons that must drive the project were also debated. 

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