On 25 June, a meeting of the Asturias Cluster Network took place with the Regional Minister of Industry, Enrique Fernández, the Director General of Innovation, Research and Transformation, Aitor Lucas del Amo and the Director General of IDEPA, Eva Pando. The Minister highlighted the relevance of the regional network of clusters, 6 in industry, 3 in services, and 1 in construction. Each of the clusters presented their current activity, their growth throughout the year, as well as some of the post-pandemic adaptations they have had to face. The forecasts and future projects of the clusters were shared, advocating open cooperation and collaboration between them in order to work together. For its part, IDEPA highlighted the dual role of these clusters, both as an instrument of business competitiveness and as an instrument of regional development policy. In addition, the new cluster policy, defined after an exhaustive strategic reflection, which pursues two main objectives, was brought to the attention of the attendees at this meeting:
1. That Asturias has clusters with international ambitions, with a professionalized management, which provide value-added services to companies, especially SMEs, helping them to transform their business.
2. Consolidate the role of clusters as allies of the Government of the Principality of Asturias to boost regional development and favour economic transformation.
With the aim of consolidating Asturian clusters as an instrument to support the development and modernisation of the region’s economic activity and a key element in the interaction between companies and the public administration, the new cluster policy is structured in 4 main axes:
1. Alignment / Governance: it is necessary that clusters align their strategies and actions with the plans of the Government of the Principality and the corresponding public agencies, in such a way that the action to boost the development of Asturian economic activity is harmonious and has the contribution of all relevant agents.
2. Prioritisation: it is necessary to prioritise the economic activity with the greatest impact for Asturian society and the cluster organisations with the greatest capacity for action, so that the available resources can be distributed in the most effective way.
3. Sustainability: since they have to promote far-reaching changes in Asturian industries, clusters need to work in the long term and have the necessary resources to do so.
4. Evaluation: the action of the clusters needs to be oriented towards obtaining results, which need to be monitored to check that they meet the needs and expectations.
IDEPA has been supporting clusters for 13 years, during which it has launched 14 calls in this field, with grants worth 4.3 million euros and 126 projects approved. Future levers, development axes of the new programme.