Newsletter

Dear TCI friends,

Our first Conference in Africa concluded, and we have had an extremely positive feedback from many participants. I would like to thank our hosts in the beautiful Cape Town for their support and professionalism. Thank you to the Provincial Government of the Western Cape, which was instrumental for the success. Thank you, Nigel and Tony, for your splendid work. Both in terms of contents and logistic, Cape Town Conference has put the level very high for the future.
During the General Assembly TCI members re-elected the past Board, with the exception of Lars Eklund, who steps down after many years of very valuable contribution to TCI as President and as Immediate Past President. On behalf of the whole TCI, thank you, Lars, for all your efforts. We count on you for the future.
And we welcome Carlos Álvarez, operational head from CORFO (Chile) and Barnabas Nawangwe, President of the PACF Council, who join us as members of the Board of Directors. We promise that the full new Board is committed to work for a stronger, more influential and more professionalized TCI for the future.
Last but not least, special thanks go to Franziska Blunck, who begins a new professional career after many years of dedication to TCI as General Manager. Without Franziska, TCI would have never been what it is today. With the most sincere affection, we wish you the best, Franziska. There are many possibilities of collaborating with you in the future, taking advantage of your knowledge and experience.
The 3rd November, only a few days after the end of the Cape Town Conference, TCI celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Foundation Letter. With the benefit of hindsight, I think we should be proud of our performance. Many people have contributed to this success but success today doesn’t guarantee success tomorrow. So, let’s work on to cope with tomorrow’s challenges. We need the contribution of all of you!

Juan Manuel Esteban
TCI President

Article by Alberto Pezzi, TCI Secretary

Here we are. Even if for some of us it seems it happened yesterday, last week TCI has celebrated its tenth anniversary.
That first conference, organized in Barcelona by something more than an informal group of cluster practitioners (already from all five continents and gathering some of the probably most knowledgeable people on a still young cluster theory), took place on 3-5 November 1998 and it could be considered TCI foundation.

During the General Assembly meeting celebrated in Cape Town on 31 October 2008, TCI members elected a new board with few changes.

A successful 11th TCI Annual Global Conference, Cape Town 2008! The organizing committee would like to thank all the participants very much for taking active part and contributing to the success of the event.
With 400 participants coming from 54 countries and more than 70 speakers, we can say that the 11th edition of TCI Annual Global Conference was a great success and has contributed once again to highlight the role of cluster practitioners and economic development on the world map of competitiveness and innovation. Apart from the quality of the sessions and speakers, Cape Town offered a good opportunity for people to meet with colleagues, policymakers, researchers, business entrepreneurs, cluster managers and facilitators and engage in lively discussions in a superb atmosphere.

The 11th TCI Annual Global Conference in Cape Town provided a great atmosphere for networking among participants. As a consequence, several initiatives and new projects have emerged for the future. The Open Project Forum section in TCI website will be the meeting point for interested people and will be used for posting further material, discussions and information about the mentioned initiatives.

Clusters: Balancing Evolutionary and Constructive Forces
This new publication on clusters was presented by its author, Örjan Sölvell at the 11th TCI Annual Global Conference in Cape Town 2008, South Africa. The Redbook is the outcome of many years of research around clusters, statistical cluster mapping, cluster initiatives, and cluster policy. It gives the reader an overview of the field, and shows how clusters can be used as a constructive tool, not only for scholars but also for cluster practitioners, industry, academic and political leaders, and civil servants working with clusters, regional development and innovation.

17-18 November, Paris, France
The biggest European event for cluster cooperation expects to have around 800 participants from over 25 countries.
“For Europe to tap the full potential of its clusters, they must also achieve a critical mass and strategic orientation through more and better trans-national European cooperation, across national borders. This raises the prospect of generating world-class European clusters.”

23 October 2008, Europe
Europe INNOVA awards TCI member Christoph Beer as best Cluster Manager 2008. Christoph Beer is the manager of tcbe.ch-ICT Cluster Bern (Switzerland) and an active member of TCI since 2005.

Orkestra-Basque Institute of Competitiveness is TCI organizational member since it was founded in 2006 with the objective of providing support to public bodies, socio-economic agents and all the higher education centres in the Basque Country in aspects related to competitiveness. Through this interaction with different agents, Orkestra combines scientific and real-world knowledge in ‘orchestrating’ the Basque Country towards sustainable competitiveness. Research is focused in four key areas: Clusters, Regional Development and Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Welfare.