An exploratory study of developing a cluster policy in a peripheral regional economy: evidence from key stakeholders in key growth sectors by Linda Jamison and Prof.Rodney McAdam

1. Linda Jamison
Invest Northern Ireland
Prof Rodney McAdam
University of Ulster
An exploratory study of
developing a cluster policy in a
peripheral regional economy:
evidence from key stakeholders
in key growth sectors"
.

2. The geographical area is a UK peripheral region, namely Northern Ireland.
Population 1.8 million
• Fastest growing population in the UK
• One of Europe’s youngest populations 55% under the age of 40
Travel to work population
• Belfast 700,000+
• Londonderry 300,000+
Small business economy
• 98% of businesses employ less than 50 people
Regional economy focused on:
• Increasing the private sector and reducing over dependence on the public sector
• Creating employment opportunities and increasing exports
• Increasing the levels of investment in research and development
No Cluster Policy
• NI has no formal cluster policy however, collaborative activity between industry, education / research bodies
and government in NI is supported through a range of programmes including the Collaborative Growth
Programme (CGP) and Competence Centres.
Northern Ireland – Key Facts

3. Wider
Strategy
• To encourage a cultural shift within NI businesses
• To develop stronger relationships between local businesses and stakeholders to increase
knowledge transfer/enhance skills;
• To enable companies to leverage the opportunities associated with converging technology
• To equip businesses to exploit meaningful international partnerships;
• To contribute to positioning NI as an example of best practice in relation to Smart
Specialisation
Clustering/
Collaboration

4. Context/ Background to Study
• This presentation covers the findings for
the Immersive Technology, High-Tech
Creative Industries, and Materials
Handling and Quarrying Industries
sector.
• This research will be used to inform the
Leveraging Cluster Policies for
Successful Implementation of RIS3
(CLUSTERS3) project

5. Journey
• Semi structured interviews were conducted with senior staff (including
firm owners)
• A snowball sampling approach was used.
• Cluster participants included businesses from various, related sectors
• Only preliminary findings are presented
• As this research has an NI-wide focus, less of an emphasis was placed
on geographic location as a characteristic of a cluster.
Methodology

6. Preliminary Findings
• ‘There was a strong belief that a ‘cluster’ was the same as a
‘sectoral concentration’.
• Of the businesses consulted, ‘horizontal’ collaboration (i.e. with
competitors and/ or related industries that develop
complementary products and services) was more limited.
• Horizontal collaboration was considered more important for
emerging cluster groupings.
• If the partners are customers (and to a lesser extent suppliers),
they can often be located outside NI, however HE/FE partners
and those in related industries or competitor firms tend to be
more local.
• Support among businesses for the work being undertaken by
Invest NI to develop collaborative networks.

7. Preliminary Findings
• Overall, most activity occurs closer to the ‘collaboration’ end of
the spectrum and what might be described as ‘deep clustering’
activity remains at an early stage of development. As this
research has an NI-wide focus, less of an emphasis was placed on
geographic location as a characteristic of a cluster.
• In particular, business-led strategic collaboration at the sectoral
level was limited, and horizontal collaboration between
businesses still quite nascent.

8. So What Next?
Testing our hypotheses - Statement of Intent
We believe that in order to create our territorial cluster blue print we should focus on those
emerging industries which a driven by growth in new technologies, initially supporting the
AI and Cyber clusters via a top down, bottom up approach.