Cluster Organisation Structure

Cluster= Climax of ecosystems of innovative and high tech business

Clusters are very complex systems. They have to ensure: the coherency of strategic objectives; the strength of coordinated actions. It is very important so an efficient governance.

The Cluster’s structure should be:

• Light, simple, not too many bureaucracy;
• Flexible, to adjust the strategy according with technical, scientific, political and social changes;
• Open, so Cluster can receive all the experiences of other territories.

It is important Regions’ inclusion to identify strategic objectives and governance. Thanks to this inclusion, Clusters can achieve results in terms of welfare, social inclusion, health and all this kind of policies that play an important role in the clusters’ strategy.

The governance model is fixed because it is the best answer to the complex technological and applicative aspects of Clusters.

Clusters forecast the constitution of “Associated” subjects located in the territory such as: Districts, Innovation Institutes or Public Private Organisations that include enterprises, Associated institutions, Universities, Research Institutes, End Users associations,… The cluster, with this organisation, can simplify the governance’s structure and it can strength the idea of an Italian System.

This Associated will play an important role in the clusters; they will lead the cluster. For this reason, in each Region there is a project to create associations. In some case, there are already associations, in others not yet, and every association respects the rules imposed by Region.

1. Coordination and Monitoring Board

• It coordinates and manages cluster.
• Chairperson, Coordinator of public and private subjects that participate to Cluster, established it; there is 1 Chairperson for each organisation and for each Region; all Regions have to sign the Programme promoted by MIUR.
• It works strictly linked with MIUR, regions and other external subjects for:
  • New proposes;
  • Revision about projects;
  • Warning about critical situations.
• According with Advisory Board, it defines and implements Clusters’ strategy.
• Technical and Scientific Board supports strategic decisions
• Its actions are:
  • Monitoring about projects;
  • Monitoring about implementation of this projects in the local territories;
  • Development and coordination about “service lines” that identify the cluster (support to internationalization, R&D, development supply chain, new investments, human capital)
  • Development of new proposes, new projects in the different area promoted by Horizon 2020.

1 Representative participates to the meeting of:

• Advisory Board;
• Technic Scientific Board.

Inside the Coordination and Monitoring Board, there is a Coordinator, named in rotation.

The management activities will be approved by a regulations defined by the same organ. One of its first tasks will be the definition of clusters’ juridical aspects and the consecutive operational procedures.

2. Advisory Board

This organ helps Coordination and Monitoring Board to define strategic actions of clusters. Representatives of Regions (development and research sector, economic sector, social sector and welfare) compose it. They will subscribe the Programme with MIUR and with other institutions, interesting in Cluster, such as Italian Association Ambient Assisted Living (AitAAL), Joint European Programme AAL art. 185, European Platform AGE.

A representative of MIUR takes part to the advisory board, so he can guarantee an efficient coordination with national politics. It is also possible the presence of a clusters’ representative, who facilitates the promotion of new applicative common contents. 

In this organ there will be also a representative of Piemonte’s region, because Piemonte is the promoter of the national cluster Smart Living Technologies (section 4.4).

Its activities are:

• Ensure that clusters’ activities respect regional, national and European politics;
• The submission of developed proposes to the Coordination and Monitoring Body;
• Guarantee that research’s contents answer to user’s needs;
• Contribute to the definition of national policies about clusters.

The organ elects a Chairperson who will take part to the meeting of Coordination and Monitoring Board.

3. Technic Scientific Board

Public and Private associations chose members of this board. They have high technic and scientific skills, and they work in universities, research institutes and category associations. Their tasks are:

• Exams and ideas about the development of clusters;
• Best practices and sharing of them;
• Development and dissemination of training projects;
• Contribution to the individuation of clusters’ strategic areas;
• Identification and warning of scientific experts;
• Definition of evaluation criteria of clusters’ performance; the Coordination and Monitoring Board will use them for different goals (ex. Start up, start new collaboration between enterprises and research institutes, monitoring licenses…)