HBio participates in ECRI study visit in Bavaria
HBio together with three European life science clusters that participate in the COSME-funded “Excellence Cluster for Regional Improvement” (ECRI) project performed a study visit in Munich in parallel with their participation in the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Council of European BioRegions (CEBR) that took place on March 22-23. The project partners come from four different countries with a different level of cluster excellence. The four consortia members are Bioib (Cluster biotecnològic i biomèdic de les Illes Balears); KLK (Klaster LifeScience Krakow); bioPmed (Piedmont Innovation Cluster); and HBio, (Hellenic BioCluster). The common objective of the ECRI project is to improve the performance of the four consortium clusters, achieve and maintain cluster excellence in order to strengthen the competitiveness of their actors and foster trans-cluster cooperation.
The partners presented ECRI project during a session of the CEBR Annual Meeting dedicated to strategic concepts and financing for clusters. After the end of the meeting, ECRI partners visited the premises of BioM, which is the network organization of the biotechnology sector in Munich and in Bavaria, commissioned by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs. This study visit was part of the training activities foreseen by the ECRI project in order to foster exchange of best practices regarding cluster management. The participants were informed by Prof. Dr. Horst Domdey (Managing Director of BioM) about the biotech landscape in Bavaria and the activities of the Bavarian Biotechnology Cluster. The core competence of the region is the development of innovative therapeutics and diagnostics, in particular for personalized healthcare. BioM supports the Bavarian biotechnological and pharmaceutical sector with an extensive network for developing new business contacts and the cluster management offers central access and a broad range of information about the sector for prospective customers from home and abroad. Additionally, BioM provides comprehensive consulting and specialized coaching, training and mentoring programs especially for start-ups. In total, BioM has supported more than 200 start-up companies in 20 years.
The presentation of BioM was followed by open discussion, identification of best practices and reflection on the actual situation of each cluster initiative. The discussion was focused on topics such as activities and services for members, strategic and operational collaborations, income streams and member engagement.
