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The Netherlands Food Valley Cluster – University-Industry Cooperation

The Netherlands Food Valley Cluster – University-Industry Cooperation. Conference on International Competitiveness and Cooperation Ankara, 4 th June 2013 J.G. Wissema Delft University of Technology Wissema Consulting Ltd www.wissema.com. High tech clusters.

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The Netherlands Food Valley Cluster – University-Industry Cooperation

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  1. The Netherlands Food Valley Cluster – University-Industry Cooperation Conference on International Competitiveness and Cooperation Ankara, 4th June 2013 J.G. Wissema Delft University of Technology Wissema Consulting Ltd www.wissema.com

  2. High tech clusters • A high-tech cluster = a cluster of high-tech enterprises • High-tech clusters are preferably located as part of a ‘know-how hub’ of which a university is the centre • A ‘know-how hub’ comprises industrial and public R&D institutions, (higher) technical schools and all kinds of specialists and facilitators • Such high-tech clusters can be remarkably successful, vide Silicon Valley • Fortunately, the principle of high-tech clusters also applies to other sectors than IT Wissema Consulting Ltd

  3. Where can entrepreneurs be found? • Agriculture • Property agents and realtors • Academics in scientific and engineering specialties • Pharmacists • Geologists • Hospitality • Accountancy • IT Luke Johnson, Financial Times, 22 May, 2013 Wissema Consulting Ltd

  4. Agriculture – high tech? • In NL, agriculture is family-owned; it has an entrepreneurial culture • 3% of the population works in agriculture (30% in TR) • Agriculture produces 2.2% of GDP • NL has only 2.3 million hectares of arable land, 68% of total land • Yet, export is 72 billion Euro, 2nd largest after US • How can a small, highly populated and industrialised country with a horrible climate produce this result? • Answer: we made agriculture high-tech Wissema Consulting Ltd

  5. Role of Wageningen UR • A staff of 6,500 and 10,000 students from over 100 countries work everywhere around the world in the domain of agriculture and food processing • In terms of scientific output WUR is the 4th largest institute in the world in this area • Core is Wageningen University and ten specialised institutes for applied research, including economics and logistics • The research institutes are financed by the government, commercial businesses and non-profit organisations Wissema Consulting Ltd

  6. ‘Food Valley’ • Some 200 food and agricultural enterprises collaborate with Wageningen UR, including Heinz, Danone, Friesland/Campina, Avebe and AkzoNobel • There are many facilities to support start-ups, mostly in high-tech specialised areas and working around the globe • Many international enterprises have research facilities near the grounds of WUR: Unilever, DSM, Keygene, Heinz, Nestlé, Givaudan, Campina, Seminis Vegetable Seeds, Noldus IT, TNO Process Innovation and many others Wissema Consulting Ltd

  7. The know-how infrastructure • WUR ‘feeds’ a multi-specialised force of specialists in extension services who advise farmers on a wide range of subjects (which seeds, which fertilisers, which pesticides and when) • It also ‘feeds’ a number of model farms and showrooms • The Food Valley Innovation Link acts as the transfer bureau for SMEs • A higher professional school is part of WUR • WUR ‘feeds’ lower professional schools • A specialised bank (Rabo) is part of the infrastructure Wissema Consulting Ltd

  8. Conclusions • The basis is fundamental research • There is a ‘chain’ from the scientists to the users of knowledge and vice versa • There is a strong common understanding and culture • This makes the research highly effective and it has turned an originally low-tech industry into a high-tech one with an immense export potential Wissema Consulting Ltd

  9. Scientific Private R&D research and institutions education R&D departments of Technostarters companies, Technoparks Professional Financial support infrastructure organisations Wageningen as an example of a 3rd generation university Know how carousel: the more elements, the more the others are reinforced. Synergy and scale create winners Wissema Consulting Ltd

  10. Can the model be copied? • There needs to be a common goal and a balance between competition and collaboration • Research without a know-how infrastructure has limited value. The three ‘pillars’ of WUR are: research, education and extension services • The government has to supply finance for basic research and part of the applied research • Fundamental research is the source of everything • But: it takes a few generations to build it up Wissema Consulting Ltd

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