URBAN INNO at the TCI conference in Eindhoven
Around 400 professionals, academics and policymakers from all over the world were at the three-day TCI Global Conference 2016 in Eindhoven to discuss cluster formation and its effect on economic growth.
A line-up of (inter)national speakers provided the backdrop to an inspiring discussion on clusters. Christian Ketels, chair of the TCI Network and Harvard Business School associate, led the day: “This conference concerns how we look at clusters. How, for instance, can they help tackle societal challenges? It is important to share knowledge and experiences from all over the world.” Speakers from countries including Russia, India, the United States and the United Kingdom bring an international perspective to proceedings.
The TCI 2016 Global Conference put challenges and opportunities for innovation clusters in the dynamic context of growing cities, increasing globalisation and rising complexity on its agenda.At this event the worldwide network gathered to discuss economic development, business policy and organisational strategy: policymakers, cluster managers, entrepreneurs, opinion leaders, academia and visionaries came together to become inspired, learn, exchange and return home with new ideas, skills and approaches and to discuss current topics on clusters, innovation ecosystems and economic development.
Tamara Högler (Head of Innovations and International Affairs at CyberForum e.V.) showcased the URBAN INNO project within an oral presentation “Clusters as Drivers for Innovation in Smart Cities – A Best Practice” on November 10th. The presentation showed, why and how clusters can be drivers of innovation for Smart Cities; it presented critical success factors, but also hurdles and challenges for a sustainable innovation support by showcasing them on real cases which were faced during the previous and running projects.
As a basis of discussion and learning, the following questions were be addressed and discussed with the audience (ca. 25 participants): (1) Why should clusters be used for innovation support in Urban context? (2) What are the obstacles and success factors for a sustainable innovation ecosystem in a city? (3) How can projects contribute to achieve a sustainable innovation ecosystem?
As the TCI 2016 Global Conference focused on challenges and opportunities for innovation clusters in the dynamic context of growing cities, Urban Inno contributed by presenting how to sustainably use project results and implement them as inputs and basis for pilot projects in the SmartCity context, mainly on how to involve citizens into innovation processes.
The main benefit of visiting the conference was disseminating the Urban Inno project, as well as maintaining old and generating new contacts in the Smart City context.
For more information visit: http://www.tci2016.org/
