Programme

2012 Cluster Conference

Thursday, 23 February

11.00 am

• Beginning of the conference, welcome
• Today's ideas are tomorrow's prosperity - the High-Tech Strategy 2020,
  Annette Schavan, Federal Minister of Education and Research
• The Innovation Union and Horizon 2020: Ways to excellence in science, competitive industries and a better society,
  Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, European Commission
• Presentation of awards to the winners of the 3rd round of the Spitzencluster-Wettbewerb (Leading-Edge Cluster Competition)

12.30 pm

• Lunch
• Opening of the exhibition "Germany's Spitzencluster"

1.30 pm

• Forum 1: Inside the "black box": Evaluation of cluster policy
• Forum 2: Knowledge transfer: Opportunities and challenges
• Forum 3: From cluster manager to cluster service provider: Concepts for sustainable cluster management

3.00 pm

• Break

3.30 pm

• Forum 4: Cluster support, an ideal form of research and innovation policy?
• Forum 5: Communication in clusters: Information. Motivation. Marketing.
• Forum 6: Quo vadis? Strategy processes in the "Spitzenclusters"
• Young Professionals Forum (closed event)

6.00 pm

• Evening reception

Friday, 24 February

9.00 am

• Welcome and impressions from the previous day
• Germany's "Spitzencluster": Working together for more innovation, growth and employment,
  Cornelia Quennet-Thielen, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research
• The Hessian Initiative for Excellence and the Hessian "Spitzenclusters",
  Steffen Saebisch, State Secretary at the Hessian Ministry of Economics, Transport, Urban and Regional Development
• United, open, versatile - how clusters help the economy,
  Martina Koederitz, General Manager IBM Deutschland

10.00 am

• Break

10.15 am

• Forum 7: Local networking - global actions: Internationalization of clusters
• Forum 8: Cooperation for qualification: Working together to attract tomorrow's skilled staff
• Forum 9: Company start-ups and development: Faster growth in clusters?

12.05 pm

• Presentation of forum results

1.00 pm

• End of event
• Business lunch

The thematic forums of the 2012 Cluster Conference will address vital issues in the fields of internationalization, sustainable cluster management, initial and continuing training, knowledge transfer, start-ups, evolution of content and communication within the cluster. Furthermore, initial results of the evaluation accompanying the Leading-Edge Cluster Competition will be presented and approaches to analyzing the impact of cluster policy will be discussed.