THE BASQUE CLUSTER POLICY AND AERONAUTICS

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THE BASQUE CLUSTER POLICY AND AERONAUTICS

• Dr. James R. Wilson
• (Basque Institute of Competitiveness and
  University of Deusto, Spain)
• EMAIL jwilson_at_orkestra.deusto.es

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THE BASQUE COUNTRY

• Population of approx 2 million
• Contributes 6 of Spanish GDP
• High weight of manufacturing (30 of GDP)
• Strong GDP growth in last 20 years
• GDP per capita higher than EU average 30.599 in
  2007

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ASOCIACIONES CLUSTERS EN EL CAPV
  www.acede.es (Cluster de Electrodomésticos) www.
acicae.es (Cluster de la industria de
automoción) www.aclima.net (Cluster de
Medioambiente) www.adimde.es (Cluster de las
Industrias del Mar) www.afm.es (Cluster de
Fabricantes de Máquina Herramienta) www.clusterner
gia.com (Cluster de Energía) www.clusterpapel.com
(Cluster del Papel) www.eikencluster.com (Cluster
Audiovisual) www.gaia.es (Cluster de
Telecomunicaciones) www.hegan.com (Cluster de
Aeronáutica) www.uniportbilbao.es (Cluster del
Puerto de Bilbao) www.clustertil.es (Cluster de
transportes y logística)
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HEGAN

• Development of a nascent Basque aerospace sector
  from 1960s
• 1960s SENER (engineering) became involved in
  space projects
• 1980s Development of ITP (engines) and GAMESA
  (aeronautics structures)
• 1990s Major collaborative projects with ROLLS
  ROYCE and EMBRAER
• Birth of HEGAN
• Early 1990s Study under Basque Government
  Competitiveness Programme
• From 1993 Informal collaboration between GAMESA
  AERONAUTICA, ITP, SENER, INASMET (technology
  centres) and the UPV Engineering School
• 1997 HEGAN formally founded with 3 leading
  companies and 12 suppliers
• HEGAN Today
• 35 Members (32 firms and 3 Research/Technology
  Centres)
• Strong diversification in products and clients
  Customer base includes Airbus, Boeing,
  Bombardier, EADS, Embraer, Eurocopter, GE and
  Rolls-Royce

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Source HEGAN (2008), Report 1997-2007
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ROLE OF HEGAN

• Aeronautics is a research-driven, investment
  intensive industry
• Basque firms do not have the capacity to control
  the market
• Co-operation between local firms and as
  risk-sharing partners with leading international
  firms is vital
• HEGAN has worked to respond to strategic
  challenges through facilitating cooperation
• Aeronautics Technologies Specialisation Course
  (Bilbao Engineering School and the Aeronautics
  Engineers School in Madrid)
• Quality committee and development of own quality
  standard HEGAN 9000
• Environmental Agreement with the Basque
  Government
• Corresponded with a time of success for the
  sector
• Today turnover of almost 1000m and employment of
  around 7000
• More than 3-fold increase since 1997

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BIRTH OF BASQUE CLUSTER POLICY

• At the beginning of the 1990s, the Basque Country
  was losing its traditional competitive advantages
• The Basque Government contracted Monitor to
  analyse future competitiveness
• This study defined a number of clusters
• The Basque Government established a
  competitiveness programme supporting workgroups
  in 9 priority clusters
• These defined improvement priority areas and
  action proposals in each case
• This dynamic process of interaction among various
  agents enabled the detection of gaps in the
  Basque economy

Process leading ultimately to the creation of new
institutions under the framework of a defined
cluster policy
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POLICY SUPPORT FOR CLUSTER ASSOCIATIONS

• Initial collaboration agreements signed with 11
  cluster associations (1995-1999)
• Cluster policy mission the improvement of
  competitiveness responding to strategic
  challenges through cooperation
• Associations are required to undertake a
  strategic plan every 3-4 years and annual action
  plans
• Government representatives attend association
  meetings, but in non-voting capacity

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Basque Government Relationship
Vertical technicians
General Assembly Management Board Specific
Committees
Cl.1
Cl.2
Cl.3
Cl.4
Cl.11
Internationalisation
Quality
Horizontal technicians
Finance Public and private funds (50-60 Basque
Government, up to 240.000 per cluster
association)
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EVALUATING BASQUE CLUSTER POLICY

• Some International Good Practice
• Identification Clusters cannot be created from
  nothing.
• Design Clusters should stimulate cooperation
  (with private sector leadership), with an aim of
  improving competitiveness.
• Implementation Policy should improve community
  measures to create relationships, projects, etc.,
  and should enable the integration of different
  policies.
• Evaluation Policies should be evaluated, despite
  difficulties.

• Basque Country Case
• MONITOR study and significant dialogue to adjust
  to regional priorities.
• Mission centred on co-operation, but mix of
  strategic and non-strategic projects. Leadership
  transferred quickly from to private sector.
• Clusters associations organize meetings and
  forums to create community spirit and
  relationships. Basque Government cluster
  relationship facilitates some policy integration.
• The system supposes a degree of auto evaluation
  of intermediate activities, but difficulties in
  evaluating impact.