Search

Open innovation is a new paradigm for the development of agribusiness in Romania and the Danube macro-region. Studies on agro-food chains and clusters are still scarce. In the Romanian agro-food sector, 7 regional and cross-regional clusters are very active. This study aims to present the state of the art on open innovation in agribusiness in Romania, identifying how it is adopted, the role of clusters and the factors that influence this process, a collaborative platform for agro-food clusters and their members and future research possibilities. Is a need for internal organizational changes, the support of communication tools and an intellectual property model that encourage knowledge sharing. The main obstacles to the implementation of the digitization process in the agro-food sector are lack of expertise, high costs or in compatibility with the field of activity. Open innovation is a field that needs to be explored in different links in the chain, clusters being facilitators of this process. The challenges of agribusiness today demand more complex and systemic innovations that can be achieved through more open processes of product development. Clusters from agro-food sector are increasingly opening their innovation processes, streamlining their research and development activities with the expectation of better results. In general, the main barrier in establishing innovation alliances refers to the inherent risk of knowledge sharing, which creates a lack of trust between partners. The study could be a good practice model for other countries from the Danube macro-region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) is a collaborative instrument for developing business/technological/research partnerships for entities around the world especially SME's (Small and Medium sized Enterprises). One of the key factors for business development is innovation. Innovation management can be assessed using specific methods and instruments. One of these methods is the approach developed by the ImP3ove Academy. The ImP3ove methodology is based on an on-line questionnaire which is filled out by the entity. The questionnaire contains a set of questions from different innovation management dimensions. These dimensions are: Innovation Strategy, Organization and culture, Innovation life cycle processes, Enabling factors and Innovation results. After filling the questionnaire, according to the entity's needs regarding to innovation management, a customized benchmark can be applied. Based on ImP3ove database the benchmark can be generated for industry sectors, countries and company size or age classes. Using the filled questionnaire and the benchmarking selection the on-line software based on the ImP3ove methodology can generate a report. This report contains the relevant elements of the innovation management assessment structured on the innovation management dimensions. The paper also presents the results and analysis of the innovation management assessment for various Romanian entities. The results of the innovation management assessment can contribute to the business development, increasing market visibility and increasing client confidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clusters through their structure (the "four-leaf clover" model: members of the Business and Research-Development-Innovation areas, Authorities and Catalysts) play an important role in the innovation eco-system as accelerators for innovation and competitive value chains development of value in the smart specialization priorities. The services provided to the cluster members, especially aimed at creating synergies between science and research through the collaboration between the business environment and the RDI based mainly on demand and supply, are a real support for SMEs in order to increase their competitiveness through the implementation of advanced technologies, digitization, industry 4.0, new business models, open innovation 2.0 principles and circular economy. All of this creates the premises for the creation / development of competitive industrial value chains, based on innovation. Collaboration between and within clusters, especially the interdisciplinary and intersectoral one, is one of the keys to success on the global market. The paper also analyses the role of clusters at European level in the innovation ecosystem. Good practices are highlighted in the strategic areas of cross-sectoral and cross-regional collaboration. The potential of clusters as drivers of regional innovation is highlighted and the role of clusters in developing specific policy tools (such as innovation policy, cluster policy, industrial policy, value chains) is analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social innovation in clusters is a novelty for Romania and the paper presents a scientific method to evaluate and monitor of the social innovation performances in clusters. Clusters are drivers of entrepreneurship, innovation, economic growth and jobs. The paper intends to focus on the objectives related on the innovative capacity of clusters and of linkages that involve social relationships or networks that produce benefits for the cluster members, on the competitiveness of clusters and their potential of creating new jobs, on tools and measures to increase social innovation and on social awareness within cluster for closing the gap between the needs of cluster members and the educational/R&D output to reduce the gap between clusters from EU and Ro. From a methodological point of view, the research paper encompasses 4 components: 1) Cluster development in Romania and promotion of social innovation, 2) Elaboration of a scientific method to improve the cluster impact on innovation, economic growth and social integration, 3) Expected results using specific tools for the new method developed (social innovation audit; benchmarks; foresights; IP audit; specific questionnaires) and a large scale dissemination including: a Guide on social innovation in clusters in the near future; the creation of the Ro-EU cluster networks and a national platform for collaboration on social innovation in Romania, 4) Conclusions on cluster willingness to embrace this concept of social innovation primarily because there is a new sense of urgency in the need to find solutions to many of the clusters problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]