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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]

Clusters play an important role in driving competitiveness, innovation and jobs creation in the EU. Romania currently has successful clusters in various economic sectors and services, including 7 clusters in agro-food. Agriculture has been and remains the support of the human existence, which is an important pillar of the Romanian rural economy. The agro-food sector had oscillating evolutions in the post-accession period, mainly generated by the need to get in line with the EU requirements. Stimulating smart technology assimilation across all economic sectors including agro-food value chains, promoting enterprise growth and clusters 4.0 is critical to many EU Member States. Partnerships between countries, regions, cities and clusters are essential in the next industrial modernization process, based on innovation. Clusters 4.0 calls for development of a generation of advanced cluster policies to respond to these new industrial challenges by facilitating cross-sectoral value chains, fostering internationalization, stimulating inter-regional investment and accelerating entrepreneurship and skills in digital production, environmental production, circular economy, service innovation and creative economy. In order to be ready for the future, clusters must be geared towards creating a smart value chains, international cooperation and cross-sectoral partnerships. This research paper proposes a model as a tool for agro-clusters to become "smart", also this proposal providing information on the most important steps in the creation and development of smart agro-clusters. The used research methodology was based on analysis and synthesis of the information on the economic and social aspects of the development of the agro-food sector and of clusters in Romania. In conclusion, the authors of this paper wanted to emphasize the necessity of the development of smart agro-clusters for the future smart specialization of the regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]