The Agency for Science, Innovation and Technology (MITA) invites the international cluster community and everyone interested in cluster activities and opportunities to wrap up the year in the traditional event Baltic Christmas Cluster Forum. On December 9th, all the shareholders will be brought together at the Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Center LITEXPO or remotely. This year’s event focuses on adapting to the ongoing changes and transforming to achieve success. The participants will hear Lithuanian and European cluster ecosystem news and learn the new cluster policy issues.

The forum will be opened by Ričardas Valančiauskas, the Director of Innovation and Industry Department at the Ministry of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania. He will present a policy maker's vision about the future role of clusters. The authorities' confidence in clusters and absolute support is crucial for both: the economic recovery and the development of business prevention plans in the face of potential crises in the future.

In the first half of this year, from March to May, the Commission Expert Group on Clusters held a total of 15 virtual seminars. They brought to the table ideas and examples of good practice for cluster managers and policy-makers at European, national, regional, and local levels, as the speed of Europe's economic recovery depends on the synergies between their actions. A new set of policy measures has been developed on the basis of the proposals discussed. During the forum Peter Czaga, Deputy Director General on cluster internationalisation at DG GROW will give a virtual presentation on the initiatives of the European Commission supporting the European cluster's growth and cooperation.

The Association Françaisedes Pôles de Compétitivité has a strong mandate to oversee and develop the French cluster ecosystem. The CEO Pauline Capus will share the association's 16-year experience in shaping and implementing cluster policies. According to experts, France is at least ten years ahead of Lithuania. The organizers of the event predict that hearing firsthand how the cluster ecosystem works and is managed in one of the leading countries, should engage not only cluster managers but the cluster policymakers as well. 

A well-known strategy and innovation consultant in the business world Christian Rangen will also address the participants virtually. A lecturer at a business school in Norway and a frequent conference speaker will discuss the ways to accelerate innovative clusters and shift them to Pentagram.

Jolita Razumienė, the head of the MITA project “Promotion and Development of Innovation Networking (InoLink)” will present the Lithuanian Cluster Study 2021 and both latter changes and needs currently arising in the Lithuanian cluster community.

The next virtual speaker at the forum is Katarina Hansell, Netport Research Manager and NetPortEnergy Cluster Coordinator from Sweden. She will review her learnings from the recently completed pilot training for Baltic Sea cluster leaders.

Hervé Floch, the President of the European Clusters Excellence Labelling Structure  (EUCLES), will speak on EUCLES activities. Officially launched on September 30, the international organization continues the work of the European Secretariat for Cluster Analysis (ESCA) in improving European cluster certification processes and providing them with labels of excellence. In addition, due to the MITA InoLink project initiative, cluster certification is currently underway in Lithuania.

The presentations will be followed by a cluster introduction session. One of the clusters presenting itself to the international community is the recently launched Space Technology Cluster, which unites the leaders of the Lithuanian space business.

The event will be moderated by the journalist and promoter of innovation and technology Lukas Keraitis. Registration for the event takes place here. Please indicate how you intend to participate when registering: in-person or virtually. Participants attending in person will be required to provide the National or EU Digital COVID Certificate.

The event will be wrapped up with an international cluster community networking. The event agenda can be found here.

The project “Promotion and Development of Innovation Networking (InoLink)” promote the merging of companies into clusters, increases the maturity of clusters, promotes their growth and international cooperation. It is implemented by the Agency for Science, Innovation and Technology (MITA) in partnership with the Lithuanian Innovation Center (LIC).