The era of industrial clusters has come! How do Germany and the United States cultivate world-class industrial clusters?

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Original arrangement | TOP Innovation Zone Research Institute, FTA Architectural Design Office

 

Recently, Shanghai issued the “Shanghai’s Action Plan for Building a Future Industrial Innovation Highland to Develop and Expand Future Industrial Clusters” , proposing the layout of future industries in “five major directions and 16 fields” such as future health, future intelligence, future energy, future space, and future materials. Create a future industrial innovation highland with world influence, and strive to achieve a future industrial output value of about 500 billion yuan by 2030.

Shenzhen also issued the “Shenzhen People’s Government’s Opinions on Developing and Expanding Strategic Emerging Industry Clusters and Cultivating and Developing Future Industries” in June this year. The goal is that by 2025, the added value of Shenzhen’s strategic emerging industries will exceed 1.5 trillion yuan.” A group of leading emerging industrial clusters will be formed, and the development advantages of industrial clusters with an added value of 100 billion will become more prominent, such as network and communications, software and information services, smart terminals, ultra-high-definition video display, new energy, and marine industries. Semiconductors and integrated circuits, smart Short boards in industries such as sensors and industrial motherboards will be quickly filled, and the development level of industries such as intelligent networked vehicles, new materials, high-end medical equipment, biomedicine, digital creativity, and modern fashion will be significantly improved, and future industries such as synthetic biology and blockchain will gradually develop. become a new growth point”.

It is planned to build 20 advanced manufacturing parks with a total area of ​​300 square kilometers

Industrial clusters have already been raised to a strategic level.

In fact, our technology clusters are very competitive in the world.

The 2022 Global Innovation Index (GII) report lists the world’s top 100 Science&Tech clusters. Released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Portulans Institute, Cornell University and INSEAD, the list is not based solely on GDP, but on the geographic location of inventors of patent applications and authors of scientific papers.

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The WIPO PCT patent data set counts about 1.1 million patent applications published from 2016 to 2020, with a total of 3.4 million inventors; the SCIE data set counts 7.1 million articles published during the same period, including 22.4 million authors. After locating its address, count the proportion of science and technology shares in the total population of the cluster to get a list of clusters.

Under this rule, science and technology clusters reflect the “strength” of science and technology research and development, highlighting a region’s technological capabilities and innovation vitality.

The top ten are: Japan Tokyo-Yokohama area, China Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou area, China Beijing, South Korea Seoul, America San Jose-San Francisco area, China Shanghai-Suzhou area, Japan Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto area, America Boston- Cambridge area, New York, USA, Paris, France.

China’s Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou and China’s Beijing science and technology clusters ranked the second and third largest science and technology clusters in the world. At the same time, Shanghai and Suzhou have been merged into one cluster, surpassing Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto in Japan and Boston-Cambridge in the United States to become the sixth largest technology cluster in the world.

The Global Innovation Index believes that if the innovation ecosystem is carefully supported, there may be two waves of innovation: one is the wave of innovation in the digital age based on supercomputing, artificial intelligence and automation; the other is the wave of innovation based on biological Waves of deep scientific innovation based on technology, nanotechnology, new materials and other scientific breakthroughs.

my country’s economy needs to shift from a stage of high-speed growth to a stage of high-quality development.

Mr. Huang Qifan said at the 2022 Annual Forum on Macro Situation that the current Chinese economy is also facing triple pressures of demand contraction, supply shocks and expected weakening. Against such a background, only by earnestly handling our own affairs and promoting the realization of high-quality development can we effectively hedge various risks and challenges.

A major measure to achieve high-quality development is to establish industrial clusters and establish innovative ecological networks/systems. We can also take a look at how other countries carry out cluster strategies.

German industrial clusters

It can be said that Germany’s policy of industrial clusters came easily. Since the 1990s, industrial clusters including automobiles, communication technology, biomedicine, aerospace, microelectronics, etc. have blossomed in many places throughout Germany.

Industrial clusters have received considerable attention at the EU, German government, and state and federal levels. In 2006, the German Federal Government established a comprehensive cluster strategy across all federal departments, and in 2014 it further took innovation clusters as an important way to promote the Industry 4.0 plan. The cluster strategy brings together the key partners of the innovation chain/value chain in a specific leading industrial cluster by providing funds and preferential policies to support the innovation strategy of the cluster, vigorously engage in industry-academia-research, promote the establishment of cluster networks and enterprise cooperation, and vigorously It has driven Germany’s scientific research level in cutting-edge technology and the vitality of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Interactive map of key clusters in Germany, screenshot from https://ift.tt/qosjUXn

For example, the Munich Biomedical Cluster we mentioned earlier.

As early as 1996, the German government launched the BioRegio competition to find areas with potential for industrial clusters, and the winners could receive government funding and policy support. Munich stood out from many competitors and received DM 50 million in government funding for the BioRegio competition. All biotechnology-related innovation and entrepreneurship projects carried out in the Munich area can receive 50% of the financial support. The greater benefit is that Munich can receive priority funding from the “Biotechnology 2000” program of the Federal Ministry of Research. These initiatives further strengthen Munich’s leadership in this field.

For another example, the Cool Silicon (energy innovation cluster) that stood out from Germany’s “Leading Edge Cluster Competition” is distributed in Chemnitz-Freiberg-Dresden (Chemnitz-Freiberg-Dresden) in Saxony. Dresden), where more than 110 cluster partners have gathered, including 17 large enterprises, 61 small and medium-sized enterprises, and 33 universities and research institutions. Give them a joint development of energy-saving information and communication technologies based on technology alliances.

In 2016, the Cool Silicon cluster launched the “iCool” internationalization project with the support of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, and has long-term cooperation with the clusters in Grenoble, France, Leuven, Belgium, and Eindhoven, the Netherlands in the key technology fields of energy-saving electronic products .

In terms of Industry 4.0, the German Federal Government (at the national level) established “It’s OWL” in 2012 , the full name is Intelligent Technical Systems OstWestfalenLippe (Intelligent Technical Systems Network Alliance), led by the local level, mainly dedicated to mechanical engineering , innovations in automation technology and energy technology.

Today’s world is a world of “building block innovation”. The strength of the German economy mainly depends on countless small and medium-sized enterprises. Reach the world’s top level.

At present, “It’s OWL” has nearly 250 partners — including about 200 manufacturing companies, 16 scientific research institutions, 6 universities, and partners for transformation of achievements, each of which assumes different roles. The core members consist of 25 family-owned and medium-sized companies, such as electrical engineering leader Phoenix Contact and hidden champion Beckhoff Automation. What’s more worthy of reference is that It’s OWL has established a systematic approach oriented to the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises to eliminate technology transfer barriers between enterprises (especially competitive enterprises), and stimulate the innovation enthusiasm of all subjects in the cluster.

Simply put, Germany promotes industrial clusters;

• First of all, Germany selects “good horses” through competitions, and the government mainly bears the operating expenses in the early stage

• Pay attention to the construction and operation of cluster platforms, and create value by promoting partnerships and bridging the gaps between policies, innovation, industries, and capital

• In addition, it creates competition among innovative enterprises, and even promotes them to compete in the international market, so as to improve the performance and competitiveness of enterprises.

America’s Innovation District

The United States is a country that emphasizes “small government”. The federal government is very clear about its position and cannot (and should not) be the main driving force for American innovation. However, on the road of scientific and technological competition, the U.S. government is unequivocal. It will clearly mention “regional innovation clusters” in various innovation strategies of the U.S. government, and provide targeted research and development funds to support long-term basic research and promote future technological breakthroughs , directing the R&D portfolio.

Basic scientific research is the source of innovation, but this is a field of “market failure”: basic research usually does not have direct commercial returns, or the return period is too long and the risks are too high, making it difficult for the industry to persist. However, breakthroughs in basic scientific research are crucial, as they lay the most fundamental theoretical and technical foundations for technological innovation and progress throughout the world, thus making all technological innovations and revolutions possible and bringing huge economic benefits in the long run . Engineering, for example, is built on Newton’s laws; the biotechnology industry is built on Watson and Crick’s discovery of the structure of DNA; and the Internet is built on the primacy of government defense programs.

In the field of basic scientific research, government funding has become the most important source of support. It is a very smooth path to develop high-concentration industrial clusters through investment in the field of basic science.

Most of the biomedical gathering areas cannot do without the shadow of NIH. San Diego, the top three life science clusters in the United States, has gathered more than 100 large-scale genetic testing companies with more than 1,000 employees, and more than 1,100 companies in the field of life sciences. It is a veritable “gene city”.

According to statistics, approximately US$1.8 billion in federal funds (including NIH funds) and charity budgets flow into San Diego every year. In some years (such as 2014), UC San Diego is even the area that receives the most NIH funding in the United States. In 2021, for example, NIH alone provided UC San Diego with more than $530 million in research funding.

Not only in basic science, but governments are also big buyers of emerging industries.

One example is that many people believe that Silicon Valley formed completely spontaneously and has nothing to do with the government. But the truth is that Silicon Valley’s real inflection point benefited from the “military-industrial complex.” Like Silicon Valley’s grandparent company – Fairchild Fairchild, in the first few years, customers were basically government departments and government agencies, including NASA. According to statistics, 80% of Fairchild’s turnover comes from the Department of Defense.

The government was an extremely important customer, and they had deep pockets and invested when there was no market at the time, creating a secure base for competitive private enterprise.

The famous “Eight Traitors” founded a company called Fairchild Semiconductor in September 1957

In addition, in order to strengthen the networked innovation of the manufacturing industry, the public-private cooperation promoted by the US government has promoted the development of manufacturing clusters through the establishment of “research institutes”.

One example is the National Manufacturing Innovation Network, which has “research institutes” as nodes and receives funding from the U.S. Departments of Energy, Defense, and Commerce. At present, there are 14 of these research institutes, including semiconductors, optics, flexible electronic devices, robotics, biomedicine and other fields ↓

We talked about the case of Pittsburgh in the previous article. Since 2011, the employment in the field of robotics in Pittsburgh has increased by more than 300%, attracting a large number of talents and industries, and has become the gathering place of the world’s top robotics industry.

This has nothing to do with the Advanced Robot Manufacturing Center (ARM). The ARM Institute was initiated by CMU. The US Department of Defense provided this institute with $80 million in support. The ARM Institute is committed to combining AI, automation, 3D printing, etc. Emerging technologies that make industrial automation adaptable and more affordable for businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses. ARM not only provides technical support, but also forms a strategic partnership with local schools, research centers, start-ups, investors, etc., and builds a complete ecosystem to rapidly promote the commercialization and productization of technology. , enabling technology evolution from lab to market at scale. ↓

In summary, in terms of promoting industrial clusters,

• The U.S. government is very clear about its position, to be a pusher of innovation, not a player who ends up directly.

• Targeted R&D funding to support long-term basic research,

• In the national strategic industrial field, establish key nodes, promote the commercial transformation of technology, and take market competitiveness as the criterion.

Industrial clusters are an efficient organization of the value chain, which effectively allocates resources, promotes better coordination and trust, and promotes mutual competition and learning between people and companies. It was born in Formal or informal networks in clusters also make clusters resilient.