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Creating a public-private triple helix partnership approach, one coherent innovation ecosystem
Published on 03 July 2018
Denmark
Hovedstaden
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About this good practice
Central Denmark Region (CDR) wanted to align all stakeholders in the food inno. arena to create a strong network of business developers (from universities, public offices, private entities etc.) & thereby create a strong "backend" for the companies in the region. This would enhance the capabilities & inno. power of the food cluster & the companies across the region.
In 2009, when the first regional innovation strategy (RIS) in CDR on business development of the food sector was close to being adopted politically, it was identified, that most of the Danish R&D-environments (knowledge institutions, science parks etc.) & business development agents (brokers, consultants, technical service providing institutions (TCPs), etc.), had their home address in CDR area – the rest in the Capital Region area, in & around Copenhagen. Nevertheless, many companies could not find their way to the right offers & competencies for getting help in their inno. process, being too costly, unfocused & with the risk of no/low real development. The region approached the process of creating a public-private triple helix partnership to create one coherent inno. ecosystem in the CDR (and Denmark). The region handpicked the central 6 stakeholders of the public & private business dev. agents in the existing food inno. system of that time & they were invited to a meeting for starting a process of getting the agents to talk together and started forming the PPP of the inno. ecosystem of today in CDR & Denmark
In 2009, when the first regional innovation strategy (RIS) in CDR on business development of the food sector was close to being adopted politically, it was identified, that most of the Danish R&D-environments (knowledge institutions, science parks etc.) & business development agents (brokers, consultants, technical service providing institutions (TCPs), etc.), had their home address in CDR area – the rest in the Capital Region area, in & around Copenhagen. Nevertheless, many companies could not find their way to the right offers & competencies for getting help in their inno. process, being too costly, unfocused & with the risk of no/low real development. The region approached the process of creating a public-private triple helix partnership to create one coherent inno. ecosystem in the CDR (and Denmark). The region handpicked the central 6 stakeholders of the public & private business dev. agents in the existing food inno. system of that time & they were invited to a meeting for starting a process of getting the agents to talk together and started forming the PPP of the inno. ecosystem of today in CDR & Denmark
Resources needed
Costs are calculated in internal man hours of the 6 involved/invited actors on CEO-level (meeting hours & preparations) & supplemented by some manpower & secretariat assistance by the region. The region also paid for the external facilitator for the 3-4 meetings over the period of 3-4 months in 2009
Evidence of success
In June 2012, the CDR received the first evaluation for the first food RIS and its initiatives: “Central Denmark Region is emphasized as a region where it is easy to operate [for the companies in the food sector]. [...] The region has been very good at creating a group of players where the attitude is that everyone should help each other. The establishment of FFI as a consortium with a concrete operational task thus also appears to be in line with the external position of the region.”
Potential for learning or transfer
This GP aims to establish a well-functioning collaboration of a private-public-partnership among existing actors instead of making even more competition. In this process, the internal elements are important, since the initiative for the process came from the region, but the six CEOs were all external. The collaboration between the mentioned agents was in essence between the (specific) six CEOs at the meeting but the good example has been transferred ever since, pointing at the benefits of closer collaboration. Thus, this GP can be replicated elsewhere. However, it is important to note that the high trust in collaboration between people in Denmark may have had some influence on the positive results of the meetings and the process. The legitimacy for the region to work with the private-public-partnership mentioned in this GP is found in the Danish law on business development and in the RIS and action plan on food sector in CDR. Alternatives are no collaboration/statuesque.
Further information
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Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
Organisation
Central Denmark Region
Denmark
Hovedstaden
Contact
Policy advisor agrofood