Setting up a new regional Photonics Innovation Hub
About this good practice
-Photonics was big in the region but was not represented or structured by any dedicated organisation before 2011. The local ecosystem decided to create a thematic cluster from a RTO. The idea was to help specifically the development of the companies in this area.
-6 years later, Photonics Bretagne has more than 100 members. Numerous events have been organised and there are now more links between all the partners of the network (link improved between Research and SMEs, between technology providers and end-users, between schools and Industry, between local players and international players, etc.
Photonics Bretagne is now a unique organisation including technological (RTO) and business (cluster) competencies. The complementarities between both activities are a real advantage for the local players. We don’t know any other example of such hybrid organisation in Europe.
-The main funders are local authorities (region and local councils) and membership fees. This leaded to the setting up of many projects and new business opportunities for the local players .
The budget of Photonics Bretagne has come from 750k€ to 1.5M€ between 2011 and 2019 while the number of people jumped from 9 to 18 employees.
Resources needed
The level of funding needed depends of the ambition of the goal. I could range from few 10k€ to set up a cluster with one employee to several M€ if you plan to set up a brand new facility with an experimented team from scratch.
Evidence of success
The creation of our cluster triggered regional, national and EU money for new photonics projects for the ecosystem and the building a new facility and a Photonics Park in Lannion.
A survey has been carried out in 2015. The main result indicates that more than 50% of the members who responded to the survey said that they gained some business thanks to Photonics Bretagne in the last year. We have no doubt that this will increase further in the next year following the last investments.
Potential for learning or transfer
The creation of Innovation Hubs is seen as a way to bring technology and innovation close to the local SMEs. Networking between these hubs (in particular between technology and applicative ones) can be strength to share complementary highly innovative competencies through Europe.
Further information
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Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
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