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Transcript of Working paper by ENoLL member GAIA (Bird Living Lab)
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SMART SPECIALISATION IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY
A CASE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL DISCOVERY
URDAIBAI BIRD CENTER - UCB
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Document drawn up by GAIA – Asociación Cluster de
Telecomunicaciones and INFYDE – Información y Desarrollo S.L.:
Jokin Garatea: [email protected]
Jonatan Paton: [email protected]
Belen Barroeta: [email protected]
All content regarding the developments included in this document is the
intellectual property of GAIA - Asociación Cluster de Telecomunicaciones
and INFYDE – Información y Desarrollo, and of the contributing authors,
with the express authorisation of these parties being required for full or
partial use and/or reproduction.
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INTRODUCTION: The Urdaibai Bird Center’s experience Presentation of the case study CHAPTER 1: The territorial context The Urdaibai territory in the Basque context
CHAPTER 2: Smart specialisation The new model’s challenges and opportunities CHAPTER 3: The Urdaibai Bird Center A case of Basque entrepreneurial discovery CHAPTER 4: Facilitating elements The roots of Urdaibai’s smart specialisation
CHAPTER 5: Conclusions Lessons learned
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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INTRODUCTION The Urdaibai Bird Center’s experience
Presentation of the case study
In the ever more complex current
competitive context, marked by an increasing
globalisation of competition and markets, a
model of smart specialisation must be
introduced, in which territories will have to give
priority to future projects as the only way to
maintain a path of sustainable development.
Given these new models, territories will
have to look to specialisation patterns that
differentiate them from others, and also reinvent
these patterns as the economic, technological,
social and environmental context changes. This
reinvention is to be brought thanks to
entrepreneurial discoveries. These discoveries
are watersheds in terms of doing things and
closely rooted to the territory contribute to
creating wealth and employment.
The case of the Urdaibai Bird Center -
UBC is a clear example of one of these
discoveries. The UBC complex is located in the
heart of the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve, where,
for environmental reasons, there are major limits
on the paths for development that can take place.
For this territory, the Center constitutes
a commitment to maintaining the location’s
environmental nature,_while_
The differential value of the UBC’s
entrepreneurial discovery is based on a capacity to
make the economy-society-environment triad
compatible in a territory that requires a proposal
for territorial development different from
traditional ones.
In economic terms, the Center is
currently becoming a technical and research hub
that allows the testing of latest generation of ICT
solutions. These solutions, applied to monitoring
Urdaibai’s unique biodiversity, can create
externalities in fields like logistics, security,
aerospace, etc.
In social terms, the Center contributes
to the creation of a node capable of attracting
international talent, which in turn contributes to
connecting the territory in an open perspective.
For this reason, its development provides the
creation of new activities based on tourism,
education and environmental education and
training.
contributing to other
activities that could lead to
local development and create
value for society. This case
can be considered an
example of entrepreneurial
discovery which meets the
paradigm of disadvantaged
territories which have made
use of smart specialisation
and the knowledge economy.
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Lastly, in environmental terms, the Center
is contributing to ensure the maintenance of the
natural character, the landscape, the ecology and
biodiversity of Urdaibai Reserve.
The UBC is strongly linked to the territory,
which guarantees that its contribution in the three
dimensions mentioned has a direct effect on the
territory. This link to the territory is the result of the
combination of two elements:
1. The differential value granted by its
character as a Biosphere Reserve and
stopover for migratory birds which is
different from any other place in terms of
monitoring, research and testing EICTs
(electronic, information and communications
technologies) applied to biology and
ornithology in particular.
2. The particular management model that
involves the different parts of the quadruple
helix, which, along with their interests, roles
and capacities, ensure the maximisation of the
Center’s contribution to the territory’s
development within the framework of the triad.
Although it is the combination of both
elements which gives the UBC particular interest, the
last one is even more important in terms of displaying
the success of an entrepreneurial discovery. Every
territory, to a greater or lesser degree, has some
differential activities that can grant advantages in
the medium and long term. However, it is the way
they are managed which makes the difference
between success and failure. In the case of the UBC,
the asset (the Urdaibai Reserve itself) is linked to the
local geography and was latent even before the
process of discovering its possibilities was even
begun.
It was the logic of how the discovery
process was managed (identification and UBC
approach), based on a new collaborative model called
“Cluster+”, which allowed its launch as a formal
initiative in spring 2011. The role of each of the
Center’s stakeholders has been a crucial part of this
model:
The Public Administration (Biscay Provincial
Council and the Basque Government)
prioritised the initiative with institutional
support and with resources to give credibility
to the initiative, also linking it to social and
territorial challenges.
The business fabric (through GAIA and its
Cluster+ model) guarantees the generation
of positive externalities for companies by
means of the transfer, development and
testing of technologies that create
competitive advantages.
The innovation system (represented by
Aranzadi which also manages the Center)
guarantees research guidance in the field of
biological and environmental sciences,
contributing to knowledge creation and
transfer.
The communities of users (in the form of
various organisations and European and
international thematic networks) facilitate
the testing of the activity carried out at the
UBC, also positioning it and the territory
in the global economy.
The case of the UBC and its surrounding
area, Urdaibai, is a clear example of how to
discover ways of turning limitations into
opportunities that can competitively and
comparatively differentiate a territory; a clear
example of how smart specialisation should not
be understood as a model that is only
appropriate for a small number of exceptional
territories, but rather that it depends more on
making the most of opportunities and on how
entrepreneurial discovery processes are managed.
In short, the secret of territorial competitiveness
is not in the “what”, but in the “how” of the
entrepreneurial process of conceiving
entrepreneurial discoveries that allow a
competitive advantage to be obtained and
reinvented over time.
The goal of this article is to present the
UBC’s experience, analysing the differential
value that an initiative involving an
entrepreneurial discovery of these characteristics
means for a territory that is economically
limited, such as Urdaibai. Furthermore, its aim is
to identify the determining aspects that have
brought success in the case of this initiative’s
economic, social and environmental dimensions.
This document is divided into 5 different sections
in order to do this.
The first chapter describes the reality
of the local environment where the Urdaibai Bird
Center is located (the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve)
in order to contextualise the starting point
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point, analysing its major limitations as well as its
opportunities.
The second chapter presents an
overview of the basic elements of smart
specialisation model from both a theoretical-
conceptual perspective and a political one so that
it is possible to understand the UBC’s
entrepreneurial discovery process within the
framework of this new territorial development
model.
The third chapter is a detailed analysis
of the Urdaibai Bird Center, from its origin and
characteristics to its business model, referring to
the possibilities it offers with respect to territorial
development based on smart specialisation.
February 2013
The fourth chapter describes the
management model behind the UBC: the Cluster+.
This chapter also includes a reflection on the
synergies of the Cluster+ model applied to the
case of the UBC and smart specialisation, as well
as and the opportunity presented by its
instrumentalisation looking to the upcoming Smart
Specialisation Strategies of RIS3.
The fifth chapter details a series of
recommendations that can be used to transfer the
experience of this entrepreneurial discovery to
other economic/ technological domains and
geographical areas with similar starting points and
problems.
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CHAPTER 1 The territorial context
The Urdaibai territory in the Basque context
The Urdaibai Bird Center – UBC is
located in the small Biscay municipality of
Gautegiz-Arteaga in the Autonomous Region of the
Basque Country (CAPV). The economic profile of
this town and its immediate surroundings1 contrast
with the industrial profile of the CAPV in general,
being one of the areas with the region’s greatest
natural riches.
The Urdaibai estuary where the UBC is
located is a natural area formed by the mouth of
the River Oka, that occupies a surface area of 220
km² and has impressive ecological assets that have
allowed it to be listed as a UNESCO Biosphere
Reserve. It is the Basque Country’s most important
wetland in terms of size and level of conservation,
and is an important stopover and wintering site for
birds migrating from northern Europe to southern
Africa2.
For this reason, as well as its scientific,
cultural and recreational importance, the Biosphere
Reserve law sets out measures for the area’s
environmental sustainability, which creates
limitations as regards the area’s development.
4
Urdaibai and the UBC area*
Source: Drawn up by the authors * Municipalities of Busuturia, Gautegiz-Arteaga, Ibarrangelu, Murueta and Sukarrieta
SUKARRIETA
IBARRANGELU
MURRUETA
BUSTURIA
GAUTEGIZ-ARTEAGA
PAIS VASCO
BIZKAIA
URDAIABAI
1Municipalities of Busuturia, Gautegiz-Arteaga, Ibarrangelu, Murueta and Sukarrieta
2The ornithological importance of this reserve has meant it was declared, in 1994, an Area of Special Protection for Birds, being integrated into the Natura 2000 network. It
is included on the RAMSAR Convention’s list of internationally important wetlands according to a decision taken by the Council of Ministers in 1992.
Economic structure of the UBC area* and the CAPV
GROSS VALUE ADDED
4,62%
12,07%
14,24%
69,07%
2,95%
26,89%
7,81%
62,35%
5,14%
13,19%
10,58%
71,09%
0,71%
27,82%
9,22%
62,26%
1,28%
21,39%
7,35%
69,98%
0,91%
21,12%
8,41%
69,57%
3,09%
27,71%
8,61%
60,59%
1,40%
31,60%
6,70%
60,30%
EMPLOYMENT
2000 2008 2010
UB
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REA
B
ASQ
UE
CO
UN
TR
Y
Source: Drawn up by the authors using EUSTAT figures. Regional Accounting
4,62%
12,07%
14,24%
69,07%
2,95%
26,89%
7,81%
62,35%
5,14%
13,19%
10,58%
71,09%
0,71%
27,82%
9,22%
62,26%
1,28%
21,39%
7,35%
69,98%
0,91%
21,12%
8,41%
69,57%
3,09%
27,71%
8,61%
60,59%
1,40%
31,60%
6,70%
60,30%
4,62%
12,07%
14,24%
69,07%
2,95%
26,89%
7,81%
62,35%
5,14%
13,19%
10,58%
71,09%
0,71%
27,82%
9,22%
62,26%
1,28%
21,39%
7,35%
69,98%
0,91%
21,12%
8,41%
69,57%
3,09%
27,71%
8,61%
60,59%
1,40%
31,60%
6,70%
60,30%
4,62%
12,07%
14,24%
69,07%
2,95%
26,89%
7,81%
62,35%
5,14%
13,19%
10,58%
71,09%
0,71%
27,82%
9,22%
62,26%
1,28%
21,39%
7,35%
69,98%
0,91%
21,12%
8,41%
69,57%
3,09%
27,71%
8,61%
60,59%
1,40%
31,60%
6,70%
60,30%
4,62%
12,07%
14,24%
69,07%
2,95%
26,89%
7,81%
62,35%
5,14%
13,19%
10,58%
71,09%
0,71%
27,82%
9,22%
62,26%
1,28%
21,39%
7,35%
69,98%
0,91%
21,12%
8,41%
69,57%
3,09%
27,71%
8,61%
60,59%
1,40%
31,60%
6,70%
60,30%
4,62%
12,07%
14,24%
69,07%
2,95%
26,89%
7,81%
62,35%
5,14%
13,19%
10,58%
71,09%
0,71%
27,82%
9,22%
62,26%
1,28%
21,39%
7,35%
69,98%
0,91%
21,12%
8,41%
69,57%
3,09%
27,71%
8,61%
60,59%
1,40%
31,60%
6,70%
60,30%
0,91%
21,12%
8,41%
69,57%
2010 - CAPVPoblación ocupada
Agro. Industria Const. Servicios * Municipalities of Busuturia, Gautegiz-Arteaga, Ibarrangelu, Murueta and Sukarrieta
Furthermore, these limitations are
aggravated by the territory’s geo-demographic
characteristics. The five municipalities around the
UBC are smaller than others in Biscay, both in
terms of population (3,953 inhabitants in 2011,
0.2% of the CAPV) and surface area (66.5 km2,
____ 0.7% of the CAPV). They have a
lower population density than the
average in the CAPV (70
inhab./km2 compared with 294)
which means they cannot be
considered economic and social
centres.
Besides, the proximity of
urban centres like Gernika-Lumo
and Bermeo accentuate any
potential dislocation. It is not a
coincidence that the percentage of
the population who work outside
their municipality is nearly 90%,
which is 70% more than the CAPV
average.
These characteristics
have largely determined the nature
of the local production system of
the UBC’s surroundings, which is
linked to services for the
_________
0,91%
21,12%
8,41%
69,57%
2010 - CAPVPoblación ocupada
Agro. Industria Const. Servicios
0,91%
21,12%
8,41%
69,57%
2010 - CAPVPoblación ocupada
Agro. Industria Const. Servicios
0,91%
21,12%
8,41%
69,57%
2010 - CAPVPoblación ocupada
Agro. Industria Const. ServiciosAgro Industry Constr. ervices
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Important figures for the UBC area
Source: Udalmap – Basque Government municipal indicators, based on Eustat figures
local population and an economic profile in which
primary activities play an important role.
It can be observed from the Eustat economic
figures that industry provides a percentage of gross
added value significantly lower than the CAPV average
(13.1% against 27.8% in 2008), while primary
activities and service industries are above the average.
This distribution has held level for the last decade,
although with an increase as regards primary activities
(4.6% in 2000 compared with 5.14% in 2008) which is
the opposite to what has happened in the CAPV (1.4%
compared with 0.71%).
In terms of working population, the
distribution by sector is similar to that of the CAPV,
although this has a nuance, since most residents work
outside these municipalities. This characteristic can be
clearly seen in the GDP per capita and per worker
figures that give information about the dormitory
nature of these municipalities.
In short, the geographical surroundings are
marked by an absence of major towns (absence of
critical mass), their predominantly rural nature
(traditional activities), and by the restrictions that the
_
MUNICIPALITY
INDICATOR
natural environment imposes, limiting the
development of economic activities with a major
impact.
This kind of territory involves major
challenges when it comes to finding a place for it in
the current competitiveness context, with few
options for a local development policy.
Key elements
Unique ecology and landscape as differential assets
Small population centres (lack of dynamism) and absence of critical mass
Traditional economy, mainly rural with associated services
Limited options in terms of a local development policy
BU
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SUK
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Population (inhabitants) 2011 1,776 879 636 308 354 3,953 2,127,900
Surface area (km2) 19.63 13.57 15.56 5.45 2.3 56.51 7,234
Density (inhab./km2) 2011 90.45 64.79 40.86 56.54 153.98 69.95 294.15
Population variation (%) 2000-2011 6.16 5.40 21.84 38.12 13.10 10.88 2.73
Vegetation growth rate (%) 2010 -3.39 -4.58 -8.00 -9.74 0.00 -4.59 0.82
Elderly population (% inhab. +65 years) 2012 23.61 17.91 24.49 14.24 26.61 22.02 19.84
Working population (% 16-64 years) 2006 67.10 66.72 75.99 70.05 58.90 67.94 64.99
Unemployed population (% 16-64 years) 2011 8.08 9.53 6.88 6.07 8.80 8.12 10.04
GDP per capita (CAPV = 100) 2008 36.20 39.08 44.33 122.30 196.64 59.22 100.00
GDP per worker (CAPV = 100) 2008 92.42 96.19 111.36 117.92 145.22 103.02 100.00
Total personal income (CAPV = 100) 2009 95.16 119.71 110.31 115.36 139.34 108.59 100.00
Employment in micro-companies (%) 2011 42.32 73.38 100.00 25.58 22.06 55.39 36.68
Population working outside the municipality (% +16) 2001 85.71 92.17 80.19 89.57 85.35 86.53 51.37
Potentially contaminated soil (% total) 2008 0.14 0.02 0.04 0.76 0.03 0.14 1.16
Protected area (% total) 2011 19.14 70.79 50.96 55.55 18.83 38.55 20.66
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Although the effects of globalisation are
determining the rules of competitive play, it is the
territories and their assets that allow companies to
have the elements necessary to differentiate
themselves from the competition. As a response to
this new paradigm, an ever more important factor is
the smart specialisation of territories as a
mechanism to rationalise and increase the
efficiency of economic systems and business
competitiveness.
The concept of smart specialisation arose
from the general reflections of a group of European
Commission experts regarding the endemic gap in
terms of innovation between Europe and the USA,
as a result of less economic and technological
specialisation and a poorer prioritisation of efforts
in this regard at a regional level (Pontikakis et al.
20091). The underlying idea stressed the importance
of having a regional system based on few, very
specialised activities which, interacting with each
other, give rise to other new sources for
competitive and comparative advantages (known as
entrepreneurial discoveries).
This current way of thinking became so
influential that it caused a reorientation of European
Regional Policy within the framework of the
Europe 2020 strategy. Currently, smart
specialisation must be included as a governing
principle for two of the conditions for obtaining
FEDER funds during 2014-2020 (COM EC 20112).
In this respect, the European Commission has urged
the regions to follow a model of smart specialisation
by means of the definition of an ad-hoc strategy
(RIS3) as a condition for receiving European
regional policy funds in the upcoming 2014-2020
period.
However, smart specialization is still a
concept under development, whose Contents come
mainly from academic authors who currently
____________
CHAPTER 2 Smart specialisation
The new model’s challenges and opportunities
“The establishment of priorities that are
implemented at regional level in a series of activities
and/or technological domains that are potentially
competitive and able to create new activities in a
global context.”
What is Smart Specialisation?
Achieving COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES by means of specialisation, from the current possibilities offered by the specific territorial reality (comparative advantages). This in coherence with the priorities of other regions.
Achieving COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES giving priority to specialisation choices based on key enabling technologies.
Exploiting the potential of SPECIALISED DIVERSIFICATION based on the links among different but related activities / technologies.
Considering the GLOBAL CONTEXT
Exploiting RELATED VARIETY
Giving priority to diversified specialisation in coherence with the
historical heritage and capacities of the region, taking into consideration the
global economy’s determining factors and possibilities.
Priority to SPECIALISATION PATTERNS
advise the Commission itself (Foray et al. 20093 and
McCann and Ortega Argilés-20114). It can be defined
as:
1PONTIKAKIS, KYRIAKOU Y VAN BAVEL (2009) “The question of R&D Specialisation: perspectives and policy implications”. JRC Scientific and Technical Reports. 2COM (EC 2011) Communication from the EC to the EU Parliament, the Council, the CoR: Regional Policy contributing to smart growth in Europe 2020
3FORAY, D., DAVID, P. A. Y HALL, B. (2009) “Smart Specialisation: the concept” in Potocnik´s “Expert Group Knowledge for Growth Report”. 4McCAN, P. and ORTEGA-ARGILÉS, R. (2011) “Smart Specialisation, regional growth and applications to EU Cohesion policy”. Economic Geography working paper 2011.
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The concept can be broken down into
three main elements: (1) coherence of the process in
the global context, (2) giving priority to specific
specialisation patterns, and (3) specialised
diversification by means of the identification and
promotion of entrepreneurial discoveries.
One of the most widespread criticisms of
smart specialization is the potential risk of slipping
into the dynamic of “picking winners”, or, in
other words, that the best positioned territories have
more options when it comes to taking advantage of
the benefits of specialisation. Therefore, a priori, a
model focussing on the processes of entrepreneurial
discovery as a keystone for a territory’s
development may appear more beneficial for those
areas with economies of agglomeration, critical
mass and business dynamism, where these kind of
discoveries will be more probable.
However, experience shows that the key
is actually found in the process by which an
entrepreneurial discovery is achieved and there a
good smart specialisation policy can contribute to
ameliorating less favourable starting point to that.
All territories, independently of their
profile, have elements which, when combined, can
give rise to entrepreneurial discoveries. The
difficulty is in (1) identifying the enabling elements,
(2) discovering the creative combination of these
____
Elements defining / characterising an entrepreneurial discovery
Source: INFYDE
SPECIALISED DIVERSIFICATION
TECHNOLOGICAL HYBRIDISATION
REGIONAL HELIX
WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY
Does it contributes to the diversification of the current
regional specialisation pattern?
Are different knowledge / technological fields combined?
Sector-Sector (non-technological inn.) Sector-Technology Technology-Technology (technological inn.)
Business fabric Society and users
Period for marketing and sale Geographical scope
DEFINING ELEMENTS CHARACTERISING ELEMENTS
Does the “entrepreneur” come out of and/or is supported by the
quadruple helix?
Does it have clear possibilities in terms of the international market?
RDI system Government
Incremental innovation Radical innovation
elements that give shape to the entrepreneurial
discovery and (3) support the process by which it
becomes a formal initiative able to contribute to
territorial development.
The two last points are ad-hoc aspects that
depend on the availability of the different elements
that define and characterise an entrepreneurial
discovery, which are: aspects linked to (1) the
degree of specialised diversification (type of
innovation generated), (2) the level of technological
hybridisation (creative combination of separate
knowledge fields / technologies that are transversal
to different activities), (3) the representation of the
regional helix (involvement of all agents), and (4)
the window of opportunity (scope and impact in
market terms).
The case of the UBC is an example of
entrepreneurial discovery that largely meets these
elements. In the next chapter there is an in-depth
analysis of the UBC as regards each of the elements
that define and characterise it as an entrepreneurial
discovery within the framework of territorial smart
specialisation for the Urdaibai area.
Furthermore, it also looks at the
“Cluster+” management model covering the case of
the UBC and by means of which it has been
identified and promoted.
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CHAPTER 3 The Urdaibai Bird Center - UBC
A case of Basque entrepreneurial discovery
The Urdaibai Bird Center - UBC
The Urdaibai Bird Center - UBC is a
public-private initiative that commenced in spring
2011 with the inauguration of its facilities in the
municipality of Gautegiz-Arteaga.
Urdaibai Bird Center was created through
the refitting of an old industrial unit in the Orueta
neighbourhood of Gautegiz-Arteaga. Due to its
location close to the protected wetlands of
Urdaibai, there are significant limits on the
tipologies of economic activities that can be carried
out there. Because of the protected and limiting
nature of the environment where the complex is
located, the Center has become a very important
piece with respect to development opportunities
and capacities, not only in the municipality of
Gautegiz-Arteaga, but also in the surrounding area.
Despite the area’s limitations, its location
had some prime conditions for the observation of
birds. This research activity, linked to the
potentiality of the application of new technologies,
gave GAIA the chance to discover the inherent
opportunities that this project could have within the
wider framework of its new management model
“Cluster+”, aligned too with the principles of the
territorial smart specialisation models.
In 2009, work began on the old industrial
complex that was to form the setting for the new
scientific Centre. This came about through an
agreement between the BBK Obra Social
Foundation and the Sociedad de Ciencias
Aranzadi organisation. The resources needed for
refitting work came from the Biscay Authorities (a
total of 3 million Euros) and the BBK (2 million).
The structure of the original building was
conserved, although with a new exterior to better
integrate it into the exceptional natural setting. The
interior was fitted also in a very functional way,
taking into account multiple uses, with different
______
Key elements
All territories have assets which, combined within a framework of opportunities, can give rise to entrepreneurial discoveries
The key lies in identifying the entrepreneurial discovery or discoveries and consolidating them
An entrepreneurial discovery refers to specialised diversification through hybridisation within the framework of a window of opportunity and with the participation of the quadruple helix
The Urdaibai Bird Center is an example
of the potential entrepreneurial discoveries that can
occur from a combination of a territory’s assets and
opportunities.
As it has been mentioned, all territories
have elements that, when combined creatively
and aimed at specific windows of opportunity,
can result in initiatives that contribute to
territorial development. The key is in the process
by which these “discoveries” are made and then
turned into a successful business initiatives.
This chapter includes both stages, based
on the study of the UBC in the Basque Country. In
the first, the Center’s origins and the business
model in which it was set up are analysed, which
will allow an identification of entrepreneurial
discovery’s defining and characterising elements for
a particular example.
With respect to the second stage, there is
an analysis of the “Cluster+” management model
created by GAIA, and through which the UBC’s
defining and characterising elements acquire a logic
of entrepreneurial discovery within the much wider
framework of a process (strategy) of smart
specialisation.
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The UBC facilities
Source: UBC http://www.birdcenter.org/
The Urdaibai Bird Center was formed from the refurbishment
of a former industrial complex which, because of its location, had some
unbeatable conditions for the observation of birds migrating from northern
Europe to Sub-Saharan Africa. Although the original building’s structure
was kept, the interior was fitted with a series of modules designed to meet
the needs of a “living lab” model (research, education, dissemination,
testing, etc.). The Center has the following facilities:
The UBC’s business model
exhibition areas, conference rooms, research
areas and ornithological watching points, along
with a library museum specialising in the
matter of birds and their migratory journey
from northern Europe to Sub-Saharan Africa.
This design, based on taking into
account multiple uses, was intended to make
the Center a meeting point for researchers
and the rest of society, and so that it could fit
into a model similar to that of a “living lab”
thus serving scientific, educational and
instruction purposes, and also acting as a place
to test solutions for the market in
international markets.
HALL AND MAP OF THE EAST ATLANTIC FLYWAY
Audiovisual education module through
which, with modern technological equipment,
information is given on the habitats and birds
of the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve, the
current ornithological state of the wetland
and research interests and projects.
METEOROLOGICAL AND SCIENTIFIC ROOM A replica of the Euskalmet Kapildui Weather
Radar, giving information about basic notions of
meteorology and its influence on birds, their
ecology and migratory movements.
Welcome area for visitors. The introduction
to the center is given next to a large, back-lit
map that shows the East Atlantic Flyway,
showing the connection of Urdaibai with the
major wetlands of Europe and Africa.
OFFICES, RESEARCH AREA AND ACCOMODATION
CONFERENCE HALL
A working area for processing the data obtained
in the research studies. Here information is
analysed, edited and prepared for publication
either at the center or on the Internet.
Hall fitted for conferences or events, with
capacity for 48 people, which is
supplemented with a meeting room with
capacity for another 15 people.
WORKSHOP AND RINGING AREA Preparation area for materials needed for
the management of the protected areas, the
wetlands or the handling of ringing devices.
The UBC is rated as an “innovation
centre of excellence” (ICE) with a business
model (set of defining and characterising
elements that make it an example of
entrepreneurial discovery) in which the
following aspects can be highlighted:
Although the UBC’s activities focus
on scientific research and educational activities
related to birds, their migrations and the
habitats where they live, the UBC is a project
with considerable economic and social
interest.
The Center, with its multiple possible
uses, is designed to be able to generate, in
addition to research activities, returns in
economic and social terms, by running related
activities. The Center has identified the
following within its operational logic:
1. Frontline research in the field of
ecology, climate change and biodiversity
through the study of the migratory patterns
of birds, with links to related domains such
as the environment.
The UBC as a source for the specialised diversification of the territory…
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The case of the Urdaibai Bird Center (I): entrepreneurial discovery model
Source: Infyde and GAIA ICE: “Innovation Centre of Excellence” (see chapter 4)
The Urdaibai Bird Center-
UBC is an “innovation
centre of excellence” (ICE)
that favours exploitation of
the surrounding Basque
related variety.
It involves technological
hybridisation projects across
different knowledge
fields/economic activities
with an international focus.
The linking of the UBC´s
ICEs to global value chains
that allow
internationalisation
• Training and education on the environment
and biology (ornithology) both at a general level
(primary schools, secondary education etc.) as
well as at the research level (tertiary education,
exchange of researchers etc.).
• Testing of technologies that are convergent
with scientific, technological and economic uses
and potentially commercialised in the field of
EICTs (electronic, information and
communication technologies) and their
transversal applications.
• Generation of innovation projects based on
technologies that may be applicable at the
Center and as part of global value chains (with a
European or international scope) and networks
of excellence such as ENOLL, EURING,
ARTEMIS etc.
• Tourism, of a selective nature and with high
purchasing power, linked to researchers who
stay at the Center, as well as other visitors from
the local area, Europe or further afield.
The UBC as a generator and tester of technological hybridizations…
The UBC has a number of general
research lines focussing on biology (ornithology)
and ecology, which can essentially be summed up
as follows:
1. Specifically, bird migration
a) analysis of the factors that determine
behaviour and the use of space in
stopover areas, and
b) migratory connectivity of the populations
that pass through Urdaibai
2. Population dynamics of species at Urdaibai
3. Spatial ecology (use of the habitat and
movement patters)
These research lines, combined with
technological solutions that can potentially be
applied to those lines, create innovations that
have
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have possible uses in other scientific and
technological fields, but above all, in market-based
economic activities.
The GAIA cluster (which collaborates on
the UBC) manages the Center’s “living lab” (BIRD
Living Lab) whose mission is to facilitate and test in
situ technological hybridisation projects that many
later result in marketable solutions that contribute
to improving the competitive position of its
companies and the area in general.
Example of a hybridisation project: “Bird Ringing and Tracking”
The scope and resulting impact of the
technological hybridisation projects that take
place in the Center and in the BIRD Living Lab
are multiplied by being carried out within the
framework of the multi-disciplinary nature of
agents that the living lab itself brings together
from the different parts of the territory’s
quadruple helix.
Each of them (agents from the
Basque innovation system, the business fabric,
government bodies, society, and communities
of users) provides different elements that allow
the UCB to generate value linked to the
territory:
• RDI agents (Aranzadi, ESTIA,
ESA/Galileo, UPV/EHU etc.) provide the
R&D component and knowledge intensity
which feed the technological hybridisation
processes.
• The Public Authorities (Biscay Provincial
Council, the Basque Government, the
Indian Consulate etc.) provide credibility,
resources and institutional support, as well
as consideration of the Center and its lines
of work when it comes to defining policies
and development strategies for the territory.
• The business fabric (GAIA Cluster,
Innovatec, Satec, Navteq, Lotek Wireless,
Virtualware, Biotrack, etc.) provides the
innovation component that allows the
results of the Center’s different lines of
action to be oriented to the market,
contributing thereby to the creation of
wealth and employment.
• User communities and networks (Obra
Social BBK, Global Nature Foundation,
EURING, ENOLL etc.), provide testing
with regard to social challenges and major
trends. They also allow integration of the
Center’s fields of activity and the spheres
of application of its results into
international channels.
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Examples of technological hybridisation projects
carried out and tested through the UBC’s BIRD Living Lab
involve bird ringing and tracking. These projects are
groundbreaking R&D that combine technological and
electronic ICT solutions within the field of biology, which
are carried out in conjunction with other technological agents
and with companies at a European level.
Specifically, the different projects executed within
the sphere of hybridisation have been aimed at devices that
have been miniaturised to the greatest extent and are
sufficiently able to track birds as well as exchange, in real
time, information for the needs of the Center’s research teams,
with regard to the birds.
These devices do not exist on the market, and
testing them among a group with high requirements, such as
the Center’s scientists and researchers, ensures their
comparative advantage when applied to other activities
where the concept of traceability and monitoring is key, for
example: security, defence, logistics and transport,
aerospace, tourism, health, etc. Furthermore, given that bird
migration patters are indicators of climate change, they are a
technological solution with a component for analysing
environmental risk.
EXAMPLES OF EUROPEAN PROJECTS
• Bird Ringing and Tracking Displayed to the Scientific
Community BIRDS - FP7-GALILEO
• MONNA: Monitorización de la Naturaleza y de los
Animales – POCTEFA
• BIRD - CANADEKA
Source: GAIA and Infyde with GAIA illustrations and projects
The UBC unites the territory’s quadruple helix…
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The case of the Urdaibai Bird Center (II): quadruple helix model
Source: GAIA ICE: “Innovation Centre of Excellence” (see chapter 4)
The UBC and smart specialisation The UBC identifying and exploiting windows of opportunity…
Thanks to the Living Lab focus and to
the action of the different agents directly and
indirectly involved in the Center, the UBC
exploits its results from a threefold perspective:
Bearing in mind the environmental
perspective, given current environmental
challenges, the UBC contributes to improving
knowledge and scientific fields related to ecology,
biology and climate change (through risk
monitoring). Furthermore, it contributes to a
sustainable use of the Urdaibai Reserve.
From the social perspective, the UBC
contributes to connecting the municipality of
Gautegiz-Arteaga and surrounding municipalities
through visibility and the attraction of high-level
visitors, not only within the CAPV but also at a
European and international level, a key aspect
with respect to achieving an “open economy” for
the territory.
Lastly, from the point of view of the
economic impact, the testing of technological
solutions is creating a competitive advantage in
the field of ICTs applied to the different sectors
mentioned. Furthermore, the UBC is opening up
possibilities for the surrounding area in terms of
tourism, educational activities etc.
As part of the new governing model of
smart specialisation, the UBC contributes to territorial
development by means of the following dimensions:
1. prioritisation of the Urdaibai area’s specialisation
pattern, gearing it towards activities with a high
scientific content in the field of eco-innovation
(biology-ecology),
2. exploitation of the related variety inherent in
the Center’s fields of specialisation, through
technological hybridisation of ICTs as major
enabling technologies and the possibilities of
application in biology-ecology, the environment
and other industries (security, transport and
logistics, tourism etc.),
3. the Center’s commitment to a global dimension,
in terms of both its activities and the application
of its results, by means of participation in
international networks and the Cluster+
management model.
The fact that the UBC fits into GAIA’s
Cluster+ model is, in large part, the facilitator of a
focus aligned with the principles of smart
specialisation. Below it is a description of the UBC’s
contribution, as an entrepreneurial discovery, to smart
specialisation within the Urdaibai setting.
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The UBC’s results are in coherence with the overall challenges and trends of its
surroundings
The UBC has revealed the prioritisation that makes the environment compatible
with territorial development
The UBC combines ICTs with biology and ecology creating hybridisation that result
in new or related activities
An entrepreneurial discovery reflects the creative combination of knowledge, technologies and skills from now, or which can potentially be applied to the territory, which result in innovations that generate/ reveal new activities that can be commercialised.
An entrepreneurial discovery offers signals of activities, fields of knowledge and technological domains that can offer a competitive advantage and which should be considered as priority areas in terms of efforts, over and above other considerations which are not rooted in the territory or have no future there.
An entrepreneurial discovery comes about as an innovation that responds to one or more windows of opportunity, meeting major economic, social and/or social challenges that are created internationally, and which offer a comparative advantage compared with other territories’ options.
The UBC was founded with its activity intended for a global orientation, and is part of European and international networks both with regard to birds (EURING, Global Nature Foundation etc.) and the technologies which come out of its living lab (ENOLL), through Cluster+.
The UBC came about from a very specific activity with a highly scientific content in the field of eco-innovation (biology-ecology) and due to its nature it could only be developed in Urdaibai, giving it a competitive advantage that would be impossible to copy.
The UBC exploits related variety by means of technological hybridisations among the ICTs as major enabling technologyand the possibilities of being applied in biology-ecology, the environmental sector and other industries (security, transport and logistics, tourism etc.).
Smart specialisation, entrepreneurial discovery and the case of the UBC
Source: Infyde and GAIA
GLOBAL CONTEXT (Fitting in with international trends)
How does an entrepreneurial discovery contribute to smart
specialisation?
How does the Urdaibai Bird Center contribute to smart
specialisation?
SPECIALISATION PATTERN
(Prioritisation of efforts in specific activities / technologies)
RELATED VARIETY
(creative combination of solutions to generate new activities)
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CHAPTER 4 Facilitating elements
The roots of Urdaibai’s smart specialisation
GAIA – Cluster de Telecomunicación del País Vasco, has implemented a new cluster management model, the Cluster+, through which it puts its companies and agents from the Basque Country in contact with other companies and agents in other clusters in other territories with an international profile. The goal is to identify technological solutions, products and services resulting from creative hybridisation, which can be commercialised internationally.
PROJECTS CARRIED OUT WITHIN THE CLUSTER+ MODEL
• AEI-010400-2011-42 – CLUSTER + • AEI-010400-2012-34 – CLUSTER +2 • AEI-010400-2012-43 - EICLAB
The Urdaibai Bird Center is one of several
entrepreneurial discovery initiatives which GAIA -
Cluster de las Telecomunicaciones del País Vasco
covers within a much wider framework of a cluster
model of smart specialisation called “Cluster+”.
The Cluster+ model created by GAIA is
an answer to the question of how cluster
associations can contribute to smart specialisation in
a territory, more specifically by means of
entrepreneurial discovery and its consolidation in
formal initiatives.
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Alternating between the global and the
local dimension, the Cluster+ model sets three levels
of action: (1) the global value chain (CVG), (2) the
smart region and (3) the innovation centre of
excellence (ICE).
The model is configured by means of
“global value chains” defined as a set of activities
and their technological domains that work in a
coordinated and connected way, facilitating the
setup of an integrated production process for a
product/service oriented at international markets.
This integrated production process
originates on the local scale, with “smart regions”
being the analysis units where it is possible to find
technological segments and activities upon which
the global value chain is built.
At the local level, the smart region is
represented by a leader or “innovation centre of
excellence” (ICE) which is the party that identifies
the activities and technologies which the territory
can exploit as an entrepreneurial discovery. Each
“smart region” may have one or more ICEs working
as part of the Cluster+ model.
The number of ICEs that a smart
region can host depends on its critical mass and
on its capacity to exploit related variety by means
of entrepreneurial discoveries that become specific
initiatives.
The Cluster+ model in practice
Innovation centres of excellence are
entrepreneurial discovery-based initiatives that
arise from technological hybridisation across
specialisation patterns in a smart region. These
centres, through coordination within the
framework of a global value chain with other
smart regions, take on a global dimension.
GAIA and the Cluster+ model
In this case, the UBC represents one of
the ICEs that GAIA manages within the Cluster+
framework along with other centres related to sport
(SPORTIC) and mobility and transport (Mobility
Lab). In short, each of the Cluster+’s action levels
responds to the elements of smart specialisation:
UBC and the Cluster+ model
Within the framework of the Cluster+ model, the UBC is a ICE belonging to the smart region of the Basque Country where other actors in the region (Aranzadi, GAIA, UPV/EHU, Biscay Council, BBK etc.) support the initiative and contribute to its excellence. The UBC and the Basque Country in turn form part of a global value chain regardin the possible applications of ICTs for monitoring birds which involve ICEs from other smart regions (ESTIA in Aquitania, Lotek in Wales etc., and European and international networks like ENOLL – European Network of Living Labs, EURING – European Union for Bird Ringing, etc.).
Cooperation among all the ICEs has given rise to technological hybridisation projects with a strong commercialisation potential (for example, the MONA European project or proposals within European frameworks such as SMEILL or BIRDs Control).
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What is the “Global Value Chain”?
Source: Cluster+ Model Strategic Plan. GAIA and Infyde
“CLUSTER+” MANAGEMENT LEVELS
What is the “Smart Region”?
What is the “Innovation Centre of Excellence”?
The entity/entities of a Smart Region that form
part of a Global Value Chain discover
innovations combining specific fields of
activity / technological domains in which a
competitive / comparative advantage is present.
A diverse, but related and coherent set,
of technological domains and economic
activities distributed throughout a value
chain without geographical restrictions
and at an international level.
The geographical setting from which the
segments of the GVC’s segments arise by
means of the placement within it of an
“Innovation Centre of Excellence” and all
the territory’s agents and assets that
contribute to its excellence.
The Cluster+ model advocates
the bringing together of niches
of excellence at international
level in one or more
technological domains which,
represented by “innovation
centres of excellence” in
“smart regions”, combine and
integrate into a “global value
chain” that allow them to be
marketed and sold under the
entrepreneurial discovery
business model.
LEVELS OF SMART SPECIALISATION
The cluster response to smart specialisation: the case of the Cluster+ model
GLOBAL SCOPE and the open economy
The territory’s SPECIALISATION PATTERN
SPECIALISED DIVERSIFICATION through hybridisation
Discovering and exploiting the potential of
related variety inherent in a territory based on
combinations among different but related
activities / technologies, that are located
within it.
Level at which entrepreneurial discovery arises
Level at which the entrepreneurial
discovery is consolidated
Level at which the entrepreneurial
discovery is successful
Achieving competitive advantages by means of
the specialisation that a territory may have, but
which must also be comparative with regard to
the options and trends that arise in other
territories at an international level.
Discovering specific activities / technological
domains which, based on the territory’s unique
strengths and opportunities permit the building
of competitive advantages.
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CHAPTER 5 Conclusions
In a new global context marked by unending
competitive pressure and the value of innovation, the
role of the territories as facilitators of competitive
advantages is more important than ever.
Recently, there seems to have arisen a
general belief that territories should give priority to
activity fields and areas of technology and
knowledge in which they have comparative
advantages; with strengths that can make better use
of the opportunities offered by international
economic, social and environmental trends.
The underlying questions with respect to
these new models of smart specialisation regard what
to give priority to, and how. It is here where the
concept of entrepreneurial discovery takes on key
importance within the process of building territorial
competitive advantages, more specifically, about how
to discover and support them.
The case of the Urdaibai Bird Center is a
clear example of an entrepreneurial discovery that
responds to the underlying idea of territorial smart
specialisation:
1. It involves prioritisation around a specialisation
pattern for the Urdaibai area, towards
knowledge-intensive activities.
2. It contributes to the diversification of a rural
area towards new and very specialised
activities that arise from hybridisation of the
Center’s technologies and activities.
3. It involves a channel to global networks, giving
Urdaibai a global dimension in economic, social
and environmental terms.
The UBC has been discovered and
supported within the quadruple helix framework
where the different parts (public authorities, RDI
agents, companies and user communities) have
contributed to the final success of the initiative and,
more importantly, to the embedding of results in the
territory.
The exploitation of the UBC, through the
logic of the new management model that combines the
cluster-type elements with those of___________
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Key elements
All territories play a role within the framework of smart specialisation since they have assets which, combined with opportunities, can bring about entrepreneurial discoveries
smart specialisation, has contributed to its success,
especially with regard to global economic networks
and channels.
The UBC is an example of an entrepreneurial discovery in a rural territory that has limitations in terms of critical mass, and environmental determinants: •Differentiating asset: ecological riches •Opportunity: environment challenges •Model: application of ICTs to the environment •Results: generation of activities for the territory and impact on related sectors
The Cluster + model includes the entrepreneurial discovery within the logic of smart specialisation, granting it: •International perspective and access to networks •Prioritisation of efforts at the territorial level •Focus on economic, social and environmental returns, based on the possibilities of hybridisation
The Urdaibai Bird Center is an example of the
potential of entrepreneurial discoveries as
opportunities within the framework of smart
specialisation for all territories, independently of
their profile.