Knowledge clusters
Porter's definition of clusters is as follows: "Clusters include a range of linked industries and other entities that are important to competition, including government and other institutions such as universities, standard setting agencies , think tanks, vocational training providers and trade associations ".
The European Commission describes the cluster in the following way:
"A cluster can be broadly defined as a group of companies, related economic actors and institutions that are located close to each other and have reached a sufficient scale to develop specialized expertise, services, resources, suppliers and skills."
The cluster by definition is a geographic concentration of companies, public organizations, universities, research and development institutes, business support organizations, and financial institutions that are engaged in innovation and specialize in at least one key activity linking them.
Unlike other forms of association, the cluster unites the efforts of competitors that have a regional economic interest and / or cover successive levels in the product and service chain. Through joint actions, an improvement in competitiveness, business development, administrative capacity and research potential of not only members but also of whole organisation is achieved. For a cluster to succeed, there must be a critical mass needed to achieve internal dynamics and be appropriately managed.
Knowledge clusters are agglomerations of organizations oriented to producing knowledge as input or output and usually appears within the knowledge hubs. They develop an organizational capacity to stimulate innovation and create new industries. Knowledge clusters have a central place in the more global landscape of production and the dissemination of knowledge. Therefore, universities, colleges, research institutions, think tanks, development organizations, non-governmental structures and governmental research agencies are also members of these clusters besides intensive knowledge-based businesses