BROCHURE_DEV_ECO

Project factsheets

Tandem

Cross-border

economic

development

Project factsheet

Tandem

Border

France-Belgium

Territory

Nord-Pas de Calais; West Flanders

European programme

INTERREG IV A France-Wallonia-Flanders

Date

2011 – 2014

Main partners

Lead partner: POM West-Vlaanderen (the economic development agency for the Province of West Flanders);

operational coordinators: Nord France Innovation Développement (NFID), OCWest – Ondernemerscentra West-

Vlaanderen (West Flanders entrepreneurs’ centre)

Objective

Development of a cross-border knowledge strategy by strengthening the centres of expertise in their role as

interfaces between academic institutions and businesses with the potential to innovate

Main activity

Creation of cross-border “tandems” between centres of expertise and academic institutions in order to support

innovative businesses

What does the Tandem

project consist of?

The Province of West Flanders and the Nord-Pas de Calais Region

boast a dense population of innovative SMEs and an extensive network

of higher education institutions and centres of expertise. The latter,

whether public or public-private entities, serve as interfaces between

SMEs and academia and consequently constitute a crucial link in the

chain of development, application and dissemination of knowledge

within the regional economy, specifically in the area of supporting

businesses in their innovation projects.

Increasing the access of

centres of expertise to all of the academic and higher education

institutions in the cross-border region seems necessary in order

to maximise SMEs’ potential for innovation and, more generally

to improve the processes of technology transfer in the cross-border

region’s economy.

The Tandem project is led by POM West-Vlaanderen, the economic

development agency of West Flanders Province, in partnership with

the NFID (Nord France Innovation Développement), a resource centre

which supports the implementation of economic development policies

(entrepreneurship, innovation and research) in the Nord-Pas de Calais

Region.

The project aims at supporting the development of

a cross-border knowledge strategy. It does this by

fostering exchanges between French and Flemish hubs

of competitiveness and excellence, clusters and centres

of expertise in important and cutting-edge sectors

identified for the two regional economies: ICT and

imaging, food and health, textiles and new materials,

transport and logistics, and clean technologies.

As a result, the Tandem project has become

the first operational

cross-border collaboration between the two regions’ knowledge

strategies

: the Provincial Economic Impetus Plan in West Flanders and

the Research-Innovation Strategy for Intelligent Specialisation (SRI-

SI) in Nord-Pas de Calais, which also has a cross-cutting component

called “Strengthening Partnerships with Resources of Excellence in

Other European Regions”.

“2013 strategic projects” award for the Tandem

project by Wallonia and the INTERREG IVA

France-Wallonie-Vlaanderen Programme