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Project factsheets
Tandem 94 Cross-border
economic
development
What steps and actions have
been taken?
The Tandem project has proceeded in two stages:
Ì Ì the development of a model of cross-border cooperation
Ì Ì the setting-up and development of “tandems” between clusters.
In the first phase, a working group bringing together all of the
project’s players sought to develop a model of cross-border
cooperation between centres of expertise, academic institutions
and businesses that was designed to take account of the existing
relationships between these players, their needs and wishes, and
specific events or training to be organised in order to promote the
creation of cross-border networks. A series of interviews carried out
by POM West-Vlaanderen and the NFID with innovation players in the
identified fields, as well as a conference halfway through the process
on the good French-Flemish and European practices regarding cross-
border cooperation in the area of innovation, made it possible to design
this model.
On the basis of this model of cooperation, the project partners moved
on to set up and develop “tandems” between clusters , taking into
account the guidelines and action plans drawn up by the two regional
innovation strategies and in liaison with the innovation platforms of the
clusters and cross-cutting innovation centres developed by the Lille-
Kortrijk-Tournai Eurometropolis.
Thematic working meetings bringing together the French and
Flemish players helped the partners to think about how best to set up
“tandems” around key questions: What is their concrete role? What is
their relationship with businesses? Which players could work together?
At what level could they work together? etc.
The signature of cooperation agreements between players in the same
sector concretised and brought media attention to these partnerships.
Once set up, these “tandems” have been developed through the
establishment of joint activities, notably in the area of research and
the provision of services.
Thematic training on “cross-border know-how” has been organised by
the Tandem coordinators in order to initiate players into the specificities
of cross-border partnerships, such as cross-border cooperation and
coordination, cross-border promotion and communication, cross-
border intellectual property, and the use of databases on players in
innovation on either side of the border; this mapping of R&D skills already
existed but was little known about by the French and Flemish players.
Lastly, the collaborative workspace known as ASTRIDE (Applications
et Services de Travail en Réseau pour l’Innovation et le Développement
des Entreprises – Networking Applications and Services for Business
Innovation and Development), used by players in innovation in Nord-Pas
de Calais, has been opened up to partners in West Flanders to enable
all of the players concerned to have a secure shared work platform
designed for the exchange of cooperation documents.
What “tandems” have been set
up?
Cooperation agreements have been signed between:
Ì Ì Inotep (FR) and Howest (BE) for sustainable construction
Ì Ì UP-tex (FR) and Centexbel (BE) for textiles
Ì Ì the MEDEE Hub (FR) and Powerlink (BE) for renewable energies.
In addition, close collaboration exists between the following players:
Ì Ì the Matikem Hub (FR) and Centexbel (BE) for new materials
Ì Ì Game IN (FR) and Howest (BE) for video games
Ì Ì Pictanovo (FR) and Howest (BE) for ICT and imaging
Ì Ì Cd2e (FR) and Vlakwa (BE) for water management.
What are the first reactions
regarding the project’s
effectiveness?
The Tandem project was awarded one of the three “Strategic
Projects 2013” prizes by Wallonia and its partner authorities in the
INTERREG IV A France-Wallonia-Flanders programme and became
the programme’s ambassador for 2013.
To what extent can this good practice be
adopted in other cross-border territories?
The adoption of regional innovation strategies is rarely the subject
of consultation with neighbouring territories and even less are they
included in systems of strategic and operational governance. The
Tandem project highlights the complementarities and synergies that
are possible between the approaches and players in innovation on
either side of the French-Flemish border. This operational cooperation
makes it possible to structure and institutionalise relations between
clusters and, as a result, to pave the way for a strategic framework for
the development, application and dissemination of knowledge across
the whole Nord-Pas de Calais and West Flanders region.
For more information:
Contact:
Pierre-Marie PIERRARD
Head of the Tandem Project
Nord France Innovation Développement (NFID)
+ 33 3 59 39 10 82