The Netherlands Food Valley Cluster UniversityIndustry Cooperation Conference

The Netherlands Food Valley Cluster – University-Industry Cooperation Conference on International Competitiveness and Cooperation Ankara, 4 th June 2013 J. G. Wissema Delft University of Technology Wissema Consulting Ltd www. wissema. com

High tech clusters • A high-tech cluster = a cluster of high-tech enterprises • High-tech clusters are preferably located as part of a ‘know-how hub’ of which a university is the centre • A ‘know-how hub’ comprises industrial and public R&D institutions, (higher) technical schools and all kinds of specialists and facilitators • Such high-tech clusters can be remarkably successful, vide Silicon Valley • Fortunately, the principle of high-tech clusters also applies to other sectors than IT Wissema Consulting Ltd 2

Where can entrepreneurs be found? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Agriculture Property agents and realtors Academics in scientific and engineering specialties Pharmacists Geologists Hospitality Accountancy IT Luke Johnson, Financial Times, 22 May, 2013 Wissema Consulting Ltd 3

Agriculture – high tech? • In NL, agriculture is family-owned; it has an entrepreneurial culture • 3% of the population works in agriculture (30% in TR) • Agriculture produces 2. 2% of GDP • NL has only 2. 3 million hectares of arable land, 68% of total land • Yet, export is 72 billion Euro, 2 nd largest after US • How can a small, highly populated and industrialised country with a horrible climate produce this result? • Answer: we made agriculture high-tech Wissema Consulting Ltd 4

Role of Wageningen UR • A staff of 6, 500 and 10, 000 students from over 100 countries work everywhere around the world in the domain of agriculture and food processing • In terms of scientific output WUR is the 4 th largest institute in the world in this area • Core is Wageningen University and ten specialised institutes for applied research, including economics and logistics • The research institutes are financed by the government, commercial businesses and non-profit organisations Wissema Consulting Ltd 5

‘Food Valley’ • Some 200 food and agricultural enterprises collaborate with Wageningen UR, including Heinz, Danone, Friesland/Campina, Avebe and Akzo. Nobel • There are many facilities to support start-ups, mostly in high-tech specialised areas and working around the globe • Many international enterprises have research facilities near the grounds of WUR: Unilever, DSM, Keygene, Heinz, Nestlé, Givaudan, Campina, Seminis Vegetable Seeds, Noldus IT, TNO Process Innovation and many others Wissema Consulting Ltd 6

The know-how infrastructure • WUR ‘feeds’ a multi-specialised force of specialists in extension services who advise farmers on a wide range of subjects (which seeds, which fertilisers, which pesticides and when) • It also ‘feeds’ a number of model farms and showrooms • The Food Valley Innovation Link acts as the transfer bureau for SMEs • A higher professional school is part of WUR • WUR ‘feeds’ lower professional schools • A specialised bank (Rabo) is part of the infrastructure Wissema Consulting Ltd 7

Conclusions • The basis is fundamental research • There is a ‘chain’ from the scientists to the users of knowledge and vice versa • There is a strong common understanding and culture • This makes the research highly effective and it has turned an originally low-tech industry into a high-tech one with an immense export potential Wissema Consulting Ltd 8

Wageningen as an example of a 3 rd generation university Private R&D institutions Technostarters Scientific research and education Know how carousel: the more elements, the more the others are reinforced. Synergy and scale create winners Financial infrastructure R&D departments of companies, Technoparks Professional support organisations Wissema Consulting Ltd 9

Can the model be copied? • • • There needs to be a common goal and a balance between competition and collaboration Research without a know-how infrastructure has limited value. The three ‘pillars’ of WUR are: research, education and extension services The government has to supply finance for basic research and part of the applied research Fundamental research is the source of everything But: it takes a few generations to build it up Wissema Consulting Ltd 10