A cluster is a sectoral, territorial, and voluntary association of organizations that work closely with each other and with other actors in the value chain to increase the competitiveness of their products, their exports, and promote the region’s economic development.
Clusters are an important factor in development, the engine of the modern economy: they promote the development of SMEs, increase GDP and competitiveness of industries and regions, and accordingly, in the country as a whole; affect GDP growth, exports, innovation and overall competitiveness of sectors of the economy
The cluster expands the market. This is the most important result of inter-firm cooperation. The cooperation between firms, which leads to increasing returns on scale, facilitates firms’ penetration into new segments.
The cluster generates new added-value lancelings due to cross-links between firms, which multiplies the number of industrial units and creates the stability of the entire system.
Information about the first grant project of the cluster:
In 2022, the Dnipropetrovsk Region Poligrafia, Publishing and Digital Technologies Cluster implements the “Professional Alternative Dnipro” project in the framework of the EU4Business programme: Competitiveness and Internationalization of SMEs co-financed by the European Union and the German government through a German federal company Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ Ukraine) GmbH.
The goal of the programme is to create the best conditions for the development of Ukrainian small and medium-sized enterprises, support innovation and stimulate export, which is the way to sustainable and equitable economic growth. Within the framework of the Team Europe approach, the project will also contribute to the recovery of Ukraine from the consequences of COVID-19.
EU4Business – це ініціатива Європейського Союзу, яка підтримує малі та середні підприємства в країнах Північного партнерства – Вірменії, Азербайджану, Білорусі, Грузії, Молдові та Україні. Детальніше: www.eu4business.org.ua
The cluster initiative of creating and developing the innovation-industrial center “Professional Alternative Dnipro” will contribute to the development of partnership between entities involved in one thing, will increase their competitiveness and will stimulate innovative activities of regional business.
Project goal and task
In order to identify problems and bottlenecks that are typical for poligraphic businesses in the region, the cluster members analysed some performance indicators for the last few years. A particular key problem for all business structures is the lack of qualified personnel. The region has carried out a low level of expert research to identify business and education problems (Reference to the source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vryEFNQSrcYHMJOJJbOhxdDB5jyis7Zs/view?usp=sharing ).
The solution of these and other problems requires a fundamentally new approach to the activities of the sector’s enterprises, which must be more flexible and respond quickly to the needs of both internal and external stakeholders. This approach can be achieved through implementation of the cluster initiative for establishment and development of the innovative industrial platform “Professional Alternative Dnipro”. The major benefit of implementing such a cluster initiative is a proper structuring of the project management functions of Professional Alternative Dnipro, its components (quality, risks, team, budget, production, costs, marketing, etc.), and one-time focus on the management of core and value-added business processes; Standardization and regulation of processes; taking into account the interests of the main stakeholders; goal orientation and multidisciplinarity; rational allocation and use of resources; accumulation of competencies, potential, accumulation and preservation of knowledge, both internal and external knowledge, etc.
Task. Implementation of the set tasks, which will be implemented on the basis of the innovation-industrial platform “Professional Alternative”, gradually optimizes the work of printing companies, diversifies their services, as well as levers to support and stimulate consumer demand.
For example, in Ukraine about 42% of the population do not read books, the number of those who read e-books is increasing every year, and the number of those who read printed books is decreasing, We assume that the launch of exhibition activities and book fairs as one of the first areas of the project will help to optimize the main business processes.
Task 1: holding a regional exhibition of packages, creative design and the book “World of Graphic Arts” for the professional dialogue, presentation of solutions and technologies, presentation of book products and works of young authors, signing of contracts.
The second direction – these are events with regional authorities. Realization of possibilities of the enterprises of branch should be supported by the corresponding state policy concerning formation of normative-legal maintenance, in particular concerning: standardization, certification; clear definition of the functional responsibilities of regulators, transparency and the use of a targeted approach in their activities; appropriate tax incentives (soft loans, tax holidays, optimal conditions for financial leasing, etc.). This task will be facilitated by holding joint webinars, brainstorming, joining public councils, concluding agreements on joint activities with the Dnipro Chamber of Commerce and Industry, joining public councils at various levels and cooperating with public associations.
Task 2 – holding a Regional Cluster Forum “Increasing the investment attractiveness and innovation of the publishing and printing industry in the region”
The third direction is the creation of the Center for Innovation Costs of Printing Enterprises (resource center of the industry), which will provide appropriate conditions for training specialists in the field, improve their skills, exchange experiences through internships in leading universities and manufacturing companies, exchange experiences with European partners; providing applied research in the field, meetings “Business for Business” (“B2B”), printing hackathon. A polygraphic hackathon will help to develop effective solutions for the production of eco-products. All these measures will gradually contribute to the expansion of production activities, access to foreign markets.
Task 3 – еstablishment of a Centre for innovative costs of poligraphic enterprises at the vocational school.
The information and communication and cultural-educational policy of the Cluster needs to be revised and appropriate, which should be focused on stimulating various cultural needs and interests, popularization of publishing products and printing. Currently, the current mechanism for resolving the consequences of the systemic crisis in the absence of information about the activities of printing companies in the region will be to create a professional website, deploy promotions on social networks and deploy the Dnieper Polygraphic Career Program in general, which will be the fourth direction.
Task 4: Development and implementation of the “Poligraphic Promotion of the Dnipro” programme.
Fifth direction – is a small market survey involving unbiased managers from cluster member companies and potential stakeholders. Nowadays, the topical issues for research are the ways of general mitigation of the consequences of the systemic crisis of the country’s economy, due to the fluctuating exchange rate, political instability, unsystematic and persistent reforms, low affordability of the population, lack of effective mechanisms for reorientation to new markets, general negative expectations, crisis of the banking system, lack of an investment environment, lack of an integrated and well-established market infrastructure and of an interconnection between education, The lack of an integrated investment environment and a comprehensive and well-functioning market-based infrastructure and infrastructure, the interconnection between education and science and production, and other factors have a negative impact on the performance and capabilities of the sector’s enterprises and their ability to take an active part in the process of intensive public creation.
Task 5: the study of the small market, scientific research in two areas: “Structure of the current market of printing products and enterprises of the industry” and “Conditions for the implementation of innovative printing technologies in the training of future professionals of the industry.
Expected results
The implementation of the cluster initiative for the establishment and development of the innovative industrial complex “Professional Alternative Dnipro” will contribute to the structuring of the Cluster’s management functions and its components (quality, risks, team, budget, production, costs, marketing, etc.), the interests of the stakeholders and all project beneficiaries will be taken into account in the process of joint action; its purposefulness and multidisciplinarity, rational division of tasks and use of shared resources; accumulation of new competencies, potential, accumulation and preservation of knowledge both internally and externally, which will contribute to scaling the cluster’s experience to other sectoral enterprises of the region and beyond. The project has a number of objectives, but the goal is the same; its attainment envisages tensions in which everything will move in a positive direction.
The implementation of this strategy in the region in the context of decentralization has not yet been worked on by any sector of the economy. The project developers have presented a set of actions, measures, activities and activities in line with the general logics and objectives that lead to the solution of the problem.