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Mapping Internet of Things innovation clusters in Europe

A study carried out on Internet of Things (IoT) clusters in Europe provides a deeper understanding of dynamics, drivers and success factors in this area.

A human-centric IoT

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The study on mapping IoT innovation clusters in Europe (.pdf) delivers a comprehensive mapping overview of the geographical areas of IoT innovation clusters operating within the EU, and their areas of specialisation.

The study targets the key IoT operating areas:

  • smart living environment;
  • smart farming and food security;
  • wearables;
  • smart cities and smart communities;
  • smart mobility;
  • smart environment and water management;
  • smart manufacturing.

The study identifies 4 fundamental classes of clusters:

A pie chart of the four fundamental classes of structures: geographical (9.5%); institutionalised (40.5%); thematic (36.8%); virtual (13.2%).

  1. Institutionalised clusters: associations of actors who work towards a common goal within an agreed formal or informal governance structure. A formal governance structure is a pre-requisite for any policy intervention concerning the cluster.
  2. Geographic clusters: clusters in the traditional Marshallian and Porterian concept, where sets of companies that act in a certain geographical area and possibly with a clear reference to IoT, or IoT start-ups in a certain city. They may have a structure and governance, or not.
  3. Virtual clusters: where different actors, which can be part of different thematic areas, collaborate in an action and towards a common goal without being co-located.
  4. Thematic clusters: clusters that deliver products, technologies or services related to ICT or the IoT independently of their location. The aggregation factor may be a specific technology, technological platforms, application and/or open source software projects.

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