Enterprise clusters and networks

Since its creation impulse.brussels has encouraged entrepreneurial innovation in several priority sectors in the Region, in order to promote regional and international growth, competiveness, sustainability and employment. It looks after stakeholders in innovative and active projects and enterprises in the following business segments :

• ICT, and more particularly niches such as business intelligence, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) / Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Security,  the Geographic Information System (GES), E-Health

• green technologies and notably the niche areas waste and water treatment.

• eco-construction

• the life sciences, i.e. the Telemetry and E-Health niches and clinical trials

In these networks impulse.brussels promotes the emergence of a growth ecosystem in which entrepreneurs can acquire and share skills and knowhow, develop synergies with key partners (academics, technology transfer officers, consultants, business angels, other Brussels institutions, …), confront the barriers to their development and collectively resolve their problems (clustering). In this way clusters and enterprise networks have been created in several sectors:

• Cluster software.brussels

• Cluster screen.brussels

• Cluster lifetech.brussels

• Cluster ecobuild.brussels

• Network greentech.brussels

In addition to the individual support, the entrepreneurs forming part of the clusters benefit from individual provision of services and activities. The provision is adapted to the project’s degree of maturity and comprises principally:

• Participation in specific workshops based on the challenges encountered by the members of the sector clusters;

• Participation in technological and commercial missions abroad with individual preparation and the organisation of meetings with potential technological or commercial partners (in coordination with Brussels Invest & Export and its economic and commercial attachés);

• Research into opportunities for technological upgrading or technological solutions by the identification of and introduction to foreign partners (via Enterprise Europe Brussels, of which impulse.brussels is part);

• Assistance with the establishment and management of technology transfer projects;

• International enhancement of the clusters and their members;

• Awareness raising, information and training, encouraging useful participation in European research programmes, development and innovation (via our National Contact Point function) such as:

• Framework Research and Development Programme, Horizon 2020;

• Programme for Competitiveness and Innovation (CIP) of the European Commission, COSME;

• Other specific programmes for SMEs (e.g.: Innovative SMEs);