Public-private collaboration within clusters is key to strengthen the competitiveness of the agrifood value chain in European regions. In his presentation at the technical meeting, Marco Foschini backs the promotion of the role of clusters in the frame of the thematic partnership to achieve the digitalisation of the sector.

Along his presentation, he explained that Clust-ER, formed by seven clusters of the Emilia-Romagna region, works on two action lines. On the one hand, as a promoter of the S3 in the region with:

• institutional and technical support
• an intersectoral approach
• innovation developments
• DIH promoting adoption of innovative solutions

On the other hand, it plays a crucial role participating in Strategic Specialisation European Platforms:

• with an active presence in EU working groups
• responding to agrifood challenges
• providing opportunities for members
• focusing on a limited number of priorities

As a case of success,  Marco Foschini talked about the Cross-Regional Digital Agrifood Service (CREDAS), an initiative aimed at improving and testing supporting services for the digital and green transition of agrifood SMEs of Emilia-Romagna and Friuli Venezia Giulia Regions in Italy.

To finish, he mentioned three key elements of our Partnership:

• it is a European network of regional ecosystems
• searches the strengthening of business cases
• looks for funding for SMEs

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