Paris, 29th June 2017: This was THE question of the workshop organized by Cap Digital and gi-Cluster during Futur en Seine festival on the 9th of June in Paris, and which gathered cluster representatives from several European countries.

Julia Phoca, gi-cluster Manager, the first Greek cluster for creative industries and a Gold labelled cluster, presented gi-cluster’s collaboration with Cap Digital, the first French business cluster for digital content and services. Though this partnership that has been established between the two clusters, the Ambassador Program was initiated by implementing an Ambassador of gi-cluster into Cap Digital’s premises in Paris. Maria Oikonomidi, the current ambassador at Cap Digital shared her experience as well as the advantages of the program. More specifically, she stressed out the fact that through the Ambassador program she was able to schedule business meetings with important stakeholders from the creative industries in France and help gi-Cluster members penetrate the French market. In addition, in partnership with the Business Development team of Cap Digital she designed a tailor made consultation service for Greek and French companies for market assessment purposes. Finally, gi-cluster and Cap Digital partnered for the creation of a European Alliance called “CreativE U” and joined their forces for a European call for proposal.

Additionally, Kathryn Geels, Engagement and Research Manager at Digital Catapult, highlighted the outcomes of a successful European Research collaboration and the benefits it brings to clusters, practitioners and the wider industry. More specifically, she outlined the importance of creating connections and maintaining face to face catch-ups in order to build relationships. She insisted on having an adequate planning period to consider all elements and risks and also on making sure that the research data and the recommendations remain tangible.

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