Monday, 1/29/2018
The IAPMEI – Agency for Competitiveness and
Innovation recently recognised 20 national competitiveness clusters. The
Textile Cluster: Technology and Fashion is the highlight of this edition and
counts on the intervention of the School of Engineering of the University of
Minho (EEUM).
The Textile
Cluster: Technology and Fashion aims at promoting the integrated and
sustainable development of the economic aggregate involving textiles, clothing
and technical application textiles, contributing towards the competitive
reinforcement of the strategic support pillars (human capital; technological
capacity and creativity; knowledge and innovation; sustainability and
international projection).
This cluster,
although emerging, since it was created in March 2017, arose following an
earlier, the fashion cluster. This latter, in addition to integrating the
textile and clothing sectors, also covered the footwear and jewellery
industries. “In this second edition of aggregation of competencies in
multisectorial clusters, we believed that it would be advantageous to have a
cluster more directed to the textile sector, focused, on the one hand, on the
production of technology and, on the other, on fashion”, Fernando Ferreira, EEUM’s
representative through the Centre for Textile Science and Technology (2C2T),
explained.
This cluster
seeks to bring together the different actors in the sector, including
companies, associations, universities, technological centres and professional
schools. The aim is to bring all these partners together and, thus, to try and foster
an integrated development of this whole economic aggregate. “We have to look at
aspects such as human capital, business, internationalisation, presence in
international fairs, not in a logic of promoting projects per se, but to promote the association of partners that leads to
the development of activities within the cluster”, Fernando Ferreira clarified.
This cluster
counts on the participation of the 2C2T Research Centre and the Institute of
Polymers and Composites (IPC), both from the EEUM. The cluster management also
counts on the most direct participation of five companies of the textile sector
and two non-business entities. This group – called the “High Level Group” – is
composed of a group of entrepreneurs and reference entities committed to the cluster’s
recognition and valorisation, acting fundamentally as an “Advisory Group” and
visible face of the cluster, namely in lobbying and communication. Concurrently,
the cluster has nine “Special Interest Groups”, composed of reflection and
strategic formulation groups around the intervention pillars of the cluster.
In February
2017, within the presentation of the Interface Programme, the Textile Cluster:
Technology and Fashion was recognised by the Portuguese Government as a
Competitiveness Clusters, along with other 19 national Clusters.
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info: https://www.iapmei.pt; http://www.programainterface.pt/pt
