SMART SPECIALISATION AND CLUSTER POLICIES FOR DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE CAPACITIES AT REGIONAL LEVEL

Abstract

The present paper deals with the concept of fourth industrial revolution, called Industry 4.0, which allows the achievement of smart, efficient, effective, individualized and customized production solutions at reasonable cost, in the wider context of smart specialisation orientation of industrial clusters defined by European public policies. The associated case study of the regional clusters environment in Romania, spurring from the S3 initiative, refers to the opportunity to refurbish an old industrial platform from North-East region of Romania, focused on the proposal of reconstruction and development of an Industrial Holding, as a private initiative of creating an innovative regional cluster, covering a Smart Specialisation priority in the North-East Region of Romania, and assuming the Industry 4.0 concept as its only way to be competitive in the actual global and “aggressive” specialised markets. The results of our study confirm the importance of the niche market of Hydraulic Power Tools 700-4000 bar and miniBOOSTER solutions in the North-East region of Romania, as an important resource for employment and supporting the development of a horizontal industry, including many innovative start-ups, i.e. Start-up of the Joint Company, Fortus Corporation - Industry 4.0.