Cluster Mapping as a Tool for Development

This report builds on the foundational work on cluster mapping that Prof. Michael E. Porter has led at the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness (ISC), Harvard Business School over the last two decades. He launched the U.S. Cluster Mapping Initiative in the late 1990s, developing the first robust set of data-driven cluster definitions. They were applied in his 2003 paper on U.S. regions (Porter, 2003) and in subsequent research papers with other scholars that fundamentally changed the perception of clusters in the U.S. policy community (Delgado, Porter, Stern, 2010, 2014). The cluster definitions were then further developed, leading to the current benchmark cluster definitions (Delgado, Porter, Stern, 2016).

Cluster mapping data was made available by ISC both through its website and location-specific analysis and reports. All U.S. governors received a customized cluster mapping data deck in 2002. In 2010 the data was offered to a wider practitioner community through the U.S. cluster portal www.clustermapping.us. The website, developed with support from the Economic Development Administration, provides in-depth open data on regional cluster portfolios across the U.S. and offers a platform for cluster-oriented economic development organizations to collaborate and profile their work.

In the meantime the cluster mapping approach developed at ISC has been adopted in a wide range of countries, including all member countries of the European Union, Canada, Mexico, and India. Further research efforts have been conducted in countries ranging from Australia, Brazil, China, and Russia to Turkey. The Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness offers its support to these and all other countries that want to use cluster mapping as a part of their economic development strategy.