Networks of Innovation Clusters in Cova da Beira (Portugal)

This article proposes a normative model for the cluster articulation in Cova da Beira (Portugal), based on network functioning which accomplishes the general purposes of the National Integrated Programme to the Support for Innovation, and creates a connectivity between traditional Microclusters: Textile, Agriculture, and Public Sector; and a set of emergent Microclusters: Information, Multimedia and Technological Contents, Distribution, Leisure, Health, and Mobility. In this context, is enhanced the decisive role played by University of Beira Interior in the creation of the Information Microcluster, and in the speeding-up of the innovations which have been locally introduced by several institutions and digital enterprises, on the products, services, production processes, and business practices.