In less than two years of operations the Icelandic Institute for Intelligent Machines is proud to have been awarded the European Bronze Label of Cluster Management Excellence.
Over 100 business clusters participated in the survey resulting in the awarding of the Excellence Label to IIIM.

The method of benchmarking is developed by the European Cluster Excellence Initiative (ECEI), which recruits experienced persons and organizations in Europe to identify quality indicators for cluster management and procedures in peer-assessment. The official Quality Label developed by the effort is on its way to becoming a standard measurement of performance amongst institutes and businesses across Europe.

At IIIM we strive to achieve highest quality in our work — in methodologies, services, and research innovation. In light of the Institute’s short history of having been founded less than two years ago, receiving this important acknowledgement now is a pleasant surprise.

The Quality Label signifies first and foremost that the holder of the title has been carefully evaluated and proven to be of high quality with regards to management and development, as compared against close to 150 other businesses. In the words of the ECEI:

“The benchmarking was conducted in the context of the project NGPExcellence – Cluster Excellence in the Nordic Countries, Germany and Poland. The project, which benchmarked 143 clusters in seven European Countries, was initiated by the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and supported by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology and its cluster program “Initiative Kompetenznetze Deutschland”, the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Nordic Innovation Centre (NICe) and by innovation agencies from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Poland.

“The Bronze Label forms part of the Quality Label System that is currently developed within the European Cluster Excellence Initiative to create an independent voluntary proof of cluster management excellence that is accepted and recognized all over Europe.

[…] The Quality Label focuses on cluster management, not on the framework conditions or a cluster as such. It is based on a modular set of quality indicators and a transparent process how to benchmark them. The Quality Label is voluntary and enables cluster managers to receive proof of their cluster management excellence by an independent third body according to clear indicators.

The Quality Label is applicable for all different types of clusters existing all over Europe and will enable cluster managers to demonstrate their excellence towards interested third parties like members, stakeholder and policy makers.

More information can also be found on the official page of the Excellence for Cluster Management. The certificate can be found here (PDF).

We – the staff of IIIM – are grateful for having received this level of interest from individuals and clusters around Europe; we appreciate the honor and thank everyone involved.