Tèxtils.CAT has participated in the launch meeting of the new project European Cluster Strategic Partnership for Excellence: Hi-Tech-TEX – New sustainable and intersectoral value chains towards excellence in high-tech textile materials to foster the adoption of innovation and increase competitiveness.
The Hi-Tech-TEX partnership consists of six organizations: the Textile Cluster of Portugal, the advanced textile materials cluster Tèxtils.CAT in Catalonia, the textile association ATEVAL in Valencia, Next Technology Tecnotessile, which represents the textile cluster of Tuscany in Italy, the technical textiles cluster CLUTEX from the Czech Republic, and the Chamber of Commerce of Denizli in Turkey.
The project, co-financed by the COSME program of the European Union, aims to strengthen excellence in cluster management and facilitate exchanges and strategic partnerships between clusters and specialized ecosystems across Europe through the implementation of the “ClusterXchange” mobility scheme to generate business and innovation opportunities.
Hi-Tech-TEX aims to establish new integrated value chains for the development, manufacturing, and marketing of innovative high-value textile solutions. A series of activities will be carried out to create a critical mass of SMEs in the field of technical textiles, establishing a dynamic culture and innovation environment.
In the next 24 months, Tèxtils.CAT, as part of the project, will implement the new cluster strategy, participate in training activities to strengthen its management, and promote opportunity generation for its members; it will organize various events and workshops and prepare market studies to exploit new sustainable value chains.
Hi-Tech-TEX continues the work of CLAMTEX as a strategic project of the cluster to support the competitiveness of its members.
Tèxtils.CAT considers this project key to continue promoting the innovation capacity of the sector in the long term. Clusters act as a hub and collaborative environment to facilitate cooperation between businesses, research centers, legislators, and other institutions that promote innovation and provide SMEs with access to new skills, resources, and markets.