Who we are

Emiliano Duch is one of the leading global experts in cluster based economic development. He retired from the World Bank in April 2023, where he was the Global Lead in Private Sector Development for ten years. Prior to joining the Bank, he was in the IESE Business School, as Director of its Competitiveness Summer School programme and Coordinator of the European Union’s Cluster Excellence Initiative.

Emiliano was also the founder of The Cluster Competitiveness Group and the founding chairman of The Competitiveness Institute (TCI). He has a degree in Architecture from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and an MPA and an MBA from Harvard University.

Dr Maria Luisa Blazquez is a Professor at the University of Comillas and a Research Associate at the International Center for Competitiveness (ICC), IESE Business School, where she lectures on strategy and leads several projects for public and private institutions on the competitiveness of regions and countries. She has participated as a lecturer in Foundation’s projects in more than 15 countries. Her research and publications mainly focus on competitiveness and cluster’ roles. She holds an MBA from MIT and a Ph. D. from ICADE in clusters and their role in regional competitiveness.

Agustín is the Managing Director of School of International Business at University of Pompeu Fabra (ESCI-UPF), Barcelona.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law and a Diploma in Business Sciences from the University of Barcelona. He began his professional career in the banking sector, where he worked for more than ten years. Later on, after a brief period in a company in the automotive industry, he joined the world of educational institutions management, where he developed his last years of his professional path. For the last five years, he has been participating in a solidarity consulting program.

One of the world’s leading mathematical economists, expert in microeconomics, Andreu Mas-Colell is the founder of the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics and a professor in the department of economics at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona.

Mr. Mas-Colell served several times in the cabinet of the Catalan government. He also co-authored with Michael Whinston and Jerry Green, what is considered today’s most used graduate microeconomics textbook in the world titled “Microeconomy Theory”.

Glenda Napier is the CEO of Energy Cluster Denmark, the national cluster organization for the Danish energy sector.

The Danish cluster is a neutral, value-creating and member-driven innovation platform with 500+ members among SMEs,  large companies, knowledge institutions and public entities throughout the energy sector. Mrs. Napier has worked in the field of innovation for more than 20 years, both regionally in RegX, nationally in various clusters and internationally such as UNCTAD in Geneva. She also has a background in the national business authorities in Denmark and the Danish Growth Fond with the development of startups and new companies.

, Werner Pamminger is an international and renowned expert in cluster management.
Business Upper Austria is the State agency promoting investment and regional development through funding for research, technology, innovation, technology transfer, cluster collaboration, collaborative R&D and high-tech start-ups and is considered as a role model of excellent and successful cluster management within Europe.
He is on boards of international organizations for competitiveness and clusters, he is also a former board-member of TCI network.
Werner holds an M.Sc. in Automation Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences in Wels (Austria) and an MBA in International Finance from the University of Toronto (Canada).

Ásta Kristín is an experienced cluster manager with a strong background in international trade, innovation, and development. Her work focuses on building and strengthening innovative ecosystems through cross-sector collaboration between industry, government, academia, and communities. She has extensive expertise in international project management, business planning, sustainability, and policy engagement. Ásta Kristín has managed the Iceland Tourism Cluster since 2016 and has served on boards at both national and global levels of cluster development. She has led and hosted numerous seminars, workshops, and international conferences.

Reza Zadeh serves as a Trustee of the Foundation for Clusters and Competitiveness. His main area of expertise is in regional and economic development through innovation systems. He has extensive expertise in cluster-based economic development globally.

A former UK public servant, he has over thirty years of expertise designing and implementing policies that drive competitiveness and economic growth through innovation systems. He frequently acts as an expert / advisor to governmental bodies across the world on cluster policy and regional innovation.

Reza is a technologist with a B.Sc. and a research degree in Systems Engineering from Leeds, UK, and a joint MBA from Cranfield School of Management, UK, and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.