Five Steps for Digital Collaboration in Industrial Clusters 2025

8At this stage, clusters initiate pilot projects in selected areas, leveraging digital solutions to drive progress. Effective cluster governance plays a key role in demonstrating value and fostering collaboration by ensuring transparency throughout the process. Success requires clear procedures to assess project feasibility and impact while building trust among participants through open collaboration and measurable results. Recommendations –Start small and then scale: Effective collaboration begins with a small group of stakeholders, enabling other members to join later once the project has demonstrated impact. Identifying an initiative champion to lead the pilots can accelerate progress and drive the transition to the next phases. –Identify capability gaps and map stakeholders: Uncovering capability gaps and mapping key stakeholders is crucial to ensure alignment and preparedness for successful collaboration. Preparing a roadmap and a plan to build or acquire the required skillsets is recommended, including training and awareness programmes for the workforce. –Secure early investment to derisk projects: Initial funding by an orchestrator (e.g., a public entity or port authority) can derisk projects and attract broader participation in subsequent phases. Encouraging private or public parties to invest in initial pilots can build momentum and kick-start projects. –Adopt an iterative approach for refinement: Pilots serve as learning opportunities to validate initial assumptions, refine data collaboration processes, enhance project outcomes and prove value. Designing pilots with scalability in mind is key for a seamless transition from trials to full-scale implementations.Step 3: Piloting CASE STUDY 3 Securing stakeholders buy-in requires more than just a business case Given the high costs of digitalization and resistance to change, securing early buy-in is essential. Traditional business cases often focus on cost savings and efficiency but may overlook broader benefits such as carbon reduction, resilience and local economic development. Demonstrating multidimensional value helps attract public-private support, unlock cross-industry partnerships and drive systemic change. To address grid congestion issues, high energy costs and decarbonization targets, the Port of Rotterdam invested €2 million in a pilot solution to test and showcase tangible value from multi-utility optimization. This approach de-risked innovation, making it easier for companies to commit to the next phase and invest independently. Acting as an orchestrator, the port played a key role in facilitating collaboration and ensuring alignment across industries. For businesses to collaborate, they need proof of value. By investing in pilots and demonstrating real benefits, we help pave the way for broader adoption and industry-wide transformation. Recognizing digital’s importance, we invested in a digital transformation layer to accelerate our 2050 carbon-neutrality goal. Saskia Mureau, Director Customer Digital, Port of Rotterdam Port of Rotterdam: Starlings Project to unlocking multi-utility flexibility Background and objectives Digital technologies Results Launched by the Port of Rotterdam Authority, the Starlings project involves six industrial plants and two grid operators to explore multi-utility (electricity, natural gas and heat flows) optimization across company borders. The project aims to enhance resource flexibility, lower utility costs and emissions and strengthen industrial resilience. –Digital Twins and Simulation Technologies model in real-time the cluster energy systems for visualization, analysis and optimization –AI and Machine Learning forecast and optimize energy flow exchanges within the cluster –Visualization and Collaboration Platforms with single participants and project-level dashboards show user-specific information. A marketplace/ auction system supports trading within the cluster and with the external energy marketAs part of the pilot phase, participants use shadow operations to simulate real-world scenarios, while monthly planning cycles evaluate the impact on efficiency, costs and emissions. Industrial companies that participated retain control over their own flexibility, using an auction system to allocate resources where they provide the most value. A feasibility study conducted by the Port of Rotterdam indicated the project could: –Achieve up to 5% energy cost savings –Reduce 50 to 100 kilotons of CO2emissions annually –Provide 15MW of demand flexibility