ClusterXchange (CXC) is a new mobility scheme funded by the European Commission to implement short-term exchanges between clusters and their members with the aim of creating new channels and a tradition for transnational and cross-sectorial cooperation, networking and innovation uptake between clusters and their members.

The pilot phase of CXC was implemented by 13 European Cluster Partnerships| Excellence (Partnerships) and the next phases of the scheme will continue to be managed by next generations of Excellence Partnerships. As the implementers, the Partnerships support the participants at every stage of the exchange process, hand-in-hand with a dedicated ClusterXchange Support Office (SO) and a CXC IT Tool.

ClusterXchange participants have the prospects to:

Broaden their sector and non-sector specific skills through capacity building
Expand their network of contacts and create new business opportunities
Gain insight on foreign markets and cultures
Increase visibility of their organisations and develop new cross-border partnerships
Share their knowledge and be the recipient of new skills and information

CXC is managed through the CXC IT Tool to process exchanges and connect different parties involved in the scheme. The participants can use the IT Tool for the four phases of CXC: Registration, Matching, Exchange building and Exchange finalisation.

The IT Tool can also be used to find the most suited Partnership to support the participants during their exchanges and the best fit counterpart to be their host or visitors.
 

How to use the IT Tool?

A participant of CXC can find a detailed manual for users, called the IT Tool Manual for Users, that would guide them on the application of the IT Tool from registration to the exchange finalisation phase. Moreover, new IT Tool tutorial videos, images, GIFs and short instructions have been developed by the CXC SO to help the users get an overview of the processes on the IT Tool. The tutorials are categorised into the four phases of CXC and can be used as standalone guides for different aspects of the IT Tool:

• How can I login and create a prof ile on the CXC IT Tool?
• How can I delete my organisation´s profile on the CXC IT Tool?
• How do I perform and manage matches on the CXC IT Tool?
• How do I initiate a match on the CXC IT Tool?
• How do I reject or cancel a previous match and search for a new match on the CXC IT Tool?
• How can I validate a match on the CXC IT Tool?
• What is exchange building?
• How can I create a Commitment to Quality on the CXC IT Tool?
• How can I create an exchange group and add new VOs to the group?
• How can I prepare the Financial Agreement on the CXC IT Tool?
• What is exchange finalisation?
• How can I prepare the Final Activity Report on the CXC IT Tool?
• How can I prepare the Final Activity Report on the CXC IT Tool for a grouped exchange as the Host Organisation (HO)?

To access the tutorials, click here.