Agoria: “We create collaborations to get SMEs, schools and innovation partners to get companies growing”
Agoria and Sirris have been strengthening their organisations since 2022 with regional contact points and connecting profiles in the Charleroi, Kortrijk, and Kempen-Limburg regions. As the Community Manager for West Flanders, former entrepreneur Tjorven Denorme is building the ecosystem in and around Kortrijk.
"It's my job and passion to connect. Companies with schools. Educational institutions with organizations. Students with companies. Companies with companies... I see so many opportunities. It's fantastic to offer these to Agoria members, Sirris customers, and partners of both organisations. Because collaborating is the way to grow with less effort."
Local embedding
Local embedding stimulates collaboration. "Because companies in the same region often face similar challenges. The war for talent and the need for certain training are cases in point."
Free machinery
Collaboration helps companies in this regard, as Tjorven's many anecdotes show. "The technical school VTI in Ypres asked companies for a contribution to modernise its machinery. Five companies signed on. The investment was more interesting for them than spending money on job vacancies. They establish better contacts with students and fill their internships and job vacancies more easily through the machines. The school, in turn, has brand-new machines and attracts more students, thereby increasing the number of new employees in the region."
New connections
The connection with local research institutions also helps companies innovate. "I want to start with 3D printing but don't know how to get going. Or we want to start with smart assembly, but how? We create new connections, even across regional borders, from concrete challenges. Because we also work as community managers, we see the bigger picture. This is how we connected Howest (Kortrijk) and A6K (Charleroi). Both have a 5G demonstrator from Proximus and now share their expertise and use cases. It's an example of how everyone wins when we build bridges."
SMEs are not too small
In 2024, Agoria, Sirris, and POM West Flanders will open a new bridge in the Kortrijk ecosystem: the House of Manufacturing. "In the new practical space at PTI in Kortrijk, we make the cross-pollination between companies and students even more visible. At the same time, we hope to reach more SMEs. Today, SMEs either cannot find schools or think they are too small to collaborate with them. But nothing could be further from the truth."
Companies helped the technical school acquire modern machine. In turn, they gain students and potential employees.
Tjorven Denorme, Community Manager for West Flanders at Agoria-Sirris
This case is a practical example from 'Technology for a better world', Agoria's sustainability strategy for the technology industry. That strategy contains a roadmap with concrete commitments linked to measurable performance indicators that companies can work on, divided into 12 action domains. This Agoria-Sirris case illustrates the action domain 'Cooperation'.
- Read more about the action domain 'Cooperation'.
- Read all about the technology industry's sustainability strategy here!
