ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the brief introduction into the economy of the city of Vienna and introduces the main actors and their activities in the cluster. It takes the analytical view, as it describes and analyses relations amongst and between actors and pays attention to new firm creation. The cluster perspective is used to detect the presence of strategic relations among actors in the cluster and has proved to be a powerful analytical tool to determine cluster dynamics. The most convenient and straightforward method is to identify four categories: the pharmaceutical industry; biotechnology firms; medical technology firms; and a 'the rest' category, including, for instance, medical informatics and robotics. Cooperation between researchers and research groups is essential for the development of knowledge, the exchange of ideas and a rapid diffusion of knowledge and innovations. Two types of cooperation can be discerned: intra- and interdisciplinary. The health cluster in Vienna has ingredients to develop into a growth sector for the regional economy.
