Page - (000210) - in Knowledge and Networks

204 representatives of the automotive industry who clearly urged the state government to create an organizational body to intensify regional coordination. To quote a par- ticipant in the hearing, “the state ministry has to wield the baton” (Flaig, 2009). Only a few days later the call succeeded, and electromobility was henceforth com- monly known, in the words of the state’s minister president, as “a vital issue for the automotive region” (State Ministry of Baden-Wuerttemberg, 2009). Momentum stemming from this event led to implementation of a state initiative for electromo- bility in Baden-Wuerttemberg. The main mission of this initiative was to establish a regional knowledge base to promote the industrialization of electromobility along the entire value chain, including the abundant R&D and manufacturing capabilities and capacities in the region. A representative from one of the region’s original equipment manufacturers reflected on the regulatory work involved at that time: Basically, you have to create some kind of coordinating institution—of course, without tell- ing policy-makers what it should look like....If you continue talking about it, it will bear fruit at some point in time,…[T]his was not only us; others were just as smart and raised this topic. And let’s say that is how the formation of political will developed and played out. (Interview S002; September 2011) In the Berlin region the first FCE took place a few months later. It stemmed from a meeting of a new industrial policy network, the Steering Committee on Industrial Policy, to discuss and amplify measures of the city’s reindustrialization process. In the first session of this forum, held in spring 2010, it was agreed to pursue the recent developments in the field of electromobility as a new key aspect in the region’s future economic development strategy. The ensuing political wishful thinking was reinforced by a study conducted by an international consulting firm that forecast what in retrospect were very optimistic, if not unrealistic, prospects for the region as a result of the recent developments in the field of electromobility. In the wake of the appeal by representatives of industrial and institutional stakeholders, the Berlin Senate Chancellery released an initial concept paper to confirm its willingness and its commitment to strengthen the efforts in this new area. The draft of this program was circulated by a letter to federal decision-makers and members of the NPE, which was being formed at that time. The shift toward the regional economic dimen- sion of electromobility was highlighted by a member of the steering committee: “Obviously, a region or a city that is in a process of redefining itself anyway and questioning how it can do more regarding the question of industrial policy should grab this opportunity” (Interview B012; August 2011). During this phase both regions had a diverse set of actors from regional industry, research organizations, industry associations, innovation agencies, trade unions, and municipal authorities who pushed to create new regional institutions such as a formal coordination agency, harmonized local regulations, and stable interorganiza- tional and intersectorial coordination practices. These institutions seem to have been a precondition for embedding the issue of electromobility permanently in future regional development strategies. As one of the first cornerstones, regional agencies were set up as platform organizers early in the next phase. This measure J. Sydow and F. Koll