The Cluster Approach to Digitalizing Entrepreneurship: Emerging Opportunities and Persistent Challenges

Digitalization now sits at the heart of how entrepreneurial economies transform, compete, and innovate. Its rollout, however, has been uneven. Digital infrastructure is distributed unequally, and public policy often lacks the coordination needed to make it work. Clusters offer one way forward. When firms, research institutions, and public authorities cooperate within a cluster, they exchange knowledge more freely and share resources more efficiently. This study looks at the period 2022–2024 and asks how far the cluster approach actually drives the digitalization of entrepreneurship ̶ and where it falls short. We combine factor, regression, correlation, and cluster analysis on data from national and international reports, and we supplement these with case material and expert interviews. The evidence points in one direction: clustering speeds up digitalization by opening access to technology, finance, and specialized expertise. Firms inside digital clusters tend to innovate more, raise productivity faster, and adopt digital tools earlier than firms outside them. Yet two constraints persist ̶ insufficient public support and a stubborn digital-skills gap. On this basis we argue for integrated policies that nurture cluster development and deepen public–private cooperation.