Exploring innovation and collaboration in the leather processing industry through the case study of the KIWANGO Leather Cluster

Funding text 1: The authors extend their sincere gratitude to the KIWANGO Cluster members for their valuable cooperation and participation throughout the project. Special thanks are also given to the scientists, engineers, and technicians at the Textile and Leather division of TIRDO and SIDO for their dedicated efforts in the laboratory optimization studies and the design and fabrication of various machines. The authors would like to acknowledge the FILK-Research Institute of Leather and Plastic Sheeting in Germany and its staff for their support during the laboratory work. Finally, the authors express their gratitude to God for blessing them with good health and favor in undertaking this impactful project aimed at benefiting society.; Funding text 2: In 2017, a continued program called the \"Fostering Innovations for Sustainable Development Program\" was initiated by Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), Small Industries Development Organization (SIDO) and Sustainability Innovations in Cooperation for Development (SICD) with support from Sida. This program included an innovation cluster component with the goal of developing a method for replicating and scaling up competitive and innovative clusters in Tanzania's emerging knowledge society. The program piloted the operationalization of five guidelines to guide the scale-up of competitive and innovative clusters. These guidelines covered areas such as technology and innovation assessment, intellectual property rights (IPR) issues, cluster research and innovation models, monitoring and evaluation frameworks, and guidelines for exports of cluster products. The cluster research and innovation model (CRIM) guideline were based on lessons learned from cluster project development in Tanzania, Uganda, and Bolivia, and was influenced by the collaborative approach of the Triple Helix Model [].; Funding text 3: Open access funding provided by Lund University. This work was supported by the Swedish International Development Agency [grant numbers 51170074, 2017].

Funding text 1: The authors extend their sincere gratitude to the KIWANGO Cluster members for their valuable cooperation and participation throughout the project. Special thanks are also given to the scientists, engineers, and technicians at the Textile and Leather division of TIRDO and SIDO for their dedicated efforts in the laboratory optimization studies and the design and fabrication of various machines. The authors would like to acknowledge the FILK-Research Institute of Leather and Plastic Sheeting in Germany and its staff for their support during the laboratory work. Finally, the authors express their gratitude to God for blessing them with good health and favor in undertaking this impactful project aimed at benefiting society.; Funding text 2: In 2017, a continued program called the \"Fostering Innovations for Sustainable Development Program\" was initiated by Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), Small Industries Development Organization (SIDO) and Sustainability Innovations in Cooperation for Development (SICD) with support from Sida. This program included an innovation cluster component with the goal of developing a method for replicating and scaling up competitive and innovative clusters in Tanzania's emerging knowledge society. The program piloted the operationalization of five guidelines to guide the scale-up of competitive and innovative clusters. These guidelines covered areas such as technology and innovation assessment, intellectual property rights (IPR) issues, cluster research and innovation models, monitoring and evaluation frameworks, and guidelines for exports of cluster products. The cluster research and innovation model (CRIM) guideline were based on lessons learned from cluster project development in Tanzania, Uganda, and Bolivia, and was influenced by the collaborative approach of the Triple Helix Model [].; Funding text 3: Open access funding provided by Lund University. This work was supported by the Swedish International Development Agency [grant numbers 51170074, 2017].