Most successful regional clusters of businesses have advantages that stem from a number of alternative sources. These may include a natural advantage - access to markets or technology, a concentration and scale of operations that provides benefits of size and scope for specialisation, or creative interactions that lead to collaborative ventures and innovation. Each of these advantages works best when the cluster achieves critical mass - a level of activity that drives economies of scale, interaction and scope, or a breadth of the cluster base. As clusters reach this critical mass their advantages grow at an increasing rate, and they become increasingly attractive to new investment in the innovative and competitive cluster.

Ballarat has done well in terms of attracting ICT but needs new businesses and capital to achieve critical mass and become internationally competitive. Ballarat's ability to build critical mass and attract investment will require a sustained effort beyond traditional political and planning timeframes of three-to-four years. Evidence suggests that it takes a long time for a region to build a cluster of critical mass. The development of Silicon Valley pre-dates World War I and most modern cluster's growth was initiated in the immediate post World War II period (Voyer, 2003). Such observations indicate that clusters can take more than 30 years to become dynamic and viable. Although this incubation period may be accelerated by future technological developments, this historical duration is timely for this strategy's horizon - the year 2030. As noted in section six of this strategy (refer Figure 14, page 68), achievement of this strategy's vision will require an increase in the number of ICT employees within the region from its current 630 to 1,164 in 2012 (3% of the total workforce); 1,633 in 2020 (4%); and 2,077 in 2030. This growth is in addition to any major new inward investments of large government or international organisations moving to Ballarat.