IT and communication technologies, and the explosion in mobile solutions and high-speed communication, in particular, are transforming the medical landscape and patient care, even expanding the amount of care on offer. And the Côte d’Azur is at the heart of this revolution as two recent examples demonstrated in the last few months.



Secure mobile TV surveillance solutions start-up, APiLINX, was one of the IT companies selected by the SCS competitive cluster during a recent visit to the Côte d’Azur by Secretary of State for Industry,
Luc Chatel. This gave the firm an opportunity to present its mobile TV surveillance service for patients suffering from chronic diseases, which is based on easy-to-use secure, wireless bio-sensors that are linked via radio frequency identification (RFID) to a mobile telephone to transmit patient information to a secure database. The system enables patients to be monitored remotely and removes the need for them to go a medical unit.

The product, which was developed locally, is the result of a Télécom Valley project that has been hosted by the PACA EST incubator since it was set-up at the start of 2008; and is also backed by Marseille’s MultiMédia Belle de Mai cluster.



Telemedicine services via satellite was also the focus of a symposium** organized by Europe’s premier satellite maker, Thales Alenia Space, at the Cannes site. The group is coordinator of the European project “HEALTH care services over a Wide AREa” (HEALTHWARE) that is co-financed by the European Commission. Doctors and industrialists from across Europe came to the Côte d’Azur to participate in this event, which put the spotlight on telemedicine services via DVB-RCS (Digital Video Broadcasting – Return Channel by Satellite) satellite, which enable files, data, images and videos, etc., to be transferred. The goal is to make health services available in a much wider geographic area, including regions that lack the necessary telecommunications infrastructure and those where urgent medical help is needed.



Examples presented at the symposium included a live video transmission that allowed a doctor to analyze an electrocardiogram from a distance after a car crash. The symposium established that telemedicine is a key tool in facilitating the flow of information between specialists and hospitals, etc. and the medical community, as well as between patients at home and their doctors. As Pascal Lochelongue, who heads up e-Health/Telemedicine projects and solutions at Thales Alenia Space noted, “it’s now time….for health authorities to accept telemedicine services as an integral part of their activity and their health strategies.”




* The Secretary of State for Industry, Luc Chatel, visited the Côte d’Azur on May 22, 2009.

** Symposium HEALTHWARE le 7 avril 2009.

The competition, which is organized by Telecom Valley, is open to students taking IT engineering and management courses, which offer the perfect mix of skills needed to turn an innovative idea into a concrete business project. The aim of the competition is to provide an opportunity for students to get a taste for entrepreneurship by tackling the technical, marketing and financial challenges that have to be mastered to successfully launch a project. And a series of workshops was also organized, hosted by professionals who offered their services on a voluntary basis.



For this 7th edition, three teams from Polytech’Nice Sophia and EDHEC worked together to build their business plans, which were presented to the jury at the final of the competition. And this year’s winner of the Prix Isabelle Attali* was hi-Pass®, with its solution that enables the infra-red signal on your remote control to pass through solid pieces of furniture. The winning team is to be housed at the PACA EST incubator, along with a 3,000€ cash prize and free membership of Telecom Valley.



As a leading supplier of IT solutions for the tourism and travel industry and the technology park’s premier employer, Amadeus’ offer to host this year’s event highlighted the group’s determination to play an active role in the local IT scene. “We are fortunate to be located in an area with top level academic teams and a wealth of IT expertise at hand. And this challenge shows how this community stimulates and rewards young graduates and their entrepreneurial spirit,” noted François Laburthe, ORI (Operations Research & Innovation) Director at Amadeus and Secretary general of the Telecom Valley’s Board of Directors. “Innovation is key driver for our company and we are fully aware that our strength comes from the outstanding talents we have pooled together. This is why it is important for us to support this type of initiative.”





For this 2009 edition of Challenge Jeunes Pousses, the two other finalists were:

* Bright Way: lights up your floor or walk way tiles when you walk on them thanks to piezoelectricity, which transforms a mechanical force into electricity.



* Move ‘n Charge: an eco-friendly, small device that uses your natural body movements to recharge your batteries!





* Isabelle Attali,a researcher at INRIA and an active Telecom Valley member, created the Challenge Jeunes Pousses in 2002. She perished in the December 2004 Tsunami in Sri Lanka, whilst participating in a scientific mission there.



Telecom Valley: - the association is co-founder of the Secured Communicating Solutions competitive cluster; co-founder of the Sophia Campus STIC, which groups 4,000 students and 1,000 researchers on a 40,000m²-site; organizer of the salon Tourism@ and the Tourism@ awards; sponsor of the M-Tourisme project that approved by the SCS cluster; creator of the Knowledge Management Platform (KMP), which maps members’ skills and projects.

The AGOS project approved by the SCS (Secured Communicating Solutions) competitive cluster aims to provide companies with a new IT infrastructure that should make company computing more flexible and offer greater availability and improved performance by combining the latest SOA (Service oriented architecture) and Grid (the use of computation grids, including new infrastructures such as Cloud) technologies..



The project leader is HP which has set-up its European center for Architecture-Oriented Services and its center for Adaptive Infrastructure (based on the Grid) at Sophia Antipolis. Partners include INRIA Sophia Antipolis Méditerranée spin-off, ActiveEon, a professional Open Source company. As such it is co-developing and providing support for the ProActive Parallel Suite®, an Open Source middleware for parallel, distributed, multi-core computing.



“AGOS will enable companies to better integrate and optimize a company’s internal resources (servers, clusters, filing, networks), with the possibility of also progressively including solutions outside of Cloud computing if necessary or more economical,” noted Denis Caromel, who heads up the project at INRIA and also founded ActiveEon. And as Daniel Serain, Director, Oracle EMEA Middleware Technology, pointed out, “This project combines the best technology and the best research resources available. Revolutionary ideas concerning our market are already starting to take shape”

Over 1 billion people worldwide today use Gemalto’s products and services for a wide range of activities that include telecommunications, financial services, e-government, identity and access management, multimedia content.
And following its acquisition of NXP semiconductors, the world leader in digital security has based its “NFC Trusted Service Management” team at the heart of the technology park, a strategy which the two market leaders believe will speed up the adoption of NFC technology in existing contactless infrastructures.

Headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, the group has a worldwide presence.


3 questions to Dominique Brulé, NFC Marketing Manager:



1. Can you tell us the context of Gemalto's arrival on the Côte d'Azur?

On April 1st Gemalto completed the acquisition of the “NFC Trusted Service Management (TSM)” team of NXP Semiconductors which I belong to. Our team based in Sophia Antipolis develops and markets secure solutions that enable mobile telephones to communicate with existing contactless ticketing and secure payment infrastructures and provide applications such as transit tickets, stored-value payment, loyalty and many others applications into Near Field Communication (NFC) mobile devices. We are particularly focused on the preliminary development of MIFARE, which is currently the world’s leading contactless technology, to ensure full compatibility between NFC phones and the installed-based MIFARE infrastructure predominantly used within transportation networks, ticketing and access management domains. This development led to the creation of a new industry standard for managing MIFARE in NFC Mobile phones called MIFARE4Mobile.



2. What are the objectives of this new unit and how does it fit into the larger picture within Gemalto?

Adding assets such as MIFARE4Mobile further strengthens Gemalto’s Trusted Service Management offer linking transport operators, banks and mobile phone operators. Gemalto can now offer TSM services in all NFC market segments: payment, transit and couponing. This will help our customers deploy NFC services and therefore spur the adoption of the NFC technology globally.



3. Are the activities going to evolve to involve more activities/people employed?

Today, it is clear that Gemalto wants to leverage the team expertise in Sophia Antipolis to consolidate its TSM offering and build around it to become the global leader in this field. In the meantime the NFC market is still emerging; its mass-market adoption will clearly be the driver to grow the team locally.

VoIP Telecom, which was set-up in 2000 by Marc Benoist, is extending its market presence throughout Europe, starting with Spain and Italy with the goal of covering the entire Mediterranean basin. The company, which already has a foothold in Monaco and the Maghreb countries (Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria) as well as Mexico, China, Madagascar and Dubai, currently makes 40% of its sales from exports. Today, the firm has become one of the sector’s brightest stars with €2M in sales and 12 employees.

This is largely due to its software solutions, which undercut those of their competitors, as well as its tailored innovative services and SaaS mode (Software as a service) services, software and equipment.
In addition, VoIP offers customers their own individual contact inside the company who takes care of all their telecoms infrastructure needs (purchasing the phones, numbers, lines, etc.).



And VoIP’s push to enter new markets worldwide is also not getting in the way of its plans to consolidate the firm’s presence around France, where it intends to locate bases in Lyon, Toulouse and Rennes. It already has six distributors covering Paris, Normandy, the South-West and the Marseilles region.

The diminutive video camera can also be easily attached to a host of things, from a jacket lapel to a bicycle helmet or ski suit to capture special moments and events on film. And though the camera is tiny, the sound and images are very high quality thanks to its premium digital AVI format. This format allows users to share their videos on the Internet on hugely popular video-sharing sites and social networks such as YouTube, DailyMotion, MySpace and others.



“Shoot 2 Share™” is the latest addition to Sophia Antipolis-based ADCO’s catalogue. The firm also provides connector solutions for IT and telecoms systems as well as industrial robots, measuring devices and consumer electronics. With “Shoot 2 Share™”, the company is targeting the European consumer leisure market and an advertising campaign is due to be launched on the EasyJet airline in-flight magazines in July.

Offering services that range from one-off missions to regular assistance, ANAXIA, which has just opened its doors in the Sophia Antipolis Drakkar sector at Sophia Antipolis, provides made-to-measure computer services to help CEOs of small and medium-sized firms.



2 questions to Christophe Champoussin, founder and manager:



1. What’s special about your service?

Firstly, we only target small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) and particularly those who don’t have an internal IT specialist, but who still have to deal with problems that need a trained professional with the right skills to sort them out. That’s why, in addition to being able to offer traditional IT consulting services, we also want to offer a service that provides firms with a part-time IT manager to supply regular in-house technical support.



2. How does that work in practice?

This means working on site at the client’s workplace for a set period of time (e.g. a half-day or 1 to 2 days a month/year) and being involved in the daily business in order to fully understand the needs of the users and top management as well as acting as an intermediary between the firm and its IT suppliers, and taking care of issues such as security and backups.

The General Manager of the Sophia Antipolis Foundation, Roselyne Koskas, was awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur by French Secretary of State for Overseas Trade, Anne-Marie Idrac, during a ceremony in Paris at the Ministry of Industry and Finance on June 4.



Roselyne Koskas, who was formerly a financial journalist with the Matin de Paris and the Antenne 2 TV channel, moved to the Côte d’Azur many years ago to act as a close aide to honorary senator Pierre Laffitte, the President of the Fondation Sophia Antipolis and the man who founded the science and technology park.

Today’s buildings come equipped with increasing amounts of programmable, automatic installations that take care of a host of tasks, from controlling the heating, monitoring access to the buildings, ensuring video surveillance…. But whilst each installation works efficiently, all the systems don’t always communicate. Hence the idea to launch SmartImmo, a project led by Orange Labs within the SCS (Secured Communicating Solutions) cluster, that aims at providing a house that is both “intelligent” as well as environmentally-friendly. SmartImmo will adjust the temperature in each room to suit its use, anticipate any system breakdowns, signal whenever any part needs to be replaced, display current energy consumption so users realize how much energy they are using and provide long-distance surveillance of a group of buildings via a shared piloting center.

At the core of the system, a black box, which forms the heart of the building’s memory, and constitutes the vital component for the owners, users and technicians who keep everything running smoothly.

The SmartImmo is a €6M budget project involving 10 partners* (local authorities, the construction industry, high-tech companies, start-ups, etc.), and a 25-strong team over a two year period.



Other players on the Côte d’Azur are also involved in the race to reduce buildings’ energy consumption. At Sophia Antipolis, Accenture Technology Labs teams are working on sensors to control temperature and lighting as well as to sense a person’s presence, as part of the European Pobicos (€3.2M) project. Wit Concept at St-Laurent-du-Var, has put together a unique concept for remote control of technical installations and energy consumption, thanks to a system that allows real time verification and monitoring from a distance.

Finally, Madame Christine Boutin, Minister of Housing was received by the CSTB (Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment) in Sophia Antipolis on June 15 where she discovered the latest innovative solutions being developed for the housing industry. Among these, digital mock ups for urban developments such as the future headquarters of Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, new student lodging in Sophia Antipolis or the integration of the Nice Sophia Antipolis University within the future Campus STIC. Also showcased was the Gerhome project, geared at creating intelligent lodging to help maintain the elderly in their homes.







SmartImmo project partners are: Orange, CARI, (BTP), HAGER (electriotechnical solutions & services), the Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment (CSTB), INRIA, Vizelia (property asset management, sustainable commitment displays), Keeneo (intelligent video surveillance), Trusted Logic (embedded sofrware security), ARD, (smart card solutions/mobile telephone), and Newsteo (wireless transmissions solutions).
 

The Swiss communications and event management group, which is one of the market leaders, has more than 850 employees worldwide, including over 80 in France and specialize in the communications and event management industry, organizing events and incentives, congresses and exhibitions as well as offering strategy, creativity and execution in the field of association management.

The group has grown enormously since it was established over 20 years ago and continues to expand despite the current difficult economic climate.



“Despite the economic slowdown, we’ve been able to maintain our strategy and even speed up its deployment,” confided Philippe Fournier, Managing Director for MCI France, adding that “this has enabled us to stay close to our customers and provide the wealth of global expertise that the group can offer in the organizing congresses, events and live communications in order to be ready for the upturn in the economy!”



The new office will be headed up by Marie-Pierre PIRONON, who will bring her 15 years of experience in this sector in the region to the company. “I’m really enthusiastic about joining MCI and growing the Côte d’Azur office and I’m convinced that the combination of the region’s wealth of assets along with MCI’s expertise will offer great growth potential,” she stressed.





More about MCI:

Set-up in 1987, MCI now has 36 offices in 18 countries: in Europe, the Middle East, Asia (Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi) and in South America.
In 2008, the group made 205M€.

The company has opened its new office in the heart of the science and technology part in the World Trade Center in line with its strategy of remaining close to its customers and technological partners. This move, which enables the company to be nearer the region’s IT and telecom players, will also enable it to benefit from the local synergy, particularly the Secured Communicating Solutions (SCS) competitive cluster which is headquartered in Sophia Antipolis.



“This new office confirms Nexence’s strong growth as well as its goal to consolidate its position as leader in the mobile marketing sector and particularly in the sectors of mobile tourism,” noted Stéphane Charpentier, Director of the PACA (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur) agency whose goal is also to develop closer contacts with local players and expand Nexence’s position in the South of France. “The Code Barre 2D and Bluetooth applications, which Nexence have developed, represent a real step forward for the sector and the latest achievements demonstrate how just how mature this market and these technologies are. And that’s also why Sophia Antipolis is a great location for us to continue to expand Nexence,” he added.




More about Nexence:

The company, which is an editor Manager, Bluetooth Manager and TactiBox solutions, assists companies with their mobile marketing strategies and offers a comprehensive service to develop iPhone & Android application and multi-format mobile websites.

Faced with the choice of either banning Wi-Fi or adopting it throughout the company, the massive pharmaceutical group has decided to give free Wi-Fi access to all its employees whilst at the same time taking steps to ensure that the network is secure. And the group’s 30 sites of varying size and specialties are connected via Galderma’s worldwide network. “This stretches from our corporate site at La Défense to our research site at Sophia Antipolis and our production unit close to Annecy,” explained Marc Tournier, who is in charge of IT security at Galderma. The companies outside France are also linked to network, particularly the production center at Montreal and several sales and marketing offices. The group called on Aruba Networks to provide the system, which fends off attacks and also manages mobile connections whilst offering access only on a very clearly defined basis.



A joint-venture formed between Nestlé and L'Oréal in 1981, Galderma has located the largest research center for dermatology in the science and technology park.

The CERAM and Communauté d’Agglomération Sophia Antipolis (CASA) have joined forces to finalize the new living quarters to be set up in the technology park. In addition to the 172-bed student’s residence which is due to be open in September, the complex will also include a range of other services on offer, such as a restaurant, a media center and library, a gymnasium… . The project fits into a large scale project to rehabilitate the park’s Place Sophie Laffitte sector.



The Convention which was just signed also covers other aspects which will enable the CERAM to apply its expertise in prospective and economic intelligence in order to help map out the technology park’s future evolution.

Criston posted record high results for the first five months of 2009 with sales up 30% from the same period in 2009. Company profits were also up after year-on-year sales of licenses jumped 50% and over 20 new major contracts were signed in France and in international markets!



These results “demonstrate how we can supply our customers with innovative technologies that drive productivity and deliver major cost savings as well as higher ROI (return on investment) than our competitors. In addition our IT and security management solutions are often selected as part of companies’ long-term strategies, which suffer less in the current economic climate*,” noted Criston Chairman and CEO, Marc Vaillant.


Criston, which was established in Sophia Antipolis in 1997, recorded sales of €4.3 million in 2008. The company, which also has a site in Paris and one in Tokyo, has a network of over 20 partners in more than 20 countries.





* as quoted in the PACA Informations Economiques.

Despite the current economic crisis, this international IT company that provides consultancy and services in engineering and new technology, has continued to grow its market share and notched up results that are double those of the external R&D market average; A growth that has led to the hiring of an additional 153 employees in the South-East region.



The first SII agency to be set-up outside Paris in 1984, the Sophia Antipolis office has established a strong positioning in driving areas such as information systems, data management and state of the art technologies such as iPhone, Web 2.0, Androïd… Another explanation for its high performance is its focus on enhancing its processes, reaching CMMI level 2 certification 2 years ago.



Finally, the decision to invest in result based development projects in terms of services, workpackage, dedicated teams has paid off. These projects represent 40% of the team’s workforce today.








About SII:

SII is a consulting and engineering firm specialized in R&D outsourcing. It is listed on the stock exchange, and has 2 900 collaborators throughout Europe. SII PACA, established in 1984 with offices Sophia Antipolis and Aix-en-Provence, has a leadership position in the region, with over 550 consultants.





* CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration)

21Net, a European Internet operator specializing in broadband Internet access to trains via satellite communications has joined forces with UDcast, a global provider of wireless IP broadcast solutions, which has a sales office in Sophia Antipolis, to provide a best-in-class, broadband Internet service to train passengers.
21Net said it had chosen UDcast as its supplier because of the company’s flexibility and capacity to adapt to 21Net's specific requirements in the Train environment. “We are convinced that incorporating the UDcast system will greatly enhance the flexibility and performance of the 21Net Broadband to Trains solution,” noted Jean-François de Lantsheere, CEO of 21Net.



UDcast’s satellite-aware IP appliances are widely deployed at thousands of sites around the globe and its innovative Open Service Platform combines WAN optimization and Compression with Customer - and Application -specific adaptations for Satellite, WiMAX, Cellular and other Wireless networks.



Commenting on the partnership, UDcast CEO Antoine Clerget said that, “We are extremely proud to have been selected by 21Net as their supplier and partner for WAN optimization, contributing to 21Net's advance in their service offering.”

A recent report published in the American Heart Association online magazine, June 22, 2009, confirmed that classical music has the potential to help the rehabilitation of stroke and cardiac patients. Whilst earlier studies have showed that changes in blood pressure and heart rate seem to keep time with the pace of music, this recent study found that every crescendo in the music led to increased narrowing of blood vessels under the skin, increased blood pressure and heart rate.

The study was carried out in Italy with 24 patients who listened to five assorted tracks of classical music whilst their blood flow and respiration was simultaneously monitored. These results should prompt the launch of a more extensive study.



The European Heart House located in Sophia Antipolis is the administrative headquarters of the European Society of Cardiology and its executive branch ECOR which is in charge of organizing the annual ESC congress, the largest cardiology meeting in the world. It also serves as a conference and training center, offering a range of high level sessions and events throughout the year. Finally, the Sophia site is the centre of a European data network collecting information on multicentric studies, epidemic surveys… to help boost research in the prevention of cardio-vascular diseases.

CERAM Business School and Groupe ESC Lille have announced their merger. This event will change the hierarchy of business schools in France and Europe. The new entity will have 5600 students and 138 permanent professors.
The multi-campus business school will be spread over three sites in France - Lille, Paris and Sophia Antipolis - and will ultimately incorporate several international campuses located throughout the world. Alice Guilhon, Director of CERAM Business School is the head of the new group whose name and identity will be announced before the end of the year. The first intake under the new brand will be in September 2010.


Jean-Pierre Raman, director of Groupe ESC Lille, will become Delegate General of the association. He will be in charge of relations with the University as well as the strategic projects of the new group.




A pioneering initiative and model for the future of education in France
International competition in higher education has increased considerably over the past ten years and the time has come - at the impetus of the government - to bring together the French educational and research establishments (universities, Grandes Ecoles, research laboratories, etc.).
The objective is to create clusters large enough and with sufficient resources to be competitive at an international level. The merger of Groupe ESC Lille and CERAM Business School subscribes to this dynamic through an atypical and innovative development project. Groupe ESC Lille, a not-for-profit association and private school, has 3000 students. CERAM Business School, an organization dependent on the Nice Côte d'Azur Chamber of Commerce, has 2600 students. The merger of these two important institutions is a pioneering initiative that could serve as a model for the future of French higher education.



Key figures

• A single Grande Ecole with a range of Bachelors, Masters of Science, Specialized Masters, PhD and MBA programmes

• 5600 students

• 20,000 alumni

• 138 permanent professors

• 62 CNRS stars, 268 publications

• 46 million euro budget



Worldwide campuses and partnerships


The new group has a significant presence in France with three campuses in Lille, Paris and Sophia Antipolis. It will eventually have campuses and international partnerships on all five continents: China and India, the United States, Brazil, Australia, Russia and Morocco.
The Chinese and Moroccan campuses exist already. A US project is expected in 2010. The group’s aim is to offer its students a truly international experience, training students in areas close to businesses in the knowledge economy. It will also provide a 100% international education.



The vision of the new entity: a word from the Directors

The aim of the new group is to be among the top five French business schools, and within the top 15 in Europe. Both parties in the merger share the same pedagogical vision and wish to educate future leaders of the knowledge economy for an ever changing world, preparing them to network, to master information technology, and develop an autonomy of thought, while remaining aware of sustainable development and social responsibility issues.



Alice Guilhon, Director of CERAM Business School: "CERAM and ESC Lille have merged to create one of the first business schools to train the makers of a new multidisciplinary world - that of the knowledge economy. We will teach ethical, open-minded, humane, cultured managers who will make a difference through cutting edge management practices. This merger of two high growth schools is based on the will of the two groups of faculty to accompany students on the journey to tomorrow’s world of business."



Jean-Pierre Raman, Director of ESC Lille: "By merging, we give birth to a new school, a new principle. Being present where new economies are is a necessity and having campuses in these locations is an educational imperative for the science of action. Giving our students the opportunity to be open-minded men and women, to guide them in choosing from among the many opportunities the world has to offer... these are the objectives of the new school."



Follow the merger as it happens: Link to the dedictaed site


Press contact: Neil Atherton at Noir sur Blanc
natherton@noirsurblanc.com




About CERAM Business School

CERAM Business School offers a wide range of programmes in graduate and executive education, among them the Grande Ecole programme (ESC). CERAM’s strategy is reinforced by its location in Europe’s leading technological park, Sophia Antipolis, as well as by the competence of its faculty and a network of international academic and professional partners. Their mission is to be a world-class actor on the global stage for higher management education, reputed specifically for its ability to prepare future managers to evolve in the knowledge-based economy. Since 2008, CERAM has opened two campus branches in La Défense near Paris and Suzhou in China. CERAM is Equis accredited and certified ISO 9001 and EFQM.



CERAM Business School is an establishment of the French Riviera Chamber of Commerce.



About ESC Lille – The Lille School of Management


Lille School of Management (Groupe ESC Lille) is one of France’s most well-known business schools. Founded in 1892 and EQUIS accredited by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), the school offers a wide range of management programmes, taught in English and in French at Bachelor, Master, and Doctoral levels as well as Executive Education.
ESC Lille has campuses in both Lille and Paris and comprises 3,000 students including 750 international students, 65 core faculty members, 75 visiting professors, 450 adjunct professors and 500 guest lecturers. It has internationally recognized expertise in direct marketing, distance selling and project management. For further information, please visit: www.esc-lille.eu

Faced with growing international competition over the last 10 years, the French government has encouraged consolidation amongst the country’s higher education and research establishments such as universities, Grandes Ecoles and R&D labs. The goal is to establish clusters which are big enough, and have the right assets, to compete on the international scene.
The merger of Groupe ESC Lille and CERAM Business School subscribes to this dynamic. And the new entity will become France’s leading business school in terms of student numbers.



Alice Guilhon, Director of CERAM Business School will become head of the new school, whilst Jean-Pierre Raman, director of Groupe ESC Lille, will become Delegate General of the association, in charge of relations with the University as well as of the group’s pedagogical projects.



4 questions to Alice Guilhon, Director of the CERAM Business school, who will head the new group:



1. What does this merger represent in terms of potential?

This merger will make CERAM and the ESC Lille a key player in higher education, a school that symbolizes innovation and one that will play an important role in making the Alpes-Maritimes more competitive and increase its profile on the international stage. At the heart of this project are the students, who will benefit from an enriched offer in terms of choices, professors, student experience and overall training. And the merger makes sense since the two schools share a common academic vision and have the same ambitions for the future.



2. What is the nature of the project?

This is an atypical and innovative development project. Groupe ESC Lille, with its 3,000 students, is a non-profit association and private school, whilst the CERAM Business School, home to 2,600 students, is an organization dependent on the Nice Côte d'Azur Chamber of Commerce. The merger of these two important institutions, with distinct legal and management systems, is a pioneering initiative, geared at achieving growth rather than mere rationalization.



3. How does this translate in concrete terms?

The new multi-campus business school will operate in 3 sites around France - Lille, Paris and Sophia Antipolis - and promote the strengths of these different territories which contribute to its success. This will give students an outstanding opportunity to choose between locations and schedules for their curriculum.
Subsidiary sites are also to be deployed throughout the world to provide students with a truly international experience. To date, the school already has a campus in China and in Morocco and a USA campus should be operational in 2010.

The new business school, whose name and identity will be announced before the end of the year, will kick-off its first school year in September 2010.



4. How will the Sophia site be impacted by this merger?

Our strong foundation within Sophia Antipolis is part of our DNA with an ongoing contribution to this territory in terms of networks, jobs and training, at the service of local companies. And our expertise in areas that include the innovation chain, tourism, risk management, territorial intelligence and sustainable development, etc, enable us to play an active role alongside key players in the region. We plan to do our utmost as a new group to promote this local expertise on the international scene. This is already happening in China where the opening of the CERAM campus has helped increase the visibility of Sophia Antipolis and the Alpes-Maritimes. Tomorrow, we will do the same with the Nord-Pas-de-Calais! So this merger is definitely a Plus for the technology park and its international reputation. We plan to build a Grande Ecole of international importance, which is strongly rooted within France’s foremost economic territories.






Key figures:

* One Grande Ecole and a range of Bachelors, Masters of Science, Specialized Masters, PhD and MBA programs,

* 5,600 students,

* 20,000 alumni,

* 138 permanent professors,

* 62 CNRS stars,

* 268 publications,

* 46 million euro budget.

For the sixth year running, Nice-Sophia Antipolis will be the sole gateway of entry for French projects competing in this prestigious competition, which is better known as the “GALILEO MASTERS” and which is aimed at encouraging new ideas in the satellite navigation applications sector.


Prizes worth more than €300,000 are up for grabs and in addition to the €20,000 prize awarded to the 2009 “Galileo Master” there are also 8 special prizes and 11 regional awards.


Prize winners are given the unique opportunity of gaining access to the R&D networks of partner regions and companies as well as assistance in developing projects and setting-up new companies. As such, the Nice-Sophia Antipolis partner region is offering free office space in Sophia Antipolis for six months plus 10 days of free consulting!



The European Satellite Navigation competition offers increased visibility and extra funding, and everyone, from professionals to the general public, in any sector of activity that could include health, transport, mapping, civil security or logistics, can enter the competition.

So get cracking and enter your project now!

Spiders, snakes, sea anemones and other poisonous creatures look set to become the pharmacies of the future according to Sophia Antipolis-based firm, VenomeTech, which is developing innovative drugs using proteins found in animal venoms. And the company’s innovative approach won it top honours at this year’s Concours National d’aide à la Création d’Entreprises de technologies innovantes (National competition to assist innovative start-ups) in the start-up/development category. The jury awarded VenomeTech the largest subsidy of €400,000, which was only awarded to four projects this year. And this cash injection plus the aid already awarded to the firm by the Paca-Est incubator, which has been assisting VenomeTech for over a year, will enable it to kick-start its business.



The potential of animal venoms is immense as the number of proteins already identified in venoms today is estimated at around 40 million! This means the number of pharmaceutical markets that VenomeTech can tap into is hugely promising, particularly as the leading pharmaceutical companies are eagerly on the look out for innovative molecules to fill-up their development pipelines in the today’s difficult economic climate.

Mobilegov has raised €3M in a new financing round that was carried out in several stages between Spring 2008 and Spring 2009. The company will be now be able to fully deploy its development strategy and increase its notoriety in order to break into international markets such as the USA as well as the major European markets.



“This injection of new funds provides an important financial flexibility which will allow us to continue to grow. As of now, it has enabled the speed-up of product technical development as well as the launch of sales and marketing operations,” the company noted in a press release.



Mobilegov security solutions rely on patented digital ADN technology which ensures a thorough identification of any IT equipment and allows company’s to fully secure their clients’ data.

And the stage is being set for green business to take off. Last May saw France’s Minister of State, Jean-Louis Borloo, unveil a two-pronged approach to establish a French research and innovation team focused on new energy sources and set-up a fund with a €100M annual budget that will also be devoted to new energy sources. These new initiatives should inject some €440 billion of new investment into the “green” sector, which today provides employment for some 120,000 people.



The new impetus given to this youthful but growing sector was very much in evidence at this year’s ENR AGORA trade show, which attracted over 800 people to the Agora Einstein at Sophia Antipolis on July 2 & 3. The annual get-together provided an overview of all the world’s most promising energy sectors and particularly those in China and Russia as well as in the Mediterranean region. The President of the Convention France-Maghreb, Mohammed El Ouahdoudi, underlined the vast potential of the Mediterranean energy market’s expectations, needs and business opportunities. And Candace Johnson, President of the ISF Succès Europe investment fund highlighted how green innovation has already become the new pillar of tomorrow’s economy.



Specialist workshops for innovative start-ups enabled participants to discover the Côte d’Azur’s budding environmental stars that include Solar Indice, whose solar calculation software helps optimize energy performance, and Demtech, whose network of wireless sensors helps monitor and save energy.


Clean transport was also at the heart of many of the conferences, with a presentation by the Conseil Régional PACA on its plans for clean urban transport as well as demonstrations of the latest electric-powered vehicles by Cité du futur & Go Electrix, and electric bicycles by Clean Energy Planet.



A large number of leading companies were also present, including Veolia Propreté, Honda, La Poste and Wirecom Technologies, to name just a few. The salon was organized by French construction company, CARI.

The CERAM and Communauté d’Agglomération Sophia Antipolis (CASA) have joined forces to finalize the new living quarters to be set up in the technology park. In addition to the 172-bed student’s residence which is due to be open in September, the complex will also include a range of other services on offer, such as a restaurant, a media center and library, a gymnasium… . The project fits into a large scale project to rehabilitate the park’s Place Sophie Laffitte sector.



The Convention which was just signed also covers other aspects which will enable the CERAM to apply its expertise in prospective and economic intelligence in order to help map out the technology park’s future evolution.

The France Télécom Orange* regional headquarters have been based now for about a year in Sophia Antipolis where the group has had a presence for some 20 years. The regional HQ has been led since 2001 by Laurent Londeix* who has also headed up the Orange Labs research teams since 2001 and been extremely involved in the local economy for many years.




5 questions to Laurent Londeix, Regional Director PACA France Télécom Orange:



1. It’s just over a year since you took up your current position as Regional Director Orange and the Nice business was transferred to the Orange Labs site at Sophia Antipolis.
Were these two operations linked in any way?

These decisions were principally taken for practical reasons. The move to Sophia Antipolis was made to free up space for the 400 people at the customer relations call center at Nice and it also made sense to be located more towards the East since the regional headquarters cover both the Alpes-Maritimes and the Var departments. Obviously, I also have a strong attachment to the science and technology park where I was head of the Orange Labs teams for several years and had been very involved in the local dynamics.



2. What impact does the site have on current major projects?

France Télécom employs 1,750 people in the Alpes-Maritimes, including 500 at the Sophia Antipolis site, which is one of the top five employers at the technology park.

As well as the regional headquarters, four other teams are based at the Sophia site: the Orange Labs R&D teams; the teams in charge of developing and implementing the www.orange.fr website; the Orange Business Services branch, which designs and pilots the engineering networks of large companies around the globe; and a new unit, IT&L@bs, which provides telecoms and IT integration services. So, as you can see, the Sophia Antipolis site is much more than just a regional center since it plays a role at both national and international level.



3. What are the group’s main objectives and what role will the Sophia Antipolis site play in achieving these?

Thanks to its innovation strengths, the Sophia Antipolis site has always been a pioneer in the group. The very first Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) tests were carried out here, as were the first video conferences. Projects underway currently include the development and deployment of the new Orange email website, “webmail 2.0”, which is due to be ready for all our clients between now and the end of the year, as well as the new Business Live Box for the professional telecoms market.

But innovation isn’t restricted to the R&D sector. It also includes other activities at the site such as Orange Business Services, where teams are constantly innovating to meet the needs of our international clients.



4. You’re very involved in local networks…
Do you feel the area’s dynamics help drive innovation and growth?

France Telecom has historically been a very important player in the region and the opportunity to harness the power of innovative available at Sophia is obviously a real asset for us. We’ve also been able to build research partnerships with bodies such as Eurécom, INRIA and others and we’re also very involved in cutting-edge projects within the world class competitive clusters such as the SCS (Secured Communicating Solutions) and the Risk cluster. And the abundance of ideas and real open-mindedness that exists here on the Côte d’Azur makes it the perfect place to carry out telecoms tests, particularly in the sustainable development sector.



5. Can you highlight some current projects?

Current projects include SmartImmo, which is sponsored by Orange Labs and which aims to make buildings more intelligent and environmentally-friendly in terms of energy consumption. Other projects focus on traceability via RFID, Malongo coffee machines in partnership with IBM and STMicroelectronics; student NFC mobile cards in partnership with the université de Nice Sophia Antipolis as part of the Nice Digital City initiative; and a project that is particularly close to my heart: urban environmental monitoring that keeps track of a range of parameters such as temperature, noise, air quality, water leakages, etc. This initiative, which has already been tested in partnership with the town of Cagnes-sur-Mer, could be extended to the Nice conglomeration and its future Eco-Vallée de la Plaine du Var. In addition, we’re keeping a close eye on start-ups in the area, and particularly those within high tech incubators such as Telecom ParisTech and Paca Est, where such initiatives as WebInterpret – a solution dedicated to multilingual teleconferences – which could be extremely interesting to our own businesses.





France Télécom - Facts & Figures:

France Télécom, with its key brand Orange, is the number three mobile operator and the number one provider of broadband internet services in Europe and, under the brand Orange Business Services, is one of the world leaders in providing telecommunication services to multinational companies. It is at the forefront of research with 18 Orange Labs spread over 3 continents.



* 2008 consolidated sales: €53.5 billion in 2008

* 186 million customers in 32 countries as at June 30, 2009

* 125.5 million mobile customers worldwide

* 13.4 million broadband internet (ADSL) customers in Europe




* Laurent Londeix was President of the Telecom Valley association between 2005 and 2007, and today is Vice-President of the world class Secured Communicating Solutions (SCS) cluster as well as Vice-President of the Club des Dirigeants de Sophia Antipolis, Vice-President of the Incubateur PACA Est and technical counselor for the International Chamber of Commerce Nice-Côte d’Azur.

“The laboratory’s purpose is to invest in exploratory research, which it hopes in the long term will consolidate its position in growth sectors,” explained Prof. Marc Dacier, Director of Symantec Europe’s research laboratory. “Our goal is to advance current research in the areas of data protection and Internet security in order to offer solutions to protect our customers in the future,” he added.



The company recently strengthened its presence in the region with the arrival of an additional three researchers: senior engineer Angelos D. Keromytis from the University of Columbia and two research engineers, Eurécom graduate Corrado Leita and Patrick Horkan, a graduate of the National University of Ireland (Galway). “One year after setting-up the R&D center at Sophia Antipolis, we’re delighted to welcome these new members of our team,” noted Marc Dacier, adding that, “The addition of these three highly-qualified engineers to our team will help us increase our knowledge and understanding of the greatest threats facing the Internet as well as the latest trends in malicious software.”



Based in Cupertino in California, Symantec is present in 40 countries and has over 14,000 employees worldwide.

Start-up, IPernity, which takes its name from combining ‘IP’ and 'eternity’, was listed on the free market of Euronext Paris, on July 20. The flotation followed a successful financing round, which saw the start-up successfully raise a million Euro from 128 personal investors keen to invest in small and medium-sized companies and benefit from a reduction in France’s new ISF wealth tax under the country’s TEPA law.



Established in 2007 by Christophe Ruelle, who founded the Echo search engine and eStat.com, IPernity describes itself as a multimedia sharing and social networking site where members can “publish and share whatever you want with whomever you want” including photos, videos, texts, blogs etc., which can be stored and shared over a long period. The site, which is aimed at attract families and friends due to its large, long-term storage capacity, compares itself with leading photo, video and social networking sites such as YouTube, Facebook etc.



“The goal of this operation wasn’t to raise capital but to reassure the 128 private investors who invested in us.” CEO IPernity, Christian Conti. “This flotation guarantees that our investors will be able to sell their shares in five years time and benefit from the reduction in wealth tax offered under the new loi Tepa.” he explained.



The company, which is financed via member subscriptions (€2 a month), expects to become profitable between now and 2012 and forecasts sales of €10 million by 2013.

The world’s largest association for the meetings profession and the leader in the field of business tourism, MPI (Meeting Professionals International), will open three new Global Training Centers for Meetings and Business Events. This initiative, which forms part of the MPI Global Knowledge Plan, will lead to 14 centers being set-up over the next two years. All three schools are renowned for their courses in event management (offering both Bachelors and Masters programmes), which place strong emphasis on business management. MPI will also collaborate closely with the teaching staff in all three schools in order to offer the widest possible choice of event management training to students.
In addition to its main campus at Sophia Antipolis, CERAM Business School also has two other campuses, one at Paris-La Défense in the Pôle Universitaire Léonard de Vinci and one in China, which was set up as a result of a partnership with the Pôle Technologique et Scientifique de Suzhou (SSTT), near Shanghai.

CERAM was ranked recently as one of the leading European schools and universities in the Financial Times’ international ranking of Best Masters in Management programs.




MPI:
Established in 1972, MPI’s global network has some 24,000 members in 64 countries or “chapters” in America, Asia, the Middle East and Europe where there are 11 chapters and 2,500 members. The association offers a wide range of seminars and conferences throughout the year to its members to enable them to keep pace with changes in their sectors.

Launched as part of the EUREKA program, which is led by Spain, EUREKA Tourism is a European strategic initiative aimed at generating new ideas for the tourism sector based on innovative technology, which was renewed in Lisbon on June 19 this year for an additional three years.



Côte d’Azur based DEV-HELP was selected to represent France on the 10-member strong European Consultative Committee because of its wide experience in assisting small and medium-sized (SME) companies to set-up technological and sales and marketing partnerships.

The firm, which is very involved in the region’s economy, is also on the board of the Telecom Valley association, and leads the Côte d’Azur’s Tourism@ project, which focuses on technology and innovation for the tourism industry. The company is also a member of the Mission de Développement Economique Régionale PACA and the Pacte PME’s world class SCS (Secured Communicating Solutions) cluster.



An intergovernmental initiative launched in 1985 at the behest of France and Germany, EUREKA aims to encourage cooperation between companies and research bodies to develop innovative products, processes or services of commercial interest.

In 2008 EUREKA had a total of 39 member countries that included Israel, Norway, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey and European Community member countries.

Pain is one of the major challenges facing public health. And the challenge to tackle this issue has been taken up by world-renowned specialist and researcher in ion channels, Prof. Michel Lazdunski and his team of eminent researchers with the launch of Theralpha. The start-up was co-founded by virologist and serial entrepreneur
Marc Vasseur and David Dellamonica, who will lead the company’s operational departments. The new company is housed in the PACA-EST incubator at the CICA in Sophia Antipolis.




Heading up the new company is David Dellamonica, CEO, Théralpha:



1. Can you tell us about the team and how the campaign is being deployed around the region?

We’ve amassed all the skills necessary to ensure that the Côte d’Azur will become the pioneer in the fight to relieve pain. The project was conceived within the CNRS and backed by UNSA’s Institut de Pharmacologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IPMC), which is based at the Sophia technology park. This is a real joint effort involving top level experts such as Marc Vasseur, co-founder and virologist at the institut Pasteur and founder of Genset/Serono, and neurologist Michel Lanteri-Minet, president of the société française de la douleur, and patron of the service de la douleur (pain department) at the CHU de Nice, and Carlos Belmonte, president of the American Academy of Neurology, amongst others. Leading the charge is Prof. Michel Lazdunski - founder of the IPMC, CNRS gold medalist, and member of the Académie des Sciences - who has spent many years studying ion channels and increasing the understanding of the mechanisms of anti-depressants as well as pain perception.



2. What goals have you set?

The company was set-up to build on the work carried out - and discoveries made - by Prof. Michel Lazdunski and his team within the IPMC research center. Theralpha is focused on the development of innovative peptides for the treatment of pain and inflammation. Our main goal is to take a different approach from analgesics such as codeine or morphine, with their range of side effects, and bring to market effective new pain alleviation treatments with fewer side effects. The goal is to pinpoint - and block - the channels mostly responsible for transmitting pain signals to the central nervous system.



3. What stage are you at and what will be next concrete steps to take?

We’re focusing our efforts firstly on the clinical development of a peptide (PcTx1) for untreatable chronic pain in cancer patients, who represent around one-third of the two million cancer sufferers. The demand is so great that this should speed-up the clinical phase and the approval process to get products to market. However, we’re not focusing on just one illness. We’re also looking for ways to help patients suffering from different pathologies who suffer chronic pain.

A second peptide (APETx2), which is currently in the pre-clinical phase, will be developed for major markets such as for patients suffering from arthritis or rheumatoid polyarthritis as it is difficult to get current pain relief medication to work effectively in these cases.

And in about a year’s time, during phase I/IIa trials, we should be able to offer the first applications to hospital patients experiencing extreme pain thanks to a financing round that is currently underway to raise €3 million and significant backing from OSEO*.




David Dellamonica : david@theralpha.com



* OSEO: French government instance to back SMEs.

Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, announced that is has completed the acquisition of Sophia Antipolis-based Trusted Logic from its founders and shareholders. The group, which already held a 32% stake in Trusted Logic, aims to accelerate the international development of theTrusted Logic technologies.


A leading provider of secure software platforms for personal portable devices, Trusted Logic has 3 business divisions: PCD (Professional & Consumer Devices), which provides Trusted Foundations™, an execution environment selected by ARM and Texas Instruments for security-demanding applications; Trusted Foundations™, which also extends the SIM card’s capabilities by providing enhanced secure interaction with the handset and the user; the SST (Smart Cards & Secure Tokens) division, which markets the jTOP® software suite for smart cards, USB keys and e-tokens; and Trusted Labs, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Trusted Logic, which offers security consulting and evaluation services. Under the terms of the agreement, Trusted Logic and Trusted Labs will continue to operate as separate entities with their own teams, products and services and under their own brand names.



Founder and CEO of Trusted Logic, Dominique Bolignano, said, “This deal is the best outcome for the customers of Trusted Logic and for our employees. We really look forward to leveraging on Gemalto’s commercial presence around the globe to accelerate the growth of the business.” And Philippe Vallée, Executive Vive-President of the Telecommunications Business Unit at Gemalto noted that, “Trusted Logic is a well respected and growing company, with blue chip customers and a perspective that is very complementary to Gemalto’s vision. Gemalto will accelerate the deployment of its excellent technologies, leveraging on jTOP and Trusted Foundations.”






Facts & Figures:


* Established in 1999, Trusted Logic is a pioneer of the digital security market, providing secure software for personal portable devices. The company, which employs around 100 people, has operations in France, Ireland, Singapore and South Africa, and posted sales of €9.8 million in 2008.



* Gemalto Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO) is at the heart of the evolving digital society, meeting the demands of billions of people worldwide for mobile connectivitity, identity and data protection, credit card safety, health and transportation services, e-government and national security. With 10,000 employees operating out of 75 offices, research and service centers in 40 countries, it recorded annual sales of €1.68 billion in 2008.

3 questions to Georges Maurel, CEO, Prim’Vision:


1. What makes your company’s services stand out?

Prim’ Vision offers clients an "à la carte" service to advertise on mobile phones enabling operators to better target their advertising campaigns, whilst users receive ads that reflect their tastes and interests. The service also uses a secure platform to stock sensitive information such as user data, payment etc. And it also enables operators to propose new subsidizing schemes that benefit end-users.


2. How important was this financing round for you?

It was a real benchmark for the company as it demonstrated how much people believed in us. Our long-serving shareholders all supported the financing round but we also saw new shareholders buy into our capital base. And our investors’ confidence in the company reinforces Prim’Vision’s belief in its growth strategy.


3. What new goals have you set?

This new €1.5 million injection of funds will enable the company to get the next generation of products to market as well as allowing us to complete our growth in terms of technology and prospect new clients. This new capital will also obviously help to strengthen the company.

More prizes, more support & coaching, more business opportunities… and rewards worth €150,000 for the winners of this contest targeting mobile applications developers to shape, develop and implement ideas and projects. Two categories of prizes are up for grabs for the most innovative SIM-based mobile applications and for emerging start-up projects.



This year’s contest sees strengthened support from the main worldwide mobile applications and services stakeholders and incubators such as SIMalliance, Sun Microsystems, Samsung, Telefonica, TIM, Telecom Paris-Tech/Eurecom. Team Côte d’Azur, sponsor of the SIMagine 2010 contest, in partnership with CERAM ESC Lille, Kahn & Associés and Ventech, will provide full expert support to winners for their start-up creation project.



A SIMagine Conference will be held September 22 in Sophia-Antipolis, organized during the Smart Event'09 in Sophia Antipolis. This one-day event features renowned industry figures who will present the latest developments in SIM cards, the Java programming language and market trends.



Get full details on the schedule, rules, awards etc. at link below.

Two members of Sophia Antipolis-based search engine market agency, Visiplus, have just been awarded the new Google skills qualification program, “Google Analytics Individual Qualification”. This Google certificate demonstrates a professionals’ advanced proficiency in Google Analytics, a solution that provides rich insight into website traffic and marketing and sales effectiveness.


In particular, it will enable Visiplus to bring new expertise in measuring and optimizing the Return On Investment from online advertising campaigns for its clients. This new qualification “further strengthens our position as a major player in referencing Internet websites in France,” noted Régis Micheli, Visiplus SAS Chairman and co-author of a book entitled “Les clés du référencement sur le Web” (the keys to referencing on the Web).

The Côte d’Azur is home to a wealthy, international population, often with assets in a number of different countries. The firm Anthony & Cie, which was founded by tax and finance expert Professor Robert Anthony, has been offering guidance to this type of wealthy customer for  over 20 years, helping them optimize tax and insurance issues within a multicultural context. Today, it is enriching its offer with the expansion of Anthony Investments, specialized in upmarket real estate transactions and management.



3 questions to Robert Anthony, Principal Partner
of Anthony & Cie:


1.  How would you define your activity in a nutshell?

We operate as a "Family Office", which means we provide a very close accompaniment to families as if a head conductor dealing with issues of taxes,  law, insurance, payment of properties… in an international context involving a wide range of rules and regulations to be taken into account. With the development of Anthony Investments, our goal is to assist our customers in all their decision making when it comes to buying or selling a property in France, to guarantee the best structure for taxes, the most economic mortgage, the right insurance… In a nutshell, with our Anthony Investments offer, our clients can consider their real estate advisor as their own personal assistant.


2. What is the general context for this type of activity and on the Côte d’Azur in particular?

In the past years, the international market has become more and more regulated, a phenomenon recently reinforced by the G20 which is closing the gap on tax havens worldwide. So wealthy families are having a harder and harder time knowing the best way to handle the buying, selling, maintaining of their assets in different countries. The Côte d’Azur attracts a very cosmopolitan, upmarket population and they are simply not getting the right advice, often coming to us once the damage is done. Our aim is try to protect them from the beginning so that their assets are secure and their best interests watched over.


3. What is your scope and targeted clientele?

We cater to French and international customers, taking into account the full scope of their assets and sit alongside them to help them make the right decisions. With over 250 clients, we are known as one of the top 20 wealth management firms in France. In terms of real estate, we are looking at purchases from €800,000 upwards. Unlike real estate agents, we don’t run just on commissions but also provide our services as consultants, seeking the customer’s best interest. For example, we will assist a customer not only in buying and selling a property and also work out how to take care of his wealth and inheritance planning, and tax co-ordination needs; how to get better mortgage structures than the ones on the traditional mortgage market and make sure a customer buying in a fire zone is fully covered by insurance… .





Contact: Tel.: +33 (0)4 93 65 32 23




* The ‘Family Office’ first appeared in the XIXth century in the USA, when the Rockefeller family set up its own investment office to manage the family wealth and accounting. This innovative concept provides bespoke, centralized financial advice for high net worth families.

The day-long event, organized as part of the Smart Event (held from 22-25 September at Sophia Antipolis), focused on developers and entrepreneurs to encourage them to enter the 11th SIMAgine competition. Team Côte d’Azur is one of the main SIMagine 2010 sponsors, along with the CERAM ESC Lille, the Télécom ParisTech Eurécom incubator, Kahn & Associés and Ventech. The annual world-wide competition, which has been renamed, “The SIM to business mobile innovation contest”, has now become an industry-supported event. And everything is being done to increase the profile of the international contest that attracts close on 200 innovative projects around SIM cards and new mobile NFC applications. The re-looked competition is now offering more prizes as well as more support and coaching and more business opportunities. And €150,000 worth of prizes are up for grabs this year!


“We’ve teamed up this year with SIMalliance with the common goal of rewarding the best applications and projects in the most promising sectors and to accompany the three winning projects for a 24-month period incubation here on the Côte d’Azur,” explained Team Côte d’Azur President, Jean-Pierre Mascarelli, at a press conference during the Smart Event. “The goal is to help strengthen innovation in the mobile phone sector as well as to convince young entrepreneurs to develop their businesses from Sophia Antipolis.”  



The aim of the 23 September conference was to review the latest technological advances in the SIM card and NFC field as well as the latest market trends in these trailblazing sectors. There was a large turnout of industry leaders and the conferences were hosted by executives from a host of leading groups, including Samsung, Sun Microsystems and operator TIM. Members of the SCS (Secured Communicating Solutions) competitive cluster also came along to present their collaborative approach in the research field. The event was an opportunity for participants to meet and exchange information and the program also included a session for “Start-ups support and coaching”, jointly hosted by Team Côte d’Azur, the CERAM ESC Lille and the Télécom ParisTech Eurécom incubator. “Everything was done to win the confidence of the young entrepreneurs and encourage them to take part in this competition, in which we’re extremely involved,” underlined Ségolène Pin-Monsaingeon, IT  Business Unit Manager at Team Côte d’Azur. “This first contact is crucial as we, and the other partners, have invested in this competition and agreed to provide support to the winners throughout their two-year incubation period at Sophia Antipolis.”  



The 10th Smart Event that was held from September 22-25 at the Agora Einstein in Sophia Antipolis featured over 150 top speakers and attracted some 700 participants. The event was organized around 3 simultaneous international conferences: e-Smart on new technologies and the future of digital security technologies; Smart Mobility on trusted mobile applications and World e-ID on the latest innovations in e-ID. It also offered RFID training sessions as part of the Smart University program.

Four special topic prizes and 13 regional prizes were awarded October 21 2008 to the winners of the European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC), selected from amongst 300 projects for their creativity and technological innovation. The winners included Lokesh Bitra, who was awarded the Regional Prize for France for his “Yellow Tags” idea, based on highlighted virtual tags placed in certain locations to enable interface with cell phones and GPS-enabled mobile devices.


As Lokesh explained, “The solution allows businesses to equip their marketing displays with tags that enable them to interface with cell phone users who have simply pointed their devices–in camera mode- at the display. For example, by directing your phone towards a movie theatre, you could find out if there are still seats available for a show and even do the booking if you wish.”




This solution, based on Mobile Internet Technology adds a new dimension, introducing a location and context sensitive medium for businesses to connect and communicate with their customers on the move. With the growing Location Based Services market and emerging services and business models on mobile-web, Yellow Tags has huge potential.



In addition to the prize, Bitra was offered assistance from Team Côte d’Azur who helped him set up offices in Sophia Antipolis. “We have established our R&D Center in the technology park which offers an excellent environment for IT start-ups with its number of co-entrepreneurs, engineers, investors…, as well as major Research institutes such as INRIA.” Adding, “Team Côte d'Azur, particularly
Mr. Chapperon, Inward Investments Manager, has provided extended support and helped me in all aspects to ensure my establishment here.”

The SAME Forum has gone from strength to strength since it was set-up 12 years ago thanks to the backing of industry leaders that include Dassault Systems, Cadence, Texas Instruments, IBM, ST-Ericsson, Infineon and others. And this year, around 1,000 participants attended the highly respected event.

The 2009 forum was held in the prestigious surroundings of the CICA (Centre International de Communicaton Avancée – the International Advanced Communications Center) at Sophia Antipolis.


This year’s focus was on wireless technologies in everyday life and therefore the spotlight was on start-ups with lots of tutorials and technical presentations and documentation on offer to enable participants to discover the latest technologies being put in place. And for the first time ever, the show linked up with two other major microelectronics conferences, DASIP and FDL & DEBUG 2009.



The Sophia Antipolis event is organized annually by the association SAME (Sophia Antipolis MicroElectronics), which shares the same goal as Team Côte d’Azur, which partners the event, to promote, develop and increase the reputation of the region’s microelectronics sector. And this objective has become even more crucial as the microelectronics sector has already been impacted by today’s difficult economic climate,






* The association SAME, which was established in July 2004, has 30 members from the microelectronics and high-tech sector as well as from research laboratories and higher education. The current president is Jacques Olivier Piednoir.


For more information about the association, contact Anne Claire DESNEULIN / e-mail address below / tel.: + 33 (0) 4 92 29 4 8 25.

Following the “Android by Google” presentation last 2 July , Telecom Valley Open Source commission is organizing a conference, “Sophia fait sa Java”, in partnership with Riviera JUG (Java User Group) and l’école Polytech’Nice Sophia. The program includes 4 conferences hosted by internationally-recognized experts.

For Pascal Flamand, leader of the Open Source commission, “You find Java in practically all types of software and there are thousands of tools based on Java (frame-work, development environments, prewritten components…). The advantage is that just about everything is in Open Source. Thanks to this region’s wealth of resources and skills, I am convinced that the technology park can become a place of reference for Open Source technologies.”



Team Côte d’Azur is among the partners backing this event which is to take place 2 October from 13h30 till 21h00 at l’école Polytech’Nice Sophia.

* 3Roam®, a pioneer in wireless routers for telecoms operators, announced it has raised €700,000, which will mostly be used to pursue its ambitions strategy for its next generation of wireless infrastructure products, Wireless Label Switch routers (WLS).
The financing round was led by Succès Europe, a fund set-up by serial Sophia Antipolis-based entrepreneurs specializing in “CleanTech”, “MedTech”, ITC and B2B companies plus several of the start-up’s existing investors and some other individual investors.
“3Roam® was one of 21 companies, which the Succès Europe’s investment committee selected in the CleanTech, MedTech, TIC and B2B sectors,” said Succès Europe President, Candace Johnson, adding that “3Roam has all the essential elements in place to tackle a market that is booming due to the high demand by fixed and mobile operators”.






* Insight SiP, a world leader in the design of tiny Wifi modules, has just successfully completed its second round of financing and raised €500,000 bringing the total amount of finance raised over the previous 18 months to almost €1 million.
The Sophia Antipolis-based company makes solutions for highly integrated systems based on a “System-in-Package” (SiP) approach dedicated to wireless communications (WLAN, UWB, ISM) and high-speed electronics. Its latest product is a tiny, low power consumption Wifi module that measures just 8mm by 8mm and 1.44mm deep that the company claims is the smallest of its type in the world. The firm is also using the same techniques to develop cellular GSM/3G modems and modules for Smartphones or Netbooks (portable mini PCs such as Asus’s EeePC). The latest financing round will enable the company to develop communication modules for high-definition TV (HDTV) and video games and help it boost international sales.

The W3C* (World Wide Web Consortium) has taken an important step towards building a ‘Web of trust’ and make it possible to discover relevant, quality content more efficiently with the launch of a new standard, POWDER (“Protocol for Web Description Resources”). This new protocol will enable content providers to use POWDER descriptions to describe their Internet site content accurately and verify the quality of its architecture. And by using semantic web technologies, it will also enable web users to find information more quickly via a search engine.





ETSI** recently announced the publication of a new updated version of a European Standard, which promises significantly increased broadband capacity to meet the ever-growing demands foreseen for European communications. For Roberto Macchi, Chairman of the ETSI Working Group responsible for this standard, “This Harmonized Standard has been developed as a very professional collaboration between manufacturers, network operators and regulators. It demonstrates that working on cutting edge technologies does not have to be difficult. The consequence of this latest version on the standard is to make broadband communications future-proof in a way that is endorsed by the European legal framework.” And significantly, experts from around the world have worked on this version, “clearly indicating that its value extends way beyond Europe,” Macchi emphasized.







* The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) is jointly run by the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM) headquartered in Sophia Antipolis, the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (MIT CSAIL) in the USA and Keio University in Japan. It has several offices around the world and over 400 organizations are members of the consortium.





** Based at Sophia Antipolis, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has 766 members from 63 countries. The institute is responsible for preparing harmonized standards in support of the European Commission’s Radio and Telecommunications Terminal Equipment (R&TTE) Directive. The version referred to here is the new version of the ETSI Harmonized Standard EN 302 217-3- (Fixed Radio Systems; Characteristics and requirements for point-to-point equipment and antennas”).

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SIMalliance, the global reference organization for the SIM Industry, is
proud to announce that they have taken over the organization of
SIMagine, in partnership with Team Côte d’Azur, Samsung & Sun
and sponsored by Telefonica and Telecom Italia, the annual worldwide
competition honoring the most innovative (U)SIM-based
mobile application or start up project.


Previously organized by a single SIM vendor, it has now become an
Industry- supported event giving the winners for the first time in its 11-
year history, the recognition of the whole industry.


SIMagine’s objective is to promote the development and deployment of
innovative SIM-based mobile applications and start up projects. Entries are
judged on innovation, commercial potential, usability and quality of
design.


SIMagine will honor an individual or a company for the best SIM-based
mobile application or the best SIM-based start up project.


This year’s edition will offer 150 000 Euros worth of prizes, including a
whole range of support & coaching services, which will allow winners to
successfully meet business opportunities ahead.


Team Côte d’Azur, as part of its strategy of developing the Mobile
Telecoms sector in the Côte d'Azur, with its partners Eurécom
ParisTech, CERAM ESC Lille VENTECH and the law firm Kahn &
Associates, will give the winners a complete 24 months incubation period
in Sophia Antipolis.

• Phase 1: From 1st August to 17th October: Candidates submit their
  application. 50 entries are selected by the Jury and announced on 20th October
  
  
• Phase 2: From 21st October to 15th January: Candidates submit projects in the form of a 8-page document in English, a 6-slide presentation and the Java code or business plan. Candidates are given a development kit and the appropriate support by SIMalliance Members.
  10 finalists are selected by the Jury and announced on 26th January
  
• Phase 3: From 26th January to SIMposium 2010 nominees get support & coaching from partners & sponsors during this stage and are given the
  opportunity to present their project in public at Mobile World Congress'10 .
  
• Phase 4: The 10 finalists present their project to the full Jury at
  SIMposium2010. 6 winners are selected and announced at the Awards Ceremony during SIMposium2010.

Further Information: www.simagine.info




Note to editors:

About SIMalliance:

About SIMalliance: Putting the SIM at the heart of the new mobile eco-system

Over the past five years SIMalliance has become one of the world’s foremost commentators in the mobile business. By operating outside the singular commercial interests of any individual SIM card player, the association has been able to pinpoint the mission critical services on the horizon and help steer their development to meet the practical needs of the mobile market.


With SIMalliance members* now responsible for nine in every ten SIM cards sold worldwide, the collective vision of the association is uniquely placed to shape SIM developments and the impact they will have on the new generation of mobile services.

From their standpoint, the challenge couldn’t be clearer for the protagonists in the mobile eco-system.


* SIMalliance members are: Datang, Eastcompeace, Gemalto, Giesecke & Devrient, Incard, Oberthur
Card Systems, Prism, Sagem Orga, SanDisk, Watchdata and Wuhan Tianyu

*SIMalliance strategic partners are FCI & Movenda


Press Contact: Stéphanie de Labriolle

Marketing Consultant

SIMalliance

+33 6 85 91 19 94

stephanie.delabriolle@simalliance.org

< ahref="http://www.simalliance.org">www.simalliance.org




About Team Côte d’Azur :


TEAM COTE D’AZUR is the Confidential Connection to the Côte d’Azur and the investors Personal Partner to ensure them that their start-up or expansion is trouble free and efficient.

The agency is experienced in helping corporations evaluate the potential of the Côte d’Azur region and Sophia Antipolis science and technology park for their business set-up and expansion.


TEAM COTE D’AZUR provides investors with assistance related to :

• A precise evaluation of what the Côte d’Azur can offer with regard to your investment project,
  
• Free and confidential assistance in preparing your relocation file: feasibility study, identification
  and follow-up of financial subsidies that could be obtained,
  
• Help in the transfer or your teams to the area,
  
• Continuing assistance with essential local networking and communication functions,
  
• More detailed information on the firms that compose the Information Technologies Industry on the Côte d’Azur.
  

• A world wide cluster for IT innovation
  
• Where business, academia and bright talent combine resources to pioneer breakthrough
  solutions

About Samsung :

Samsung is one of the world's leading electronics companies, specializing in digital appliances and media, semiconductors, memory, and system integration. Today Samsung's innovative and top quality products and processes are world recognized



About Sun Microsystems:

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) provides network computing infrastructure solutions that include computer systems, software, storage and services. Its core brands include the Java technology platform, the Solaris operating system, MySQL, StorageTek and the UltraSPARC processor.

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The search is firmly underway to find ways to protect our planet for future generations, and German-based Innoferm GmbH offers a large variety of environmentally-friendly renewable energies that includes solar, photovoltaic, biogas, wind and combined heat and power (CHP) units. The company’s wide range of tailor-made, user-oriented solutions are designed for both private and commercial use as well as for high-yielding investments and it has completed over 400 renewable projects to date.


With a successful track record in its home country, the German company is now turning its sights on France, which offers some of the best incentives in Europe for photovoltaic solar energy. Today, its goal is to increase sales of its German-made product range, which meets European quality standards and offers customers outstanding guarantees, throughout France.



Innoferm is now searching for a site in the Sophia Antipolis technology park and plans to expand throughout all of France from its Côte d’Azur base. Its goal is to have a dozen-strong team of specialists in renewable energies, who will offer turnkey solutions covering the initial study and planning process right through to the complete installation for all sizes of projects, particularly major investments.



The company’s objective for 2010 is to deploy solar installations throughout France that will produce a total of over 5 megawatts of electricity.


Contact: Fabrice Peritore, Development and Distribition, France

“With around 30 companies and their 2,000 engineers plus 7 higher education centers, the microelectronics sector in the Alpes Maritimes is one of Europe’s leading centers of excellence for design.

This concentration of know-how is, and must remain, a magnet to attract new companies in order to continually replenish the sector’s pool of local actors and technologies, particularly at Sophia Antipolis. The unprecedented crisis impacting the microelectronics sector worldwide, however, is blocking this regeneration and everything possible has to be done to reverse this situation.


Firstly, we have to ensure that the Côte d’Azur remains an attractive destination for international microelectronics companies. INTEL has decided to locate its Ultra Mobility Group, which is responsible for low power products for ultra-mobile PCs. A GEMALTO team is extending the group’s NFC expertise at Sophia Antipolis with the goal of connecting banks, transport companies and mobile operators. And in the next few weeks, we should hear whether a major international player has decided to set-up a R&D center for 4G LTE.



We must also encourage people setting-up start-ups, whether they’re from Côte d’Azur, other French regions or from abroad, to chose to launch their business from Sophia Antipolis, Europe’s leading science and technology park. Prospecting for highly-promising start-ups has produced some of the success stories of the future and it is also one of Team Côte d’Azur’s main goals. Our economic development agency is currently working with industrial groups and other regions in the world to develop several international competitions to reward new start-up projects. In addition to the Galileo Masters, two other initiatives will be launched in 2009: the GMES Masters; and a new start-up category will be included in the SIMagine competition. And these 3 competitions will provide the talent that exists across the microelectronics’ sector with opportunities to receive a boost from the prizes awarded as well as the training provided by the industry leaders who sponsor the events.”

Sophia Antipolis laboratory NicOx, an INSERM spin off, is just a whisper away from achieving its goal to get approval for its potential blockbuster drug that uses nitric oxide-donating technology to treat osteoarthritis. The company announced on 24 September that it had filed an application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for US marketing approval of its flagship anti-inflammatory drug Naproxcinod.



This move came after a sharp rise in the company’s share price following publication of an important scientific article in the September 2009 issue of the prestigious American Journal of Cardiology describing in detail the blood pressure results from the 301 phase 3 study for its anti-inflammatory drug.
NicOx has also announced that it plans to submit a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) to the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) in the fourth quarter of this year.



The company said it filed the FDA submission after the successful completion of three pivotal phase 3 studies. Results from NicOx clinical trials that tested Naproxcinod against generic naproxen showed that patients taking naproxcinod did not suffer from higher blood pressure, a common side-effect of traditional anti-inflammatories.

Once approved, the drug could be a huge money-spinner for the Sophia-based laboratory with potential annual sales forecast at over one billion dollars.

The event was also an occasion to celebrate the long-standing partnership between the school and the telecoms giant that started back in 1997 and which has provided assistance to students preparing their doctoral theses.


Located in the heart of the Sophia Antipolis science and technology park, EURECOM is both a leading engineering school as well as a research center into communications systems. Set-up in 1991 as an economic interest group (GIE - Groupement d’Intérêt Economique) between higher education and industrial partners, EURECOM is well known for its international outlook. “The synergy between teaching, research and industry has become EURECOM’s ‘brand’ and gives our graduates a solid foundation that is both high-tech and multi-cultural, providing the two components essential to get a good start in their professional life and overcome the constant challenges posed by society today,” noted EURECOM Director, Ulrich Finger, at the graduation ceremony, which also attended by Barbara Dalibard, Executive Director, Orange Business Services.




Promo Eurécom 2009 = 69 engineers graduated, 19 different nationalities – 14 PhDs, 11 nationalities.

Carole Michon, Laëtitia Ricci, Elsa Renard, three former senior managers at LSO International, a Sophia company that pioneered the event management business on the Côte d’Azur but which has closed down, have chosen to become entrepreneurs and create their own company.





4 questions to Laëtitia Ricci, associate founder Ikebana:



1. What made you set up the company?

In our sector, we work extremely closely with our customers therefore it’s not the structure in itself but the person who accompanies the projects, which counts. When a number of our former LSO customers said that they wanted to continue to work with us, we were really inspired by their confidence in our skills and their recognition of the personal investment, and we decided to launch the company this April. We want to provide a top of the range service that is both extremely well organized on the logistics side and that also generates a lot of goodwill.





2. Why did you choose IKEBANA as the company’s name?

The Japanese traditional art of floral arrangement, Ikebana, embodies the art of entertaining as well as projecting extremely pure aesthetics. It requires both enormous expertise as well a great deal of training and creativity to produce something that looks so very simple! That’s the same approach as we have to events, which also share similar values to Ikebana.




3. Can you give us some examples of events that the new group has organized?

Since we launched the company the number of events that we’ve organized has really “blossomed”, so to speak. The biggest ones have been for American customers who have included Prudential and AT&T, as well as an American radio and TV group.





4. What is the outlook for the company?

We want to organize more and more events around themes, which will enable people to discover the PACA (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur) region through themes such as unusual curios, myths and legends. Sustainability is also very much in vogue, as is art. We want to show off the authentic side, the Côte d’Azur that we love and which is far from the usual tourist gimmicks.

Set-up at the beginning of this year for the smart home systems’ market, MYXYTY constitutes the “general consumer” offer of Sophia Antipolis-based firm M2M Solution, which was founded by Olivier Courtade. This specialist in M2M (machine-to-machine) technology successfully completed a second round of financing last February and raised some €1 million from five business angels to target the consumer market.



As a result, young company MYXYTY (pronounced Mix iti), has just launched its first product, MyAlert, which offers a combination of communicating wireless components and innovative services. In addition to home security, the product also raises the alarm in case of fire and provides a range of smart home services such automated home security systems as well as distance automation systems to control electric lights, shutters and heating systems. The packaged product includes a USB key, wireless intelligent captors and webcams. Users just have to sign-up on the www.myxyty.com website to access their personal domotics account from which they can remotely control their home automation systems. If a security alert or incident occurs at their property, they are contacted automatically in real time by SMS text messaging, email, voice message or they receive a video of the intrusion, which enables them to take decisions immediately.



A pioneer in M2M solutions, Olivier Courtade’s inventions include an electronic collar to help find lost dogs, which has been picked up by veterinary leader Virbac, and a system vehicle security, Cobra, that enables owners to immobilize their stolen vehicles from a distance sold to an Italian car manufacturer.

As part of its global strategy to expand the group’s presence and diversify in growth segments, Orolia has re-organized the company with the launch of three key divisions: Positioning Systems, Space & Navigation and Timing, Test & Measurement. “Each of the new divisions has a unique set of customers and applications and developing a scalable organization structure at this stage of our growth will serve to ensure we strengthen sales channels and are able to leverage development activities as we build our business both organically and by acquisition,” explained Jean-Yves Courtois, Orolia Chairman and CEO. “We believe this new structure is a natural progression as we add companies to solidify our positions in key markets and provide for streamlined operating overhead structures within the divisions,” he added.



A high-technology group, Orolia focuses on providing high-precision electronics equipments that generate, distribute, measure and process the high-precision time & frequency signals that critical operations use to detect, trace, control, analyze or synchronize time and location-critical events. Vital for critical applications in growing markets such as defense, public safety and telecom & broadcasting in land, maritime, air or space environments, the applications offer users increased mobility, security, traceability, interoperability and reliability.



The group comprises five companies: Spectracom, SpectraTime, T4science, Pendulum Instruments and Kannad. Headquartered at Les Ulis in France, the group also has a base at Sophia Antipolis.

A workshop on UltraWide Band (UWB) radio technologies was held on 6 & 7 October at ETSI in Sophia Antipolis as part of the Walter (Wireless Alliances for Testing Experiment and Research) project.
Launched at the start of 2008, WALTER is a two-year collaborative research project that includes 8 partners from Europe, Israel and China. The aim of the project is to develop the technology needed for measurements, calibration, and testing UWB radio signals in order to develop a pan-European interconnected test bed to meet the short- and long-term needs of research communities, industry and regulators.



The workshop enabled participants to learn about the latest European research results in UWB technology as well to become up-to-date on current regulation and standardization in the sector. Participants also discussed the main challenges of analyzing and measuring UWB, and in particular the problem of measuring in noisy environments.

Israel’s BioNegev innovation cluster, which is focused on regenerative medicine, the management of dry arid regions, biocompatible materials, nanotechnologies and white biotechnologies, was established a few months ago to capitalize on the world-renowned academic achievements of the Ben Gourion University and Soroka University Medical Center (both of which have a worldwide reputation for the quality of their research). The BioNegev cluster was launched with a dual goal: on the national level it aims to contribute to the economic growth of the Negev region (an arid, desert region that covers half of Israel’s surface area) and on the international level, to exchange technological knowhow with other European life science clusters.



The cooperation pact with the Sophia Antipolis science and technology park is the new cluster’s first such accord. A second, similar agreement is also currently being signed with the Life Sciences and Health cluster in France’s Alsace region, Alsace BioValley.

Awards ceremony for INPI Innovation Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur contest, 23 October at 16h at the Parc Phénix in Nice.

An event organized by the Fondation Sophia Antipolis, bringing together local actors and Israel representatives of large and small firms, universities, research institutes, venture capital, and involving 3 technology powerhouses: Tel Aviv, Technion, Haifa et Bionegev, Beer Sheva.
From 30 November till 4 December, at the Fondation Sophia Antipolis.

Danish pharmaceutical laboratory, Lundbeck, recently announced it had acquired French packaging company Elaiapharm, one of Lundbeck’s principal suppliers. The acquisition will increase Lundbeck’s production flexibility and also reduce costs. “Through our many years of collaboration, we have come to know Elaiapharm as a competent and stable business, and we’re pleased to complete this transaction. The acquisition will provide many key benefits for all parts of our global production,” noted Lars Bang, Lundbeck Executive Vice President Supply Operations & Engineering.



Elaiapharm, which generates annual sales of around €15 million, employs 130 people at its Sophia Antipolis site. Lundbeck said in a press release, that the French company “will continue its operations as before acquisition, maintaining its local staff as well as its sales to pharmaceutical companies other than Lundbeck”. The price of the acquisition was not divulged.



Team Côte d’Azur has already swung into motion to facilitate Lundbeck’s arrival on the Côte d’Azur, offering the company assistance tailored to their needs. “The announcement of a significant new investment in our region is obviously very good news for us", noted Céline Jacquet, Business Unit Manager at Team Côte d’Azur.

“And the arrival of a large pharmaceuticals laboratory specializing in the whole nervous system, and particularly in diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, further strengthens the Côte d’Azur’s pioneering position. The areas hosts top level research teams of world renown in these areas working in public institutes such as the CNRS, and as of 2011, it will be home to the Institut Claude Pompidou, which is set to become a national reference center for Alzheimers,”

Both the ESC Lille and Ceram Business School, which recently merged as one group, have been ranked in the 2009 Financial Times’ list of 50 best Masters in Management programs in the world. The ESC Lille and Ceram Business School, which announced their merger in June earlier this year, were ranked in 17th and 23rd place, respectively, out of the 50 European, America and Asian programs selected.
And the CERAM campus at Sophia Antipolis got a further boost last week with the inauguration of the student residence and the launch of work to build a communal living area.



EDHEC also confirmed its position as a leader in higher education finance programs. Following the recent revision of France’s Grande Ecole program, the school has opened a new specialist Anglophone finance section at its campus in Nice, which is already home to less specialized programs such as the ESPEME and MBA programs. The Nice campus was chosen principally because of it is also the home of EDHEC’s prestigious research Risk Institute, which is headed up by Noël Amenc and regularly produces internationally-renowned authoritative new studies on financial markets.

The European Satellite Navigation Competition focuses on applications based on satellite navigation systems and is among the initiatives linked to the vast GALILEO program. This year a GMES Masters was launched alongside the competition, rewarding the most innovative ideas based on earth observation satellitary systems.
As well as offering a unique opportunity for innovative project leaders, the competitions are also the ideal occasion to highlight the Côte d’Azur’s excellence in this pioneering field.
As such, for the sixth year running, Nice-Sophia Antipolis has remained the sole gateway for French projects to the European Satellite Navigation Competition. And this year also saw the EPA Plaine du Var/Eco Vallée launch the very first GMES Masters competition, which focuses on the cutting-edge solutions based on GMES services operational to date: earth, oceans, atmosphere and security. This initiative was carried out in partnership with the Oberpfaffenhofen center for space applications (OZA) near Munich.

Following on from the competition, the Côte d’Azur has a packed program lined up over the coming months that will include a “Journée des Idées France” (French Ideas Day) and a “Galiléo Transports” breakfast, scheduled in the upcoming November-December period.

The aerospace and space sectors account for over 35,000 jobs in the PACA (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur) region, and the Côte d'Azur has been at the forefront of the area’s expertise for many years. Today, some 2,000 researchers are employed currently by both small innovative firms and large groups in this field and the sector also boasts Europe’s premier satellite maker at its center, Thales Alenia Space, which is headquartered in Cannes. The sector has increased and now includes companies specializing in new mobile applications, which are principally designed for air, sea and land transport as well as the new global positioning services. This cluster also leverages the local telecoms expertise being developed by local companies and at ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) in Sophia Antipolis. In addition, five of the PACA (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur) region’s competitive clusters (SCS, Mer PACA, Pégase, Gestion des Risques, and Photonique) are also directly involved in the satellite navigation sector.

1. What impact does the European GALILEO and GMES Masters competitions have on the economic development of our region?

Participation in these competitions allows us to widen our prospection in the field of satellite applications, mobile communications and geolocalised services sectors. In particular, it enables us to identify the most promising business start-ups around the world. Team Côte d’Azur’s role is to sell this innovation chain, which includes incubators, world-class competitive clusters and the players financing the start-ups. This offer, which primarily targets local start-ups, can also be of interest to mobile young entrepreneurs worldwide who could be ready to locate in our region. 


 
2. Why did you decide to launch the GMES Masters along with the EPA Plaine du Var/Eco Vallée ?

Numerous regions have made the environment and sustainable development their main goal. So to ensure the successful launch of the EPA Plaine du Var/Eco Vallée, we must have an approach that makes us stand out. It makes sense to position the EPA Plaine du Var/Eco Vallée as the ideal location for firms developing satellite applications for risk management and climate-related problems since the Côte d’Azur boasts a world leading satellite observation manufacturer, numerous small to medium sized companies, as well as a world-class Risks competitive cluster. The Eco Vallée Operation of National Interest offers an excellent site to carry out experiments and tests for new applications. This large scale project stretches along the banks of the river Var, from the outskirts of the Alpine Mercantour national park to the Mediterranean coastline, and preservation of this natural environment will be a key concern.



3. Looking back, what has been the impact of the Galileo Masters competition on local companies?

Geolocalised services are now part of all the mobile telecoms companies’ strategies. The Côte d’Azur with its technology park of Sophia Antipolis is perceived as the “The French Telecom Valley” so it’s strategically important for local companies and higher education institutions to open up to these new markets.

The Awards Ceremony for the ENSC 2009 prizes took place on 21 October at the Residence in Munich. Along side the GALILEO MASTERS Prize, a range of “SPECIAL TOPIC PRIZES” were also awarded with the backing of industrial/research partners: T-Systems, DLR, GSA, ESA, NAVTEC, Madrid Special and SatNav MIT BW. This year, two GMES prizes completed the Topic Prizes as part of the 1st GMES Masters. Finally, a “REGIONAL” prize winner was named by each of the 17 participating regions.



The grand prize of the 2009 European Satellite Navigation Competition was attributed to the Spanish company GMV for its Osmógrafo® project which combines satellite positioning with wind measurement and rescue dogs' sense of smell in order to better determine which areas have already been covered by search teams. GMV was also chosen as the Madrid regional winner and received the special topic prize for the best safety-of-life application from Imade.



The Côte d’Azur was also in the spotlight during the 2009 Awards Ceremony.

The Nice/Sophia Antipolis region, which for the 6th year running was in charge of centralising and selecting projects for all of France, had presented the project of Jean-Marc Gaubert of the French start-up Atmosphere. The idea was named winner of the GMES Masters for the best application in the private sector, as well as of the Nice/Sophia Antipolis Galileo Masters regional prize. The Eco Vallée GMES prize for the best public-sector application was awarded to Ludovico De Cinti of the Italian company Altran.



Both GMES awards were presented by Thierry Bahougne, Managing Director of EPA Plaine du Var/Eco Vallée project.

The start-up Atmosphère scooped these prizes with its COMET project, presented by Nice/Sophia Antipolis region, and geared at sharing data collected in flight by embedded devices placed on private business planes and helicopters. Set-up in June 2008 as a Thales spin-off the company specializes in air traffic technologies and applications. Its team of experts offers its R&D consulting services to the likes of Aerospace Valley, CNES, ESA, Thalès, Airbus and has developed telematics services for general aviation as well. Its COMET project focuses on sharing in-flight data collected on board business planes and helicopters, allowing for real time weather updates and optimized flight paths to help reduce CO2 emissions.





4 questions to Jean-Marc Gaubert, Managing Director, Atmosphère:



1. You’ve won the Nice/Sophia Antipolis Regional Galileo Masters 2009. Can you give us a quick presentation of your project?

COMET is a general aviation solution that is focused on building a shared network to exchange in-flight data. It is composed of a ‘METBOX’ which collects data that can then be shared with users on the ground, as well as with members of the network during their flight. The data is digitally encoded, permitting end-to-end data management and optimal management of all flight information.



2. Can you give some examples to illustrate this?

Measuring atmospheric parameters (pressure, temperature and humidity) at altitude through sensors and sending the data to weather services, which use the information to help draw up weather forecasts, is one example. In addition, the system also gathers information about any local phenomena observed by the flight deck team. This information, which was never collected before as there was no installed system to send it automatically, is also sent in real time to weather centers as well as to other aircraft. COMET also enables weather centers to send weather information in real time to the aircraft. This is also a first as currently, an aircraft’s weather information is not updated during a flight.



3. What’s innovative about this project and what do you think won over the jury?

Firstly, on a practical level this is a real advance for Europe, which has never had such a system, though similar services have been available in the USA for nearly 10 years. In terms of innovation, we’re absolutely in line with the Galileo system as the COMET system uses geolocalised objects to model atmospheric phenomena, which enables information to be manipulated in space and time and reduces communication needs. On the technical level, we’ve harnessed the latest space technology, which we’ve miniaturized to enable the ‘METBOX’ to be installed on all types of aircraft. The factor we think that won over the jury was the system’s package of potential downstream uses, particularly those in the weather forecasting field as well as in the environmental and security sectors. COMET really complements earth and satellite observation systems and opens the door to other new applications, which have still to be defined.



4. What is your outlook for growth today?

It’s an enormous challenge for our young research and design company Atmosphère, which was set-up 18 months ago. The idea is to install METBOX boxes for free rather than sell them as it’s the data that the boxes collect, which will be sold, particularly to weather forecasting services. We will also develop a range of value-added services to make tracking and logistics easier. Our goal is to distribute the product Europe-wide over the coming three years. And the Galileo Masters will give us a real edge in finding new partners who are ready to collaborate with us both in terms of R&D as well as financing on the project.








GMES Masters/AZO* Prize – private sector:

The best application in the private sector gets the opportunity to follow a six-month incubation program at the Satellite Application Center in Oberpfaffenhofen, Munich that will include free office space, infrastructure and telecommunications, assistance in establishing a marketing budget and 10 days of coaching by experts in sustainable development. In addition, the winner has a chance to present his idea to internationally leading companies in the GIS, earth observation and to open further cooperation opportunities.





* Satellite Application Center in Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO)

3 questions to Ludovico De Cinti, Technical Consultant, Altran:



1. As winner of the Eco Vallée prize, can you give us a short description of your project?

In recent times, a better understanding and monitoring of our environment has become much more than a purely academic issue. Understanding how and why our planet is changing might not only influence our daily lives, but also contribute to a better future. Yet, how can we understand the dynamics of such a complex and chaotic system? Even though our knowledge of the physical principles on which it is based have dramatically increased over the last centuries, we still have a lot to learn about how such basic principles interact on a global level to produce the emergent dynamics we can see every day.

Starting from this assumption, DNGPSS was designed as a system for the study of large scale emergent dynamics. It can be visualized as a swarm of GPS sensors to monitor and analyze large chaotic systems, such as atmospheric and oceanic flows and tectonic movements as well as land/air/sea traffic.



2. What are the innovative aspects that won you this prize?

We believe the key reason for our winning this prize is the solution’s adaptability to different uses.

It’s most innovative aspect lies in the unconventional use of a single processing unit, separate from a high number of GPS receiver modules. Thanks to this approach, we are proposing a unique platform for the collection of huge datasets concerning different complex dynamical systems. The users can take advantage of a modular system that can be deployed and used virtually everywhere in the world, and that can be easily adapted for the monitoring of different kinds of systems.
Furthermore, the separation of the expensive elaboration unit from the GPS modules, combined with the low prices at which such modules are currently available, opens the door to the use of a great number of sensors for a highly detailed analysis of the investigated phenomena.
The collected datasets could serve for the study, analysis, modeling and monitoring of atmospheric, oceanic and tectonic movements in the framework of the GMES initiative. And the same system can also be used as a powerful aid for land/air/sea traffic monitoring and management.



3. What is the next stage?

Our first objective is to develop the project for its use in the aerospace and defense sectors, with particular attention to possible applications within the GMES initiative.

We will also be looking at the same time at how to use the system’s adaptability in other sectors where Altran Italia is already involved. And we think that the most-promising sectors are telecommunications, automotive, infrastructures, transport and energy.

Juliette Marais: head of research at LEOST (Laboratoire Électronique, Ondes et Signaux pour les Transports – Electronic waves and transport signals laboratory), INRETS.

“All the work carried out by LEOST researchers, is aimed at achieving optimal results from the satellite system to provide users with the precise and dependable positioning needed for the new innovative applications. For my part, my work focuses essentially on the impact on the environment on the localisation performance, how to analyze it and how to improve it. The goal is to figure out how to take into account such elements as the terrain and environment (buildings, vegetation, etc.) that can impair the precision of the localisation. We’re also looking at how to meet security requirements, particularly in rail transport and vis-a-vis sector norms. As such, we’re currently working on innovative techniques to evaluate the reliability of positioning given by embedded GNSS devices. So as you can see, we’re right at the heart of issues raised by this competition. That’s why it’s interesting to be part of the jury and get an overall view of the mass of ideas that are emerging now that Galileo is on the verge of realizing its huge potential. To achieve this, the NAV/SAT and IT worlds need to work more closely together. And it’s against this backdrop that the Côte d’Azur can play a role via its IT competitive cluster, which could enable the region to take on this new challenge.”



Galileo, the European GNSS constellation, will soon complement US-based GPS, and will permit an even more precise, and importantly, even more reliable, geolocalisation. As such, it paves the way for a wide range of applications in all sorts of transport sectors that include buses, taxis and rail transport. L’INRETS (l’Institut National de la Recherche sur les Transports et leur Securité), France’s National Institute for Transport and Safety Research, is helping develop these new services by working on GNSS technologies. And INRETS research unit, LEOST, in particular, is working on promoting new Galileo enabled applications dedicated to ground transport.




André Labat: Director PACA EST at Sophia Antipolis

“The Galileo Masters is an excellent opportunity to discover real high potential “nuggets” in the emerging market in satellite navigation-based services. It’s also the reason that the Paca Est incubator became a competition partner and welcomed international prizewinner VU Log* in 2005, which we assisted for two years. And Lokesh Bitra, who won the 2008 French Regional Prize, is in pre-incubation with us to develop his “Yellow Tags” project. This year we decided to get even more involved and join the jury, which gave us an opportunity to get an overview of all the ideas maturing out there and also to play an educational role by presenting the services offered by out incubator to candidates, some of whom didn’t even know about us. We appreciate this opportunity to have contact with innovative start-ups and we’ve already decided to be there again next year.”



The PACA EST incubator, located in the Alpes-Maritimes and the Var, focuses on accompanying public research high tech projects that can later be transformed into new business ventures. It offers a 24 month incubation period for a range of selected projects, which are in the critical phase of gestation before launch as a start-up.






* VU Log and its 3 co-founders, Georges Gallais, David Gibory and David Emsellem, won over the Galileo Masters 2005 jury with their solution to promote public transport for individuals, which provided instant and precise information about where to find available urban, electric vehicles.


** Yellow Tags that was presented by Lokesh Bitra offered a system to mark real objects on mobile navigation equipment and GPS telephones thanks to “virtual-visual” tags.




Patricia Braun: Director of the Telecom Paris Incubator at Sophia Antipolis

“We’ve already incubated an innovative project that won a Galileo Masters’ prize and I was delighted to be a member of this year’s jury for the first time. This is a high quality event that perfectly matches our telecoms sector and offers an excellent opportunity to evaluate the new ideas that are emerging, which are at different stages of maturity. The high-quality of the partners representing a broad spectrum of expertise makes for interesting debates and allows us to approach the project from several angles. It’s rare to gather together people from the worlds of research, industry and regional development. And this opportunity can only be positive for our incubator. We’re also very pleased to be able to take part in the next journée des projets scheduled for end-2009 to help sponsors of projects that were not selected."



Télécom Paris’s incubator, Télécom Paris Entrepreneurs, decided to set-up a branch in the science and technology park in May 2006 with the dual aim to bolster entrepreneurship in France, which is one of the engineering school’s key strategies, and to assist the growth of its regional subsidiary, Institut Eurécom.

1. Regarding GMES program, what are the stakes at hand for Thales Alenia Space?

GMES represents 85% of the budget allotted for Space in the 7th European research and development PCRD program (€1.2 billion) and operational implementation is budgeted as from 2014. Obviously, this is a big challenge for the Thales group, which is already very involved in the implementation of earth observation satellites, and GMES Sentinel satellites, in particular. The program also uses telecoms and navigation satellites to ensure that the system is as efficient and robust as possible. And as regards its global and distribution dimension, GMES will use secure interoperable information systems, an area in which the Thales group has extensive expertise.



2. Can you tell us briefly about the Union for the Mediterranean CEMER project (Centre Euro Méditerranéen de l’Environnement et des Risques)?

The CEMER project represents a deployment of GMES downstream services at Regional level, ie the Paca (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur) region. Dedicated to decision makers as well as operational actors in the risks sector, its goal is to optimize shared use of existing regional services as well as that of surveillance data pertaining to the environment. At the same time, additional services and solutions are to be developed to provide a complete system that meets users’ needs. It will also serve as interface to GMES core services to help implement value-added risks services and crisis management. The CEMER program is fully integrated within the Risques cluster, and involves other world-class PACA competitive clusters (Mer, SCS and Pégase) as well. Finally, it is completely in line with the Eco Vallée project that has been launched near Nice in the plaine du Var.

The 5th Forum is welcoming international personalities such as Tea Petrin, Solvenia’s former Economic Minister and President of the European Cluster Policy Group, Frieder Meyer-Krahmer, Germany’s Secretary of State and Federal Minister for Higher Education and Research and M. Min, South Korea’s Minister of Knowledge Economy. And Christian Estrosi, France’s Minister in charge of Industry attended the forum to close the first day’s debates.



The goal of the world-class competitive clusters that were set-up in 2005 is to develop companies capable of bringing innovative and competitive products to market. The clusters have completed the first phase of their strategy and have just embarked on the second, “2.0” phase, which is scheduled for completion in 2011. This new phase is geared at helping boost start up activities, favoring the development of innovation platforms, as well as raising private financial backing. At the international level, the aim is to establish competitive cluster networks in Europe, with Embassadors for the clusters, whose role will be to help develop new markets. Finally, the government is expected shortly to approve new competitive clusters in the green-technologies sector.




The 9th call for projects has also just been launched with the goal of selecting collaborative R&D projects that will receive financial backing. The projects must be submitted before 12h00 on 27 November 2009. The ministers will select the projects after all the projects submitted have been examined by experts and the list of projects selected will be published in early March 2010. The financial assistance awarded to project leaders will be managed by OSEO.

For more information, go to: www.competitivite.gouv.fr : Le lancement du 9e appel à projets de R&D (FUI)

More than 600 billion electronic messages are sent annually, 30% more information has to be stored every year… these extravagant figures are boosting the ECM market which is due to explode in the coming years, with a projected annual increase of 12% (according to Ap 08 Garter study). This is why Atos Origin has decided to leverage its ECM expertise and open a “Business Innovation Center” which was inaugurated over a year ago in the Millenium building in Sophia-Antipolis,


Today, an open day event has been organised in order to put the spot light on their exceptional offer developed in partnership with IBM software group.Jean-Marc Djian, Director Development of the ECM Offer, Atos Origin and Stéphane Barberet, Commercial Director ECM, IBM France, (Software Group) are hosting a morning debate focusing on content management and the impact it has on such issues as return on investment, operational efficiency, conformity with regulations etc.. . The event will include testimonials highlighting the range of innovative solutions showcased in the Business Innovation Center ECM in Sophia Antipolis, the result of the combined expertise of Atos Origin and IBM Software group.

The President of the Université Nice-Sophia Antipolis (UNS) and the President of the Institut Randstad Abdel Aissou signed a partnership agreement on Friday, 9 October in Nice. Under the terms of the agreement, the UNS will receive €10,000 from the Randstat Institut pour l’Egalité des Chances et le Développement Durable (institute for equal opportunity and sustainable development), to enable the UNS to offer innovative training courses to help people rehabilitate back into the community. This initiative is based on a sustainable development approach, with a human ecology based on education, adult training and joint research projects.



The Institut Randstad founded in 2005 within Randstat France, is geared at developing partnerships to promote equal opportunity practises, based on a human ecology approach. The institute supports the likes of associations for disabled in the workplace, as well as students or young people from underprivileged backgrounds. It also partners with schools and universities which have adopted an Equal Opportunity program, as well as associations focusing on sustainable development issues.

About Randstad : In 2009, with the acquisition of Vedior, the Dutch group Randstat became the world’s 2nd leading HR services group and Randstat France rose to 3rd place in the French market.

*Human ecology is an academic discipline that deals with the relationship between humans, human societies, and their natural, social and created environments.

France’s 71 competitive clusters have proved to be a key driver of innovation. No other industrial policy has ever managed to pool together so many different players, establishing a close cooperation between companies, laboratories, academics etc. So for Europe, the future evolution of clusters has become a strategic issue, as member countries have come to realize in recent years that they offer the only route to access European innovation.



The international dimension was certainly the key preoccupation at this 5th edition of the competitive clusters’ conference, which was held on 5&6 November in the park. Not only through it theme focusing on “World Class Clusters”, but also via its attendance with one out of two participants coming from countries outside France. Participants came not only from the rest of Europe but also from the Mediterranean basin as well as from countries around the world. At the diplomatic level, a host of top political foreign figures were on hand, including Slovenia’s former Economic minister and President of the European Cluster Policy Group, Tea Petrin; Germany Secretary of State and Federal Minister for of Education and Research, Frieder Meyer-Krahmer and South Korea’s national consultant on clusters, Byeong Sam Kim. And for the first time this year, the international dimension of financing was brought to the debate, with top specialists in financing from Europe and around the world.



The debates and workshops which took place over the two days highlighted the strong determination of the participants to see that a real European innovation policy is established that will enable the EU to develop international world class clusters which will be able to rival those in the USA, China and Asia. For Jean-Claude Nataf, President of the Secured Communicating Solutions cluster, “Whereas several years ago the competitive clusters were all focusing on R&D objectives, today actors are clearly mobilized by the international dimension.” This key point was also underlined by Nikos Pantalos of the European Commission’s DG for Enterprise and Industry who stated that: “the main objective of the European Union is to increase the degree of excellence of its clusters so that they are competitive at an international level.”



2000 clusters in Europe representing 38 sectors of industry, according to the European Observatory of Clusters.

71 competitive clusters have been accredited in France. These include:

- 7 world-class clusters,

- 10 internationally-oriented competitive clusters.

Available financing: €1.5 billion over 3 years.



10 clusters in the PACA (Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur) region including 2 world-class clusters

Solutions Communicantes Sécurisées (SCS - Secured Communicating Solutions), and
Pole Mer (Maritime Pole)

&

CapEnergies, EuroBioMed, Optique Photonique, Pole Risques, PASS (Perfumes, fragrances, scents & flavors), Pegase (aéronautics), Trimatec (ecotechnoloites) and Innovation Fruits et légumes (Fruit and Vegetables Innovation).

In terms of clusters, the Côte d’Azur has played a pioneering role. Sophia Antipolis, Europe’s leading technology hub, helped shape the concept of clusters. It was founded some 40 years ago on the idea that cross fertilization was key to stimulating growth, and for four decades this has been the driving force behind the success of this unique site which mixes key players in IT, R&D and academia.

Adding to its pioneering image, the strong involvement of the Fondation Sophia Antipolis has helped place the park at the forefront of France’s competitive cluster initiative. The first conference on this topic was organized in the science and technology park in November 2005 and work on the subject has continued over the years. As a result, close ties have been established between Côte d’Azur actors and France’s 17 competitive clusters as well as the numerous worldwide partners. Today, Sophia Antipolis has established itself as the indisputable French technological hub, THE location for people to meet and plan the future of these clusters at a global level.


3 questions to Roselyne Koskas, Director of the Sophia Antipolis Fondation

What is the link between Sophia Antipolis and the amazing competitive clusters’ adventure?

The science and technology park is perceived as Europe’s most successful model in terms of clusters, and the only technological hub in France that groups all the elements - industry, research and services – that enable innovation. It’s a place where studies are carried out, where inventions see the light of day, and where partnerships are cemented to achieve new solutions in a wide range of IT sectors. Therefore, it’s absolutely natural that when it’s a question of innovation, the place of choice to carry out discussions on the topic is Sophia Antipolis. And with so many different cultures represented here, what better place could you choose to draw-up an international strategy for clusters!



The Fondation Sophia Antipolis has also played a central role in making the technology park the indisputable meeting place for competitive clusters…

Yes, that’s a fact. The Fondation has been committed since the very start of the government’s initiative and our involvement has steadily grown in the sector. Following the first conference organized in November 2005 in Sophia Antipolis, the government entrusted two tasks to the Fondation Sophia Antipolis on a national level: one to assist the clusters to become more international, and the other to encourage French SMEs (small and medium-sized companies) to become more global. These weren’t simple investigative missions as results were expected and measured by the number of agreements signed. And these missions also built closer ties between France’s 17 competitive clusters as well as with clusters in other countries around Europe and indeed the whole world.



The “world clusters” theme of this year’s forum must therefore be very significant for you.

Absolutely! As I said, this is the theme that we’ve been working on daily via the relationships that we’ve built with all the key players in the innovation sector in Europe and across the world. But this is also due to the commitment of our President, Pierre Laffitte, who has been very involved in the think tanks. After the first stage to map out the European clusters that was requested by the government within the framework of the European Union Presidency, Pierre Laffitte was appointed Honorary President of the European Cluster Policy Group, with responsibility for re-thinking European policy on competitive clusters. This work was also presented at the Forum and the “cluster memorandum” will now serve as the framework for establishing a European program.

Until now there has been no drug therapy for polycystic kidney disease (PKD) in adults, which affects some 60,000 people a year in France alone, and which is characterized by the development of renal, hepatic and pancreatic cysts. But a team of researchers led by Eric Honoré at the Institut de pharmacologie moléculaire et cellulaire (IPMC, Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis/CNRS) have made a major breakthrough in the disease. And they’ve just published a study in the prestigious bi-weekly research publication, Cell, which shows that the disease could be linked to a malfunction of polycystin proteins 1 and 2 (coded by two genes, PKD1 and PKD2), which form an ion channel that allows the passage of calcium ions.

In polycystic patients, however, the channels formed by polycystins do not open correctly, calcium fluxes are reduced and this triggers cell proliferation and the formation of cysts. The team’s work will also help the understanding of the pathophysiological role of polycystins and could prepare the way for possible novel therapeutic strategies to treat polycystic kidney disease.

Hills and deep valleys that switch from dense pine tree forests to large areas of rough scrubland punctuate the contours of the Sophia Antipolis science and technology park. And respect for the park’s outstanding environment was a top priority in the development of this area of natural beauty, long before sustainable development was ever talked about. Hence, the total absence of straight routes through the park that link point A to point B. Instead, the roads wind across the park, going round a wooded copse here and there, or taking drivers on a detour in order to preserve the natural setting that comprises two-thirds of the park’s 2,300 hectares.



Visitors, therefore, frequently get lost when navigating around the site. And that’s also what gave local firm Dev-Help the idea to develop their latest initiative that’s aptly named, “Where in Sophia”. The company’s http://whereinsophia.dev-help.fr/ website that’s just been upgraded with a new, more powerful 3.1 version enables people to locate over 1,400 companies, associations and research centers around the park. “Yes, there’s a lot of enthusiasm (about the site) with over 7,000 visits from 66 countries in just a few short months,” noted Dev-Help founder and manager, Jean Bernard Titz. “And thanks to the buzz that’s surrounded its launch, companies have spontaneously gone online to check that their location is marked and that the information is correct. If there are any errors, they’ve contacted us and we’ve very quickly made the necessary corrections. With the success of this site, we’re looking, at this point in time, at setting up other sites such as ‘Where In XXX’!” "

Dev-Help specializes in assisting companies to set-up collaborative projects to present to competitive clusters and to European projects such as EUREKA Tourism. The firm also helps many companies design their sales and marketing strategy and/or its follow-up.

Thanks to ASK’s experience in developing contactless readers, the company is a step ahead in anticipating the market’s need for USB readers that enable users to top-up their transport tickets online at home or at their desks. Whilst the RATP Paris transport company is launching an online site for their clients to reload their Navigo transport pass, other operators want to offer their customers an attractively-priced, user-friendly USB reader.

ASK has just launched its brand new contactless low-cost USB reader that can be used at home or in the office. The multi-standard, “plug and play” LoGO reader complies with the latest smart card industry standards including the ISO14443. And if the new reader catches on with users who want to top-up their transport cards at home or at their desks, there is a lot of scope for this new generation reader is other areas such as banking and loyalty transactions, e-document reading and logical access control.
noted Marcos Reichert, ASK Terminals Business Line Manager.



About ASK: ASK, with over 130 million contactless products in circulation in over 50 countries, is a worldwide leading provider of a full range of contactless products including smart cards, smart tickets, smart adhesive labels, readers, inlays for electronic passports or contactless smart cards and eDocuments. ASK is ISO9001 certified and holds a portfolio of 54 patents to date. Located in Sophia Antipolis, ASK has subsidiaries in Singapore, China and USA.

Green Way is the first chauffeur-driven car company on the Côte d’Azur specializing in environmentally-friendly transport with a fleet of hybrid Toyota Prius saloon cars. The company has set-up a base in Sophia Antipolis with the aim of partnering local companies and hotels to transport their clients and staff. The company service is top-of-the-range with bilingual, smartly-dressed chauffeurs and no meter inside the car as fares for each trip are agreed in advance.



But that’s not all that the young company is doing to help the environment. It’s also participating in a project to re-forest Sophia Antipolis. “We are compensating for our vehicles’ CO2 emissions by helping re-forest the Sophia Antipolis park,” explains Bruno Peguesse, who founded Green Way. “This action, which we’re doing in partnership with the S.A.E.M. and the Forest office (Office National des Forêt (ONF), is being done in a very pragmatic way. An ONF service calculates how many trees should be planted at the park based on the number of vehicles used and the total kilometers traveled in a year,”



This operation, which demonstrates how people can turn their commitment into action, could form the basis of discussion amongst other actors in the park, in particular those involved in the Sophia Mobil* initiative that aims to ease traffic congestion and reduce carbon emissions in and around the park.

Over 30,000 people travel daily to work in the 1,400-odd businesses located in the Sophia Antipolis science and technology park.



*Sophia Mobil’ 14 companies, including some of the park’s biggest groups, are taking part in this “Plan de Déplacements Interentreprises” (inter-company transport plan) launched by the Club de Dirigeants de Sophia Antipolis: ADEME, Air France, Amadeus sas, ASK, CARI, CSTB, Ernst & Young, Galderma R&D, INRIA, Orange FT, Rohm & Haas, SAP Labs, Thalès Underwater systems, Toyota ED2.

Car pooling is also starting to become more widely adopted with a dedicated Sophia Antipolis website: www.ottoetco.org


Bruno Peguesse: 06 67 88 27 21 / bruno@greenway-azur.com

Reservations: 04 93 333 556 / reservation@greenway-azur.com

Open Plug’s first success in the competition came when it was selected from amongst 51 companies competing in the Palmarès Sud for the South of France award. After winning the Prix OSEO Fast50 Sud, the firm then went on to be chosen from amongst 287 companies competing at the national level. And Open-Plug CEO, Eric Baissus, has just been awarded the prestigious national Special Innovation Oséo Technology Fast 50 2009 prize at a ceremony held at the Palais Brongniart on 18 November in Paris. “We are very happy to receive this prize which rewards the work accomplished by Open Plug’s teams since its launch in 2002,” stated Eric Baissus. “The mobile industry market is in constant evolution and it is critical to continually innovate to maintain a leading position. That’s what we’ve been doing from the start, in particular with the precious help of OSEO, and that’s why, despite the current climate, we remain among the fastest growing companies in France and in Europe.”


The Technology Fast 50 was launched in 1995 in San Jose, California. It was created to showcase the contributions of high tech companies in boosting economic growth. The theme for this year’s 9th edition of the Technology Fast 50 was, “Disruptive technology – build another future”, aiming to reward companies whose technologies help get us out of the crisis. The competition doesn’t focus on potentials, but on companies who have, as of now, demonstrated their capacity to create value and which are well armed to pursue their development. So, above all, it is the growth performance that is being rewarded. “To figure in the Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 means that your are part of France’s leading growth companies within a 5 year outlook, which is a feat in such a competitive sector as IT today,” explains Eric Morgain, Associate Deloitte, in charge of the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 program. “And we warmly congratulate Open Plug for being one of the top most high tech growth companies in France. "

The winner of the Special Oséo prize is selected by the regional delegates of the organization who decide which company has been the best in terms of innovation.

This year’s competition was an opportunity to demonstrate Southern France’s dynamism. According to Vincent Gros, Deloitte partner for the Mediterranean region, “In this difficult climate, the Southern France competition not only attracted new entrants but in addition all the prizewinners were newcomers indicating that there is very strong potential and dynamism amongst the high-tech companies in our region.”





About Open Plug:

Open Plug is one of the leading company in mobile software development. The company’s ELIPS solution constitutes the first open and cross-platform development environment for smartphones and mass-market devices. Based on a unique and patented technology, ELIPS allows software developers, whatever their background, to create and deploy their mobile applications in record time, on open platforms such as the iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian or proprietary ones. Founded in 2002 in Sophia-Antipolis, Open Plug’s products have already been selected by leaders of the mobile industry such as Sony Ericsson, Intel, Arima, Foxconn … and shipped in million of devices, worldwide.

Groupe Adhara, which has over 50 training centers and more than 400 top-level trainers around France and has had a base in Sophia Antipolis at the village d’entreprises Green Side since March 2009, is stepping-up its presence around the PACA (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) region. The Sophia agency is headed up by Sophie Le Dem, an expert in training who also has in-depth knowledge of the PACA region’s economic fabric. “Setting-up our new agency at Nice Sophia Antipolis underlines our commitment to meet the training needs of our local clients in the PACA region,” Le Dem noted. “This new training center will enable us to offer complete training programs (inter, intra, sharing know-how and e-learning, etc.) to our regional clients that include the whole array of our training programs.”



The Nice Sophia Antipolis Adhara center will also play a crucial role in deploying the group’s operations around the region. It offers more than 400 courses covering a wide range of IT subjects as well as management. All these courses are taught by trainers certified by the world’s leading IT companies Microsoft, Adobe, ec council, etc.) , which use a standardized, rigorous methodology.



Adhara, which already has a presence in Aix-en-Provence and Marseille, intends to sharply increase its sales in the PACA region and by next year make it the company’s 3rd biggest region in France. The group’s ambition is to open a second agency near Nice in the coming six months and build a team of 10-15 people.

A marketing and recruitment specialist, Karine Guevel has decided to build on her extensive professional experience to open new a recruitment firm focusing on the IT and business sectors.

And with fifteen years of experience in both Paris and the Sophia Antipolis science and technology park, she’s launching her new businesses simultaneously in both centers. “Sophia Antipolis benefits from its outstanding reputation in cutting-edge IT, telecoms and pharmaceutical R&D sectors, which are our target markets,” Guevel explained. “There’s also one of the strongest concentrations of technical experts in France here, which provides an excellent pool of recruitment talent. As for the dual location, with an office in Paris, it seems to me that it's also crucial to have a presence in the Paris region, especially as many Sophia Antipolis companies are headquartered there.”



Palladium Ressources’ Côte d’Azur office is located at the Espaces de Sophia where the team will be gradually enlarged with the arrival of new experts. Guevel intends to leverage the new firm’s Sophia base to set-up partnerships with the large number of prestigious higher education schools located at the park, which train top flight engineers and managers.

The conference, entitled, “Going International – Building a High Growth Company with Smart Investment,” will focus on financing global companies and highlight the challenges faced by international entrepreneurs. Organizing the event is Euroffice Services (EOS), a network of science and technology parks, business innovation centers and incubators, whose goal is to help innovative SMEs (small and medium-sized companies) develop their businesses internationally. It will also be an opportunity for Team Côte d’Azur to underline their commitment to assisting innovative start-ups.
Ségolène Pin, Manager of the IT Business Unit dedicated to growing the IT technologies sector, will participate in a round table focusing on concrete examples and available tools (Case Studies, Tools and DO’s & DON’Ts).



2 questions to Ségolène Pin, Manager Business Unit IT at Team Côte d’Azur:







1. Why did Team Côte d'Azur decide to participate in this event?

We’re helping animate this conference as Team Côte d'Azur’s main role is to promote this region’s potential and to attract both French and foreign innovative young companies. This conference will give us an opportunity to convince the heads of such enterprises that they will find the fertile environment here that’s necessary for their growth. For that to happen all the ingredients for their success must already be available, particularly access to investors as well as the possibility of setting-up business relations and partnerships.



2. Can you say a word about your participation in the round table on financing tools?

As a Business Unit dedicated to the IT sector, a large part of our team’s work is to advise and help start-ups successfully overcome any problems they might encounter locating here as well as achieving growth and finding finance. Participating in the round table will enable us to present all the tools that are provided in a highly innovative environment such as Sophia Antipolis.

This annual rendez-vous of the International Association of Science Parks - IASP provided an overview of the specific offers of the large science and technology parks around the world, with highlighted the key factors necessary to succeed in a period of economic turmoil. Key players from around the world attended the event, including David Appia, President of the AFII (Agence Française pour les Investissements Internationaux- French agency for international investment) as well as local Côte d’Azur actors, Mark Fromm-Paulson, Senior VP, SAP Services EMEA and Dr. Robert Zerrouk, Director of the Sophia Antipolis-based BAYER Cropscience research center.



For Team Côte d’Azur, this was, of course, an event not to be missed, offering an opportunity for Team Director Philippe Stefanini to give an insight into how Sophia Antipolis is faring during this economic crisis. “The agency’s 2008/2009 annual results show that investments in R&D have been less affected than industrial and service investments. We’re also very happy to have two of the world’s leading software companies - AUTODESK and SYMANTEC – among our newcomers in Sophia Antipolis. And we’re most pleased that INTEL which arrived at the start of 2009, has chosen to develop its ultra mobility technologies here, with its Sophia team working in association with those in Silicon Valley and in Bangalore.”






* This event is organized by the International Association of Science Parks - IASP – and the Fondation Sophia Antipolis at the CICA in Sophia Antipolis; it’s also part of the celebrations for the 40 years of Sophia, and also coincides with the 25th anniversary of the association, founded in 1984 by Pierre Laffitte, President of the Fondation Sophia Antipolis.

A market leader in the treatment of central nervous system disorders, Lundbeck announced on 6 October this year that it had acquired French packaging company Elaiapharm, one of the Danish firm’s principal suppliers.
For the Sophia Antipolis-based firm this merger with the large scale Lundbeck group, which numbers 5,500 employees and made annual sales of €1.5 billion in 2008, will allow it to increase its potential and further its growth in the European pharmaceutical packaging market. The terms specify that Elaiapharm can continue its operations and maintain staffing as well as selling its ongoing partnerships with other pharmaceutical companies.



For Lundbeck, this decision raises its production capacities with a second pharmaceutical production and packaging unit to complement the group’s Copenhagen unit, and enhances productivity while reducing costs.
The inauguration of the new Lundbeck production site, which is located in 10 hectares of woodland in the heart of the technology park, was held on 4 December in the presence of France’s Industry Minister, Christian Estrosi, and Lundbeck Executive Vice President, Supply Operations & Engineering, Lars Bang. “We are particularly pleased to establish a base in the Alpes-Maritimes and particularly within Sophia Antipolis, which has been a center for innovation for almost 40 years,” underlined Lars Bang, adding that the group was also delighted to set up its presence in France, which with 60 pharmaceutical packaging sites, is the European leader in packaging.

Team Côte d’Azur will of course continue to provide all the assistance that the company needs to ensure the project’s success. The arrival of the Danish specialist in the development of drugs to treat central nervous system disorders also strengthens the Côte d’Azur’s positioning as a pioneer in this area. The region’s reputation has been built on the cutting-edge work carried out by numerous prestigious research teams, particularly those working at the CNRS, whose work on Alzheimer’s disease has set the standard in France and which from 2011 will be based in Nice at the Institut Claude Pompidou.






More about Elaiapharm:

The company specializes in developing (pilot and clinical batches), manufacturing and marketing pharmaceutical specialities, offering optimal insurance and quality control, for both the production (both dry and sterile forms), packaging and stocking of drugs. The firm employs 137 people at its site in Sophia Antipolis and makes annual sales of around €15 million.




More about Lundbeck:

Established in 1915 by Hans Lundbeck in Copenhagen, Denmark, the Lundbeck group is one of the world leaders in the treatment of disorders of the Central Nervous System, particularly in the treatment of depression, insomnia, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s Disease.

Semiconductor group Icera, the leader in 3G/HSPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Acces) modem chipsets, has unveiled important new investments at its Sophia Antipolis site to speed-up research and development in LTE, (Long Term Evolution) which is the last step toward the 4th generation (4G) of radio technologies designed to increase the capacity and speed of mobile.
The company’s goal is to position itself as a leader in the high-speed 4G/LTE mobile telecoms market, which will enable it to offer users around 100Mbps, and give them access to more advanced services in the areas of IT, security, multimedia and transport.

As a result of this strategic decision, some 50 top flight engineers in mobile communications should be recruited over the next three years. Icera president and CEO, Stan Boland, plans to draw on the rich pool of engineering expertise that has been built up over the years in Sophia Antipolis, which constitutes Europe’s leading excellence pole in the mobile telecoms field. The company’s choice of Sophia Antipolis was also influenced by the French government’s policy to step-up tax credits, which will permit the semiconductor group to speed up R&D investment. And according to Boland, it was this set of factors that convinced the group to choose Sophia Antipolis rather than the other European sites that were also in the running.

French Minister of Industry, Christian Estrosi, who backed his country’s bid to capture the Icera investment, underlined that, “For many, the evolution of mobile telecoms technology from 3G towards 4G represents a challenge but also a real opportunity for the telecommunications industry. France has been given an opportunity to create and stimulate an ecosystem built on partnerships that is ready to drive the technical advance they’ve already acquired in LTE more quickly, more intelligently and in a more coordinated way. And this should ensure mutual success and prosperity in a fast-growing future market.”

LTE is posed to become the new standard for the mobile industry and should be launched in certain regions around the world by 2010.

Icera has requested Team Côte d’Azur to assist it set-up this new business in Sophia Antipolis.

Set-up by two young engineers, Guillaume Blanc and Joël Simon, Absysseo has developed a solution to manage geospatial data for sensitive sites, particularly nuclear sites and Seveso industries. The project was nurtured at Sophia Antipolis at the Telecom ParisTech incubator before the company’s launch just over a year ago in November 2009.



Absysseo’s solution is based on a 3D mapping system that enables specific processes in these environments to be optimized and secured in order to increase risk prevention and reduce operating costs. The firm has developed an innovative process to create maps that offer clients total autonomy as well as guarantees to keep the data confidential, a factor crucial to this business. Thanks to a combination of several positioning technologies, it is possible to localize items as well as individuals in different locations outside or within a site in real time. The offer includes a box of software tools, which provides geolocalization functions that can be adapted for different needs and environments (these include identifying a position, calculating an itinerary, proximity research and setting-up alerts). In addition, the mobility, which is provided via mobile platforms, ensures that the processes are precise and rigorous.



The founders have successfully negotiated several stages to finally be ready to take their product to market. “We’re invested heavily in setting-up pilots to ensure the concept is right. For example, the French navy carried out the last test in June 2009 to see whether it could geolocate navy personnel inside a warship,” “On the sales and marketing side, there were two main events in the second half of 2009, one which concerned the nuclear sector and it’s a specialized integrator for which we’re currently developing a specific product for a roaming device,” they added.



The company currently has a four-strong team. But an additional 10 posts could be created given current growth objectives of €1 million in annual sales between now and end-2012.



Absysseo, which received an award from the réseau Entreprendre Paca2009, has also been awarded the Jeune Entreprise Innovante statute.



Regional partners are: l’Incubateur TELECOM ParisTech Sophia Antipolis, Oseo Innovation PACA and the Réseau Entreprendre Paca.

CERAM Business School and the Groupe ESC Lille announced on June 30 this year that they would merge, marking the biggest ever ‘friendly’ union between two such prestigious institutions seen on this scale and at this level. And as a result of this merger, a bright new academic star has been born, known as SKEMA* (School of Knowledge Economy and Management) Business School, setting the stage for a unique educational project.
For SKEMA’s new Dean, Alice Guilhon, the move, above all, is about, “the realization of a colossal project to create a school to teach leadership, which will have campuses around the world to train decision makers for the ‘new world’, capable of understanding their environment, adapting to it and boosting sustainable development. This new identity also underlines the school’s ambition to be an international benchmark amongst business schools. It should stand out for its innovative knowledge economy approach, based on the production, distribution, and use of Knowledge as the main driver of growth, wealth creation, and employment across all industries.”



Dominique Estève, President of the Nice Côte d’Azur CCI, and also Deputy President of the new association, underlined the strong roots of the new institution, whose founding members have a base in three of France’s five biggest metropolitan areas. “CERAM Business School (Sophia Antipolis/Paris) and the Groupe ESC Lille have known how to build on the strong expertise of the companies in these regions I the fields of high-tech entrepreneurship, project management, home shopping and e-business, Sustainable Development, Finance, the tourism industry, etc., SKEMA will continue, more than ever, to serve and contribute to strengthen their competitive edge and increase their profile,” Esteve noted.




SKEMA: derived from the Greek skhêma (shape, figure, formation of an object) meaning schema in Latin, the name is meant to be a reference to the new shared mental patterns and methodologies needed to adapt to the new business changes of the 21st century.

Mobilegov has leveraged its digital DNA technology to provide a complementary approach to securing online downloaded documents.

Faced with an increase in hacking and a growing need to secure digital documents that today can be downloaded from USB keys, mobile telephones and computers, Sophia Antipolis-based Mobilegov has leveraged its pioneering DNA technology to develop a new solution to protect information and documents accessed via Internet downloaded files regardless of whether these are text, image, audio or video. “With the Digital DNAID Box, a whole range of applications will be packed into one single box for the first time to provide a highly secure identification process for both companies and consumers,” noted Mobilegov chairman, Michael Frenkiel.






Machine-to-machine (M2M) specialist, Myxyty, is also focused on security issues. The company recently announced it had raised €500,000 from Groupe DELTA DORE, which now owns over 10% of its stock. Myxyty, which was set-up in 2009 as a subsidiary of M2M Solution, sells packs that can turn a computer into a home security system via a USB key and a few wireless intelligent captors and webcams. The firm’s ’MyAlert’ solution enables homeowners to keep a close eye on their house and its contents from a distance as well as permitting them to control lights, shutters or heating systems from their computer.

Myxyty is the “consumer” arm of Sophia Antipolis-based firm M2M Solution, which was founded by Olivier Courtade. A specialist in machine-to-machine technology, M2M solution successfully raised around €1 million from five business angels in February this year to target the consumer market.

The OIE’s Sophia Antipolis-based Department of International Cooperation plays a key role in protecting water resources around the globe.

The OIE’s (International Office for Water - IOW) specialist teams at Sophia Antipolis provide institutional and technical assistance to a wide range of bodies around the world. Numerous governments, local and regional municipal authorities, agencies and state-owned companies request assistance from Sophia teams to help them implement administrative reforms to improve management of water resources.
The OIE is involved in bilateral and multilateral projects that aim to help countries and regions make the best use of their water resources by becoming better organized and better managed. It plays a role at the international level, particularly in the following five sectors: integrated water resource management; governance of state-owned water and sanitation services; the training of water professionals; information about water; and agricultural water management.

The new partnership between the prestigious Sophia Antipolis-based Mines ParisTech engineering school and French television channel TF1 was announced during the primetime evening news by anchorwoman Laurence Ferrari on December 7, the same day that the UN summit on climate change opened in Copenhagen. Mines ParisTech is in charge of the monthly data collected by this innovative tool which was developed in joint partnership with the “Carbone 4” consultancy, headed by polytechnique graduates Jean-Marc Jancovici and Alain Grandjean who designed a carbon emissions report for ADEME.

ECO2climat allows you to pinpoint the different sources of greenhouse gas emissions - heating, food, travel, consumption, etc. – and calculates each month the amount of kilograms of CO2 emanating from these sources. TF1 is now due to broadcast monthly updates on the level of emissions recorded, followed by broadcasts showing concrete examples of the positive effects of individual and collective efforts. The main goal is to show how everyone can help reduce global warming by making some small changes in their daily lives. The website also offers Internet users the possibility of calculating their own carbon footprint.

The 2010 program of the French national research agency (The Agence Nationale de la Recherche) will be split equally between a call for non-thematic projects presented within the Blanc (White) and Jeunes chercheurs (Young researchers) programs, and a call for thematic projects. However, a number of thematic topics will also be integrated this year into the Blanc program to meet the scientific community’s needs.

http://tinyurl.com/y86yj69

Though not mandatory for application, a competitive cluster label does make projects eligible for subsidies.

Closing date for the Call for projects for the BLANC program: January 12, 2010.

For more information, go to:

http://tinyurl.com/y85cnyx

The Call for Projets Recherche Finalisée 2010 (APRF) for the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) region and OSEO have closing dates of January 25, 2010, for the 1^st session and 10 May, 2010, for the second session.

Competitive cluster label is mandatory for submissions to this Call for Project. Please contact SCS pole as soon as possible in order to have your project approved and submitted to the Conseil Régional and OSEO within the allotted time frame.

http://tinyurl.com/y8rcglt

Finally, thanks to a government initiative, the French national research agency Agence Nationale de la Recherche has set-up up a dedicated site to match companies’ R&D needs with the skills offered by state-owned laboratories. Companies can propose a new call for projects, which will be added to the online list consulted by research laboratories looking for industrial partners.

http://tinyurl.com/yj4trdv

Following on from the success of the first series of the Rencontres Franco Israéliennes pour l’Innovation et la Coopération (Franco-Israeli meetings to promote innovation and cooperation), the Fondation Sophia Antipolis organized a delegation of French small and medium-sized companies (SMEs), which are all members of competitive clusters, to Israel between 30 November and 4 December. The program included two important events with opportunities for B2B meetings both in the Israeli capital of Tel Aviv as well as in Haïfa at Technion, Israel’s oldest university and research center. Delegates met with leading academic and industrial members in this country which is extremely successful sectors such as telecoms, electronics, food, textile, metal, automotive and electrical equipment…

The meetings were organized as part of a cooperation agreement signed in Haïfa on December 3 between the Fondation Sophia Antipolis and Technion, with the aim of deepening relations between France and Israel.

The agreement’s goal is to strengthen relations between French and Israeli bodies, particularly to:

- Promote and expand bilateral activities with the goal of helping companies expand their businesses internationally;

- Circulate information about the competitive clusters and participate in events focused on France and Israel;

- Develop training programs (mentorship program, etc.);

- Further relations to help set-up projects, particularly joint European project: share information on tenders/calls for projects, particularly as regards the 7^th PCRD, CIP, INTERREG, etc.;

- Support the project of a new incubator in Sophia based on an Israeli model and which should be set-up in Sophia Antipolis in 2010.