Invest in France Agency north-america Office

Region / Cities

Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur / Nice, Sophia-Antipolis

Sector of activity

Telecommunications equipment and software

Budget

400 million euros of investment

Objectives

Position the cluster as a world leader in Information and Communications Technology. Based on acquired leading-edge expertise in electronic chips (smart cards, telephone equipment), the cluster aims to:

- Consolidate its position in markets where it is a leading player (smart cards, electronic tagging, IT and communications services
- Develop new products throughout the added value chain, by reducing market access time and improving R&D productivity
- Create 24 000 new jobs over the next 10 years

Advantages offered by the cluster

- 41 000 people working in Information and Communications Technology activities in the PACA region
- 25 major global groups and a total of 6 500 R&D personnel
A dense industrial network made up of small and mid-sized companies and industries, that represent 40% of France’s total production of semi-conductors

Main partners

Companies

• Major global groups: Alcatel Space, Atmel, Amadeus, Gemplus, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Philips, STMicroelectronics, SAP, Texas Instruments, France Télécom, Atos Origin, etc.
• a dynamic network of small and mid-sized companies

Research

• 6,500 research scientists in the private sector, 1,200 in the public sector
• 3 major research laboratories:
  - CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research),
  - INRIA (French National Institute for Research in Computer Science),
  - ERCIM (European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics)

Training

• 14 engineering schools, 6 universities
• 1,500 engineering degrees and doctorates awarded each year

Read More