Transcript Aerospace Valley

The French Competitiveness Clusters –
Getting together Research Labs, Large Industry
and SMEs
Thilo Schönfeld – Aerospace Valley
Montréal, 6 Dec. 2011
Global context – Launch of French “clusters”
In July 2005 in total 67 clusters were approved by the
French government, 6 of them designated as “global”
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“Cluster” versus “pôle de compétitivité”
Michael Porter’s definition of cluster as:
“geographically proximate groups of
interconnected companies and associated
institutions in a particular field, linked by
commonalities and complementarities”
[Harvard, 1998].
Our interpretation:
• a market oriented “cluster” focuses
primarily on SMEs and the entire supply chain
• the regional “pôle de compétitivité” à la
française are mainly technology oriented
“think tanks” aiming at stimulating
innovation and cooperation between
industry, research and training (TRL 3-6).
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The European cluster policy
EC: “Clusters are seen as an important factor for
the explanation of the empirical phenomenon
of geographical concentration of economic and
innovation activities”.
 Cluster Observatory: 2000+ clusters in Europe
The concept of clusters comprises 3 dimensions:
1. Cluster firm benefit from an “agglomeration
effect”
2. Cluster facilitate competition and cooperation
 “co-opetion”
3. Clusters are characterised by a “social glue”
that hold different actors together
 « Proximity creates value » (Michel Ktitareff, WDHB Green)
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The Aerospace Valley Cluster Association
• Bi-regional aerospace cluster
• Activities: aeronautics, space and embedded
systems
• Date of creation: July 2005
• Legal status: Association formed by
companies, research centres, training centres
and local and regional authorities
• Dec 2011: 567 members, of which 273 SMEs
• 7 electoral colleges
• President/CEO: Agnès Paillard, EADS
• Permanent staff: 11 people (+ “volunteers”)
• Budget for running costs: 1.6 M€ / year
Airbus, Latécoère, Dassault-Aviation, Sogerma, …
Thales Alenia Space, EADS-Astrium, EADS IW, SAFRAN, …
Alstom, Freescale, Continental, Thales Avionics, …
Triple helix concept
INDUSTRY
TRAINING
RESEARCH
ISAE (SUPAERO & ENSICA),
ENAC, EMAC, INPT, ENSAM,
Universities, ENSEIRB, …
Aeronautics, space and embedded systems:
Universities, CNRS, ONERA,
INRIA, CNES, CEA, CERFACS
= 114 300 direct jobs in the Midi-Pyrénées and
Aquitaine Regions (Dec 2009, source : INSEE)
= 1/3 of overall French work force in these sectors
Creation of 13 000 jobs in 2005-2009
6
Federal
Programs
R&D
9 « Domaines d’Activités
Stratégiques » (DAS)
R&D Cooperation
projects
Pivotal Projects
Infrastructure/territorial
3 Transversal Activity
Domaines (DAT)
Economic development &
inward investment
Training, Education, job
& skills needs analysis
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Cooperative projects elaborated in 9
strategic core R&D sectors (“think tanks”)
1. Aero-mechanics, materials, structures
2. Energy, propulsion, engines and access to space
3. Air transport safety and security
4. Living Earth and space
5. Navigation, positioning, telecommunications
6. Embedded systems
7. General engineering and collaborative automated
production
8. Maintenance, services, training
9. Autonomous aerospace systems
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R&D Funding mechanisms
Status September 2011:
480 projects approved by AV
246 projects finally financed
accumulated 1500 participants
% participation
• Total budget of financed projects:
725
• Total amount of private funding:
418
• Total amount of public funding:
307
(public funding for SMEs: 72
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M€
M€
M€ (45% of FUI)
M€ )
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R&D Funding procedure (1/2)
• Technical meetings on “DAS” level  brainstorming on
collaborative R&D projects bringing together primes, SMEs and
research organizations
• Presentation of the most mature projects in front of selection
panel internal to Aerospace Valley
• Selection of projects based on a total of around 12 criteria
• Submission of pre-selected project to public (co)funding sources :
State, Regions, Agencies, Foundations  final selection by
external experts and (often) in a national competition
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R&D Funding procedure (2/2)
Aerospace Valley internal selection criteria:
• Technical and strategic objectives
• Industrial challenges, market potential, impact on employment
• Relevance versus existing projects
• Regional, national and international visibility
• Degree of innovation, state of the art, initial and targeted maturity
(TRL)
• Industrial and intellectual property
• Coherence with the strategy of the partners
• Balance of work load between the partners
• Description of tasks incl. responsibilities, costs, deliverables and
overall planning
• Risk mitigation
• Overall project budget, capacity of partners for auto financing
back
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International Cooperation
• International cooperation policy defined for the period
2009–2012: selection of 11 countries of priority
• Formal agreements signed with Aéro Montréal, Skywin
(Wallonia), Hambourg, Farnborough Aerospace
Consortium, CECOMPI and California Space Authority
• Further contacts and informal exchanges with e.g. Hegan
(ES), BavAIRia (DE), Tianjin (CN), etc.
• Forum of exchanges between European aerospace
clusters through EACP initiative
• Participation to EC-FP7 projects
• Overall international coordination with GIFAS
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European Aerospace
Cluster Partnership
Why EACP ?
 With their (ideally) triple helix structure, clusters have access
to a variety of competences (including regional governments).

Joining forces to overcome the fragmented nature of our
cluster landscape can help strengthen the European position
in the world markets.
 Cluster managements execute important support functions
for the companies, researchers, and workers in Europe.
 Networks between regions can create new opportunities for
knowledge/ best practice exchange and joint action.
> Aerospace Clusters need a Voice in Europe <
Members
 39 members
 from 13 countries
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Merci - Thank you ！
[email protected]