Together with three SMEs and four cluster organisations, the EXCITE consortium travelled to Sophia-Antipolis from 11 to 14 October 2022 to learn more about the local smart mobility ecosystem.

Europe's oldest business park in Sophia Antipolis

Founded in 1969, the "French Silicon Valley" in Sophia Antipolis is now home to 2500 companies with more than 38 000 employees. Among them are large companies such as Accenture, Hitachi, HP, Intel, NXP, Orange and SAP. To overcome mobility challenges such as traffic jams during rush hour, local companies are working on e-mobility solutions and autonomous driving. For example, two self-driving shuttles were introduced in early 2022 to support bus services in the region.

Integrating e-mobility into the company

The delegation's first stop was SAP Labs in Mougins near Sophia Antipolis. The company, which has three branches in France, has a fully electric fleet of 300 vehicles. Its own software is used to manage them. This makes it possible to control electricity consumption depending on the available charging time. The site has a total of 60 charging points from different manufacturers. Employees can use the "Charge at Home" programme and a limited number of charging points are made available on the site for the public. An inspiring visit at the start of the mission!

Innovation made in Nice

IMREDD, the Mediterranean Institute of Risk, Environment and Sustainable Development, works on innovation for environmental issues by bringing together public, private and research institutions. Projects include technologies for counting people, printed skin or breast implants for cancer victims, or so-called "ink food" for people who cannot chew after an operation among others. IMREDD was also involved in the development of an autonomous shuttle called MILLA POD, a Renault-based autonomous car currently being tested on the roads of Vélizy-Villacoublay, Aix-en-Provence and Nice in France.

Three-day tailor-made programme on smart mobility

In addition to company visits in and around Sophia Antipolis to SAP Labs, IMREDD and Inria, among others, the participating companies had the opportunity to learn about mobility trends, meet other local stakeholders and arrange B2B meetings at Pôle SCS' Smart Mobility Market Day.

Thank you to Pôle SCS for the organisation and hospitality!

 12 organisations participated in the Smart Mobility Mission: Bullcharge (Bulgaria), PeLCer (Serbia), ScoreDigital (Poland), SODA (Poland), Wirtschaftsförderung Raum Heilbronn GmbH (Germany), Stowarzyszenie Wschodni Sojusz Motoryzacyjny (Poland), Cluster for Digital Transformation and Innovations (Bulgaria), Business Hive Vilnius Cluster (Lithuania), GAIA (Spain), Mazovia Cluster ICT (Poland), Pôle SCS (France), Silicon Saxony (Germany)

 

About EXCITE

EXCITE aims to strengthen cluster management and facilitate exchange and strategic partnership between cluster staff and cluster members by using the ClusterXchange system. ClusterXchange is a new pilot project to promote short-term exchanges to better connect industrial ecosystems in Europe. The project will focus on skills, processes and services related to digital transformation - both in terms of the cluster organisation itself and its members, to be able to support them in successfully accessing global markets.

Your advantage as company, cluster or scale-up organisation: As a participant in the organised business delegations, you will not only get to know innovative regions, take part in renowned events and individual B2B meetings free of charge, but also receive financial support to offset your travel costs.

Project Duration: 01.02.2022 – 31.01.2024

Project partners:

• Silicon Saxony (Project Coordinator)
• Cluster for Digital Transformation and Innovations
• Business Hive Vilnius Cluster
• GAIA.-Association of Knowledge and Applied Technologies industries in the Basque Country
• Mazovia Cluster ICT
• Pôle SCS