Bright ideas sky high!
European Satellite Navigation Competition 2009 participants in the starting-blocks for a contest that will highlight the region’s expertise in this sector.
The 2009 European Satellite Navigation Competition was officially launched with the “Kick off International Conference” on March 16 in Madrid for the 6th edition of this prestigious competition, which aims to promote new ideas for satellite navigation applications in the non-space sector.
After the regional kick-offs between now and the end of April, candidates will be able to submit their ideas between May 1 and July
31. And the prize winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in Munich on October 21.
This is a unique opportunity for innovative project leaders and is also the ideal opportunity to put the spotlight on the Côte d’Azur’s excellence in this field. The Nice-Sophia-Antipolis region remains the sole gateway for French projects to the competition and Team Côte d'Azur and the Fondation Sophia Antipolis are again in charge of jointly coordinating France’s participation.
The Côte d'Azur is at the forefront of the region’s expertise in the aerospace and space sectors, which account for over 35,000 jobs. And some 2,000 researchers are employed currently by both small innovative firms and large groups in this field. The pool of highly skilled workers is also constantly being topped up thanks to programs specifically designed to meet the recruitment needs of Nav/Sat companies and which are run within four locally based prestigious engineering schools, as well as the Nice Sophia Antipolis university.
Led by one of the world’s leading satellite maker, Thales Alenia Space, which is headquartered in Cannes, the sector is expanding to include firms specializing in new mobile applications. These 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.
Five of the PACA (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur) region’s competitive clusters are also directly involved in the satellite navigation sector: the world class “Secured Communicating Solutions” cluster focuses on microelectronics, software, telecommunications and multimedia; the Mer PACA cluster specializes in marine and underwater technologies and biotechnology; the Photonique (phonotics) cluster specializes in complex optical and imaging systems; the Gestion des Risques naturels et technologiques et vulnérabilité des territoires cluster focuses on management of territorial risks and vulnerability/weaknesses: and the Pegase cluster develops innovative aviation and aerospace solutions. The goal is to attract research investments and promote the development of innovative solutions through projects, which involve a wide variety of partners, from small firms to large groups and research institutes. A cross fertilization approach which forms the backbone of Sophia Antipolis’ success.
More information: www.investincotedazur.com/ fr/ secteurs-excellence/ cluster-satnav/ index.php
www.galileo-masters.eu
Contact