Jinnove.net News

Towards a Europe with a future: ¡Que viva partnerships!

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 09:35:42 GMT

“Connecting initiatives; that excites me,” asserts Raouti Chehih, director of EuraTechnologies, a pôle d'excellence économique working in information and communication technologies, which has just signed a co-operation agreement with the City of Barcelona’s development agency, Barcelona Activa. Following successful partnerships in the USA, the Middle East and China, EuraTechnologies is now banking on partnership agreements in Europe. “We want to work with players who share our values and who do the same job as we do: supporting innovation,” he continues. Only two hours away by plane from Lille, Barcelona Activa has so much in common with the metropolis’ pôle d'excellence: supporting emerging companies, wanting to build the success stories of tomorrow… all that and an urban redevelopment project in a former textile area. Like EuraTechnologies!

Banking on symmetry

The two organisations have been inspired by the fact they have so much in common and therefore intend to create a perfectly symmetrical partnership. The Catalans help start-ups set themselves up on a long-term basis on the other side of the Pyrenees (the “Do it in Barcelona” programme) and in 2012 Lille will offer Iberian entrepreneurs a warm welcome to the region as part of an “immersion and incubation” programme for international projects. In the same way, sharing experiences will also be encouraged: in 2012, there will be a Barcelona Activa pavilion at the VAD Multichannel Trade Show.

Stronger together

Raouti Chehih is overjoyed by this new partnership: “Our two regions are alike. And to build a unified Europe, you have to put your faith in convergence. Like our region, Barcelona has suffered from de-industrialisation. Today, we are rebuilding based on the technologies of the future. By facing up to challenges, we can be competitive again.”

Click here to find out more :

http://www.euratechnologies.fr

Partnerships : clusters, cooperate!

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 09:28:48 GMT

Cd2e is developing partnerships with other eco-technology clusters on the international market in order to create a genuine internationalisation strategy. “Everything moves quicker when you work with people who have identical jobs and goals,” explains Hatice Anis, international consultant with Cd2e. Not only does interclustering lead to the lasting internationalisation of regional eco-companies, but it also facilitates an effective system of communication with international partners on best practice, monitoring and innovative technology transfer which consequently adds to the appeal of the regions.

Well, that’s one done

In June 2011, Cd2e’s internationalisation strategy was crowned with success when a French-Quebec partnership agreement was officially signed as part of the France-Quebec Fund for Decentralised Co-operation (FFQCD) between Cd2e, the Technopôle en écologie industrielle (an industrial ecology technology park) and the Centre for Technological Transfer in Industrial Ecology (CTTEI) in Québec. The partnership is already bearing fruit as companies from the Nord – Pas de Calais Region are already setting up in Quebec.

Working towards a global network

Cd2e is pursuing its interclustering strategy with the encouragement of the Nord-Pas de Calais regional economic action department for development and decentralised economic co-operation. Consequently a partnership has also been set up between Cd2e and the PEMM centre for metallurgical and mining excellence (Pôle d’Excellence Métallurgique et Minier) in Minas Gerais, to work on solutions related to promoting the importance of eco-materials and LCA. Cd2e doesn’t intend to stop there: other international agreements are already in the pipeline in Tunisia, Morocco, Japan and the United States for example… Intercluster co-operation has a bright future ahead of it.

Bioluminescence: shedding light on the firefly

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 09:22:38 GMT

Michel Sliwa, a young researcher with LASIR (the Laboratory of Spectrochemistry, Infrared and Raman, a research unit in CNRS -Lille 1), in collaboration with three other researchers, has been awarded a grant from the Human Frontier Science Program for his project aimed at understanding how fireflies produce light. It’s “a mechanism that no one [as yet] has really understood,” says Dr Sliwa enthusiastically, because even though the phenomenon of bioluminescence in fireflies is known, its precise mechanism still has to be explained in detail.

A world first

Bioluminescence is the emission of light from oxyluciferin molecules, which result from a chemical reaction arising from the interaction between luciferin and the enzyme, luciferase. Dr Sliwa has chosen to observe the activity of these two substances using ultra rapid spectrochemistry, a technique based on femtosecond (fs) light pulses which LASIR specialises in. “The idea is to be able – like during a slow-motion replay in a rugby match – to see the movements of the molecule,” summarises Dr Sliwa. It’s a first for the molecule and the enzyme, which up to now have only been studied separately and in a static state. The research will mean it will be possible to synthesise new molecules which will “copy” the bioluminescence of fireflies.

Sounding the extremes

Dr Sliwa ambitiously imagines a wide variety of applications for his project. In cellular biology, the new synthesised molecules will help in the study of mechanisms such as infection by the HIV virus. Furthermore, the development of a new technique, “femtonanoscopy”, combining nanometric imaging (ultra fine) with fs spectroscopy (ultra rapid), will make it possible to optimise materials like catalysts and photovoltaic cells.

Nuclear safety : Iodine, an object of study at the University of Lille 1

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 09:10:01 GMT

Disasters such as that witnessed at Fukushima could happen again so Jean-François Pauwels and his research team C3R, Cinétique Chimique, Combustion, Réactivité (Chemical Kinetics, Combustion, Reactivity) at the PC2A (Physicochimie des Processus de Combustion et de l’Atmosphère) physical chemistry laboratory at the University of Lille 1 are concentrating their attention on the health and environmental impacts of a potential nuclear accident. They are studying the behaviour of radioactive materials produced by fission which could be released into the atmosphere should a serious accident occur at a nuclear reactor. The data will then be used to improve nuclear accident simulation models.

Focusing on iodine

When a nuclear reactor overheats, radioactive iodine can be released into the atmosphere. Because this chemical element is exceptionally harmful, particularly to the respiratory tract and the thyroid, it is vital to have accurate information on how it reacts with hydrogen and water vapour in the reactor containment vessel. For the last five years, researchers with C3R have been conducting theoretical and experimental studies on iodine under pressure and temperature conditions close to those of a nuclear accident. However, Jean-François Pauwels makes it clear that they work “under laboratory conditions using non-radioactive iodine”.

Modelling accidents

Thanks to their studies, conducted in collaboration with the Institute for Radiation protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) at Cadarache, it is possible to demonstrate the different stages of the reaction caused by the release of iodine into the atmosphere and to identify the resulting chemical species. The data are then passed on to the researchers at IRSN where they are incorporated into the nuclear accident simulation model.

Click here to find out more : http://pc2a.univ-lille1.fr/

Intelligent and sustainable: the building that has everything going for it

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 08:59:02 GMT

"Anyone can carry out eco-construction for 4,000 euros/m²,” explains Arnaud Curdy, general manager of the community. “Our objective was to do it for an affordable price, that is about 1,800 euros/m²." And there’s no doubt about it, the bet has paid off.

The PMS, built entirely in wood, has not gone over the original budget and has achieved an exemplary level of energy consumption: only 41 kWh/m² per year, which is below the level needed to obtain the BBC label for low energy buildings. Aside from its thermal performance, this is a building on the Atrébatie territory that is open to the people. One wing houses the area’s community services while the other is put aside to accommodate businesses who can rent office space or conference rooms for example, and finally a space will soon be made available for a day nursery.

The PMS is a genuine showcase for intelligent and sustainable construction that often wins over the local and regional officials who frequently visit the platform, and it inspires them for their own projects.

Looking to the future… Entering the green building era

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 08:47:27 GMT

"The Grand Stade de Lille will be unique in the world." Bertrand d’Hérouville, Chairman of the firm, Elisa, a subsidiary of Eiffage which is managing the massive project, can’t hide his enthusiasm. And all this in the Nord region! The new stadium won’t just delight football fans but everyone else in the Nord too. Thanks to a unique and innovative system, the building can become an entertainment venue for almost 30,000 spectators in less than 24 hours. 12 enormous hydraulic cylinders can lift the northern half of the football field and move it south to make way for an arena that will host around twenty major events a year, from concerts to sports events. What’s more, the roof opens in an entirely new way, thanks to a new and unique technology. “Many stadiums have a roof of this type, but in general, the horizontal beams, which measure around 200 metres in length, are held up by support posts,” adds Bertrand d’Hérouville. Thanks to a pre-stressing cable system and a revolutionary technology, all of the spectators will be able to see clearly without being bothered by the roof. At the same time, it will optimise the acoustics and prevent cancellations due to bad weather.

Innovation and low energy buildings

Yet the stadium would be nothing without its adjacent village, a project managed by Frédéric Henry, Director of Eiffage Immobilier Nord-Pas de Calais. "During the consultation stage, in 2007, the targets set for the ancillary real estate programme were based on high-performance energy efficiency. Eiffage preferred to jump the environmental gun, though, by adopting a Low Energy Building strategy (LEB)," he announced proudly. With this in mind, the firm opted for thermal solar energy, able to supply the two hotels, built just a few dozen metres from the stadium, with hot water. Extremely well connected by public transport (there are four nearby underground metro stations), the whole site will also have a communal waste management system. And to cut back on costs and time and ensure enhanced quality, Eiffage has opted for the prefabrication of some of the elements – notably the bathrooms.

Eco-friendly renovation and life cycle assessment

These choices will certainly please Christian Traisnel, Head of CD2E, the regional centre set up to foster the development of eco-friendly businesses. At the end of 2011, the structure is opening an eco-materials resource centre, designed for all the sector players. The centre will carry out eco-friendly renovation experiments as it’s crucial to improve the existing building stock. And for this, there’s no lack of materials: “Just imagine, mineral wool will be replaced by insulation made from wood fibre, expanded cork or linen insulation. These are products with thermal or phonic qualities that are at least equivalent, and which often come from recuperation and recycling.” Inspired by Germany and Scandinavia, CD2E works on the emergence of materials of the future and tests them using the full Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) process, a technique that analyses CO2 emissions (which gives local businesses an advantage over China, whose materials have a heavy carbon footprint) as well as the impact on health. Obviously, one thinks about asbestos and the consequences linked to its widespread use. “We have to move away from a short-term vision and give this process the importance it deserves. This will certainly help to change the rules of the game.”

Helping builders make the transition

Things are also changing at the level of building professionals in the field. “Building professionals have to change. The age of brick is over; today, it’s all about intelligent buildings,” declares Patrice Le Tellier, in charge of the initiative at the building and civil engineering research centre. And to support the transition, the centre arranges ever more in-the-field training sessions and visits. “We collaborate with professionals to organise discussions about technologies linked to home automation and intelligent homes, for instance. We do this as often as necessary. Similarly, we take Belgian firms around to show them the home automation market.” Many businesses are now joining the movement. “We identify local firms ready to innovate and are always ready to support them. Anyway, legislative pressure will force the players to act.” The centre also focuses on training the builders and engineers of tomorrow. “For a century, electricity involved a copper wire and a switch. Very soon, conduction will be infrared or computerised. We have to pass on these new skills to the professionals of the future,” Patrice Le Tellier continues.

Developing innovation, focusing on the inescapable sustainable development, identifying the environmentally-friendly building materials of the future, supporting the players and networks are just some of the initiatives that reflect the Nord-Pas de Calais’ dynamism and proactiveness in the building and civil engineering sector.

Cross-border : RAPTOR supports the SMEs

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:38:08 GMT

Rapid prototyping technologies are attracting more and more SMEs. With their advanced technologies such as 3D printing and stereolithography, a prototype of often complex products can be developed in record time and the reduced production costs, time savings and the opening up of new possibilities (design or production processes for example) are just some of the reasons that justify the interest for these technologies. However, they still need to be made accessible to companies, particularly SMEs, and that’s exactly the aim of the cooperation between the MAUD hub and the Plastiwin cluster, in the form of the RAPTOR (Rapid Advanced ProTOtypes pRomotion) project. RAPTOR falls within the scope of the “Innovation Express” call for proposals, coordinated in France by OSEO to support international partnerships between pôles and clusters, and as Johanne Liévin, project leader at the MAUD hub, confirms: “We have presented this project together to promote communication and shared needs between SMEs.”

Selective criteria

A total of a dozen businesses, half French, half Walloon, will take part in the RAPTOR project. The number of participants was limited because they wanted to ensure the efficiency of the networking between the companies involved in the project.

A helping hand

The RAPTOR project will be launched at the end of 2011 and concluded one year later. A whole range of activities will be on the agenda, shared out between a technological structure (audit of the technological portfolio, benchmarking, etc) and a partnership structure (workshops, B2B meetings, etc). All of this with one, final objective: to set up partnerships between the participating businesses; because the RAPTOR project is intended to be the first step in creating lasting relationships and exchanges between these SMEs, both at the business level and in terms of R&D.

Click here to find out more :

http://clusters.wallonie.be/plastiwin/fr
http://www.polemaud.com

The CAP’EM Project: Comparing Eco-materials

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:03:31 GMT

The CAP’EM (Cycle Assessment Procedure for Eco-Materials) project to promote the use of eco-materials has drawn together eleven European partners from five different nationalities. After working for over a year, they have succeeded in defining a multicriteria methodology of evaluating eco-materials. The method is based on the principles of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and takes into account all of a material’s impacts, from the raw material used in its manufacture to its delivery on the building site.

Reliability

One of the major concerns of the members of the CAP’EM project was the accuracy of the data obtained using their method to evaluate eco-materials. “It’s vital to us that the figures obtained be accurate,” insisted Jodie Bricout, in charge of the project with CD2E, a centre of expertise working towards the development of eco-technologies and the organization responsible for running the project. Therefore, the methodology used is currently being subjected to a rigorous process of verification, but nevertheless it has already proved its reliability enough to have been the subject of several conferences at Budapest and Berlin, where it grabbed the attention of the participants.

Usefulness

However, producing figures is not the only objective of the CAP’EM project. Above all, its intention is to provide useful information to construction professionals (such as architects) in order to encourage and help them to chose eco-materials in their projects. To that end a database listing the characteristics of about a hundred eco-materials and facilitating comparisons between them will be made available to construction professionals on Internet in early 2012. It will also be possible to evaluate a material according to where they will be used; a detail which means each professional will be able to take advantage of a tailor-made analysis.

Follow the development of the CAP’EM project: http://www.capem.eu/

Grand emprunt: tomorrow’s award-winners

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:52:51 GMT

The PIA, an initiative of the President of France launched on 14 December 2009, aims to prepare the French territories for the key issues they will have to face in the future. The state is investing almost 35 billion euros of a national loan into innovative projects related to higher education, research, industry and SMEs, sustainable development and digital technology; all fields that appear to play to the region’s strengths. Indeed, when the results of the PIA’s first call for projects were announced at the beginning of 2011, 16 proposals were approved in the Nord-Pas de Calais region.

These projects, which will benefit from a substantial grant of several million euros, are the European Genomic Institute for Diabetes (EGID), the Technological Research Institute (IRT), Railenium, which works on railway infrastructure, as well as several Equipex projects, involved in fields such as genomics, cellular imaging, environmental satellite observation. These awards are testimonies to the skills offered by the region in a range of important, high-stakes disciplines including genomics, transport, chemistry, cellular imaging, the Internet of Things, and nanotechnology.

Furthermore, the recent and long-awaited approval of the French Institute for Agrosourced Materials (IFMAS) and the SATT (a company dedicated to accelerating technology transfer) Nord de France Valo has further enhanced the region’s excellence. IFMAS, an Institute of Excellence in Non-Carbon Energies (IEED – Institut d’Excellence en matière d’Energies Décarbonées), will devote its efforts to developing agrosourced plastics, while the objective of the SATT, attached to the PRES, the Pôle de Recherche et d’Enseignement Supérieur (a centre for research and higher education) will notably be to give greater impetus to the detection and development of projects with significant potential in the field of technology and knowledge transfer. Quite an agenda!

Heading for the ports of the future

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:43:27 GMT

Thanks to the cross-border PATCH project (Ports Adapting To Change), ports of the English Channel and the North Sea involved in the INTERREG IVA 2 SEAS programme, are learning to adapt to the predicted growth in goods flow between countries by diversifying their activities. For instance, a series of exchanges have helped the port of Ramsgate optimise the investments dedicated to new offshore wind farms. In Calais, port users have recently noticed the appearance of large traffic signs on the bypass to improve the flow of traffic and will soon discover more signs within the port area itself. A double benefit: the port’s operations are optimised while the environmental impact is reduced.

Thanks to European co-financing (4.5 million euros over 3 years from 2009 to 2012), the PATCH project’s seven partner port authorities have been able to make some innovative investments, with an emphasis on sustainable development. Portsmouth’s brand new terminal uses sea water to reduce its water consumption and takes advantage of the temperature exchange of the water in the port to operate its heating and cooling systems. In order to prepare for the future of the port of Calais, the possibility of supplying docked ships with electricity while they are loading and unloading (cold ironing) or refueling ferries with liquefied natural gas is being studied. Wim Stubbe, the PATCH coordinator for the port of Ostend, states that “sharing best practices between the different ports is very important,” and it also facilitates the spread of innovative developments. The ports of the PATCH project are now all set for the future.

Click here to find out more.

INNOVATION WEEK: LILLE, INNOVATION CAPITAL

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 18:43:20 GMT

Has the European conference Lille Innovation conference managed to demonstrate the excellence of the Nord – Pas de Calais with regards to innovation? If innovating means ‘reinventing’, and knowing how to cope with major economic transformations, then there is no doubt whatsoever that the Nord – Pas de Calais is more than capable.

DARING TO ADVANCE

By discussing fundamental themes such as mobility or the product service system, the day-long conference provided the recipe for achieving the highest level of innovation. First, one has to dare to decompartmentalise the current landscape in order to meet the challenge of complexity. Using the symbolic example of the automobile, Michèle Debonneuil, General Inspector of Finance for France, explains: “We can no longer remain segmented as before. Previously there was a digital hub, an automobile hub, etc. Today we must think about the vehicle in transverse”. Then one has to cease being overcautious, especially in the public sector. There is not always a natural tendency towards innovation but the communities “are like us, they have no choice” emphasises Jean-Pierre Guillon, President of Medef Nord – Pas de Calais. They have to get on with it. The appropriate first step would be starting up a dialogue with the private sector through public-private partnerships.

BE CURIOUS

And above all, innovation implies that everyone keep their eyes wide open: be inspired by your European neighbours’ good practices and pay particular attention to what’s closest at hand. A collective approach is the key to being competitive.

More informations : www.semaine-innovation.com

EUROPEAN PROJECT: BIOMATERIALS ESTABLISH THEIR POSITION

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 18:35:24 GMT

After participating in two European projects (DIMETEX and Plasmobio), Eurasanté is capitalising on its project engineering practical knowledge and manages the European project Biomat-IN. The project, which is partly financed by the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) and recipient of the FRAPPE fund, enjoy a €1,240,000 budget. The project started on 18 March 2011 with four European clusters (Atlantopole Biotherapies in France, Bioregio Stern in Germany, MedilinkEM in the United Kingdom and LIOF in the Netherlands). This marks the beginning of a three year venture in innovation in biomaterials, an industry that encompasses every material interacting with the human body: from a prosthesis to a bandage including contact lenses.

TO INFORM, ENCOURAGE AND SUPPORT

The first objective is “to provide SMEs with professional and industry-specific information”, declares Léa Deswarte, project manager at Eurasanté, in order to facilitate their access to international markets. The second goal is to encourage cross-border cooperation and support businesses in their innovation projects.

A FLOURISHING INDUSTRY

Deciding to focus on biomaterials was highly significant. Léa Deswarte explains that biomaterials are “very strategic for the region” as it allows regional researchers to offer “quality academic research” on the subject whereas many economic stakeholders are dedicated to it. Furthermore for Eurasanté, one indicator of Biomat-IN’s success will be the number of companies it supports. The objective is to involve at least 20 regional SMEs in cross-border R&D projects in a three year time. The latter, attracted by the cheques allocated for carrying out feasibility studies as part of this project, should appreciate the initiative.

E-COMMERCE: SATISFING THE CLIENT WHO KNEW TOO MUCH

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 18:29:35 GMT

“It is no longer acceptable for the customer to be more knowledgeable than the salesman,” exclaims Maxence Dislaire fervently; he is co-founder of the company Improveeze. This is why together with his acolytes, all of them original geeks, he developed a touch screen solution to assist retailers in confronting the customer 2.0: the one that arrives at the shop armed with information uncovered on the Internet (comparatives, comments from fellow surfers, etc.) and knows what he wants, or at least thinks he does. Faced with this ultra-informed customer the salesman is supposed to master all the products on sale. Not an easy feat when the brand comprises 70,000 references, such as Milonga, a chain of music stores and, incidentally, Improveeze’s first customer. Moreover, when dealing with such a brand, you just can’t have every reference on the premises! So how can you avoid disappointing this customer?

THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

The solution developed by Improveeze is simple: “bring the power of your e-commerce website in-store”, using terminals and touch screen tables. The interface complements the salesman’s dialogue and virtually expands the store’s catalogue, so as to ‘improve customer experience’, and of course increase sales.

INTERNATIONAL AMBITION

The start-up based at Plaine Images not only publishes the software used on the terminals but also offers customers an unprecedented comprehensive solution (including the terminal, synchronisation with the customer’s e-commerce website content, maintenance and statistics, etc.). Convinced of the solution’s unique positioning, Maxence proclaims that in the long-term he wants to become the global leader in this sector. For the moment Maxence only cares about launching the company that was just set up a few months ago, although he is totally confident about the success of its launch. So confident in fact that the company will be open to investors as of 2012.

More informations : www.improveeze.com

OLD AGE DEPENDENCY: SENIORS ARE EQUIPPED WITH THEIR OWN TOUCH SCREEN TABLETS

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 18:22:43 GMT

Mireille, 80 years old, is delighted that equipping her house enabled her to continue to live in her own home. The latest innovation is the Etibox installation, a tablet which enables her to stay in touch with everyone in her entourage: her family, close friends as well as her care providers and social services, her doctor, nurse, etc. Etibox is a touch screen tablet loaded with customizable services (messages, agenda, etc.) which allows the elderly to stay in touch. The tablet, which is fitted with information sensors linked to a home automation system, sends messages to Mireille’s nearest and dearest.

POSITIVE COMMUNICATION

Messages can be sent to raise the alarm when something goes wrong but mainly, they are aimed at reassuring the family circle. The box can communicate and send messages such as: Everything’s fine, Mireille got up as usual, she has been in and out of the kitchen several times between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. In a sector such as health and social services, where positive communication is more than ever necessary to ensure that an elderly dependent person can successfully stay at home, the Etiboxlife solution is a discreet enough, non-invasive and respectful innovation.

A HIGHLY REWARDED PROJECT

Also relying on a highly innovative technology, the Etibox received an award from the cross-border Innovation in the heart of Europe jury, during the Semaine de l’innovation (innovation week) in March 2011. Didier Tailliez, President of EBL SAS, which manufactures the Etiboxlife solution, comments: “We are thrilled to receive this award. […] Etiboxlife is an essential project in assisting dependent elderly persons and their care providers”. The concept of simplified communication is supplied by distributors and installers who purchased the Etibox from the company, such as health insurers or banks offering a monthly subscription.

More informations : www.etiboxlife.fr

Photo : Christophe BRISSONNEAU, gerontologist, co-founded EBL SAS with two other associates.

PHARMACOG: €20 MILLION AGAINST ALZHEIMER’S

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 18:13:43 GMT

The Pharmacog (Prospective cognitive properties of new drug candidates for degenerative neurological diseases in early clinical development) consortium, an R&D project approved by the Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI), is currently one of the most ambitious European programmes, with regards to its size (thirty partners) as well as its budget (more than €20 million over 5 years). The programme’s goal is to identify new biomarkers used in medical screening and to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, with a particular focus on expediting the discovery of medicines for treating the disease. Research and development on Alzheimer’s suffers from a lack of relevant predictive models. The identification of a series of biomarkers will permit evaluating medicines designed to treat the symptoms and slowing down the progression of the disease. To reach its goals PharmaCog aims for better cooperation between the industry’s numerous stakeholders and looks for research harmonisation. This European project encompasses twelve French, Italian, Spanish and German academic teams (from Lille 2 and the Université de la Méditerranée in Marseille for France), 11 pharmaceutical companies, 5 SMEs, the European Medicines Agency and the European Association of Alzheimer’s Patients.

FIRST RESULTS

The cooperation organised by Pharmacog appears to be effective. The project, which has just celebrated its first anniversary in February 2011, will soon unveil its progress in a few weeks time during ‘The Alzheimer’s Association International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease’, which will be held in Paris from 16 to 21st July 2011.

THE FRAPPE FUND: GO FOR EUROPEAN PROJECTS

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 18:05:33 GMT

Even today, it is very clear that, if not encouraged, regional stakeholders adopt a local perspective with regards to project management. Furthermore, the projects depend on traditional financing originating from the State or local bodies. And when it comes to seeking European aid, the stakeholders only apply for European funds designed to help local projects (FEDER, FSE). However the numerous other European initiatives managed directly by the European Commission and supporting various themes could also be of interest to regional stakeholders: INTERREG for cross-border cooperation, LIFE+ (the financial instrument for the environment) for the environment, CIP (competitiveness and innovation Framework Programme) for innovation and PCRDT (Framework Programme for Technological Research and Development) for research. In 2006, the Regional Council for the Nord – Pas de Calais decided to act and created the FRAPPE Fund. At the time the Region was the only French authority to implement such an initiative.

ENGINEERING AND SUBSIDIES

The FRAPPE Fund allows intervention at two crucial steps of a project’s development. First and foremost, FRAPPE Consulting offers consolidation for the project holder’s idea thanks to engineering experts specialised in European projects. If the project experiences budgeting issues, the FRAPPE subsidy can offer financial assistance from the Nord – Pas de Calais region, in addition to other forms of European funding.

OPEN TO ALL PUBLIC SECTORS

The fund applies primarily to structures with little or no experience in European projects, to local bodies, public and semi-public institutions, to associations and local chambers and trade union federations. Participation in financing projects run by SMEs-SMIs is also a possibility. So why miss out?

INTERREG: AN IDEA-L PROJECT

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 17:57:11 GMT

The INTERREG IV A 2 Seas quality certification for the IDEA project didn’t just happen by chance. The certification can be explained by the presence in the project of global experts, specialised in the development of solid pharmaceutical substances in the Euroregion. Because in addition to containing an active principle, all medicines have their own material properties: “a medicine’s stability and capacity for dissolving are two contradictory properties”, explains Marc Descamps, from the Lille 1 UMET (UMET stands for « Unité matériaux et transformations », that is to say materials and transformations unit) laboratory and project leader. “We are trying to reconcile them by looking for new formulations for potentially very active pharmaceutical compounds which are unfortunately insoluble in the body in their usual crystalline forms”.

The project encompasses six research teams each with its own unique approach to the project: solid-state chemists at Cambridge, galenist chemists at Norwich, Ghent and Lille 2 and materials physicists at Lille 1. “Even the two English laboratories, despite being quite close to each other, situate got to know each other better”, exclaims Marc Descamps in delight.

INNOVATION

Visits to each other‘s premises to develop new strategies, complementary research themes and the formal establishment of a leading-edge transdisciplinary technological platform (physics, chemistry, pharmaceuticals) dedicated to the synthesis, characterisation and formulation of new pharmaceutical materials, all contribute to ‘create of a new transdisciplinary expertise in the Euroregion, to optimise the design of solid-state medicines’. A total of €2,6 million (partly financed by INTERREG) has been invested in this project that relies on a perfect synergy. More than thirty researchers (both permanent and PhD students) will be involved in this project until the end of 2013.

A CITY WITH STYLE: LILLE METROPOLIS FOCUSES ON DESIGN

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 17:48:13 GMT

The creators of Design Lille Métropole, a brand supported by the Lille Metropole Communauté Urbaine (LMCU) and Eurometropole, established the brand Lille Design as a proof of their awareness that today design is omnipresent. Michel-François Delannoy, Vice President of the LMCU remarks, “it is no coincidence that territories with the highest growth rates in the world are precisely those that support design.” The objective of the brand, which was launched on March 21st during the opening night of the 2011 innovation Week, is to reinforce Lille Métropole’s ambition to promote its design-related activities, and to ensure the region becomes, as Lille Design’s artistic director Margherita Balzerani said, “one of the European hotspots for design”.

The brand aims to assert the role of design as the engine of growth and creativity. This is why Lille Design pushes for the integration of design in all its forms, in companies and local bodies. Thus, Lille Design made it compulsory for tenders for urban renewal projects in the metropolis to include a designer. In the strive to become a European reference, the Lille Design initiative also aims to unite the sector’s different stakeholders and make them work together. Formerly despised for being useless, design is now more than ever the art of making something unique. Design therefore can no longer be ignored. It has come full circle.

More informations : www.lille-design.com

Innovation Week 2011

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 13:25:58 GMT

The 2nd edition of innovation week in Nord-Pas de Calais will be the week of 21-25 March 2011.

The event will begin at Euratechnologies in Lille with a European conference (Lille Innovation Conference –LINC) on major changes in the economy, 2 new models to promote innovation in a general sense and best practices in Europe.
Topics for the conference include: a presentation on the future of mobility, a workshop on anticipating innovation and a workshop on services and product-service systems.
The aim of innovation week is clear: to help entrepreneurs to innovate more, and to improve the way they do so. This objective is in line with the Regional Innovation Strategy.
The event will group together industrials, SME and SMI, laboratories, major groups, innovative project leaders and investors from all sectors at the biggest exhibition of innovative products in the North of France with conferences, themed workshops and pre-scheduled meetings for start-up entrepreneurs.

>> See the full programme and register at: http://www.semaine-innovation.com/

ERRIN NETWORK

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 13:22:59 GMT

The Nord-Pas de Calais region joined the European Regions Research and Innovation Network on 1st September 2010.

This Brussels based organisation represents over 90 European regions. Its aim is to facilitate dialogue, promote new projects and improve the performance of the member region actors in European programmes. In conjunction with this, the network represents its members’ interests in terms of research and innovation with the European institutions. ERRIN participates actively in both strategic discussions and European political consultations in these sectors.

For the Nord-Pas de Calais region, being a member of ERRIN means that the regional actors in research and innovation will be able to take advantage of the services proposed by the network such as training courses, conferences, meetings of nine work groups on different themes (biotechnology/nutrition, energy and climate change, health, financing innovation, ICT, science in society, transport, FP8, nanotechnologies).
In just ten years, ERRIN has proved its effectiveness in relations with the European Commission in the run up to calls for proposals and in setting up European projects.

To obtain a login: a.griffon@skynet.be or cpereira@nfid.fr
>> Website : www.errin.eu