University of Côte d'Azur and TEAM Henri-Fabre, the project leader for Regional Acceleration Platform for the Industry of the Future (PRACCIIS) have sealed a long-term partnership to support local businesses in their transformation towards the industry of the future and towards innovation. As part of this project, the’Mediterranean Institute for Risk, Environment and Sustainable Development (IMREDD) via its collaborative technology platform «Smart City Innovation Center» a dedicated technology offering to discover, test and integrate the technologies of the industry of the future.

PRACCIIS or how to remove the obstacles to the transformation of SMEs and SMIs

The Industry of the Future or Industry 4.0 is a new business model designed to respond to several simultaneous transitions: energy, ecological, digital, organisational and societal. To remain competitive, companies need to embark on a far-reaching transformation, incorporating new technologies and organisational methods, which will enable them to produce customised goods at mass production costs. This 4th industrial revolution is a national challenge and highlights the need to better coordinate, rationalise and accelerate local initiatives to achieve critical mass and increase the potential impact on businesses. PRACCIIS is part of this approach, creating an acceleration platform within a regional ecosystem, bringing together more than twenty partners and combining three actions:

Raising awareness

Introduce business leaders to the technologies and methods of the industry of the future and link them to concrete economic prospects.

Test

Reduce technical and technological risks by providing support for prototyping, testing and proof of concept (POC).

Integrate

Supporting projects through to implementation on the company's production line(s).

IMREDD's Smart City Innovation Centre: a place for experimentation and demonstration

Developed since autumn 2020, in the midst of a health crisis, within the new IMREDD building at the heart of the Nice Meridia eco-district, the Smart City Innovation Center completed its first phase of investment at the end of 2021. The investment in scientific equipment represents €5.7 million, including €3.75 million in co-financing from public partners and €1.3 million in direct investment from companies. Covering an area of 1,200 m2, this technology platform provides players in the local and regional ecosystem with an extraordinary range of resources (equipment, expertise and know-how) to solve problems relating to the theme of «Intelligent Territories and Socio-Environmental Challenges». Among the hundred or so pieces of equipment on show are facilities for additive manufacturing, metrology and 3D scanning, physico-chemical characterisation, Smart Home, Virtual Reality, Drone technology, energy solutions for buildings, digital simulation, and electric and autonomous mobility.

As part of the PRACCIIS project, IMREDD will be offering companies a range of services based on three themes

Energy solutions for buildings

Raising awareness of innovative energy solutions for renewable energy production, electrical energy storage and energy management in the buildings of the city of the future.

Additive manufacturing

Test 3D printing by designing prototypes using existing or new materials and evaluate the integration of this technology into the company.

Bioinspiration

Testing micro-imprint manufacturing to produce innovative materials and/or surfaces, analyse their properties and characterise them. Inspired by life and nature's resilience, this manufacturing technology opens up new prospects in the fields of micro-fluidics, micro-optics, micro-robotics and meta-materials.

University of Côte d'Azur is a major public institution of a scientific, cultural and professional nature (EPSCP), whose fundamental missions are the education of students and professionals, research and innovation. It aims to develop the 21st century model for French universities, based on new interactions between disciplines (multidisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity), with a desire for a collective dynamic articulating Training-Research-Innovation, as well as solid local, national and international partnerships with the public and private sectors.

The Smart City Innovation Center The IMREDD project is financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund. The project also benefits from public co-funding from the Nice Côte d'Azur metropolitan area, the Alpes Maritimes department, the Sud Provence-Alpes Côte d'Azur region and the French government, notably as part of the «Initiative d'excellence« scheme under the »Investissements d'Avenir" programme:

• European Union - ERDF: €1.5 million
• French government: €0.4 million
• Sud Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region: €0.6 million
• Alpes Maritimes department: €0.5 million
• Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolitan Area: €0.75 million
• Université Côte d'Azur: €0.65 million

La TEAM Henri-Fabre is an emblematic regional project for the economy of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, as well as a multi-sector project to «build the Industry of the Future together». The Henri-Fabre project is a unique public-private project that will enable the partners to pool their expertise, resources, skills and projects, and build a network with all the players involved in innovation and research. The project covers 7 sectors, including aeronautics, energy, medical, naval and transport. The development of this new model is based on collaboration between manufacturers of all sizes, the world of research and the world of employment and training, around mechanics, materials and industrial processes, as well as advanced services for industry.

PRESS CONTACTS

Université Côte d'Azur - Delphine Sanfilippo

TEAM Henri-Fabre - Ludivine Cunat-Maudieu

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