Sophia Antipolis - A French High-Tech Vision Come True

Sophia Antipolis ” A French High-Tech Vision Come True

In 1960, the French newspaper Le Monde published an article written by Senator Pierre Laffitte titled "Le Quartier Latin aux Champs," or "The Latin Quarter in the Fields." Partly inspired inspired by observations made while visiting the United States, Sweden, the U.K., and France, his theory was that creativity is born through the exchange between industrial, scientific, philosophical, and artistic minds. There is an ancient Roman and Greek legacy to integrating knowledge from multiple fields in the arts and sciences. Laffitte believed this mindset was required to enable an inspirational cross-fertilization severely lacking in France and many other European countries . In France, he saw an environment in which industry, universities, and research centers were scattered about randomly , and where individuals were increasingly taught to become specialists at the expense of having the perspectives of classic "all-rounders." It took Laffitte many years to realize his vision of a tri-polarity of research, academia, and industry. Today, this vision takes on the physical form of Sophia Antipolis, the science park in the south of France, less than half an hour from the Mediterranean Sea, and the southern suburbs of Paris, London, and Munich, which has become France's leading high-tech region.

Table 12-1. Facts at a Glance ” Sophia Antipolis

Area	2,300 hectares (1/4 of the area of Paris), 2/3 of which are reserved as green space
Companies	1,300, 25% are involved in IT, providing 50% of the jobs
Employment	About 40,000
Students	5,000 in five universities and higher educational institutions
Research	4,000 public researchers in more than 50 institutions
Key activities	Information technology ( especially databases and telecommunications), life sciences, material and energy sciences
International population	52% executive employees , 40% of which are foreign. 63 nationalities represented, 110 foreign-owned companies, representing 25% of the 25,000 jobs. Very dynamic foreign communities, many services for foreigners, many international schools
Infrastructure	Nice airport, 18 km from Sophia Antipolis, is the second-largest international airport in France, with 45 airlines serving 90 direct destinations worldwide including direct flights to New York
Environment	9 million tourists yearly at the C te d'Azur, half of them of foreign origin
Sources: C te d'Azur Development Agency Facts and Figures brochure; C te d'Azur Development Agency's Web site, www.investincotedazur.com.