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FRENCH CLUSTERS
At the end of 2004 the Government launched a call for projects with the aim of creating in France a network of clusters at an international level. The result of this consultation was the awarding in 2005 of the brand label to 67 clusters.

The clusters are in one of three categories :

6 global Centers
9 Centers with a global vocation
52 national and regional Centers.

The brand label has been accorded to three clusters in Brittany:

two with a global vocation: the Marine Environment and Imaging & Networks
one national: Valorial (food processing).

In addition, a number of Breton businesses and higher education and research institutions are or could become partners of clusters in other regions: luxury cars (Pays de la Loire/Bretagne), meat and meat products (Auvergne), plants and vegetables (Pays de la Loire)…

What lies behind the French Clusters brand label?

A cluster is defined as a combination, covering a given geographical area, of businesses, training centers and public or private research organizations that are engaged in a partnership undertaking to uncover synergies between collaborative projects of an innovative nature. This partnership is organized around a specific market and technological/scientific field and seeks to reach a critical mass that will achieve not only competitiveness but also international visibility.

What are the characteristics of the 3 Breton clusters?

The Pôle Mer Bretagne (Marine Brittany) links together, in a marine-based sector, large companies, SMEs, public and private laboratories, universities and Grandes Ecoles in Brittany.

Their objective is to develop, based on key technologies, innovative products and services that will make a difference to international markets and will create activity and employment.
Their fields of excellence and areas of research cover underwater technologies; engineering; naval and civil ship repair and maintenance; marine, fossil and renewable energy resources; biotechnology ; fishing and aquaculture; the environment and coastal engineering.
At the heart of the Breton "Marine cluster", and linked to the Pôle Mer PACA, they pool competencies in collaborative projects in order to serve the growing needs for security, maritime safety and sustainable development.

Contact : Technopôle de Brest Iroise - 40, rue Jim Sévellec - CS 83809- 29238 BREST CEDEX 3 - Téléphone : +33(0)2 98 05 63 17 - Fax : +33(0)2 98 05 47 67
Further information on: http://www.pole-mer-bretagne.com/

The Pôle Aliment de demain (Tomorrow's Food) was awarded to Brittany to take up the challenge of the competitive food-processing sector

The association Valorial Valorial, as in VALOrisation pour la Recherche et l'Innovation Alimentaire, was established at the time that the Comité Interministériel d'Aménagement et de Compétitivité du Territoire launched the new branding.

Its strategy is to build a network of strengths - business, research, training already in existence - so as to create veritable ecosystems of growth by innovation.

Its aims are to:

promote the setting up of collaborative innovation projects in the private sector
to reinforce the region's attractiveness by wide diffusion of Breton know-how, of its existing businesses and of the welcome given to innovative enterprises with links to zones of research and development.

The Pôle Aliment de demain's objective concerns everyone in the food-processing sector (milk, meat, egg production…), all the way up the chain (producers, the IAA and their suppliers, equipment and ingredient manufacturers…).

Contact : Valorial - Agrocampus - 65 rue de Saint Brieuc - CS 84215 - 35042 RENNES Cedex - Téléphone : +33 (0)2 23 48 59 64 - Fax : +33 (0)2 23 48 53 30 - Email : valorial@agrocampus-rennes.fr

Le Pôle Images et Réseaux is focused on the new imaging and network (fixed and mobile) technologies for content distribution.

Its activities cover research and innovation and the new services yet to be invented in these leading-edge sectors.


Its objectives are to:

create new wealth based on new technological cycles
favor, at a national level, the emergence of world leaders
facilitate the synergy between the competencies of global businesses, innovative SMEs and research laboratories..

Contact : Association Images et Réseaux - 4 rue Ampère - 22300 LANNION - Téléphone : + 33(0)2.96.48.31.55 - Fax : + 33(0)2.96.48.31.90 - Email : pole@images-et-reseaux.com
Further information on: http://www.images-et-reseaux.com/

Businesses and research centers in Finistère are well represented in the Breton clusters …

In fact, Brittany is in "pole position" in many of the sectors allied to the clusters. For example:

1st region in marine biotechnology and including a third of those active in sea fishing and shipping in France
1st food-processing region in France and 1st export region in Europe
2nd region in France in number of researchers and engineers (public or private).

Associated since the beginning with these French-style "clusters" - and in many cases responsible for their instigation - the prestigious research and training centers within the Département (for example: IFREMER, CEDRE, the Universiy of Western Brittany, the Grandes Ecoles such as ENSIETA, l'ENSTB, BBV) as well as world renowned businesses in Finistère (such as: Thalès, DCN, ECA, SERCEL , IXSEA or the industrial milk producers) are active in the Breton clusters and work together in a spirit of constant innovation to develop added-value and employment- generating activities.
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