Launch of the RUE system in the Bouches-du-Rhône department

Seven partners united around a common objective: to facilitate access of companies to Innovation and Public Research.

Tuesday, May 24, 2022 - 9am
CISAM - 61 Boulevard des Dames, 13002 Marseille

RUE, a tool to help companies become more competitive and to develop the economy of their territories

Among companies, too few are aware of the expertise available in laboratories, and the possible collaborations with public research. With this in mind, the RUE (Rapprochement Université/Laboratoires - Entreprises) program has been helping companies in this sometimes complex approach to academic structures for more than 7 years.

Designed to facilitate access to knowledge that is not available in the company, the RUE program supports their development and innovation by setting up collaborations with public research laboratories, universities, schools, technological platforms, etc. Support and networking are provided free of charge throughout the RUE process.

Unquestionable results, and a CDT label as a token of recognition

Recognized as being in the public interest, REA has just obtained, as part of its mission to help disseminate and transfer technologies, the renewal of itsTechnological Diffusion Cell (CDT) label by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation.

By the end of 2021, RUE will have:

• diagnosed the needs of 359 companies in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region,
• made 308 contacts with laboratories, universities, schools and platforms,
• set up and support 251 partnership collaborations.

A recipe for success that follows in the wake of a regional dynamic, and is now being exported to the Bouches-du-Rhône

With the common ambition of participating in the promotion of research and developing territories by stimulating innovative approaches in companies, seven academic, economic and territorial partners are now mobilized to support the deployment of the RUE device in the Bouches-du-Rhône:

Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry - Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Chamber of Commerce and Industry - UIMM Alpes-Méditerranée - Aix-Marseille Université - Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis - Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region - DRARI Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.

Aix-Marseille Université signs a partnership agreement with Recherche et Avenir

As proof of this commitment, a partnership agreement will be officially signed today between Recherche et Avenir, represented by Mrs. Stéphanie Godier, Director General of Recherche et Avenir, and the University of Aix-Marseille, represented by Mr. Eric Berton, President of Aix-Marseille Université.

The signing of this agreement will result in the pooling of efforts to promote research, easier access to all laboratories and teacher-researchers of AMU, and financial support for the RUE scheme.

The following will be present on this occasion

• Mr. Éric BERTON, President of Aix-Marseille Université
• Mr. Georges LEONETTI, Special Regional Advisor in charge of health, the fight against the pandemic, higher education and research
• Mr. Jean-Luc PARRAIN, Regional Academic Delegate for Research and Innovation, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region
• Mrs. Nadine MARCHANDÉ, Deputy Delegate of the Regional Academic Delegation for Research and Innovation
• Mrs. Marie-Laure GUIDI, elected member of the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce
• Mr Laurent BALY, President of SATT SUD-EST
• Mr. Laurent LONDEIX, Co-Chairman of the ESIR Commission of the UPE06 and Chairman of the PACA EST Incubator
• Mrs. Françoise DIGNAT-GEORGE, Vice President in charge of the Valorization and Innovation of Aix-Marseille Université
• Mrs. Stéphanie GODIER, General Manager of Recherche et Avenir
• Mr. Olivier ROBERT, Employment and Training Manager MEDEF SUD
• Mr. Thomas ZUSSA, Head of Industrial Development, UIMM Alpes-Méditerranée

Verbatim

• Stéphanie GODIER, General Manager of Recherche et Avenir: "We are very proud to launch the deployment of the RUE program in the Bouches-du-Rhône region with the strong support of the DRARI Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and the Southern Region. The signing of the agreement between Recherche et Avenir and Aix-Marseille Université marks a turning point in the regionalization of the RUE program and will serve all companies in the region.
  It is also a great satisfaction to see the mobilization of the academic, economic and territorial actors of the department to make this approach in favor of Research and Innovation a collective success.
   
• Éric BERTON, President of Aix-Marseille Université: "We are pleased to support the deployment of the RUE program in Bouches-du-Rhône by signing this agreement with Recherche et Avenir. This ambitious partnership will facilitate the development of regional research by giving access to the many laboratories, researchers and teacher-researchers of Aix-Marseille Université who, every day, carry out cutting-edge public research in the service of progress and society.
   
• Laurent LONDEIX, Co-Chairman of the ESIR Commission of the UPE06 and Chairman of the PACA EST Incubator: "After the successful deployment in the Alpes-Maritimes and Var, I am very happy with the arrival of the System in the Bouches du Rhône, a key economic player in the Southern Region. I would like to thank all of our partners who are supporting us in this initiative, and in particular Aix-Marseille Université, which provides a large pool of laboratories and teacher-researchers that will enable us to accelerate the regionalization of the RUE program.
   
• Thomas ZUSSA, Head of Industrial Development, UIMM Alpes-Méditerranée: In addition to the challenges that manufacturers have historically faced, there are now crises that threaten the competitiveness of an entire sector. Metalworking industries must adapt, transform and carry out projects to strengthen their competitiveness, their attractiveness and reduce their environmental impact. To do this, the UIMM assists SMIs to take advantage of "industry of the future" solutions.
  A device such as RUE is a useful and effective tool to help managers to implement projects beyond a theoretical roadmap. It meets a recurring need in small and medium-sized industries: external support in terms of skills to carry out their innovative projects. The bridges created between the world of higher education and research and SMIs deserve to be known and proposed as an effective way to accelerate and secure the development of regional industry. The extension of the RUE program to the regional level is an opportunity to make it known to all these companies in the process of transformation, which are being monitored collectively by the economic development players in the Bouches-du-Rhône."
   
• Jean-Luc CHAUVIN, President of the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry: "Innovation and research contribute to the lifting of technological barriers, to the creation of value and are essential drivers for the economy. The business world offers opportunities for experimentation and concrete applications for research, partnerships to attract European funding, and a way to promote the discoveries of our researchers. The rapprochement between public research actors and local companies is essential for our SMEs and start-ups, thus positioning our region as a laboratory for the innovations of tomorrow. The CCIAMP is keen to contribute to this rapprochement for the benefit of our companies, our territory, its attractiveness and its influence. This is why we support the RUE scheme "Rapprochement Université - Entreprises", led by the association Recherche et Avenir."
   
• Philippe RENAUDI, President of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Chamber of Commerce and Industry: "Bringing the academic world closer to the business world, creating more synergies between researchers and entrepreneurs, inevitably favors innovation in the Southern Region and therefore the growth and influence of its startups and high-potential companies. And this mission is in line with the role of our CCI network, which acts for the benefit of skills and employment. Supporting the RUE program is in line with our logic as an economic player: if we can help massify the potential exchanges between the melting pot of 27,000 researchers and the wealth represented by 370,000 companies, 20,000 of which are industrial, the entire regional economy will emerge stronger and more attractive."
   
• Renaud MUSELIER, President of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region, Deputy President of Régions de France: "As a land of innovation, the Southern Region is home to companies and laboratories at the cutting edge of technology within its economic fabric. The RUE program is designed to bring them together in a win-win partnership, sharing knowledge and expertise. A project built to advance public research, at the service of an entire region".
   
• Jean-Luc PARRAIN, Regional Academic Delegate for Research and Innovation in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region: "The DRARI Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur supports the dissemination of new technologies in the traditional SME fabric. As these companies often do not have an R&D department, it is less easy for them to establish partnerships with public laboratories than it is for large groups or young companies that have emerged from research. This interaction requires specialization, quality of service and human resources dedicated to technology transfer and dissemination to facilitate links between the academic world and the SME community. This is exactly what the RUE project led by the association Recherche et Avenir is working on.
  Involved since 2015, the DRARI Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur has supported this project until it was awarded the "technology dissemination center" (CDT) label by the MESRI in 2017. This label was renewed in 2021 for 5 years.
  DRARI Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur is very pleased to see the extension of the RUE project continue today in the Bouches-du-Rhône after exemplary results in the east of our region.
  REA is a perfect illustration of this research/industry continuum and is now part of the national network of state-recognized technological support structures for companies. It is the result of a voluntary and dynamic partnership between all the Bucco-Rhodanian players in the world of research and business, such as Aix-Marseille Université, the Cité de l'Innovation et des Savoirs Aix-Marseille, the SATT Sud-Est, the CCI Aix-Marseille-Provence, the CCI Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, the UIMM Alpes-Méditerranée, the Metropole Aix-Marseille-Provence, the Sud-Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regional council ...".

Press conference organized with the participation of AMU and CISAM.

About Recherche et Avenir
REA is a European association for education and research in the sciences, created in Cannes in 2005, which leads a network of companies and researchers. Its purpose is to "contribute to a sustainable world by enhancing knowledge, talents and potentials to facilitate cooperation around research and innovation for the benefit of all". Its missions focus on three areas: promoting scientific culture through events, supporting doctoral students and young doctors in finding employment in the regional economy, and promoting research and innovation by bringing laboratories and companies closer together through the creation of collaborative projects via the RUE program. For more information: rechercheetavenir.eu

About Aix-Marseille Université
Aix-Marseille Université (AMU) is the largest French-speaking university in France, with 80,000 students and nearly 8,000 staff on five large campuses that meet international standards. The university owns its own property and is present in 9 major cities in 4 departments. Its A*Midex University Foundation, which is the bearer of the IDEX, contributes to the development of a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary pole of higher education and research of world renown. Known as an "intensive research university," it is home to 113 research units, 9 federations and some 50 technology platforms linked to major national organizations.AMU is committed to interdisciplinarity, which is at the heart of its strategy and training. It has already created Territorial Innovation Poles (PIT), access for economic players to certified technological platforms, the Cité de l’Innovation et des Savoirs d’Aix-Marseille (CISAM), and 18 institutional institutes that guarantee bridges between research and training. A responsible and committed university, Aix-Marseille Université has made "living together" a priority and is renowned in international rankings for its anti-discrimination policy and, more generally, its CSR policy. Widely open to the world since its creation (10,000 international students and more than 40 degrees in international partnership), it has won the European Commission's call for projects to build "CIVIS, a European Civic University" with its nine European partners, contributing to major societal challenges, particularly in Africa and the Mediterranean. For more information: www.univ-amu.fr

About the Cité de l'Innovation et des Savoirs d'Aix-Marseille
A unique space for entrepreneurial creativity, encounters and enrichment in the Aix-Marseille area, the CISAM is the fruit of the intelligence and ambitions shared by the largest French-speaking university in Aix-Marseille, the largest metropolis in France, the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, and two French multinationals: CMA CGM and the L'OCCITANE Group. Sharing the same desire to develop a scientific culture and innovation for economic growth, these partners have come together around a unique concept: to bring together on a single site all the resources needed to stimulate innovative approaches and make them more fluid. CISAM is a meeting place for creation, incubation and acceleration of projects, and is a space that serves all those who innovate in the Aix-Marseille region. For more information: cisam-innovation.com