Student: Balan Felicia Tabita

Group: M-BA 1ST year

The case of Sophia-Antipolis, France: Science and Technology Park

1. PRESENTATION OF THE ECONOMIC AGGLOMERATION CHOSEN AS TYPOLOGY (What is it?)

2. OVERVIEW OF THE CHOSEN ECONOMIC AGGLOMERATION (location, establishment, history,

number of companies, number of jobs, field of activity, aspects regarding specialization and
technological relationship, efficiency and flexibility, innovation and modernization, potential for
intelligent specialization etc.)

3. SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE CHOSEN ECONOMIC AGGLOMERATION (strengths, weaknesses,

opportunities, challenges)

4. IMPACT ON THE ECONOMY OF THE REGION (number of companies, turnover, number of jobs
created, number of newly created companies, impact on the labor market, education market, other
markets, impact on specialization in the value chain, impact on smart in a certain field, impact on the
innovation process at regional level, etc.)

5. PERSONAL OPINIONS

1. The initial activities of the establishment of Sophia Antipolis date back to 1969. The purpose
of the project is reflected in the name itself: Sophia is the name of wisdom in Greek (3) while
Antipolis is the ancient name of Antibes. The area chosen was in the vicinity of Antibes, near
Valbonne: this is a wooded area that had been saved from the urbanization of the Cotes
d'Azzure. Sophia Antipolis was built as a place that brought together the economy, the
environment, research, science and art. The goal was basically to establish a green area in
which "intelligence staff" of different cultures and profiles could interact and share their
knowledge (Rasse, 2003). The first impulse for the development of a technopole did not
begin with the public sector, but rather with the private initiative of Pierre Laffitte (4), a key
figure for Sophia Antipolis. Indeed, not only did he conceive of the idea, but he was able to
involve other key players in its development. It is well established that the social structure
will give rise to benefits and strategic advantages resulting from the overlapping of separate
networks.

2. Sophia Antipolis is a name of Greek origin: Sophia meaning wisdom and Antipolis the city of
Antibes but also the concept of creativity "outside the city" . It has been built from the
outset on a strong concept: “cross-fertilization” between researchers from around the
world, engineers , teachers and industrial leaders . The public authorities were the driving
force behind the development of the technopole , bringing out the potential of this project.
From its launch, the Syndicat Mixte de Sophia-Antipolis (SYMISA) aims to control this
growth by creating office and residential areas , while maintaining a very high proportion of
green spaces . The first 1,500 hectares of green spaces were quickly converted into
 departmental parks open to the public, while the hilltops are protected by a building ban.
The innovation chain continues with the arrival of business support players such as
incubators , competitiveness clusters , and the creation of the Business Pole and the
SophiaTech Campus . Since the establishment of the first company in 1974, Sophia Antipolis
has experienced exogenous growth and benefited from the IT revolution in the 1980s as
well as the reception of large groups (Air France, France Telecom - future Orange, Thomson
Cintra ASM - future Thales, Amadeus or GSF for example). The international influence and
the quality of life also attract American companies (Rohm & Haas, Digital Equipment, IBM,
Accenture). Since the end of the 1990s and with the arrival of the 1000th company, the
technopole has continued its economic development . They are well over 2 500 companies
that are located in Sophia Antipolis.

- Number of companies: 2500

-Employees: 38000

-Students: 5500

3. Strengths: higher education institutions: Cote D'Azur University, IDRAC Business School,
Mines ParisTech; research centers and institutes; companies. The University of Nice - Sophia
Antipolis is the main actor in the promotion of entrepreneurship in the cluster.

Weakness: Networks externalities, the increasing returns to adoption obtained by incubated

firms are not really observed. After several decades, Sophia Antipolis cannot be qualified as an
innovative network enable to generate positive externalities.

Opportunities: the bio-incubator project launched in 2030 will promote the development of
business-creation projects in laboratories, while strengthening the health/digital association and the
pre-eminence of Artificial Intelligence.

Challenges: Sophia in 2030 (https:/www.sophia-antipolis.fr/sophia-2030/).

4. The main factor for a stable innovation transfer mechanism in Sophia Antipolis lies in the
creation of a public-private partnership. Due to strong commitment on the part of the
Government or its local representatives, innovation transfer schemes will emerge. The
Government is the only legal body to guarantee the organization of space. Therefor, one of
the key roles of the public authorities is to promote the exchange of information between
the various parties, to serve as a network mediator and to assist companies in the sharing of
information. However the effectiveness of such a top-down strategy relies on the ability to
create reliable communication between cluster companies. The French authorities are proud
to have built a "Silicon Valley" in Sophia Antipolis compared to the popular Californian
technopolis in the United States. Of course, as far as the workforce is concerned, Sophia
Antipolis is the largest technical park in Europe, but the comparison has come to an end. As
far as the popular Silicon Valley Technology Park in California is concerned, even though
public authorities have contributed, through financial incentives or transport facilities, to the
economic development of this territory (top-down approach), the creative environment that
emerged from this park is rooted in the private dynamics of innovative SMEs (bottom-up
approach). Considered to be a higher level of education, science and technology, Sophia-
Antipolis has an immense influence not only on the city, but on the entire economy of
France.
5. After almost four five years of existence, the reliability and longevity of Sophia Antipolis
remains to be confirmed. To be sure, the incubators, the industrial climate, the university
environment and the agglomeration effects are very significant for the success of the Top-
down approach that governs the creation of Sophia Antipolis, but not all of these factors
alone can explain the continued growth of this park. The planet is full of spaces that offer tax
incentives, effective means of transport and a friendly living atmosphere. In reality, the
attractiveness factors of the Sophia Antipolis Technology Park can be found outside the park.
Expatriate employees arriving in France with their families will enjoy practically free access
to education and health systems. Their discretionary income is even more important for a
salary equivalent to their country of origin. This is one of the key reasons why France is the
first foreign direct investment home in Europe.