Blog

IRT B-com recognised by the State: 250 M€ over ten years

“This is very good news for us”, said Vincent Marcatté, President of the Breton business cluster, Imaging & Networks, and one of the main supporters of the B-com project. IRT B-com is responsible for inventing the images and networks of the future and designing digital health services (or e-health). Brittany is setting up its own “Silicon Valley” with the institute’s main centre housed in a 12 000 sq. metre building in Rennes Atalante Beaulieu and two branch centres, in Brest and Lanion.
IRT will have a budget of 250 million euros over ten years, of which 130 M€ is to be provided by the State. It is intended to generate 2,000 direct jobs and between 10,000 and 20,000 indirect jobs, making Brittany a world leader in the image technology sector. The B-com project began in May 2010 as part of the national programme of investments for the future. The government decided at that time to set aside two billion euros to fund six new IRTs. Their purpose would be to stimulate research, create and market new technologies and generate employment and added value. Some fifteen towns and regions, including Brittany, locked horns in an attempt to win one of the institutes.
“In the end, last May, we were asked to take another look at our project and refine our objectives,” said Vincent Marcatté. The whole team got back to work and, on 7th December, it presented its B-com project, version 2.0, with greater emphasis on imaging, networks and e-health.
The final original feature of B-com was the pooling of skills by more than fifty partners, including large groups such as Orange, Thales and TDF as well as local SMEs, start-ups and university laboratories.
The Science & Technology Park in Rennes and its colleagues in Brest and Lannion were involved in the preparation of the IRT project. At present, they are looking at the conditions under which SMEs can be involved in B-com.

NewLC is joining the Wedia group

NewLC recently joined the Wedia Group, 12 months after another company from Rennes. Both operate within Wedia Mobile. Through the takeover, the group has consolidated the position of its mobile centre in Rennes.

Rennes Atalante Science and Technology Park : 761 new jobs created in 2011 by companies

Rennes Atalante recently collated the results of its 2011 Employment Survey conducted among companies in the Park. It questioned 303 technology companies that are either located on Rennes Atalante sites or are members of Rennes Atalante but operating from non-park locations.

2O Innovation raises 700,000 euros

The 2Ô Innovation company in Rennes, which specialises in the recycling of polluted water, has recently increased its equity by 700,000 euros thanks to an investment by the development capital company Nef Capital Éthique Management, making it a major shareholder.

Kereval is diversifying into interoperability tests for healthcare software

Kereval was selected by the IHE-Europe association specialising in the interoperability of ICTs in the healthcare sector to industrialise the IHE-Services platform.

Isocycle develops a portable cycle that can be unfolded in 8 seconds

The young Isocycle company is designing and developing a bike for urban use. The target market includes companies and local authorities that want to encourage their staff to replace car use over part of their commute with an innovative folding bike that is compact and comfortable with designer looks.

Telus has selected Astellia to maximise the performance of its mobile broadband network

Astellia, a company from Rennes that specialises in the maximisation of quality of service management and performance for mobile phone networks, has recently been selected by Telus, Canada’s second largest telco, to increase its subscriber satisfaction.

Annie Blandin from Rennes, awarded a Jean Monnet European Chair.

A Jean Monnet Chair has just been awarded to Annie Blandin, specialist in European law and telecommunications and media. The chair, entitled « European Union and Information Society” attributed to her for her work in the field of the European law. Endowed with 45 000 € by the European Union, it is in addition to six chairs the Jean Monnet Centre d’excellence in Rennes recently renewed by the Commission.

MimeTIC, a new research team in Rennes, bringing the human and virtual closer together

The new research team known as MimeTIC, part of Inria Rennes-Bretagne Atlantique and the universities of Rennes 1 and Rennes 2, with links to the Irisa and M2S (Mouvement Sport Santé) laboratories, is trying to obtain greater understanding of human biomechanics to improve the simulation of virtual humanoids.

Eichrom, the first company in France to be accredited for measurement of radioactivity in concrete

Since October 2011, Eichrom has been the first laboratory in France to obtain Cofrac accreditation for the measurement of gamma radiation through concrete. This test meets the need for reliable measurements for companies working in the nuclear industry, particularly during the decommissioning of power plants.