The Software and complex systems industry affects areas including design, production and control of measurement systems and instruments for telecommunications, automotive, security and defence applications.

 Many industrial groups, including hallmark members of the System@tic Paris Région cluster such as Sagem Groupe SAFRAN, a world leader in biometric sensors, and Thalès, the electronics giant, conduct their business in these fields in the Val d'Oise. They are surrounded by a dense fabric of SMEs specialising in microelectronics.

SECURITY ASSETS
 The Val d'Oise has major assets in terms of safety and security in the form of the many applications within this industry. Eight of the leading security operators are subsidiaries of international groups

working in the Val d'Oise, for example the Swedish company Securitas, the American company, Brinks contrôle sécurité, Chubb Sécurité, Silliker, Tyco Electronics and Autoliv Electronics.
Security and risk management have been a constantly growing market for several years now (+30 % per year for the IT security sector alone). The volume of business has increased since the 9/11 attacks, which sounded the alarm for many companies which are now seeking better protection for their staff, sites and IT systems.
There are also many technological innovations in this field of security, as seen with Trust Platform (PFC) projects1, SIC2 and Mobi SIC3 conducted by Sagem Défense Sécurité within the System@tic Paris Région cluster with their partners, including Thalès (cf. page 4). These include the new challenge undertaken by Sagem Groupe SAFRAN: the use of multibiometrics (facial recognition, fingerprints and iris scans) 

The Val d’Oise is a privileged territory. Just a few kilometres north of Paris, at the heart of the Ile-de-France, Europe’s leading economic region, it is a true gateway to the world. Located on the main strategic European transport flow routes (for both freight and passengers), it is part of the Grand Paris initiative. With the creation of a new port (Confluence Seine-Oise) and the «Grand Paris Express» automatic metro, the Val d’Oise is an ever-more dynamic and competitive territory that responds to today’s issues.
In terms of cultural heritage in the Val d’Oise, one only need mention the Château de La Roche-Guyon, Auvers-sur- Oise and the Valley of the Impressionists, Royaumont Abbey, the Châteaux d’Ecouen and the Châteaux de Méry-sur-Oise to get a sense of its wealth.

The enhancement of this heritage has long been one of the priorities of the Val d’Oise Departmental Council. The department’s cultural identity is the perfect environment for new initiatives as well as the development of business tourism.

A remarkable academic
fabric

11 universities with around 30,000 students in Val d’Oise. The Paris-Seine Association of universities and higher education institutions (Communauté d’Université et d’Etablissements, COMUE) and the University of Cergy- Pontoise offer more than 180 diplomas with 22 research centres. Renowned engineering institutes covering all fields of excellence (ENSEA1, EISTI, ENSAPC, EBI, ISTOM, ECAM-EPMI)

are located in the urban community of Cergy-Pontoise with their numerous state-of-theart laboratories and research centres. A prestigious business and management institute: ESSEC, International Business School, has been established in the Val d’Oise since 1973.

A gateway to the world

The privileged geographic location of the Val d’Oise largely explains the scale of its economic growth: its location in the north of Paris makes it an almost essential port of call for trade with Northern Europe as well as the main European ports thanks to the Oise and Seine rivers.
The Val d’Oise also has a dense railway coverage, with 4 RER lines and 2 SNCF networks. Besides its proximity to Paris, the international nature of the Val d’Oise is strengthened by the presence of Paris-Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport (the leading airport in continental Europe) and the CDG TGV airport railway station, which provide fast and easy connections for air and rail passengers to and from the major French and European cities.

 (1) ENSEA : École nationale supérieure de l’électronique et de ses applications, 
EISTI : École internationale des sciences du traitement de l’information, 
ENSAPC : École nationale supérieure d’arts de Paris-Cergy, 
EBI : École de biologie industrielle, 
ISTOM : École Supérieure d’Agro-Développement International, 
ECAM-EPMI : École Supérieure d’Ingénieurs en Génie Électrique, Productique et Management Industriel.

Innovation and development Through its 9 competitiveness clusters (Advancity, ASTech Paris Région, Cap Digital Paris Région, Cosmetic Valley, Elastopôle, Finance Innovation, Medicen Paris Région, Mov’eo, System@tic Paris Région) active in the area, the Val d’Oise aims to encourage synergies between companies, higher education establishments, and public and private research organisations in order to launch projects in the field of economic development, innovation and international cooperation.

It is also home to Europe’s leading business airport, Paris Le Bourget.
The A1, A16 and A15 motorways provide a fast connection to Paris and La Défense, as well as the ports of Rouen, Le Havre, Calais and the Channel Tunnel to London, as well as the major cities in Northern Europe. Finally, the «Francilienne» expressway facilitates access to Roissy Charles de Gaulle International Airport.

Economic and technological assets

Although its economic fabric is primarily composed of SMEs-SMIs, the Val d’Oise is home to a considerable number of large companies that play a crucial role in its economic vitality. Renowned industrial groups have chosen the Val d’Oise for their head offices, with more than 1,200 international companies in 180 business parks, along with associated services.
With a long industrial tradition and a young and qualified workforce, the department has expanded over 20 years to comprise more than 85,000 paid employment positions.
The business sectors in the Val d’Oise come under areas of excellence: aeronautics and airport services, cosmetics, onboard electronic systems, scientific and technological instrumentation, security and risk management applications, environmental technologies, transport and logistics, and the automotive industry.
The Val d’Oise also benefits from the actions of 9 competitiveness clusters, accredited by the Government, in the fields of complex software and systems, health and biotechnology, imaging, multimedia and digital life, road safety and

sustainable mobility, aeronautics and space, the finance industry, rubbers and polymers, cosmetics and urban development.

A connected region that sponsors major projects

The Val d’Oise promotes developmental projects within the framework of the Grand Paris initiative through transport infrastructure as well as major facilities and projects on an international scale for trade and business

tourism (Aéroville, Roissy Park International, Paris Nord 2, International Trade Center, Europa City).
On the cutting edge of new technologies, the complete very high-speed telecommunications coverage of the territory should be finalised by 2020.

Territorial diversity

The Val d’Oise offers numerous opportunities for companies to establish a presence in its highly diversified areas that are nonetheless easily accessible from centre of Paris and Paris-Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport. Support services are available to facilitate investment projects in six major areas:Vexin, Agglomération de Cergy-Pontoise, Pays de France, Vallée de Montmorency, Rives de Seine et Plaine de France.

The Val d’Oise has property possibilities in urban and rural areas, including within the two Regional Nature Parks. It offers a comprehensive range of real estate products: offices, warehouses, laboratories, commercial premises, industrial buildings, business centres and incubators.

> Download the PowerPoint presentation in PDF format

The digital industry is one of the fields
of excellence of the Ile-de-France region.
The Val d'Oise is home to some large organisations working in this sector, in addition to leading teaching establishments which play their part in this dynamic.

The digital economy, which includes everything from video games to telecommunications, and from microelectronic components to the Internet, involves both professionals, with the widespread use of computer tools and multimedia in companies, and private individuals, who are being affected by the arrival of home automation.

 The sectors of business concerned are nanotechnologies, advanced software, computing systems, multimedia content and their related online services, and so on.

The Val d'Oise is currently home to:
- 400 companies in the digital industry,
- 1 400 companies involved in the use of these technologies,
- 6 higher education institutions linked to this area of business, several public and private research laboratories working in this field.

SOME OF THE COMPANIES LOCATED IN THE VAL D'OISE

SAGEM COMMUNICATION
Wireless broadcasting and transmission equipment
CARTOSPHÈRE
Software publication
JOHNSON CONTROLS AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRONIC
Electronic equipment
MADEP
Industry, electrotechniques and automation
PTV LOXANE
Software publication
SONY France SA
Household appliance business
THALÈS COMMUNICATION SA, THALÈS TRAINING SIMULATION
TYCO ELECTRONICS
France SAS
Manufacture of low voltage electrical equipment

CEUROPEAN CENTRE FOR BUSINESS AND INNOVATION (CEEI) NEUVITEC 95 
 Managed in partnership with the Val d'Oise Conseil Général and the urban district of Cergy-Pontoise, through the ACCET Val d'Oise Technopole, the European centre for business and innovation (CEEI), Neuvitec 95, is located at the heart of the university and science cluster in Neuville-sur-Oise, one of the twelve municipal areas in Cergy-Pontoise.
A technological business incubator, Neuvitec 95 is geared to innovating technological projects, with connections to higher education and research. Since its inception in 1998, Neuvitec 95 has been encouraging an entrepreneurial spirit in higher education institutions. Examples of this to date include an ENSEA student joining a start-up company in the incubator, an EPMI graduate developing a project to set up his own company and a university student beginning his own e-business company. The incubator is already home to a dozen up-and-coming businesses whose work relates directly to digital technology, or the use of its resources.
Neuvitec 95 - Val d'Oise European Centre for Business and Innovation.
www.accet.asso.fr

BRINGING TOGETHER RESEARCHERS AND COMPANIES ONCE A YEAR 
 As part of the efforts by the CESE 95 (Val d'Oise Further Education / Company Forum) to bring further education institutions and SMEs and SMIs closer together in the département, the CEEVO is heavily involved each year in the Val d'Oise Research and Innovation Week. A wide variety of events are on offer locally during the course of the week: lectures, visits to factories, companies and research laboratories, business meetings, and so on. Free of charge and open to all, this event is an opportunity to get to know some of the companies and laboratories in the digital industry as well as the progress of projects which are part of the Cap Digital Paris Région competitiveness cluster.

Research and further education:

• UCP: University of Cergy-Pontoise

• ENSEA: Graduate School for Electronics and Applications

• EISTI: International School of Data Processing Sciences

• EPMI: School of Electricity, Production and Industrial Methods

• ESSEC: Graduate School of Economics and BusinessITIN: Graduate School of Computer science, networks and information systems

• ITIN: Graduate School of Computer science, networks and information systems

• Institut Polytechnique Saint-Louis
  
  

  Public laboratories:

• ETIS (ENSEA-UCP-CNRS): Signal and Image Processing Laboratory

• ECIME (ENSEA-UCP) : Instrumentation and Electronic Modelling Laboratory

• ECS (ENSEA) : System Command Laboratory

• ESTI: EARLY and LAPI research laboratories

• ITIN: centre of research and innovation

Private laboratories:

• Sagem Groupe SAFRAN (Mobile telephony - Defence and Security - Audiovisual activities)
  
  
• JOHNSON CONTROLS AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRONIC
  
  
• THALÈS

 Aeronautics, health, information and communication technologies, transport, energy, finance, and more. The list of the 71 projected clusters, drawn up by the CIADT (Interministerial Regional Planning and Development Committee) covers all the major sectors of business throughout France. With the financial backing of the State, the listed clusters also benefit from tax breaks and reduced social contributions. In addition, local authorities may offer exemption from local taxes.

6 COMPETITIVENESS CLUSTERS IN THE VAL D'OISE
 Six of the existing or aspiring world-class competitiveness clusters directly involve companies located in the Val d'Oise: ASTech Paris Région, Cap Digital Paris Région, Finance Innovation, Medicen Paris Région, Mov'eo and System@tic Paris Région.

Receiving the «Competitiveness Cluster» label has an immediate knock-on effect for the «département», enhancing both its brand image and the reputation of its companies, universities and research institutions.

THE « CAP DIGITAL PARIS RÉGION » WORLD-CLASS COMPETITIVENESS CLUSTER
 Cap Digital Paris Région has a concentration of skills found nowhere else in the world. Focussing on images, multimedia and the digital universe, it draws on the presence of companies in the Val d'Oise at the heart of digital technology (Sagem, Thalès, Thomson Broadcast, etc.) and further education institutions and research laboratories that specialise in this field (University of Cergy-Pontoise, ENSEA1, EISTI2, ESSEC3, ITIN4, ETIS5, ECIME6). The cluster brings together companies and research centres in six fields of business:

- films and broadcasting,
- video games,
- digital assets,
- knowledge engineering,
- education,
- multimedia communication.

Companies and education institutions in the Val d'Oise are already involved in 3 projects in the Competitiveness cluster:
- the HD3D-IIO project with the Thalès group as partner,
- the PPRE project with the EISTI as partner (the « electronic briefcase »),
- the TERRA NUMERICA project led by the Thalès group.

1 ENSEA: Graduate School for Electronics and Applications - 2 EISTI: International School of Data Processing Sciences 3 ESSEC: Graduate School of Economics and Business - 4 ITIN: Graduate School of Computer science, networks and information systems 5 ETIS: Signal and Image Processing Laboratory - 6 ECIME: Instrumentation and Electronic Modelling Laboratory at the ENSEA

TERRA NUMERICA: DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY SERVING SOCIETY 

 The Terra Numerica project is a core project for the Cap Digital Paris Région cluster. This cooperative project relating to the digitalisation of regions and their resources aims to develop multimedia-based use of this information.
« Undertaken and led by Thalès in Cergy-Pontoise, at the heart of the Val d'Oise, « Terra Numerica is a set of technologies applied to the life of the general public to prepare people for living in the cities of the future, » explains Hervé Rochard, in charge of the project for Thalès. « Animated digital computer-generated imagery is the key to the whole system. Scanning every square metre of an area from an aircraft enables the production of a geospecific representation of whole cities (even on the scale of Paris or the equally large urban district of Cergy-Pontoise). » With Terra Numerica, a company wishing to locate to the Val d'Oise or for example in the heart of the urban district in the Prefecture city of Cergy-Pontoise, will have huge advantages. The animated electronic model of the entire urban district will enable them to locate the site which is best suited to make their business profitable (access, transport, etc.), and meet both their industrial needs (emissions, waste, etc.) and also those of their employees, taking into account human requirements and criteria for sustainable development. Everything can be examined in minute detail: noise, pollution and the amount of sunshine or rain, simulated in images based on real-life mapping data and photos of existing sites.
Backed by the driving force of the Thalès group, which manufactures flight simulators in its Val d'Oise plant, and its partners in the Cap Digital Paris Région cluster, this project involves both laboratories at engineering schools like the ETIS and the ENSEA and SMEs working with Thalès. It opens the way for many different applications such as transport management and navigational aids, civil security and environmental risks, and more fun aspects such as museography and cultural and tourist information services.

ENGINEERS WHO ARE EXPERTS IN THEIR SPECIALIST FIELD

 The Val d'Oise Research and Innovation Week, held every year in the Val d'Oise, is an opportunity for researchers in the département to present their projects to companies with lectures and round tables. The EPMI* and ITIN often take part in this kind of exercise.

Protection from the hazards of electrical transformers
The EPMI works in the field of fire protection for power equipment. Transformers are considered to be the most dangerous components in electrical installations. Several experts even expect an increase in the number of breakdowns by 1 - 2% from 2008 onwards. Moumen Darcherif, director of the EPMI, gives the example of hazard status report and suggests solutions. Studies quantifying phenomena resulting from electrical defects have been conducted to this end. Amongst other things, the EPMI is developing a multiphysics model of a transformer.

The contribution of new technologies (such as Virtual Reality) to public services
In one example, Florent Michel, a Virtual Reality engineer at the ITIN, is working on the benefits of new technologies in the practice of medicine, demonstrating the benefits that can be forthcoming for the general public – including the elderly and those less able to cope on their own – through online services implemented by all the administrative departments of a municipal council.

* EPMI: School of Electricity, Production and Industrial Methods

The département of the Val d'Oise is involved in six national or world-class competitiveness clusters in the fieldsof health, digital technology, complexsystems and software, the automotive industry, aeronautics and finance. It offers the dynamism of a high-performance economic basin and quality living in a region with an outstanding natural environment. The département is located on the outskirts of Paris and is the site of Roissy Charles-de- Gaulle international airport.

At the heart of the Ile-de-France, the leading region in the country, the Val d'Oise is a competitive département just a few kilometres away from Paris. With a population of 1.2 million, it offers two very different aspects:

• the southern edge of the département is built-up, from Cergy-Pontoise and the Argenteuil-Bezons area right across to the towns in its south-eastern corner near Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport,

• at the same time, there are also two regional natural parks and vast rural areas of farmland: multiple cropping and stock rearing in the French Vexin and large-scale added-value farming in the Plaine de France.
  The Val d'Oise is a young region, with one third of the inhabitants aged under 20. 

ECONOMIC CENTRES OF ACTIVITY WITH A GLOBAL OUTLOOK 

 Located to the north and north-east of the outskirts of Paris, the Val d'Oise is in a prime location both as the natural extension of greater Paris, and the gateway to Northern Europe (Great Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands) and Eastern Europe.
Its international nature is underlined by the presence of Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle International airport (the largest airport in continental Europe). The airport has an integrated TGV high-speed rail station providing quick connections for air and rail passengers to all the major cities in France, Europe and worldwide.

«The Val d'Oise - making life easier for entrepreneurs every day.»

A NETWORK OF HIGHLY COMPLEMENTARY COMPANIES

 The economic fabric of the Val d'Oise is made up mostly of small businesses and industries, but the département is also home to a number of large firms which are playing a vital role in its economic growth. The Val d'Oise is already home to corporate headquarters and manufacturers who are well-known both nationally and worldwide. Many are located in the urban district of Cergy-Pontoise, the technological basin of Argenteuil-Bezons and the area close to Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport: 3M, SPIE, BP, JONHSON, DASSAULT, SAGEM Groupe SAFRAN, PEUGEOT, THALES, THOMSON, FUJITSU-SIEMENS, KUBOTA, SONY ERICSSON, OPEL, YAMAHA, EADS, NIELSEN, BROTHER, HUAWEI, DELPHI, PIONEER, and more.

The SMEs are concentrated on technology-related areas of business: mechanical and industrial equipment manufacturing, digital technology, electronics, high added-value medical equipment and so on.

INVOLVED IN 6 INTERNATIONAL AND WORLD-CLASS COMPETITIVENESS CLUSTERS

 Six « competitiveness clusters » recognised by the French government are located in the Val d'Oise: System@Tic Paris Région, working in the fields of Complex Software and Systems; Medicen Paris Région for Health and Biotechnology; Cap Digital Paris Région: Images, Multimedia and Digital Technology; Mov'eo: Road Safety and Sustainable Mobility; ASTech Paris Région, devoted to Aeronautics and the Space industry, and Finance Innovation, serving the Finance Industry.
The networks of excellence in the Val d'Oise are also backed up by networks of companies covering the département, working in several specific areas of skill: the Mechanics Committee, Measurement network (RMVO), Ecological Industry Network , Val d'Oise - Yvelines Automotive Network (RAVY), Aerospace Network (Val d'Oise SAT), and others.
 

120 BUSINESS PARKS IN 2 MAJOR EMPLOYMENT BASINS:
CERGY-PONTOISE AND THE ROISSY CHARLES-DE-GAULLE AIRPORT CLUSTER 

 DIn the Val d'Oise, some 3 000 hectares are now set aside to accommodate 120 business parks. In the past twenty years, the département has gained 100 000 new employees. This is one of the best rates of growth in France.
The département is divided into six geographical areas on which the Val d'Oise Conseil Général bases its strategies. They each have different economic challenges:

- The French Vexin,
- The Pays de France,
- The Montmorency Valley,
- The Cergy-Pontoise urban district,
- The Plaine de France (encompassing the Roissy-CDG airport area),
- The Rives de Seine (around the Argenteuil-Bezons cluster).

CERGY-PONTOISE, A MAJOR URBAN DISTRICT WITH LINKS TO THE ECONOMIC CENTRES OF PARIS, LA DÉFENSE AND ROISSY CHARLES-DE-GAULLE.

 Built from 1969 onwards on a surface area similar to that of Paris, Cergy-Pontoise is the préfecture of the Val d'Oise, a city with a population of 200 000 and all the facilities necessary for the well-being of those who live and work there.
Cergy-Pontoise has an efficient transport network:

- SNCF rail links to two Paris stations: the Gare du Nord and the Gare Saint-Lazare, and lines A and C on the RER (Réseau Express Régional), bringing the journey time to the heart of Paris to just 35 minutes.

- La Défense is 20 minutes away by car, via the A15 and A86 motorways.

- Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport is half an hour away via the Francilienne ring road.

- the « Bus Express » route links Cergy-Pontoise to Charles-de-Gaulle airport and the TGV station.

- goods may be transported on the river Oise, from the river ports.

- there is a business airport just a few minutes from the city centre.

In terms of higher education, there are 18 000 students at the University of Cergy-Pontoise, and over 13 000 students at the business and engineering graduate schools (ESSEC1, ENSEA2, EISTI3, EPMI4, ITIN5, Institut Polytechnique Saint-Louis, etc.) Cergy-Pontoise, with the second-largest concentration of higher education in the Ile-de-France region after Paris, has both academic and industrial potential (with over 4 000 companies) and thus acts as an economic driving force for the whole département.

1 ESSEC: Graduate School of Economics and Business
2 ENSEA: Graduate School for Electronics and Applications
3 EISTI: International School of Data Processing Sciences
4 EPMI : School of Electricity, Production and Industrial Methods
5 ITIN: Graduate School of Computer science, networks and telecommunications

FOUR OTHER COMPLEMENTARY CLUSTERS IN THE VAL D'OISE

 THE "RIVES DE SEINE", area on the banks of the Seine to the south, close to Paris-La Défense, is ideally located to accommodate technological and service companies. The industrial cluster at Argenteuil and Bezons, which has a university campus, specialises in aeronautics, metalworking and high-tech industry, along with fine chemicals and plastics. The new tram line from La Défense and western Paris adds to the area's appeal.

 THE "PAYS DE FRANCE", to the north-west, is an area where private homes are the predominant form of development. Local stakeholders are fostering job creation by establishing and upgrading business parks for small and medium-sized businesses and industries, including those at Persan and Beaumont-sur-Oise. The creation of a multimodal cluster (waterway / rail / road) in the Bruyères-sur-Oise business park forms part of this development.

 THE MONTMORENCY VALLEY is above all a select residential area. However the human-sized business parks in the combined urban areas of « Val et Forêt » and « Montmorency Valley », and those of the other towns in the area (Sannois, Enghien-les-Bains, etc.) located on the RER line and the express lines to the Gare Saint-Lazare and the Gare du Nord also have a very rich fabric of specialised SMEs: high technology and subcontracting for mechanics, plastics and electronics.

 THE "FRENCH VEXIN", which stretches over the entire western part of the département, has maintained its rural feel due to continued farming and its classification as a Regional Natural Park. The quality of life there attracts new inhabitants drawn by the advantages of choice property offers in a protected environment.

The CEEVO (Val D'Oise Economic Expansion Committee), as economic development agency of Val d'Oise County Council (« Conseil General »), has been serving companies in the département and those wishing to move there since 1973. Its work is organised around four key missions:

• opening up the Val d'Oise and its companies to the world,

• strengthening the département's industrial and technological vocation,

• developing networks of entrepreneurs, research scientists and institutions,

• promoting diversity in the département.
  These all rest on a single principle: making formalities in the département easier for all existing and potential stakeholders.

MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER IN THE VAL D'OISE!

 The work done by the CEEVO is valuable both for companies in the Val d'Oise seeking to develop exports and establish relationships with other countries, and for French and international companies wishing to locate to the Val d'Oise.

ASSISTANCE, ADVICE AND SUPPORT FOR COMPANIES

 The CEEVO keeps in contact with institutions and economic organisations. This comprehensive grasp of all relevant information enables the CEEVO to advise people setting up businesses and company heads. CEEVO's teams are available at all stages of the company life cycle: creation, expansion, research and innovation, internationalisation, transfer, acquisition and so on, working in partnership with other organisations involved in local development (consular assemblies, employers' unions, government departments, technopoles, incubators, business incubators, entrepreneurs' clubs, and others).

MANAGING AN ECONOMIC OBSERVATORY

 The CEEVO gathers and uses economic and statistical information relating to the situation and business of companies in the département. This data is processed and published to provide a reliable decision-making tool for company heads and economics officers.

ECONOMIC PROMOTION FOR THE VAL D'OISE

 The CEEVO regularly organises lectures and conferences and attends professional exhibitions in France and abroad. It instigates a large number of economic events and technical forums as well as running a « Val d'Oise Companies Information » point in the TGV station at Charles-de-Gaulle airport and offices in Osaka, Japan and Shanghai, China.

SUPPORT FOR COMPANIES LOCATING TO THE VAL D'OISE

 A regularly updated computer database (www.implantation95.com) has been compiled to provide a quick information service for company managers seeking land, premises or offices. The information is supplied on technical sheets sent to French and foreign companies looking for somewhere to locate their premises. The CEEVO can also accompany entrepreneurs visiting selected sites, putting them in contact with property developers or local authorities.

SUPPORT FOR EXPORTS

 Events and support organised under the auspices of the département's exports Committee, « Val d'Oise International » include day seminars on export techniques, conferences presenting external markets, administrative assistance for companies, approaches to foreign markets and participation at industrial shows worldwide.
The CEEVO is heavily involved in economic development agency international networks in Europe (EURADA) and worldwide (World Cities Alliance).

The Val d’Oise has long been the home of big names in the telecoms sector, such as Sagemcom, Sagem-Mobile, Thales, Archos and Huawei, etc. Some of them started in Bezons, or located their head office there like Atos (86,000 employees across 66 countries), a leading company in the areas of digital services, systems consultancy and integration, outsourcing, Big Data and security. The momentum for telecoms in Val d’Oise is also down to the presence of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de l’Electronique et de ses Applications (ENSEA) delivering high-level training in electronics and signal processing, the École Internationale des Sciences du Traitement de l’Information (EISTI) and the École d’Électricité, de Production et des Méthodes Industrielles (ECAM-EPMI), training engineers in Cergy-Pontoise. The Val d’Oise covers all areas of the telecoms sector..

Hi-tech equipment manufacturing

LeThe Val d’Oise is home to numerous telecoms equipment manufacturers - and not exactly minor ones, either. 

Archos specialises in tablets and smartphones, revolutionising the consumer goods market and developing fast. It has moved to be closer to Logic Instrument, which specialises in electronics for professionals. Located in Domont, the company has been selling rugged laptops and mobile phones for use in hostile environments for 10 years now. Time Reversal Communications (Thales) produces encrypted phones and has unique expertise in the field of wireless communications and secure portable devices. A subsidiary of the Safran Group, Sagemcom is a world leader in the market of high value-added communication terminals (decoders, Internet boxes and electronic meters, etc.).
The Group covers three sectors: broadband, energy and the Internet of Things. Morpho is a pioneer in the mobile communications field and is now a leading force on the global biometrics and secure payment solutions markets. 

Data management

Many companies specialise in secure computer data storage – a major issue for businesses needing to provide strong protection for their strategic information. EMC2 is the world leader in this field. Its infrastructure solutions enable businesses to change their way of operating and generate value from their existing information. Atos and Inside Secure are also getting more involved in developing data and contactless technology. The Iliad Group (parent company of Free) is delivering innovation on the broadband and ultra-broadband market and has opted to set up a major facility in Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône.

Application design

Many Val d’Oise SMEs and SMIs are active in the smartphone and tablet application market. Three business incubators provide support for innovative digital design: Neuvitec95 in Neuville-sur-Oise, an enterprise seedbed project for the Communauté d’Agglomération Plaine Vallée at Montmagny, delivering superior environmental quality and only 10 minutes from the Gare du Nord in Paris, Numéric Lab located in the Centre des Arts of Enghien-les-Bains:
• Neuvitec95 promotes web initiatives, social innovation and sustainable development.
• The Montmagny seedbed project is home to twenty or so talented start-ups.
• Numéric Lab whose start-up Indie Guides has just shown its colours with its eponymous application Indie Guides. This app reveals hidden locations in Paris, Berlin, Tokyo and even Istanbul. It is number 4 in USA Today’s top 10 best new travel applications.

Ingénierie des télécom

DesVal d’Oise SMEs and SMIs are developing innovative solutions that are revolutionising the telecoms world. The region is home to extremely high levels of expertise and can accommodate all sizes of business looking to operate in the sector. Val d’Oise is a great place to be. Just a few kilometres north of Paris and endowed with the Paris- Charles de Gaulle Airport – its doors are open to the world.

Networks

GSMA - Mobile World Congress The Mobile World Congress is a mobile communications technology trade fair. Val d’Oise companies showcase their innovative solutions there, including Atos, Archos, Morpho and Sagemcom. The Val d’Oise Economic Expansion Committee (CEEVO) attends every year, presenting opportunities for telecoms businesses to set up and expand in the Val d’Oise along with other opportunities related to digital applications.

Higher education:
> Université de Cergy-Pontoise (UCP)
> École Nationale Supérieure de l’Électronique et de ses Applications (ENSEA)
> École Internationale des Sciences du Traitement de l’Information(EISTI)
> École d’Électricité, de Production et des Méthodes Industrielles (ECAM-EPMI)
> École Supérieure d’Informatique, de Réseaux et Systèmes d’Information (ITESCIA)

Public research laboratories
> Laboratoire «Paragraphe» (UCP) Interdisciplinary research laboratory
• Cybermedia, Interaction, Transdisciplinarity and Ubiquity
• Comprehension, Reasoning and Knowledge Acquisition
• Conception, Creation, Skills, Practice
• Digital Script and Hypermediation
• Information and Documents in Context

> Laboratoire ETIS (UCP, ENSEA, CNRS) Information Processing and Systems Team
• Multimedia data indexing and data integration
• Imagery
• Digital communications
• Reconfigurable systems on a chip
• Neurocybernetics
> Laboratoire SATIE (UCP, CNRS, ENS Cachan, ENS Rennes, CNAM, Université Paris Sud, IFFSTAR) IT and Energy Systems and Applications
• Research area: «information systems» (Instrumentation and imagery; methods and tools for signals and systems; bio microsystems and biosensors)
• Research area «Energy systems» (Power electronics and integration; Magnetic materials for energy; Energy systems for transport and the environment; Advanced electromobility)
> Laboratoire QUARTZ (EISTI, ENSEA, SUPMECA, ECAM-EPMI, Université Paris8)
• Complex systems, mechatronic systems
• Cyber Physical Systems (CPS), Internet Of Things (IOT), semantic web
• Reduced and compact multi-physics models
• Operating safety and dynamic system reconfiguration
• Intelligent devices
> Laboratoire LR2E (ECAM-EPMI)
• Energy and Cities of the Future
• Mechatronics and On-Board Systems
• Manufacturing and Green Logistics

Major businesses in Val d’Oise

Atos - Computer systems and software consultancy
Catchmyworld - Design and distribution of smartphone and tablet applications
Depaepe - Manufacture of testing devices and equipment (telecoms and telephony)
EMC2 - Secure storage and exchange of computer data
Hub One - Telecoms operator for businesses, airports and high-density locations
Iliad - Innovator on the broadband and ultra-broadband access market (parent company of Free)
Inside Secure - On-board security solutions (secure payment, identification, Access control)
Jimic - Mobile application and web site development
LTE SAT - Network engineering, installation and maintenance
Logic Instrument - Design, manufacture and sale of phones, tablets and PCs for use in hostile environments (Archos)
Morpho - Biometrics expert (secure mobile transactions, Internet of Things, etc.)
Rakon France - Manufacture and sale of electronic components for professional applications
Sagemcom - Communication terminals with high value-added - broadband, smart city, Internet of Things
Time Reversal Communications - Encrypted phone sales (Thales)

> Download the PowerPoint presentation in PDF format

The cosmetics sector represents 5,200 jobs in the Val d’Oise department. It is one of the sectors that has made the most progress in the territory over the past 10 years.
The third-largest sector in terms of exports in France, with 25% of the global market, the French cosmetics industry is mainly divided between three regions: Île-de-France, where it originated, and the regions of Centre-Val de Loire and Normandy. 800 companies in these 3 regions, of which 78% are SMEs, are listed within the Cosmetic Valley competitiveness
cluster. More than one cosmetic product in 10 sold throughout the world is made in the Cosmetic Valley, which has become the world’s leading cosmetics territory.

Sysley chooses Val d'Oise

In the Île-de-France region, which constitutes the largest employment market in the sector, Val d’Oise is home to major names in the cosmetics and perfume industry, most of which have been established for over a quarter of a century.

For example, the Ales Groupe, which has been developing its personal care products Lierac, its range of hair care products Phyto and its Caron perfumes in Bezons since 1988; Clarins, established since 1976 in Val d’Oise, which operates laboratories and production units for its personal care and make-up lines in its 60,000 m2 facility in Pontoise; Matis, which produces professional hair care and beauty products in Osny; Les laboratoires Payot in Cergy; and Sisley, which has chosen to bring together its laboratories and global supply chain in a 45,000 m2 facility in Le Parc de Saint-Ouen l’Aumône.
Val d’Oise is also home to the laboratories and perfumery school of the world leader in aromas and fragrances, Givaudan, creator of perfumes like Angel by Thierry Mugler and Opium by Yves Saint-Laurent, and those of the world no. 5, the Japanese company Takasago, established in Argenteuil and Saint-Ouenl’Aumône respectively.

Par Moreover, other cosmetics companies have settled in the Val d’Oise laboratories and/or production units. Daito Kasei, a Japanese company, produces colour pigments for cosmetics in Frépillon. Evaflor assisted Phycosource (a start-up from Cergy-Pontoise) in the production of micro-algae extracts for testing purposes. Perfrance creates custom-made perfumes for export (brand distributors, etc.) in Cormeilles-en-Vexin. Paris Axe cosmétique sells make-up products for professionals and distributors.

Sensient Cosmetic Technologies: its international showcase in Val d’Oise

Sensient Cosmetic Technologies, an American group specialising in pigments and colorants for the cosmetics industry, has chosen the Val d’Oise department and is investing in its French plant and its offices in Cergy-Pontoise in order to make this area its international showcase.
The Val d’Oise department provides cosmetics companies with an ecosystem that promotes their growth and everything that contributes to the development of a strategic field of activity based on objectivation (the profiling of active ingredients in cosmetics).

Val d’Oise has capitalised on a major challenge for growth and innovation within this sector: testing and measurement for cosmetics. As such, several stakeholders that specialise in the evaluation and profiling of cosmetics are present in Val d’Oise, including the Val d’Oise Measurement Network (Cluster of SMEs specialising in the measurement field). This is also the case of the Cosmetomic platform, led by the University of Cergy-Pontoise, which helps companies in the sector to innovate and provide proof that France brand products are safe and effective, using top-quality tools in terms of measurement and profiling. This is why the Cosmetic Valley has chosen the Val d’Oise department to organise COMET (Cosmetic Measurement &Testing), an international scientific congress that brings together international scientists, engineers, manufacturers and academic researchers every two years based on this theme, in Cergy-Pontoise.

 --------------------------------------------------------------

Networks

The Economic Expansion Committee (CEEVO) promotes the cosmetics sector through studies, information tools and databases available to companies and academic stakeholders in the sector, as well as through the coordination of networks and the organisation of demonstrations. The Val d’Oise Measurement Network brings together the SMEs from the Val d’Oise department working in evaluation (testing) and cosmetic profiling; a Cosmetomic platform, «Cosmetomic@UCP» led by the University of Cergy-Pontoise contributes to providing proof that cosmetic products are safe and effective.

Research and higher education
School of Industrial Biology (EBI) at the Saint-Louis Polytechnical Institute: engineers and managers in the cosmetics, pharmaceutical, agro-industrial and environmental sectors.
University of Cergy-Pontoise (UFR “Sciences and techniques”): Cosmetest 3-year degree, Masters in fine chemistry, polymer, analysis; cosmetic analysis method and technique, biochemistry of living materials; life sciences and new technologies- PhD in Chemistry.

The aim is to promote excellence in cosmetics in Val d’Oise and the sector’s stakeholders in the world.

ESSEC - Luxury MBA: the only MBA specialising in international luxury brand management.
EBI - ESCOM(1) - ISIPCA(2): supported by the Federation of Perfume Industries, the 3 schools have come together to organise a specialised Master’s degree (BAC + 6) in «international safety and regulation of perfumes and cosmetic products».

Public laboratories
ERRMECE: Extracellular/Cellular Matrix Relations Research Team.
SOSCO-UCP/ESCOM/CNRS: Selective Organic Synthesis and Organometallic Chemistry Laboratory.
LPPI: Polymer and Interface Physicochemistry Laboratory.
GRP2H: a branch of the INSERM 680 unit focused on Hereditary Hepatic Physiopathologies: molecular biology, DNA sequencing, cloning.

(1) ESCOM : (1) Higher School of Organic and Mineral Chemistry.
(2) ISIPCA : Higher Institute of Perfume, Cosmetics and Food Flavourings.

Flagship companies in the Val d’Oise department

Alès groupe - Production and packaging of beauty products
Bioros (laboratories) - Design and production of parapharmaceutical and cosmetic products
Clarins - Production and packaging of beauty products
Daitokasei Europe - Distribution of basic organic chemicals
Evaflor - Industrial production of perfumes and cosmetic products
Fragrance Contact - Design and production of fragrances for the perfume industry, cosmetics, personal hygiene products, household products and home fragrance products
Givaudan France fragrances - Perfume and fragrance creator
Herba Galenica - Cosmetics and nutrition science laboratory
Leonor Greyl - Shipment of hair care products
NG Payot - Production and sale of beauty products
Matis - Production of cosmetic products
Perfrance - Design and production of brand-name perfumes
Paris Axe cosmétique - Sale of beauty and cosmetic accessories
Phycosource - Biotechnology related to micro-algae and screening. Sale of plant extracts
Sensient Cosmetic Technologies - Colorants for cosmetics and hair colour
Sisley - Logistics laboratory and platform for beauty products, cosmetics and perfumes
Takasago Europe perfumery laboratory - Production and creation of fragrance concentrates
Tison Gallois (laboratories) - Production

> Download the PowerPoint presentation in PDF format