Dassault Systèmes and Inria, France’s National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology, today announced a strategic alliance for European digital sovereignty. The two entities have decided to build a technological research roadmap that confirms their joint ambition to create long-term disruptive technologies in France and in Europe.
Inria and Dassault Systèmes have identified two major challenges to be met as part of this roadmap: virtual twin experiences in health, to benefit patients, hospitals and healthcare systems; and the evolution of technologies related to cybersecurity, to benefit digital trust.
In addition, thanks to this alliance, Inria and Dassault Systèmes plan to contribute to the development of French and European ecosystems in these two areas by engaging in ambitious public-private partnerships as well as open innovation projects, notably in relationship with France’s Cyber Campus cybersecurity hub and PariSanté Campus digital health research and innovation initiative.
Society today is living in the experience economy with an accelerated virtualization of the world. New services are available to citizens, notably in health care, requiring a new framework of trust around technology. In this context, France and Europe have key technological capabilities in digital health and cybersecurity for developing and maintaining a sovereign industrial offer and globally leading scientific excellence. The objective is to provide people with new experiential solutions based on the highest levels of trust and services.
The alliance between Inria and Dassault Systèmes marks the next step in strengthening their 20-year collaboration dedicated to critical advances in digital technology and science. Most recently, they worked with a group of organizations in France to develop the country’s contact tracing application during the COVID-19 pandemic, TousAntiCovid, to support the French Directorate General of Health’s crisis management. They were also members of the BioIntelligence consortium of industrial and academic partners in France focused on digitally transforming drug discovery and development processes. Several startups stemming from Inria’s proactive policy for technological entrepreneurship, such as Distène and Argosim, have now joined Dassault Systèmes.
“The virtualization of society requires new scientific and technological fundamentals to provide people with the highest level of experiences and trust. Europe and France have world-class research and technological capabilities, exemplified by the leadership of Inria and Dassault Systèmes as well as very innovative startups in their domains. New ecosystems are emerging to tackle these challenges, crossing the public-private divide for the benefit of all,” said Bernard Charlès, Vice Chairman and CEO, Dassault Systèmes.
“This strategic alliance with world leader Dassault Systèmes is part of an action plan to strengthen the digital power of France and Europe. For Inria, engaging in such an alliance is another stepping-stone to build an active digital ecosystem combining world-class universities, startups and leading companies, with the same vision on sovereignty issues and the definition of joint roadmaps in terms of research, technology and innovation, and also on the issue of skills development,” said Bruno Sportisse, CEO, Inria.
