High-Ranking French Government Members on a French-German Joint Stand

At the end of May, the French Institute for Industry of the Future attended the Viva Technology trade fair in Paris with seven major French and German players from science and industry. The theme of the joint stand was "Industry of the Future- Industry 4.0."

Manuella Werp of KIT International Affairs and Philippe Viot from the Innovation Management of Arts et Métiers Paris Tech represented the joint institute of the two institutions. Together with the Institut Mines-Télécom (IMT), the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the University of Passau, INSA Lyon, the German-French Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and the German-French University, know-how, cooperation projects, initiatives, and startups were presented at the "Espace Franco-Allemand pour l'Industrie du Futur/German-French Hub - Industry 4.0". The focus was on Artificial Intelligence for the Industry of the Future, Big Data, Industrial Blockchain, Additive Manufacturing, Augmented and Virtual Reality, Internet of Things, Process Optimization, Predictive Maintenance, and Cyber Security. Startups of Arts et Métiers, Holomake, Leviathan Dynamics, Tryon and startups of KIT, Ineratec and Kinemic, also presented themselves.

The German Embassy's envoy in France, Pascal Hector, the Counsellor of the French Embassy in Berlin, Jean-Jacques Pierrat, and the former President of the Université Franco-Allemande, Patricia Oster-Stierle, opened the joint stand.

France's Defense Minister Florence Parly, and Mounir Mahjoubi, Digital State Secretary by French Prime Minister, visited the Arts et Métiers startup Holomake, which offers innovative augmented reality assistance tools, in the presence of Laurent Champaney, Director of the Arts et Métiers ParisTech.

France's Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Lemaire, also came to the stand to inform himself about five German and French startups, including KIT‘s Kinemic, which offers gesture control suitable for industry. He also had talks with Professor Dr. Thomas Hirth, Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs at KIT, and Philippe Jamet, Director General of the Institut Mines-Télécom.

The governments of Germany and France see the global digital transformation as a great opportunity to increase their competitiveness and thus secure jobs and prosperity. This is why the 6th Forum on Franco-German Research Cooperation will be held in Berlin on June 19, 2018.