One of the reasons he put forward for this unexpected presence was the effect of La French Tech, established in 2013 with a €200million investment by the French government.
The latest demonstration of the effect which La French Tech is having was the opening last week by President Francois Hollande of the City of Connected Objects – an 8300m2 facility in Angers dedicated to developing devices for the Internet of Things.
In his remarks, President Hollande pointed out that five of the 12 most popular connected objects in the US are French. What he didn't do was to ennumerate them: nonetheless, you wonder how many of those 12 devices are UK designed.
But the UK also has ambitions when it comes to the IoT; Chancellor George Osborne committed £40m in March 2015 for 'demonstrator programmes, business incubator space and a research hub to develop applications for Internet of Things technologies in healthcare and social care, and Smart Cities'. That was, of course, in the last Parliament; will that commitment manage to survive in this Parliament?
If you want further evidence of the rise of France as a technology nation, take a look at the Deloitte Top 500 index of Europe's fastest growing tech firms. The 2014 list was the fourth in succession where France provided the most companies in the list;in 2014, 86 of those 500 were French. The UK, in case you were wondering, came second with 67 entries, but none were in the top 10.
La French Tech – which is supported by the French government, but not directed by it – says it's up to companies and the market to work out what's important. Its goals are: to trigger a collective momentum involving as many players as possible; to support the development of private 'startup accelerators'; and to boost the visibility and international appeal of French startups.
La French Tech seems to have its act together: it's backed by major multinationals, venture capital companies and seed funds and brings together academic organisations.
It doesn't appear that the UK has a similar set up, so are we missing a trick?
