Leading companies look to develop South of France software industry
1 min read
Major technology players serving the mobile device market, and with facilities at Sophia, are working on an initiative called MECPI – mobile ecosystem platform initiative – with the aim of growing the local ecosystem of software applications companies.
Stephen Klingler, Infineon's general manager in France, said: "With 1billion 3G network users and 830m social networkers, the market for new generation smart mobile devices is exploding. Mobile internet is here and applications are still all to be invented. We need innovation pacesetters here in Sophia Antipolis so we can stay ahead."
The collaborators intend to provide easy access to the various mobile platforms and directional support in the types of applications they know to be in high demand. Klingler pointed to e-medicine, social networking, sustainable homes, energy saving, mobility and security as potential markets.
MECPI aims to encourage start ups to develop and sell mobile applications software. "We have the leading industry players – TI, ST Ericsson, ARM, Intel and Infineon – here, plus research centres, universities, incubators, investors and additional start up support," said Klingler.
However, there is some concern that MECPI might lose some impetus. TI's Pierre Garnier, pictured, is keen that MECPI gets off the ground quickly, leveraging the resources already in place. "We've been talking about this for a year and we don't want to get bogged down now in a big structure. We need to stimulate start ups to get up and running to build the ecosystem."
