Hollande Strives to Overcome French Technology Death Valley
By Marie Mawad -
Jun 5, 2013 10:08 AM E
In 1973, Frenchman Francois Gernelle built the world’s first micro-computer. In the decades after, France looked on as International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and Apple Inc. (AAPL) spawned a multi-trillion dollar industry around it.
French business history is strewn with such examples of missed opportunities. From the Internet-precursor Minitel to Francois Mizzi’s touchscreen patents in the 1980s, France has repeatedly failed to turn ideas and research into money-making global products, leaving others to ride away with the prize.
The European Union’s largest producer of math, science and technology graduates needs to get out of “the death valley between what’s developed in a lab and its future as a successful product or company,” said Louis Gallois, former head of Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. and now France’s competitiveness czar.
Building on a decade-long effort, President Francois Hollande’s government is seeking to put in place plans to squeeze more out of the country’s innovations and image. The latest effort to end Europe’s second-largest economy’s recession and reverse record joblessness is a state-commissioned report dubbed “Brand France” that will lay out by the end of June ways to wring more from the nation’s research, patents and other intangible assets. READ MORE »»»
