Working towards Lisbon

The Midi-Pyrénées programme of supporting innovation will also help it meet the goals of the Lisbon strategy, says Martin Malvy

The Midi-Pyrénées region prides itself on its support for innovation: indeed, we are the second French region in terms of investment in innovation above the European average, according to the European regional innovation scoreboard for 2007. That is why the Midi-Pyrénées region puts innovation and competitiveness among its top political priorities. For example, we have taken the voluntary but conscious decision to make sure that our operating programme for 2007-2013 structural funding meets all the goals of the Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs, in effect putting innovation at the heart of everything we do.

With more than 10,000 researchers and the second-largest university campus in France, Midi-Pyrénées is putting the knowledge society to good use, supporting the creation and growth of new innovative businesses and sectors and helping every part of the region – not simply the hi-tech region around Toulouse – to take advantage of the benefits that innovation has to offer.

We recently created an organisation called Midi-Pyrénées Innovation, a regional innovation office, which is working closely with the national government, and with the support of the EU, to create a regional innovation strategy. Although we are still putting the finishing touches to the strategy, we already know that it will fall within the regional competitiveness and employment heading of the operating programme, which covers all the measures designed to help improve the competitiveness of companies. This heading benefits from co-financing of €120m from EU structural funds for the seven-year period – money that is managed directly by the region and will be used to fund the policy of targeted support for projects, support for innovation and the improvement of skills.

Within this framework, the Midi-Pyrénées region decided, following the adoption of the regional economic development programme for 2007, to update its policy of financial support for companies, moving from a system based on ad hoc and occasional support for firms towards one based on partnerships between the region and businesses working together on long-term projects. With this new organisational approach, new support measure and a sharp increase in the money available, boosted in no small part by the European regional development fund, the region has been able to simplify the way it works at the same time as working more effectively to provide support for innovative companies.

We have created four different types of “support contracts” along the lines of the four main priorities of the region: innovation, research, business creation and access to international markets. The chief objective of the innovation support contracts is to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – whether they are involved in traditional industry, cottage industries, the production sector, hi-tech or business services – that want to invest in new research and development and innovation (R&D&I).

Support is offered at every stage of the innovation process, and is offered across the entire region thanks to a network of specialist organisations such as the regional innovation agency, the regional branch of Oseo, the national body which provides financial support for SMEs, and other services provided by the regional council. This high level of cooperation between the various organisations involved in supporting innovation reinforces the region’s determination to do all it can to support innovation.

The innovation support contract is signed by both the region and the SME in question and lasts for a three-year period, although that can be increased at the half-way point. It can also be extended at the end of the three-year on the basis of a long-term strategic development plan from the company concerned. The contract can also be signed between the region and a number of companies or laboratories working together on innovative projects. The contract obliges the region to provide technical assistance and financial support to the company or companies involved from the very earliest stage of feasibility studies, through investment in the research, development and innovation programme to the final stage of the creation of new products or services. So far, the region has committed €1m of its structural fund allocation to the innovation support contracts.

In more general terms, we hope that this new tool will give the region a major boost in terms of economic development, working in tandem with the range of actions carried out by Midi-Pyrénées Innovation. Our strategy of working closely with businesses and increasing our efforts to strengthen the potential that already exists in our region in terms of innovation, placing the emphasis on the knowledge society in an increasingly globalised world is consistent with the aims and goals of the Lisbon strategy. But we are not resting our laurels: the Midi-Pyrénées region is also committed to learning from other European regions working in the same field as part of a Europe-wide benchmarking programme.