This is a press release from Sherbrooke Innopole, partner of Shared Screen:
SHERBROOKE (Québec, Canada), July 12, 2023 – Back in Québec, Sherbrooke Innopole gives a very positive assessment of the economic development mission it led in France from June 7 to 23, as part of the Year of Franco-Québec Innovation. Several meetings suggest promising prospects for collaboration in the quantum technologies, video game and digital sectors, in particular.
An excellent connection was established with the economic development counterparts met in the Grand Est region. Discussions are underway to deepen and formalize collaboration for the benefit of businesses in both regions. A visit to Sherbrooke soil is also planned next fall. The first exchanges made it possible to identify potential avenues for cooperation related to quantum and to reveal added value to a possible sharing of practices in terms of ecosystem development and entrepreneurial community.
In Montpellier, Sherbrooke’s twin city, a strong common interest emerged from meetings with players in the video game ecosystem. A new exchange blitz is to be expected, first at the Montreal International Game Summit (MIGS) in November 2023, on the sidelines of which a visit to Sherbrooke will be organized, then at the Sherbrooke-Montpellier Scientific Meetings to be held at the Université de Sherbrooke in June 2024.
A desire to discuss the ethical aspects of artificial intelligence (AI), cryptography and cybersecurity also emerged during the stopover in Nantes. Discussions are expected to progress at the MTL Connect event to be held at École NAD in Montreal next October.
“These are just some of the opportunities for collaboration that we intend to explore further in the coming months,” says Marc-Henri Faure, Director, Information Technology and Quantum Business Services at Sherbrooke Innopole and co-pilot of the mission. Our objective remains, in the medium term, to establish and maintain bilateral relationships that will enrich our IT ecosystem and propel Sherbrooke companies, as well as French ones aiming to break into the North American market. »
“Several of the places we visited are also models from which we can draw inspiration in the deployment of the Entrepreneurship Headquarters, including IOT Valley near Toulouse for its entrepreneurial culture by and for entrepreneurs, BLIIIDA in Metz, a third place offering meeting and dining areas available to creators, craftsmen and technology and service companies that gravitate there, or KM0 in Mulhouse, a place of innovation and private training dedicated to the digital transformation of the industry,” says Jérémy Laplante-Chapdelaine, project manager for the development of strategic initiatives at Sherbrooke Innopole, who co-led the mission.
“Beyond the promising prospects for cooperation that we already foresee, our Mission France has made it possible to truly position Sherbrooke as the leading city and economy of the regions in Quebec, and therefore as an essential economic and innovation hub. Our business environment, our living environment, as well as the richness of our innovation ecosystem resonated with the organizations and leaders we met,” said Sylvain Durocher, General Manager of Sherbrooke Innopole.
The President and Founder of Station-SSCA, Elisabeth Nadeau, participated in the entire Mission France with great enthusiasm. “In fact, I even extended my stay in France, since I was invited to present our Bouge pour Jouer application in front of the jury of leaders, professional athletes and investors of the Unlimitech Sport Trophies in Paris. This surprise invitation follows my encounter with this ecosystem at Viva Technology a few days before. »
Christian Beauchesne, interim director of the NAD-UQAC School of Digital Arts, Animation and Design, which is opening a campus in downtown Sherbrooke this summer, participated in most of the mission in France. “The mission was very helpful to us. We met several video game and animation schools in France that can become partners, especially to bring French students to come and do years of study on exchange. Discussions are underway and are very promising for the future of the video game sector in Sherbrooke! »
Four other technology companies and educational institutions in the Sherbrooke region joined certain segments of the mission: Skinaptiks (technological solutions in the field of tactile perception), Chemia Discovery (technological platform for state-of-the-art microfurnace networks and automated microanalyzers), the Séminaire de Sherbrooke, as well as the BISOUS laboratory (Bureau d’Infographie, of Simulation and Optimization of the University of Sherbrooke). Interested in creating links with the French and Sherbrooke ecosystems, the Montreal company EdLive ( edtech tools for integration, creation and video distribution) also temporarily joined the delegation.
The Sherbrooke mission made several stops on French soil – in Toulouse, Montpellier, Rennes, Nantes, Paris, Reims, Nancy, Metz, Mulhouse and Strasbourg – in order to maximize its transatlantic travel. Sixty meetings and visits to innovation hubs , incubators and universities were on the program, as well as three major technology events – Viva Technology (VivaTech), France Quantum Conference and 360 Grand Est.
The Sherbrooke Innopole France Mission was made possible thanks to the financial participation of the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie du Québec as part of the 2023 Franco-Québec Year of Innovation and Global Affairs Canada through the CanExport – Community Investments program.
Sherbrooke Innopole would also like to thank the partners who facilitated the organization and conduct of its Mission France: the Québec Government Office in Paris, Business France, AD’OCC, Grand E-Nov+, Destination Rennes, Nantes Saint-Nazaire Développement and Choose Paris Region.
About Sherbrooke Innopole
Sherbrooke Innopole is the paramunicipal economic development organization that serves the industrial and tertiary-motor sectors in Sherbrooke. Its mission is to accelerate the development of companies in key sectors – manufacturing and advanced manufacturing, Information and Quantum Technologies, Clean Technologies, Life Sciences and Micro-nanotechnologies – and to act to make Sherbrooke an attractive and innovative business environment. It is funded in large part by the City of Sherbrooke through the Economic Development Coordination Office. www.sherbrooke-innopole.com
Photo caption: The co-pilots of the Sherbrooke Innopole France Mission, Marc-Henri Faure, Director, Business Services of the Information Technologies and Quantum Key Sector (3rd from right) and Jérémy Laplante-Chapdelaine, Project Manager for the Development of Strategic Initiatives (1st from right), accompanied by representatives of Sherbrooke, Christian Beauchesne (École des arts numériques, de l’animation et du design NAD-UQAC), Guillaume Gilet (Université de Sherbrooke), Rémi Robert (Séminaire de Sherbrooke) and Elisabeth Nadeau (Station-SSCA) were here in Montpellier during the visit to Université Paul-Valéry.
