The recent boom in data transmission and storage capacity has given rise to an increase in Cloud computing in France — a sector that has been given the backing of the government’s National Investment Program. This market is set to surpass the €2 billion mark for France in 2011, and may make up more than 6% of the French software and IT-services industry in 2012. “France is a growth market for high-tech and innovative companies, particularly in the Cloud-computing sector, where the leading players are already here [in France], doing business,” points out David Appia, Chairman & CEO of the Invest in France Agency (IFA). In 2010, revenue from the global market for Cloud-computing services totalled US$68.3 billion while, in Europe, the cloud computing market surged 20% and is predicted to account for almost 15% of the European software and IT-services market by 2015. The French market, which continues to grow strongly, was worth €1.85 billion in 2010, €672 million of which was generated by SMEs. This market is set to exceed €2 billion in 2011 and may account for more than 6% of the French software and IT-services market by the end of 2012. (This estimate has been made by Nexima, a French marketing company). The recent success in Cloud computing has stemmed from the increase in data transmission and storage-capacity usage. Calculations and data are scattered in a universe that is no longer directly accessible to clients who, instead, buy processing capacity in the same way that one might buy electricity.  Three levels of offerings are available with respect to Cloud-computing services:  a client may go for an externally hosted IT infrastructure, i.e. Infrastructure as a Service (or IaaS ); for ready-to-use environments, i.e. Platform as a Service (or PaaS ); or, finally, for standardised shared applications sold as services, i.e. Software as a Service (or SaaS ). In 2011, the French Government issued an initial call for projects dedicated to R&D in Cloud computing, as part of its National Investment Program. The Association Française des Editeurs de Logiciels (or AFDEL , i.e. the French Federation of Software Publishers) set up a website to simplify the procedure for project promoters, when submitting projects for funding within the National Investment Program ( www.investirdanslenumerique.fr ). David Appia, Chairman & CEO of IFA, explains, “The French government’s National Investment Program is providing a boost to a dynamic network of partnerships created by France’s innovation clusters through its funding offers for projects involving IT-system designers, telecoms operators, software publishers, technology integrators, research laboratories, and innovative SMEs.” Thanks to this initiative, five projects will receive state aid amounting to €19 million. These include software-engineering platform CloudForce , developed by Orange Labs (which comes under telecommunications operator Orange); CloudPort , an application-porting scheme designed by Prologue, a specialist SME; the high-performance software-infrastructure project known as Magellan , developed by Bull; a community-Cloud project known as Nu@age , promoted by Non Stop Systems, another  specialist SME; and, finally, UnivCloud , a Cloud project managed by INEO, a higher-education institution. France provides new entrants with a growth-friendly environment. French legislation affords a high level of protection for data and for data processing. In particular, regulations governing encryption, which include Act No. 2004-575 of 21 June 2004 and Decree No 2007-663 of 2 May 2007, cover concerns relating to the sensitivity of data entrusted to Cloud-computing centres. New entrants include US company Joyent, established in the Ile-de-France region in 2010, which provides IaaS to LinkedIn, Disney, CNN, Facebook, Yahoo and vente-privee.com. Joyent also provides open-source PaaS to publishers, hosting companies, and specialist computer-services companies, such as Dell and First Service. This pioneering Cloud-computing start-up is now competing with Cloud-based offerings from companies such as Amazon EC2 and Microsoft Azur. In 2010, Dell entered into an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) agreement with Joyent to use its smart technologies in order to offer turnkey Clouds hosted on its servers. Alongside international players such as Microsoft, Google, HP, AT&T and IBM, France is also home to numerous other companies, including Atos, Capgemini, Steria, Orange and SFR. Atos, an international IT-services company, has recently established Yunano, a joint venture with Chinese company UFIDA, a provider of management-software solutions and services, in order to market Cloud-based management software and associated services. French software publisher Systancia, which has operations in Alsace (in eastern France) and in Ile-de-France (i.e. Paris and its region), is a market leader in Europe for application and workstation user-environment virtualisation. France has eight innovation clusters involved in Cloud computing: Cap Digital; System@tic; Elopsys; Images et réseaux; Imaginove; Minalogic; Secure Communication Solutions; and, finally, TES, the hi-tech cluster specialising in e-secure transactions.  About Invest in France Agency Invest in France Agency (IFA) is France’s national agency responsible for promoting and facilitating international investment in France. IFA also co-ordinates a range of initiatives in order to promote France’s economic attractiveness and stimulate inward investment. The IFA network operates worldwide, with offices within France as well as in North and South America, in Europe, in the Middle East, and in the rest of Asia. Within France, IFA works in partnership with regional development agencies to offer international investors outstanding business opportunities and customised services. For further information, please go to: www.investinfrance.org  

Læs mere

The Nord-Pas-de-Calais region (in northern France) will host the Welcome to Northern France pavilion at FRUIT LOGISTICA 2012. The trade show, dedicated to the fresh-produce sector, will take place from 8 to 10 February 2012 at the Messe Berlin exhibition centre in the German capital and is expected to welcome 56,000 visitors from over 130 countries. The 400m² Welcome to Northern France pavilion (in Hall 22, Booth F14) will host 17 French companies presenting their region’s fresh produce or their packaging/logistics know-how. The Nord-Pas-de-Calais region offers many benefits to businesses, including its prime location, close to Brussels, London and Paris. (The Eurostar journey from London to Lille takes 90 minutes.) Nord-Pas-de-Calais ranks third among French food-growing regions, with the sector’s turnover set to reach €11.5 billion in 2011. A third of all potatoes produced in France are grown in the region, which ranks first nationally for endives, second for onions, and third for cauliflowers, in terms of volumes produced. Among the new features on the Nord–Pas-de-Calais pavilion will be T&B Vergers’ new Quality Guarantee, which ensures full traceability of fruit from the place of production to its dispatch through the channels of distribution. Verduyn will introduce its two new packaging modes — in punnets or in P-Plus packages of more than a kilo — as well as a new range of knife-peeled carrots. Bayard Distribution will present its upscale brand of potatoes and introduce a new microwavable package, and NEGONOR will showcase a new range of organic potatoes for making chips or mash. To enhance the visitor experience on the pavilion, there will also be a daily showcase by a chef using produce from the Nord–Pas-de-Calais region. The full list of exhibitors on the Welcome to Northern France pavilion is as follows. Further information is available on the websites that have been listed and can also be provided upon request. Agrochange is a potato brokerage company which works with over 600 producers in France ( www.agrochange.com ). Bayard Distribution, already mentioned, produces and distributes potatoes ( www.bayard-distribution.com ). Olivier Négoce is a potato trading specialist ( www.oliviernegoce.fr ), and Condilys, for its part, has been trading in potatoes since 2003. Lucas Lemaire is a   family-run company trading in potatoes and onions ( www.lucaslemaire.com ). NEGONOR ( www.negonor.com ), already mentioned, and Verpom ( www.verpom.com ) are both specialists in potatoes and onions. Wecxsteen is a company that is also active in the potato market in northern France ( www.groupe-wecxsteen.com ). Perle du Nord has been a specialist in endives for the past 20 years ( www.perledunord.com ), whereas T&B Vergers, already mentioned, trades in (and packages) both apples and pears ( www.tbvergers.fr ). Verduyn, mentioned above in this press release, prepares fresh vegetables ( www.verduyn.fr ), while Wostin is a bean-sprout specialist ( www.wostin.fr ). For its part, PICVERT produces, packages and markets baby leaves for a range of salads ( www.picvert.info ) Klim Top Controls provides refrigerating equipment ( www.klimtop.eu ), while Dunfresh, which is based in the port of Dunkirk, specialises in temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics         ( www.conhexa.com/dunfresh_eng.htm ) The Nord-Pas-de-Calais pavilion will also showcase the Port of Dunkirk, the second most important French port for trade with Britain ( www.portdedunkerque.fr ), as well as Agence Maritime Rommel PLC, an expert in international logistics based in northern France (www.amragency.com). About Nord-Pas-de-Calais The Nord-Pas-de-Calais region will host the Welcome to Northern France pavilion at FRUIT LOGISTICA 2012 at the Messe Berlin exhibition centre, in Berlin (Germany), from 8 to 10 February 2012. The pavilion will be situated in Hall 22, Booth F14. A comprehensive exhibitor catalogue is available upon request from Ms Katherine Woods, Press Officer, or from the Welcome to Northern France pavilion. For further information about Nord-Pas-de-Calais, please go to: www.cci-international.net For further information about Fruit Logistica 2012, please go to: www.fruitlogistica.de/en/

Læs mere

Pels og skind er in, og bliver hele tiden mere tydeligt i modebilledet. Der tilbydes to forskellige kollektioner  med et bredt udvalg af jakker, frakker, veste, bolero’er m.m. i bedste skind- og pelskvaliteter. Der er lagt vægt på et eksklusivt design, komfort og kreative detaljer. Den unikke AKHESA kollektion er inspireret af det skinnende Middelhav og den farverige Nice. Nøgleordet er livsglæde med den luksus og stil, som hører den franske Riviera til. Det inspirerende design giver kvinder over hele verden mulighed for at udtrykke deres personlighed. Iklædt AKHESA’s troværdige kvalitet og design er de klar til at gå efter deres drømme. KAREN RITZI er Akhesa’s yngre søster, som følger med tiden og tilbyder fashion designs til sprudlende, aktive kvinder, som ikke går på kompromis med deres outfit. En frisk, opsigtsvækkende kollektion, som allerede har alt hvad der kræves af et stort brand. Er du interesseret, så kontakt venligst Annemette Jensen, tlf. 33 37 61 78 for at høre mere.

Læs mere

QOOQ, the first touchpad of its kind in the field of gastronomy, which has been developed by Unowhy of France, will be launched in the English-language market at the 2012 International CES®.   The trade event, which is the largest international consumer-technology trade show, will take place from 10 to 13 January 2012 at the Las Vegas Convention Centre, in Las Vegas (USA).  “In creating QOOQ, we wished to link a technological innovation to a premium content dedicated entirely to the culinary world. QOOQ is positioning itself as a multi -media cooking coach that teaches, advises, helps, and adapts itself to its user," explains Jean-Yves Hepp, inventor of QOOQ and Chairman of Unowhy. The QOOQ pad developed by Unowhy introduces high-quality culinary content and a panel of interactive services that simplify cooking. The company will showcase its innovative technology in English on Stand 36272 at the 2012 International CES® trade fair in Las Vegas in mid-January.  The QOOQ pad, the first touchpad to be made in France, is equipped with a 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 double-heart processor, which affords powerful and rapid browsing. The hardware has been designed so that it may be used in a kitchen without risk: it is resistant to water splashes and food spatters; its screen can be cleaned with a sponge; its feet are non-slip; and, finally, it has waterproof buttons. As well as its culinary content, the 10-inch QOOQ touchpad offers the multimedia functions of standard touchpad devices, including internet browsing, video-clip technology, MP3, email, photography, and weather-forecast data. The QOOQ pad, gives access to more than 3,500 recipes presented in different forms — 1,500 of which are in video format — as well as dedicated interactive services, such as the meal planner and the automatic shopping list. More than 100 French chefs of high renown were involved in the creation of the QOOQ content, such as Guillaume Gomez, Assistant Chef at the Elysée Palace, the official residence of the French President, and Takeuchi Hisayuki, who has cooked for the Emperor of Japan and works at Le Kaiseki, the famous Japanese restaurant in Paris. In its English-language version, the QOOQ’s touchpad content will be adapted to the different markets targeted by Unowhy, while being complemented by the international chefs’ recipes. The content and services proposed by QOOQ can be personalised, in line with the user’s dietary preferences and priorities: it can be adapted to the tastes of each person by, for example, banning certain foodstuffs, or limiting the number of calories contained in a meal. Moreover, the quantities in recipes adjust themselves automatically in proportion to the number of guests, and family recipes can be added or shared. In addition to the QOOQ pad, the platform of content and services proposed by QOOQ is also available on connected media, such as computers, other touchpads, smart phones and connected TVs.   About Unowhy Unowhy, which is based in Paris (France), is a company specialising in digital media and proposing content and services concerned with cooking and gastronomy. The company was created in 2007. Jean-Yves Hepp founded Unowhy in order to capitalise on the fact that new technologies facilitate access to increasingly enhanced premium and personalised contents: his aim has been to improve cooking practices. Through a combination of advanced technology and sophisticated gastronomy, the company’s objective has been to make it possible for the greatest number of people to rediscover conviviality and the pleasure of eating well. Unowhy will participate in the 2012 International CES® trade show from 10 to 13 January 2012 at the Las Vegas Convention Centre, in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA). The company will present its QOOQ pad in English, on Stand 36272. Unowhy will also host a table at CES Unveiled, an event dedicated to the press, where journalists can meet exhibitors. CES Unveiled will be held on 8 January at the Venetian Hotel, in Las Vegas. For further information about the 2012 International CES®, please go to: www.cesweb.org For further information about QOOQ, please go to: www.qooq.com . (An English-language version of the website will be available from the end of December 2011) For further information about Unowhy, please go to: www.unowhy.com

Læs mere

International auditing firm KPMG has confirmed the appeal of the Lille region (in northern France) for non-French investors. According to the independent survey conducted by KPMG and published in November 2011, 85% of respondents, representing the 1,077 subsidiaries of foreign-owned groups established in Northern France, recommend the region. According to KPMG, the international auditing firm, the prime reason companies choose to establish a subsidiary in Northern France is the strategic location the region offers. The Lille region lies at the heart of Europe’s leading consumer catchment area. Two-thirds of the companies surveyed highlighted their aim to reach the markets of northern Europe (including France) as having driven their decision to invest in the region: an impressive 82% of companies see this locational advantage as crucial to their success in these markets. The high quality of the local labour force also satisfies the companies: 60% were satisfied with the region’s labour force — a proportion reaching 75% of respondents in the field of trade and logistics. Undoubtedly, this is another reason businesses choose to settle in region surrounding Lille. Regarding the quality of life, seven out of 10 business leaders say that they are satisfied with the region’s cultural dynamism and tourist potential, and close to two-thirds approve of the sports facilities available in the Lille region. The local geography and environment are also a cause for satisfaction among foreign-owned companies: 80% indicate that they are satisfied (or fairly satisfied) with the region in this respect. Northern France is a region whose attractiveness is not always fully appreciated by outsiders: prior to their arrival, 46% of decision-makers surveyed had a good image of the region, but a third (33%) admitted to having a negative perception. Once established, however, only 1% of these decision-makers have retained this negative view, while 68% of respondents indicate that they are satisfied (or very satisfied) with the Lille region. With hindsight, none of the companies surveyed see their location in the Lille region as a handicap. On the contrary, 60% describe the move as an asset to their businesses, especially those hailing from the Benelux countries, and 27% see the relocation as strategic in terms of the company’s development in northern Europe.  Moreover, a majority of the companies surveyed have felt genuinely welcome in northern France: close to 60% of respondents consider the welcome given to expatriates to be satisfying or very satisfying.  Despite being a border region and a hub for pan-European trade, the Lille region has a strong identity rooted in its history. Indeed, a third of respondents believe that the region stands apart from the rest of France, especially those from Germany and the Netherlands, who acknowledge a stronger cultural affinity with the region. Lastly, the Lille region is founded upon powerful ethical values that are important to businesses. Respondents were asked what “values” they associated with the region: “work”, “fighting spirit”, “energy” and “hospitality” were widely mentioned by those surveyed. This gives an overview of the positive image that the region enjoys with international investors. About Nord France Invest Nord France Invest is the publicly funded investment-promotion agency for Northern France (including the city of Lille and its surroundings). The agency helps businesses to develop and make the most out of their move to the region of Northern France. D rawing on expertise across a wide range of fields, Nord France Invest and its network partners offer personalised and fully confidential services to investors, free of charge, from the initial decision through to the launch and follow-up. In pursuing these aims, Nord France Invest draws on the skills of its own staff, combined with expert input from an extensive network of regional and international partners. For further information, please go to: www.investinnorthernfrance.com

Læs mere

WALLIX, a leading European IT-security company, has finalised an increase in share capital of €2 million to be carried out with Thierry Dassault Holding (TDH), the personal holding group of Thierry Dassault, and Auriga Partners, an independent venture-capital firm. As part of the deal, Thierry Dassault will acquire a stake in software developer WALLIX, which is to become a public limited company. WALLIX has completed discussions with the Auriga Partners investment fund, therefore preparing itself to embark on an ambitious international-development plan together with Thierry Dassault, a specialist in economic intelligence and the President of Keynectis, a European leader in technologies and advisory services. WALLIX, which operates in the UK out of its offices in Reading (in southern England), designs and develops software applied to IT security. “Through the years, the security of information exchanges on IT networks has become a fundamental challenge for businesses. My acquisition of a stake in WALLIX contributes to the strengthening of French companies’ investment strategies for such fundamental IT-related subjects. I hope that WALLIX may be able to take its place rapidly among the leading European players as is the case today for Keynectis, which I have supported since its creation in 2004,” says Thierry Dassault. "WALLIX is positioned in a rapidly growing market with a strong added value, and we are very happy to finance and support the large-scale international developments which lie ahead," underlines François Lainée, Associate at Auriga Partners. Since the launch of its WALLIX AdminBastion (WAB), the IT-security solution developed by the company in 2008, WALLIX has positioned itself clearly in the IAM (Identity and Access Management) market. WALLIX’s solutions strengthen the security of access to IT systems, user-account management, and the traceability of computer activity. Indeed, WALLIX is one of very few companies in the world to have developed a technology of ‘session recording’, which allows the recording of individual network-connection sessions and reproduces them in video-logs. Having analysed the growing success of the WALLIX’s IT-security products on the market, and in order to accompany European product deployment, WALLIX has decided to reinforce its own capital with new financial partners. In order to do this, the company has entrusted a mandate to LD&A, the corporate-finance specialist, with a view to working together in raising capital through potential investors. "This capital raising is going to strengthen significantly our pool of investors and our asset base, which constitutes a strong signal, for our key clients, in terms of the lasting nature [of the business]," declares Amaury Rosset, Financial Director and Partner of WALLIX. The capital raised will essentially be dedicated to the development of alliances with new strategic partners, as well as to the international expansion of the company, with the recruitment of value-added resellers (VARs) within the EU (including Britain) and in Switzerland. "Our development plan was able to appeal to leading investors and to the IT-security market at the same time. In a more robust setting, from now on, we envisage strengthening our presence in England, in Germany, in the Benelux countries as well as in the southern European countries that surround the Mediterranean, and in the Persian Gulf. Our objective is the accompaniment of the introduction of corporate governance and respect for regulatory and legal requirements, of dematerialization, and of ensuring the security of public (or private) Cloud Computing,” explains Jean-Noël de Galzain, CEO of WALLIX. “Given the growing impact of cyber criminality, and how far we have fallen behind in Europe [in this respect], we are even more motivated to provide our clients with means of IT controls and to build up an innovative and sustainable European proposition," adds the CEO of WALLIX. In the final stage of the capital increase,WALLIX will be transformed into a public limited company (or PLC) with a Board of Directors and a Management Board. The Board of Directors is set to consist of Amaury Rosset, Associate Finance Director; Jean-Yves Portalier, Director General and deputy to Jean-Noël de Galzain; and Jean-Noël de Galzain himself, who will become Chairman of the Board. The company will set up a Supervisory Council composed of five members, namely Stéphane Taunay, Chairman of the Board of Sopromec (an investment company); Pierre-Yves Dargaud, Chairman of the Board of Access2Net (a venture-capital group); François Lainée, Associate at Auriga Partners; Didier Lesteven, entrepreneur; and, finally, Thierry Dassault. Didier Lesteven will be Chairman of the Supervisory Council of WALLIX. In the past three years, WALLIX’s range of solutions has established itself as a product leader for the external provision of secure IT access, for the traceability of users’ actions, and for user-account management. Today, the WAB solutions developed by WALLIX are deployed in more than 100 large businesses and in industries as diverse as banking, manufacturing and the media, as well as in the public sector. WALLIX’s products are distributed in the form of software and hardware solutions through a network of integrators and certified VARs present in Belgium, England, France, Luxembourg, Russia and Switzerland. About WALLIX WALLIX is a developer and distributor of computer-security software specialising in traceability and risk management linked to the outsourcing of IT. WALLIX, which is based in Paris (France) and in Reading (England), also has a subsidiary in New York (USA). The company distributes its software products through a network of VARs that operate across Europe and North Africa. WALLIX’s solutions are aimed at IT directors and those responsible for IT security, who must improve the IT risk management of businesses in order to be compliant with regulations. The company’s products are used in the financial-services industry, in manufacturing, in health and medical services, and in the public sector. WALLIX’s Wallix Admin Bastion has been adopted by many large and medium-size companies. The company also produces WALLIX LogBox (WLB ), a solution that logs system-connection information. WALLIX is a prize-winner of the Oseo Innovation awards, of the PM’UP programme, and a partner of the System@tic Paris Region high-technology cluster of excellence. WALLIX has also recently been awarded the title Champion of the Cluster . For further information on the System@tic Paris Region high-technology cluster, please go to: www.systematic-paris-region.org/en   For further information on WALLIX, please go to: www.wallix.com

Læs mere

After publishing Microsoft Outlook plug-ins for several years, AddOnMail of France has announced the arrival of the latest version of its leading product, PSTStation Corporate for Outlook — the PSTStation Corporate 3.5. Jean-Christophe Cisse, CEO of AddOnMail, explains, "PSTStation Corporate 3.5 is a genuine breakthrough in migrating PST files for [Microsoft] Exchange 2010. With our product, a company with tens of thousands of users is finally able to plan a genuine migration for its PST files." "With PSTStation Corporate, a company will cut the duration of its PST file migration project by at least 50%. It will also save over 50% of the cost, since no development is required and everything is processed automatically,” adds Jean-Christophe Cisse. This increase in efficiency is possible thanks to the software package’s unique open PST file management and incremental message-processing technology. The migration can therefore be run 24/7, even while users are reading or writing their messages. PSTStation Corporate 3.5 features a powerful connector to import PST files into Exchange 2010 users’ mailboxes. The software also includes a function for the detection and identification of PST files within the corporate network; the technology to select source messages to be archived; and, additionally, a powerful multithread connector to inject messages into Exchange 2010. Furthermore, AddOnMail’s new software solution features many post-archiving functions, such as the automatic PST file removal from user profiles, message deletion from the PST source once archived, and the possibility of marking PST files as read-only. PSTStation Corporate has already won the trust of many companies in France and in the United States, including in sectors such as banking and manufacturing.  About AddOnMail   AddOnMail is an IT specialist company, providing more than 20,000 users worldwide with powerful tools and specialised services. Honoured as the best innovative product at the Microsoft Tech-ED trade show in Copenhagen (Denmark) in 2004, AddOnMail is based in Paris (France) and recently opened a branch in Canada. AddOnMail publishes archiving and electronic-message-management solutions, especially those stored on user workstations. The company helps businesses locate messages within their corporate network. AddOnMail also helps IT managers secure the data thanks to its archiving and backup functions, as well as functions making it possible to move data to other, more secure (or cheaper) storage space. For further information, please go to: www.addonmail.com .

Læs mere