What are the objectives of the Carnauto initiative?

Gérard Cambillau: Carnauto's role is to boost very small, small and medium-sized businesses and ETIs by encouraging them to become more involved in research. At present, these companies are not very involved in research contracts. We are therefore trying to develop direct contracts between public institutes and industry, in particular within the framework of Carnot relationships, since the Carnauto action brings together nine such institutes. It's important for companies in the automotive sector to ally themselves with research partners who have scientific skills and expertise in the field. And when I say automotive, I mean that in a very broad sense. Carnauto focuses as much on construction and motorization as on mobility services. In the final analysis, we're really talking about all the transport systems of the future.

What are the advantages for a company of turning to the Carnauto group rather than a particular research institute?

GC: The nine Carnot institutes are united in their actions. In addition to Carnot Télécom & Société numérique, Carnauto includes other institutes that excel in scientific research and also have a real understanding of business relations. We propose to identify needs and redirect them in a collegial manner to our most appropriate entities. In addition to research partnerships with scientists at the cutting edge of their field, we also offer personalized support, expertise, training and access to 65 Carnauto technologically advanced platforms, particularly for testing and simulation.

In which areas does Carnot Télécom & Société numérique bring real added value?

GC: Carnot TSN is heavily involved in all aspects of the connected and autonomous vehicle. The car is increasingly becoming a mobile robot equipped with intelligent sensors, linked to remote databases. The fields of the Internet of Things, Big Data, network architectures, LTE and 5G links are therefore at the forefront. This is a huge field for the Telecom schools, with a particular focus on Télécom Paris, main partner in the Normatis intelligent mobility project with smartphone localization, and Télécom Bretagne, which is already well involved in themes such as connectivity, interoperability and signal processing. The YoGoKo start-up is a perfect example. In the area of Big Data, we also provide the Teralab platform for testing and optimizing software environments for data collection, processing and analysis. And as I mentioned earlier, we're also well equipped in this area with our Télécom Évolution continuous training program.

With so many arguments to put forward, how do you explain the fact that companies are still reluctant to come to public research, and that an initiative on the scale of Carnauto is needed to convince them?

GC: It's true that the offer is remarkably advantageous for SMEs. If only to mention the availability of platforms: that's gold for them! Rather than driving thousands of kilometers on the road to validate safety automatisms, for example... If few SMEs turn to research, it's often because they're afraid of the costs and time involved. And they're partly right. If only to put together a research dossier, you have to invest a lot of time, and therefore money, with no guarantee of success in the end. But it's precisely the collegial approach, particularly with institutions that have real experience of public-private partnerships, that frees them from these constraints. What's more, companies are sometimes ill-informed. For example, they don't know that they can benefit from the research tax credit (crédit impôt recherche, or CIR) when they contact our laboratories, whose invoiced amount is doubled in the calculation of its base since it involves a partnership with a public institution.

Doesn't this Carnauto initiative to help French companies seem a little pointless at a time when Silicon Valley, led by Google, is the undisputed leader in the field?

GC: There are two approaches to the autonomous car. Google - or others such as Apple - are aiming for direct production of autonomous cars, drawing on their knowledge of digital technology and trying to bring out a product ex nihilo as quickly as possible. Carmakers, on the other hand, are taking a more gradual approach, making their vehicles more and more intelligent by gradually adding sensors and more and more advanced automation, right up to driver delegation, the final step before the autonomous vehicle. And France has real expertise in this field. In fact, the automotive sector registers the highest number of patents in France. And huge projects are underway. One example is Scoop, a project involving Télécom ParisTech and Télécom Bretagne: this is an experiment with intelligent infrastructures on 2,000 km of road, with hundreds of communicating cars driving over it. Eurecom is also heavily involved in work on LTE and 4G networks, with a particular focus on standardization. All this French expertise has a positive impact on the quality of our research. This ecosystem in which we are immersed, and in which Carnauto participates, benefits - and will continue to benefit - the companies and especially the SMEs that partner with us.

Carnauto, 9 Carnot institutes for the automotive and mobility sector

Carnauto is a "Carnot filières" initiative bringing together 9 Carnot institutes under the aegis of Carnot IFPEN Transports Energie (IFPEN TE):

• Carnot ARTS
• Carnot CEA LETI
• Carnot CEA LIST
• Carnot CETIM
• Carnot Energies of the Future
• Carnot ESP
• Carnot Ingénierie@Lyon
• Carnot Telecom & Digital Society (TSN)