On June 27 this year the GIFAS Association, the biggest European alliance of aerospace companies, held a meeting with the top management and residents of the Space and Telecommunications Technologies Cluster of the Skolkovo Foundation. The encounter had rather a fact-finding purpose, but it’s importance it can hardly be overestimated, as the visit opens way for wide and intensive collaboration opportunities for all parties, and in the interests of startups.
The VP of the Skolkovo Foundation, executive director of the Space and Telecommunications Technologies Cluster Alexei Belyakov, told Sk.ru correspondent that the meeting was attended by top managers of the leading French space and aviation companies, among them Airbus Group, Safran Group, Dassault Aviation and some others world known French companies. “And I liked a lot those words, said today by the head of the French delegation Emeric d’Arcimoles: in spite of short-term geopolitical crisis, all French companies, which have established win-win relations with their Russian counterparts, will continue cooperation with our country”.
Emeric d’Arcimoles
The Space Clusters’ director in charge of cooperation with key partners Alain Fournier-Sicre (a citizen of France) said it was very big and important delegation, headed by a very influential in space and aviation industry person. “It’s the biggest aerospace association not just in France, but in entire Europe. GIFAS visit is a great and unique opportunity to build a base for future partnership with aerospace manufacturers, their suppliers, engineering companies, aviation and space software makers.
Emeric d’Arcimoles is one of the most important and well-known persons of the industry. His career credentials include top position with Safran, top premier solutions provider for aviation, space and defense industries (currently he holds a position of advisor to the CEO of Safran). And he is probably more known as the general commissar of the Paris Air Show.
Emeric d’Arcimoles told Sk.ru that it took French companies more than twenty years to establish trust-based relations with Russian enterprises, and they aren’t going to destroy them for political reasons. “Politics change very quickly, but we proceed from long-term interests of the industry”, he said.
The Airbus Group, a key partner of the Skolkovo Foundation, took an active part in creation several technological companies, spin-offs, which continues dynamic development in cooperation with the Skolkovo Innovation Center. Among those quite successful projects, which were mentioned at the meeting: cooperation of Datadvance with EADS (Airbus Group); EADS RTO Sk и CloudEO projects.
Alexei Belyakov (on the stage) and Max Steinberg, head of the S.E.R.E.M.E
And it’s also worth mentioning that the meeting took place amid successful launch of three small satellites, made by Skolkovo startups Dauria Aerospace and Sputnix. And one more project, which was mentioned by Russian and French aerospace professionals: a joint venture between “Academician M.F. Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems” (ISS Reshetnev) and Thales Alenia Space (key supplier of foreign made components for Russian space crafts).
«Besides R&D infrastructure, which we can offer to French companies, cooperation with Skolkvo will also make them more visible in Russia, and access to highly qualified personnel», Alexei Balyakov pointed out. And one more quote from monsieur d’Arcimoles: “Contemporary space and aviation industry is impossible without wide cooperation. Airbus is being made by a great deal of suppliers, and cooperation with Russia and Skolkovo means development of such cooperation chains”, he said. GIFAS delegation, which arrived to Skolkovo’s Hypercube, comprised 16 companies, and there were 22 French companies overall in that trip to Russia.
And as a confirmation of above mentioned intensions, a session of joint two minutes pitches of Russian and French startups followed the plenary session. Startups demonstrated their projects to professionals from both countries. Among Skolkovo projects of that session were: Spectralazer, Dauria Aerospace, Yuvs-Yurion, Azmerit. And among French startups, who made their pitches: S.E.R.E.M.E, Beam, ELVIA. The pitch session was followed by an excursion, presentation about Skolkovo and informal networking.