Jean-Luc Moullet, Deputy Director General for Innovation at the CNRS, was the guest of the franceinfo eco, Monday, June 12.
The CNRS will be present at the international exhibition of new technologies Vivatech, which is held from Wednesday to Saturday in Paris. The CNRS is known for its research in the human sciences, but much less for its industrial strike force. Jean-Luc Moullet, Deputy Director General for Innovation at the CNRS, was the guest of the franceinfo eco, Monday, June 12.
franceinfo: What is the CNRS’ philosophy of action in terms of innovation?
Jean-Luc Moullet: One of our objectives is to transfer the results of research to the economic world, so that businesses and the economic world in general benefit from all the wealth that exists in our laboratories. And for this, the creation of start-ups is one of the preferred ways.
How do you spot good deals?
We are lucky to have sectors which are created on very good technologies, on scientific results which are impressive. So the survival rate of start-ups that are created from our research results is also impressive. It’s about twice the survival rate of a traditional seedling. (…) Above all, we will support the creative process. The way in which we will be able to take an idea within a laboratory, bring research staff into entrepreneurs to create a company that will embody and develop this research result.
Can France and Europe do as well as the United States in terms of investment in innovation?
Today, all the good projects that are created find, in France, enough to finance themselves at the start. We are fortunate to have a formidable innovation funding ecosystem. Bpifrance is there, the France 2030 plan is there… On the other hand, one of the fundamental differences between what is happening in the United States and in France is ambition. On the American side, we are going to be in superlatives… on the French side, we are generally more modest.
Why are Americans always one step ahead?
I’m not sure you have to necessarily imitate the Americans. We tried to do a French-style Google about fifteen or twenty years ago, it didn’t work. You have to find an angle that will allow you to use the same technologies in different ways. I see two of them: the Francophonie – who other than the French are capable of making a conversational robot that understands all the flavors of the Francophonie? Furthermore, use the same principles to make generative AI (artificial intelligence) for professional environments.