Post on 20-Jul-2020
métropole nice côte d’azur
DIGITAL INNOVATIONS
New technologies are the driving-
force behind an industrial and
urban revolution of unprecedented
scale that has overtaken us with
undreamt-of suddenness.
Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur is reso-
lutely committed to this movement,
which is set to shape the future.
Just as humankind succeeded in ta-
ming fire in prehistoric times, here,
at Terra Amata, it must now learn to
master the new cycle of progress
set off by the internet and the wide
range of information and communi-
cation technologies.
We’ve been set a challenge.
And our Metropolitan area has
decided to take it up, making the
revolution underway a springboard
for its economic and urban develop-
ment.
The stakes at play are enormous:
jobs, the future of our ways of life,
and the safeguard of our environ-
ment.
We’ve been making steady pro-
gress towards this future since
2010, and Innovative City is there to
bear witness to our advances.
Today, we’re taking new, decisive
steps under the dual impetus of
the digital revolution and the energy
transition.
The Smart City taking rapid shape
on the Var Plain aims to achieve a
“zero carbon” footprint thanks to
renewable energies and digitization
of services and functions.
It’s in this conjunction between
energy and technological innovation
that the key to combating climate
change lies.
With 3,000 sensors currently in use,
Environmental Urban Monitoring is
at the heart of this strategy.
It will enable optimal management
of main urban functions through
data-processing and development
of communicating objects.
We have a driving force.
And we also have a laboratory.
Constructed in partnership with
a consortium of major industrial
concerns, the collaborative platform
we have created in the heart of Éco-
Vallée has no parallel anywhere in
France.
The Smart City Innovation Centre
brings together large companies,
start-ups, researchers, engineers
and students. A concentration of
energy, determination and brain-
power to anticipate and take new
paths, and imagine the products and
applications of tomorrow’s world.
Digital France is set to liberate the
forces of invention and productive-
ness, and in this regard Nice is for-
ging ahead on an ocean of all things
possible.
The city of tomorrow also means
mobility.
When the Nice tramway’s East-
West line goes into service in late
2018, it will mark the accomplish-
ment of a world-first technological
feat.
Thanks to an innovative ground-
based static recharge system that
takes just 20 seconds when trams
are at stops, and to the “Lithium
Capacitor” onboard energy storage
apparatus, electricity will be sup-
plied throughout the route with no
need for overhead lines.
Our area’s historical heritage will
be safe from harm and landscapes
protected.
It will be a life-size application,
whose advantages we can thank
the ongoing revolution for.
In a year when our stadium will be
hosting matches for Euro 2016,
another competition is being played
out at planetary level.
A match where fresh growth based
on intelligence and uninterrupted
innovation is at play, and one which
Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur is pro-
viding itself with the means to win
alongside all the many talents that
wish to take part in this great adven-
ture, in communion with the world’s
other great cities.
It’s a race. It’s a test that requires endurance and speed. You have to run fast and go the distance.
The pace of innovations has never been sosustained in all of human history. Here we are,
carried forward in a whirlwind of inventions that are shaking up our ways of thinking and doing.
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Christian ESTROSIPresident of the Métropole Nice Côte d’AzurPresident of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region
In the later years of the 19th century,
two events dedicated its determi-
nation to innovate in order to stay
ahead of its time and anticipate
change: the construction of the
Observatory – equipped in 1888 with
the world’s largest telescope! – and
a spatial planning campaign providing
facilities to accommodate winter
holidaymakers, those early pioneers
who contributed so much to the
rise of the Côte d’Azur, which has
since become a showcase for global
tourism.
The digital revolution taking place in
the heart of Métropole Nice Côte
d’Azur is one in a long line of major
facts that have forged its identity and
ensured its future. Tools may have
changed but the vision of a future to
be imagined and built remains the
same, to ensure the Metropolitan
area becomes a leading light in
tomorrow’s world, interconnected
and sustainable.
Its will to innovate has propelled Nice
to the forefront of the internatio-
nal scene, where the city is busy
carrying out one pilot experiment
after another: it was the first Euro-
pean city to deploy NFC technology
and the first city in France to adopt
a smart parking system. It won the
IBM “Smarter Cities Challenge”
- the only French city to obtain the
award - and the Juniper Research
Foundation ranks it as the world’s
4th smartest city in 2015, after Barce-
lona, New York and London… Good
company indeed!
The Metropolitan area and the
city of Nice have grounded their
governance on anticipation of their
inhabitants’ needs and the ability to
provide a year-round welcome to mil-
lions of visitors, bearing in mind that
Nice Côte d’Azur is France’s leading
airport after Paris. When decision-
making time came round, it was of
course necessary to take full account
of constraints arising from the
topographical characteristics of a site
which, magnificent and much envied
as it might be, is no less complex to
grasp and manage.
Its diversity makes the area ideal for
conducting experiments, as, in so
small an area, mid-elevation moun-
tains are no more than a stone’s
throw from the coast and ski resorts
– including one at over 2000 metres
above sea level – are only an hour
and a half’s drive from Promenade
des Anglais. Such topography, which
is the secret of the landscapes’
beauty, gives rise to a wide variety of
living environments within an equally
small area - a plethora of large and
small towns, villages overlooking the
coastline, isolated villages and ski
resorts.
A land of contrasts opening on to
other cities in the Mediterranean
Arc and partnering the Principality of
Monaco in exploration of the world
of innovation, Métropole Nice Côte
d’Azur boasts an equally diverse
population, an additional source of
cultural and material wealth. Here,
industrialists, startup founders,
researchers, students, shopkeepers,
farmers, fisherfolk, employees and
pensioners, families who have put
down roots in the Alpes-Maritimes
Departmental Council and tourists all
rub shoulders…
It’s not just the 300 days of sunshine
A sustainableinterconnected
Metropolitan area
Nice has always been a centre of technological evolution and economic revolution.
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large-scale experiments, from which
the Metropolitan area’s inhabitants
are the first to benefit.
This brochure, which can hope to do
no more than skim the surface of the
many projects underway, presents
some of Métropole Nice Côte
d’Azur’s major development focuses
connected with digital innovation:
separate and remote management
of buildings’ (or even entire neigh-
bourhoods’) water and electri-
city consumption; optimization of
garbage collection through sensors
installed in containers and garbage
collection trucks equipped with GPS
systems; development of eHealth-
care so that patients suffering from
chronic illnesses or the effects of
old age can be monitored round the
clock, thanks to a patch equipped
with sensors analyzing vital parame-
ters in real time; and prevention of
natural risks and pollution through
24/7 analysis of data on watercourse
flows and air quality.
Beyond the purely technological
aspects, however cutting-edge they
may be, that remain the business of
specialists, researchers, industrialists
and technicians, the “Smart City”
or “Interconnected City” is a place
where users’ everyday lives are
made easier…without their being
aware of what is going on behind the
scenes.
The “Smart City” is a city where you
spend less because operating costs
are optimized and public manage-
ment is under control; where you
are warned individually in the event
of imminent risks; where household
shopping is easy as pie thanks to
contactless payment; where you can
imbibe culture by taking a stroll with
a personal “guide” hidden away in
your Smartphone; where you have
your hand on the city’s pulse; where
you get from here to there without
having to wait “blindly” for public
transport, or by selecting the route
with the least traffic, or again by
using shared vehicles.
The “Smart City” is a city managed
by analysis of data collected by
thousands of sensors installed in
buildings, alongside rivers and in
utility grids; by setup of fine-tuned
“management grids”; and by 3D
projections of future neighbourhoods
to better assess constraints and
anticipate solutions. These are only
examples. There are also many more
digital tools that foster respect for
the environment and prioritize the
human in us all by facilitating free
expression, dialogue between mana-
gers and the managed, sociability,
encounters and solidarity. Cyber-
spaces are set to become the new
social venues.
Like a return to the roots, to life’s
essentials, where human welfare
and the Earth are central to all
concerns and are taken full account
of by the actors and partners in a
digital revolution whose results are
anything but virtual.
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a year – the tourists that flock here
also come for the extraordinarily
diverse heritages that make the
Metropolitan area an unparalleled
destination, as do its writers (Nice
possesses a Nobel Prizewinner and
an Academician!), painters (some of
the world’s most renowned names),
musicians and sculptors… a concen-
tration of know-how and knowledge
that contributes to eLearning and
eTourism development.
Naturally enough, the notion of
“Smart City” – i.e. the use of new
technologies to optimize knowledge
and management of the area so as
to better serve its inhabitants and
preserve the environment in all its
forms – has well and truly caught on.
And it has now become reality with
an invisible architecture but with
already palpable effects, whether
in optimizing the city’s operation or
improving of users’ everyday lives,
inhabitants and short stay visitors
alike.
The Metropolitan area and its
requirements demanded this “digital
explosion”, even though it was born
of political will: to the east, the histo-
ric hospital has become a benchmark
for development of treatments and
research; to the west, an extensive
area ideal for creation of the city
of the future, with development of
major projects underway.
Grand Arénas is set to become
an international business district
including a multimodal transport
hub and a 65,000-m2 Exhibition Park
connected to the airport by landsca-
ped throughways.
Nice Méridia is already well on the
way to becoming a full-fledged urban
technopolis devoted to technological
activities, research, training and pilot
experiments to build the Smart City.
These two projects go together to
form the bridgehead of the Var Plain
Operation of National Interest, which
consolidates the image of an inter-
connected, sustainable Metropolitan
area in which housing, green spaces,
stores and offices create a harmo-
nious whole with a varied population
– residents, students, researchers,
industrialists and visitors – taking
full advantage of its many digital
advances.
With these two hubs of innovation
showing the way, the whole area
and its entire population are now
reaping the benefits of the “Smart
City”.
A “Smart City” is a high-perfor-
mance entity where effective
problem-solving takes precedence
along with risk prevention. In this
case, it is being built with the help of
local policymakers as well as all the
industrial partners, all of them world
leaders in their fields.
Bosch, Cisco and Orange alike have
seen this diverse and internationally
renowned location as a godsent
opportunity to set up their “labo-
ratories of the future” to conduct
If governing (well) means anticipating,
it is all the more important to be in
possession of all the information
required to make the right forecasts!
In this particular case, managing (very
well) means collecting!
And as far as collection goes, the
Metropolitan area is well and truly
up to speed, with sensors installed
throughout the area and detailed
environmental information flowing in
from all quarters. Such information
enables management of the public
space in real time and on a “case by
case” basis, via 24 urban services or
applications.
Such is the case with real time traffic
forecast measurement, regulation
of public lighting intensity, high-
performance water distribution without
leakage, watering energy consumption
in social public and private buildings,
and optimized garbage collection – not
to forget detection of olfactory peaks
at water treatment plants, inside
outside poor air quality, pollinic peak
forecast or sound pollution by transport
infrastructures and construction sites,
night establishment terraces, school
canteen…
The earliest feedback, from Cagnes-
sur-Mer, which piloted the system in
2008, showed from 10 to 30% saving
on the public lighting bill, 10% less
spent on heating and air-conditioning in
public buildings, and 20% less leakage
along the water distribution grid!
These highly encouraging results in
2014 led to the launch of the new
experimental Var Plain project, with
Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur installing
new sensors in a 3-year research and
development partnership with IBM,
Orange, Veolia and m2ocity. The first
experimental sector around Cagnes-
sur-Mer extended east to west, from
Cros-de-Cagnes to the Hippodrome
and northwards to the A8 freeway – a
total of 80 hectares for 120 sensors.
The experiment is now being
extended to the Var Plain, with close
to 3000 sensors and network units to
be installed from south to north across
162 hectares between the mouth of
the Var and Saint-Isidore, in the very
heart of the Operation of National
Interest. And that is not counting
Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur’s fleet of
electric “laboratory” vehicles which
roam the area collecting environmental
and other data useful to decision-
makers. Information collected by
the noise observatory, France’s first
network of noise sensors, recognized
by ADEME (the French agency for
the environment and energy control)
and the Ministry of the Environment,
complements the continuous round of
data collection.
In short, a real connected conurbation
is taking shape between Cagnes-
sur-Mer, Saint-Laurent-du-Var and
Nice, along with, soon, many other
municipalities from Métropole Nice
Côte d’Azur.
In the final analysis, in addition to
savings made by local authorities and,
by extension, Métropole Nice Côte
d’Azur’s inhabitants, commitment
Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur is developing a real-time management system adapted to the connected space and designed to promote
sustainable development and a particular art of living. Use of information transmitted by the 3000 environmental sensors
and grid units installed on 162 hectares to the west of Nice constitutes a unique experiment to this end.
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Managing means collecting!
to an interconnected Metropolitan
area is improving the lives of all
those who make use of its services.
Private partners have put their trust
in the Metropolitan area’s capacity for
innovation and have chosen to lend
assistance to its local government
by sharing their know-how. They are
also contributing to the project to the
tune of 2,100,000 Euros, alongside
the Metropolitan area, which is
investing an equivalent sum in sensors
and communication and storage
infrastructures.
They are counting on the Metropolitan
“demonstrator” to trial new urban
services that might later be duplicated
elsewhere in France, Europe, and
worldwide. Each application must
therefore undergo detailed study of its
economic model. An ambitious project
that should finally result in job creation,
training, and location of start-ups and
seasoned enterprises.
A vision of what the future will hold
for the Metropolitan area’s inhabitants
awaits visitors as the “Smart City
Innovation Centre», a 300-m²
showroom at IMREDD (Mediterranean
Institute for Risk, the Environment
and Sustainable Development) on the
Var Plain, including an Environmental
Urban Monitoring system prefiguring
the city of tomorrow’s world. The
showroom also fosters cross-
fertilization of work on innovation
carried out by researchers and leading
industrial concerns on one and the
same site.
Such action on the Metropolitan area’s
part is unprecedented in France,
affording it unparalleled international
visibility.
A tenant at Résidence L’Alandier, a new building on Nice’s Les Moulins estate, can now look forward to getting his water and electricity bills without a single qualm – and for good reason! He has got into the habit of regularly consulting the portal enabling him to follow the evolution of his consumption in real time and taking any action that might be required to balance his lifestyle. Simple-to-read information is posted by the hour, day, week and month, enabling users to compare one year with another as well as see how things seem set to go up to the end of the current year… The pluses: a single click and he can translate the information into Euros! No more unpleasant surprises…
EVERYDAY LIFE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
It is a reality: our territory energy
architecture does not fit with
energy transition challenges,
i.e. the massive development
of local renewable energies and
the reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions. That is particularly true
for the electrical communication,
traditionally static and mono
directed, and which must evolve
today to new and essential
functions: self local consumption,
storage, real time management
of the demand, grading of the
investments.
Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur and its
partners have sparked a genuine
revolution, enabled by the digital
resources in place and set to ensure
greater energy independence to an
area that currently only produces
10% of the electricity it consumes,
foster development of renewable
energy sources, and turn users
of metropolitan services into
“consumactor-producers” taking
positive action to reduce their
electricity bills and help preserve the
environment.
It is to this end that Métropole Nice
Côte d’Azur has made development
of Smart Grids a priority concern,
aiming to create autonomous
loops at district level and combine
all available energy sources,
geothermal, biomass and solar
alike, in an optimal mix. They also
enable improved management of
consumption on the part of private
individuals, companies and local
government, taking the measure of
their needs with regard to lighting,
heating and air-conditioning, hot
water, electric mobility, and so
on. The objective is clear enough:
improving energy efficiency by 27%
by 2030, knowing that buildings
are responsible for 40% of energy
consumption and 36% of carbon
gas emissions, according to a
European Union Study.
The experiment has never before
been tried in France and Éco-Vallée
is set to become a laboratory
for testing out the best ways of
achieving flexibility of production,
distribution and use of electricity.
A first stage is in hand in Carros
with ERDF as regards the Nice
Grid «smart solar energy district»,
where 11 businesses and 1 500
households have provided
themselves with new-generation
metres in order to consume better
and less by reducing or changing
the times of their electricity
consumption . This project will be
continued, through other places,
in the Nice Méridia SPD (Special
Planning District) and Grand Arénas,
assisted by some hundred local
start-ups under the impetus of Club
Smartgrid 06, managed by the CCI.
It is also all the ambition of the new
Flex Grid project carried by Regional
PACA council and Nice Côte d’Azur
and recently winner of the “Smart
Electrical Grids” government call for
projects. About half of the projects
of the Flex Grid file relate to Nice
Côte d’Azur, with in the centre of
gravity the Eco-Valley development,
according to the new Smart Grids
logic.
At the moment, as part of the City
Opt project carried by Nice Côte
d’Azur and EDF, 140 Nice families
already equipped with new Linky
electricity metres by ERDF use
a free digital tablet to assess the
impact of the way they consume
electricity, and receive alerts in real
time.
In all cases, users are the driving
force behind digital innovation and
energy transition, with improvement
of their living environment as their
goal.
Sustainable development, energy independence, savings on energy and lowering users’ energy bills are all achievable through a digital
(r)evolution in which local government departments act as innovators and private individuals as “consumactor-producers”.
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Electricity:smart consumption!
This particular family living in the west of Nice is committed to participation in the City Opt testing and has chosen to lower its consumption of electricity between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. to help reduce risks of blackouts due to wintertime peak-period consumption.Alerted by SMS or email, the family can take immediate action using the digital tablet provided free of charge by Europe and then view its eco-action’s impact at neighbourhood level. Three conditions for taking part in this pilot operation: you have to have an EDF subscription, a new-generation “Linky” metre and internet connection.And, of course, the desire to be a responsible “consumactor”!
EVERYDAY LIFE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
Games in London, the probes
were tested out in Nice in 2013, on
the occasion of the Francophone
Games.
They enable measurement of
the basic parameters of a digital
footprint for water quality – active
chlorine, conductivity, temperature
and pressure – and an alert to
be sent out in the event of any
abnormal variation in values
measured.
The system is both a pollution
detector and a tool for gathering
information on water movement
within the grid.
And finally, through remote reading
of production, sectorization and
distribution metres, installation
of the new-generation water
metres first tested out in 2013
in six municipalities – Levens,
Saint-Martin-du-Var, Saint-Blaise,
Colomars, Castagniers and La
Roquette-sur-Var – will eventually
enable each subscriber to monitor
his/her consumption via Internet and
operators to pinpoint and quantify
water losses.
It will also be possible to alert
consumers by email or SMS in the
event of abnormal consumption.
This is a win-win system – for
local authorities, users and the
environment!
The 2,600 kilometres of drinking-
water distribution grids that
crisscross Métropole Nice Côte
d’Azur and its 49 municipalities
supply an area of dual contrasts
– topographical, first of all, with
its steep slopes and level plains;
and then demographic, with
low occupation rates in the High
Country, average in the Middle
Country and particularly high along
the coast.
In 2014, a total of almost 71,6 million
cubic metres of water were
required to meet inhabitants’ and
visitors’ needs… So-called surface
water for most Middle Country
and coastal needs (68%), and
underground water channelled
through a multitude of springs
in the High Country, with supply
by pumping or force of gravity
depending on distribution area…
Efforts towards optimization of
drinking-water grid performance
focus on day-to-day use, with
increased activity in seeking out
and repairing leaks, as well as
involving a targeted program of
water-grid replacement work (some
16,5 million Euros) invested in 2014
by the Metropolitan area and its
delegates) and implementation of
a drinking-water master plan that
should put the asset management
strategy on a long-term footing.
Three key actions are well worth
highlighting.
First of all sectorization, which
enables measurement of
drinking water distributed along
with measurement of water at
grid output (water billed). The
main sector is divided up into
homogenous sub-sectors (of 500-
3000 subscribers) each isolatable
through closing of valves or setup
of measurement devices (metres/
flowmetres). Such procedures
enable easier identification and
repair of “runaway” sectors without
penalizing all users. Monitoring
of sectorization loops ensures
improved knowledge of losses
and more accurate estimation of
volumes. Pre-localization is another,
complementary means of orienting
leak repair. This particular approach
consists in installing autonomous
noise sensors along the grid, which
record the noise it makes (given that
a leak generates continuous residual
noise).
Next comes use of energy-
autonomous “communicating
sensors”: KAPTA™ probes.
Launched at the 2010 Shanghai
World Expo and used at Wembley
Stadium for the 2012 Olympic
The area’s topographical diversity and demographic disparities make distribution of drinking water a yet more complex task. Technological
innovations are therefore essential to improved performance of a water grid whose construction dates back to the 1880s.
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Water f lowsunder close watch
An abnormal drop in pressure in the Promenade des Anglais sector of the drinking-water distribution grid is recorded by smart sensors. The water-board duty officer receives an alert signalling the anomaly in real time. Further analysis of information collected leads him to suspect a leak at the corner of the Promenade and Rue Cronstadt. A maintenance team is forewarned and dispatched, able to take immediate action.
EVERYDAY LIFE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
By delegating the responsibility for
sanitation, hydraulics and rainwater
to Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur, the
49 member municipalities have
“bequeathed” it the management
of 1,400 kilometres of wastewater
network and approximately
600 kilometres of rainwater
network, installed with a total of
81 hydraulic measurement sites
with 21 pluviometres (permanent
self-monitoring and diagnosis
sites). Among other things, they
have also entrusted it with the
operation of 51 water-treatment
plants, 121 wastewater lift stations,
36 rainwater ones and 3 storm
sewers.
In total, the approximately
490,000 inhabitants connected to
the Metropolitan sanitation network
produce approximately 18,000 tonnes
of sludge a year (tonnes of dry
matter), with annual treatment of
approximately 58,000,000 m3 of
wastewater, taking all the area’s
water-treatment plants together!
Although incomplete, these highly
significant figures bear witness to
the size of the task to be accom-
plished in a field where disparate
versions of operating contracts
tend to pile up as, de facto, each
operator has their own system for
partial observation of the network.
Hence the obvious difficulty, (some
might even say impossibility) of
Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur’s
centralizing data in real time. Such
dissipation prevents any overview
of how the network is operating
in general terms, coordination of
action, or rapid assessment of
critical levels of situations arising
during crisis episodes.
Inevitably, lack of data centralization
in one and the same system incurs
extra operating costs and slows
down intervention times.
Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur’s
policy is based on two strategic
focuses: optimization through cen-
tralization of data on the existing
system’s operation, and moder-
nization of facilities in line with
environmental aims and obligations
regarding public safety.
The initiative’s success relies first
of all on the setup of an “industrial
supervisor” that automatically col-
lects measurements from self-mo-
nitoring permanent diagnosis sites
as well as from water-treatment
plants, wastewater lift stations
and storm sewers, enabling an
overview of raw data in real time
and alerts to be sent out in case of
an incident. This initial step in effi-
cient management of the service
is complemented by the use of
measurement processing and ana-
lysis software which, among other
things, monitors and validates the
mass of information collected and
calculates indicators of “hydro-
meteorological” contexts. The
software also boasts high archiving
capacity to help anticipate the
various scenarios liable to occur.
Last but by no means least
innovation-wise, this centralized
observation system is in interface
with a GIS (Geographic Information
System) enabling viewing of asset
data, with colorization of sections
of the sanitation network depen-
ding on flow, and of the various
hydraulic sites with regard to alerts
sent out in such cases as abnormal
overflows.
In the final analysis, in addition to
better management of costs, the
“industrial supervisor” will improve
reactiveness and so has a direct
positive influence on citizens’
safety by anticipating flood risks
and possible harm to the environ-
ment by pollution.
The service Management is optimized by centralizing information, enabling processing of all information in real time and providing an
overview of sanitation systems in operation: the “general supervisor” is the tool of the future!
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Sanitation: a super-collector…
of data
How best to manage garbage
is one of key concern to all
municipalities. With close to
550,000 inhabitants and over
5 million visitors a year, Métropole
Nice Côte d’Azur is faced with
a real challenge: processing the
359,000 or so tonnes of household
and similar waste collected every
year…
Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur aims
to reduce volumes collected and
processing costs alike, which
means acting first of all on users’
behaviour and secondly on the way
the service operates.
Educational action carried out in
the field – posters, awareness-
raising campaigns, talks to school
groups, inhabitant satisfaction
with immediate responses to
appointment requests for special
removals, etc. – has shown
interesting outcomes : with 2.3%
less household waste to process,
the trend is towards reduction.
In parallel, selective collection
– packaging and paper – has
progressed by 10% in the centre of
Nice following diagnostics on the
buildings waste management.
The Metropolitan area is also fully
committed to the technical aspects
of collection: developments in
digital technology enable a smart
approach to management of
rounds, with 61,000 wheelie bins
equipped with electronic chips
acting as “mineralogical number
plates”.
With the help of portable terminals,
garbage disposal officers can signal
any problems requiring attention
– defective lids, bins that need
washing or replacing, etc. – in
real time, so enabling rapid action
to be taken. Similarly, using their
on-board GPS systems, garbage
truck drivers can take note of and
transmit any anomalies they come
across on their rounds (dumping of
bulky items, obstructive parking,
etc.). Optimization of collection
guarantees efficiency and safety.
In addition, sensors have been
installed in sorting containers in the
municipalities of Nice and Cagnes-
sur-Mer. Remote interrogation
informs drivers whether or not
containers are full, so eliminating
unnecessary toing-and-froing on
the part of their trucks.
Management of collection via
on-board digital systems enables
optimization of rounds and
payment of service-providers
for services actually carried out,
rather than by flat rate. Results are
telling: the cost of collection and
management of bins has fallen by
a million Euros.
Optimization has been furthered
by equipping 115 state-controlled
garbage collection trucks and,
vehicles responsible for picking
up bulky items, with on-board
GPS systems. Besides enabling
correction of anomalies observed
during rounds and management of
volumes of garbage per vehicle and
automatic sending of appointments
registered by the «Allo Mairies»
call centre so as to rebalance
itineraries where necessary, the
system enables assessment of
drivers’ levels of ecodriving while
monitoring fuel consumption and
details of activity.
Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur is committed to achieving top-quality performance in processing the 372,000 tonnes of household waste
collected every year. Two objectives: a cleaner environment and lower costs. Two axes of success: education and digital technology.
16
Hi-Tech collection!
There is not a single garbage-truck driver who does not keep an informed eye on his surroundings as he makes his daily rounds! Above all because he no longer has to be back at the garage in order to report his observations. These days, as he makes his way through the streets, he can use his GPS to signal broken bins in need of replacement, and dumping – and ensure immediate action is taken. But what he appreciates more than anything are the level sensors installed in containers, enabling him to organize “selective rounds” and only visit full bins. Gains in time, efficiency and cleanliness …!
EVERYDAY LIFE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
Who would have predicted it?
Not that many people (except of
course the project’s initiators) if the
truth be told, as Côte d’Azur travel
habits appeared well and truly
rooted in long-established custom
dictated by a topography seemingly
ill-adapted to other means of
transport than the automobile!
And then Vélobleu bikes appeared
on the scene for all to use. A local
revolution, it has to be said, that
took no time at all to win over the
populace and which, seven years
on, is rallying increasing numbers
of followers to its cause.
The service now has around
16,000 subscribers, 2/3 of them by
the year, with some 1,700,000 rentals
anually. Currently, 1,750 bikes
and 175 stations are at the
public’s disposal across the three
Metropolitan municipalities – Nice,
Saint-Laurent-du-Var and Cagnes-
sur-Mer – which elected to develop
the Vélobleu service, with some
8,500,000 km pedaled by the
end of 2015… the equivalent of
1,219,620 times the length of
Promenade des Anglais, and, most
importantly, 999 fewer metric tons
of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere
than would have resulted from
equivalent use of private cars. The
Auto Bleue service has also helped
put the private car’s monopoly in
serious danger, making shared
electric vehicles available across
nine Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur
municipalities: Nice, Cagnes-
sur-Mer, Saint-Laurent-du-Var,
Vence, Colomars, Carros, La
Trinité, Beaulieu-sur-Mer and
Villefranche-sur-Mer. At present,
a total of 200 vehicles divided up
among 68 stations are available
to the scheme’s 9,500 and rising
members. With close to
5,000,000 km travelled by Auto
Bleue subscribers, the gain
in terms of energy savings
and reduction of greenhouse
gas emissions is a significant
one considering that 30% of
such emissions are caused by
automobiles. According to ADEME
(the French Environment and
Energy Management Agency)
calculations, use of one shared
electric car replaces between 4 and
8 private vehicles.
Beyond simple use of means
of transport at the cutting edge
of technology, the many other
virtues of these new ways of
getting about – the most visible
and popular symbols of cities
fostering sustainable development
and eco-citizenship – should also
be borne in mind: car-sharing and
freely available bikes do away with
the anxieties of finding somewhere
to park and the stress of always
having to be at the wheel yourself,
encouraging citizens to try such
alternatives as public transport,
rediscover the joys of walking,
reconsider how best to go about
their comings and goings, and find
new ways of viewing their everyday
lives and the city they live in – in other
words, giving them the chance to
rediscover the forgotten delights
of companionship, solidarity and
sharing, values somewhat ill-used
by the trepidations of contemporary
life. Here again, properly thought-
out use of new technologies
provides the best of life as lived
today and in days gone by, giving
back meaning to the notion of
“living well together”.
Since Vélobleu bikes went into service in 2009, users have clocked up the equivalent of 11 return journeys…from the Earth to the Moon!
Nor does the Auto Bleue service launched in 2011 lack fans, with statistics constantly on the rise over the past few years.
A glance at an eco-civic practice now fully integrated into Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur inhabitants’ daily lives.
18 Get about in blue… it’s better!
Actions should be centralized so
as to avoid dispersion, repetition,
unnecessary costs and so on -
which has not been the case in the
past. So near yet so far away…
The GECOPE-NCA (Gestion Et
Conservation des Ouvrages
Portuaires et leur Environnement-
Nice Côte d’Azur – Management
and Maintenance of Port Facilities
and their Environment) research
program is set to optimize use
of these sites in every sense.
An innovative software package
serving as a true collaborative
platform for the Métropole Nice
Côte d’Azur’s 7 ports, it is the
result of collaboration between the
latter and ACCOAST, an innovative
young company specializing in
preservation of port heritage and
itself working with NETISYS, a Nice
SME specializing in publication of
facility management software.
The project is all the more
welcome as port facilities – quays,
embankments, pontoons, seawalls,
networks of various kinds,
connections, access, anchorages,
etc. – require continually increasing
maintenance as the years go by. In
addition, protection and promotion
of the environment – on land
and at sea, from embellishment
of surrounding areas to waste
collection at sea – are now more
than ever local government
priorities.
While taking full account of the
specificities of each site, as
well as of habits born of special
expertise, the GECOPE software
package enables harmonization
of monitoring methodologies,
access to documentary resources,
action planning, etc. with the aim
of sharing data collected between
Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur and
port delegates. All parties involved
will therefore have the same
amount of information available to
rationalize, mutualize and optimize
management; although operating
methods may vary, problems are
most often the same.
Hence the importance of
centralizing data and comparing
analyses, which enable drafting
of multiyear maintenance
action plans, organization of
environmental monitoring,
preservation of maritime heritage,
and anticipation of budget
implications, mainly in periods of
restraint.
To sum up, GECOPE:
- enables collection of information
on historical events that have
impacted the life of ports; GECOPE
acts as the memory of port areas;
- enables creation of a dashboard of
action taken;
- serves as a forecasting
tool, essential for technical,
organizational and budgetary
prevention and anticipation;
- establishes a shared information
base where all contacts are
recorded and accessible at any
time;
- enables optimization of
environmental management
of sites by collecting data on
consumption of fluids, analysis of
water, etc.
A multidisciplinary, multisite
management tool designed
to facilitate exchanges and
rationalize actions bearing on
maritime heritage surveillance and
protection, GECOPE also innovates
by favoring access to information,
in particular via a mobile version
providing access to all data while in
the field.
They are an essential part of the Côte d’Azur’s allure! Set in the hearts of its towns and almost indistinguishable from the rest of the urban
landscape or a little apart from urban centres, acting as gateways and landmarks, Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur’s ports – 7 in total, in Cap-d’Ail, Eze Silva Maris, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Beaulieu Fourmis, Saint-Jean-Cap-
Ferrat, Cros de Cagnes and Saint-Laurent-du-Var – all deserve our care, as regards both management and environment.
20
GECOPE, committing the ports to memory
On 3 October 2015, strong
precipitations generated
catastrophic floods in the west
of the department of the Alpes-
Maritimes.
As soon as it happened, inhabitants
were informed via Twitter that
nothing serious had occurred on
Nice City , given advice on what to
do, and asked not to overwhelm
local emergency service Centres
with phone calls!
In other words, the “Risques Nice”
Twitter account played its part to
the full, sending out the alert and
providing sound advice, just like the
Smartphone application “Risques
Nice”, already in service, enables
to alert citizen of the «Stormy»
weather vigilance by SMS.
With improvement of risk
prevention and safety still in
mind, Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur
expand a Hyper vision system in
relation with risks management -
in partnership with IBM - whose
main purpose is to centralize data
from the various sensors, warnings
and cameras installed across the
area to measure watercourses,
river flows and so on. Such data
is then crossed with results
obtained from mapping tools and
other information collected by all
departments concerned to make
decision making easier.
Following the Hyper vision system,
Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur is set
to collaborate with a connected
world specialist in developping a
smart video surveillance system
for that capricious and always
unpredictable coastal river, the
Magnan. Once installed at strategic
location, the camera identifies
flotsam likely to impede water flow
upstream and measure the water
level in real time. The system also
enables more accurate forecasting
of floods by capturing any rise
in water levels on camera and
includes an anticipation model for
significant floods based on the
wave radar exploited in real time.
Informing and being informed in order to better manage crisis situations in an area subject to a range of natural risks – such is the
mission assigned to the City of Nice, which has come down in favour of digital innovation as a means of improving prevention and ensuring
public safety.
22
Preventing risksto limit their consequences
Avenue Sainte-Marguerite regulars just can’t believe their eyes! Last night’s storm has caused a dangerous landslide at the end of a bend in the road. A local resident grabs his Smartphone, connects to the “Risques Nice” app, identifies himself, signals his location via the geo-localization system and even takes a photo of the spot before sending his message. 2 hours later the site is secured, and the road is cleared by the end of the morning. End of problem! Once again, citizens themselves are the actors in ensuring their city’s safety.
EVERYDAY LIFE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
As the Côte d’Azur only produces
10% of the electricity it consumes,
the area is often prey to blackouts
– Hence the absolute necessity of
controlling energy consumption,
which also, happily enough, leads to
reduction of energy costs for local
authorities and consequently for
users.
The other effects of the new
system also represent significant
advances in ensuring buildings’
security and their users’ comfort
and safety. GTB enables collection
of all real-time data transmitted
by the 22,000 sensors so far
installed in 70 and 10 spots
equipped with ornamental lighting
(public gardens, amazing fronts of
buildings) of Métropole Nice Côte
d’Azur’s most energy-consuming
buildings. Eventually, a full 250 of
the Metropolitan and city of Nice
area’s 1,500 public buildings will be
equipped with a total of 100,000
sensors. By 2017, around 80% of
energy consumption will be under
GTB monitoring.
But monitoring and assessment
would not be much help without it
being possible to take remote action
on consumption by temporarily
reducing lighting intensity in public
spaces so as to take pressure off
the grid in the event of an alert or
unexpected overload.
Working in conjunction with Smart
Grids – those mini-grids that enable
sectored management of electricity
consumption as well as quantitative
and cost monitoring – GTB may
be regarded as the key tool of
the Smart City that is gradually
taking sustainable shape across
the Metropolitan area, from its
birthplace in Éco-Vallée to the east
of the city.
As an extension of GTB and Smart
Grid development, the City of Nice
and EDF have together to try out
an energy management system
baptized “Raptor” as part of the
“Efficient Energy in Provence-
Alpes-Côte d’Azur” project.
The experiment will focus on
Promenade des Anglais’ decorative
lighting.
The system uses a wireless
communication network to monitor
and record electricity metre load
curves, as well as enabling remote
management of installations via
GTB, optimizing electricity costs
connected with Promenade des
Anglais’ decorative lighting, and
immediate action to be taken in the
event of a main grid overload alert.
In addition, following the
partnership concluded with Robert
Bosch France under a research
and development agreement
for improvement of its risk
management system, the City
of Nice decided to acquire the
innovative “Climotion” solution to
ventilation optimization, for which
the company has an exclusive
patent.
This latter system is particularly well
suited to improving the operation of
two municipal establishments each
with its own special requirements:
• The contemporary extension to
the Matisse Museum, where major
artworks of considerable value
are on exhibition, whose proper
conservation demands stable and
carefully controlled temperature and
hydrometric conditions;
• Saint-François swimming pool,
whose architecture prevents air
from circulating easily, resulting in
users’ discomfort mainly due to high
humidity rates and a persistent smell
of chlorine. Apart from optimizing
operation and reducing consumption,
use of the technology in question
avoids having to replace existing
ventilation systems.
Tests are under development in
order to evaluate, on the basis of
scientific protocol, whole of the
profits as regards comfort as well
as the economies generated by this
equipment.
GTB (Gestion Technique Bâtimentaire = Centralized Technical Management [CTM]) is a new system for smart technical management of public buildings, optimizing operation and anticipating anomalies
and power failures while keeping down costs. The Metropolitan area’s biggest energy-guzzlers – the Promenade des Anglais, Saint-François
swimming pool, and the Matisse Museum – are at the heart of this technological step forward.
24
Managing light!
ERDF anticipates an electricity consumption peak one particularly cold winter evening and decides to alert the public buildings management staff so that precautionary action can be taken. A single click, following approval on the part of Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur’s President, and they switch off the ornamental lighting on Promenade des Anglais’ trees: 330 kWh are economized until the following night, when the Promenade is back in fully illuminated finery once more.
EVERYDAY LIFE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
• SPOT MAIRIE: with booths
enabling remote interaction
between users and municipal staff,
getting your papers in order and so
on is simple, and can be taken care
of in a few minutes while you are
out shopping!
The objective is to put public
services within immediate reach
of users. From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Monday to Saturday, citizens
can carry out a whole range of
administrative procedures free
of charge with no appointment
required, by speaking “face-to-
face” with an onscreen call-Centre
operator…
In this digital era, no special skills
are required to open up a series of
virtual city-hall booths – a system
initiated by the City of Nice and
Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur,
resulting from a partnership with
Cisco and adapted for use by “non-
geeks” and technophobes!
Although the concept is
technologically viable these days, it
needed someone to be bold enough
to step forward and propose this
unheard-of service encouraging
proximity and enabling immediate
face-to-face interaction between
citizens and local government
officers.
It was in 2013 that the first virtual
city-hall booth was installed – a
world preview! – at the Nice Étoile
shopping mall, for a year’s trial
period.
Its success with local inhabitants
led to the decision to continue the
experiment and extend it to other
strategic locations in the City of
Nice as well as widen the range of
services on offer.
Since 2015, a booth is installed at
Nice Saint-Isidore’s Leclerc Centre
mall in the west of the city. It is now
accessible to people with reduced
mobility and the deaf and hearing-
impaired, and provides real “VIP”
service as well a better perception
of public services on the part of
their users.
Whether it is a matter of civil
status, renewing your identity
card, enquiring about community
or cultural life, education, leisure
activities, event organization,
procedures to do with housing,
municipal sports activities or
whatever, there is no longer any
need to make the journey to city
hall or be forced to fall into line
with local government department
opening hours!
This new-generation high-
performance and highly innovative
service complements a service
that Nice’s and, more generally, the
Metropolitan area’s inhabitants as a
whole have enjoyed for some time
now: “Allo Mairies”, reachable
by dialling 39 06 or online at
3906@nicecotedazur.org.
• ALLO MAIRIES: dial 39 06 to
report any anomalies observed in
the public space (lighting, sanitation,
obstructions, garbage dumping,
etc.), as well as for any requests
relating to the City of Nice or the
Metropolitan area; Allo Mairies call
centre agents deal direct with the
800 to 1000 daily calls to the 39 06
switchboard or put them through to
the departments concerned.
Whatever the case, the City or
Metropolitan public authorities take
concrete action to ensure user
satisfaction.
• SERVICE BLEU: a service helping
Nice’s inhabitants become actors in
improving their living environment…
What citizen has not at some
point during his or her wanderings
through the city wanted to call up
city hall and report an anomaly
or malfunction, in a nutshell,
something not right in the public
environment – from pothole to off-
kilter lamppost, from a fallen branch
blocking the way to a burnt-out
bulb to a faulty automatic sprinkler
system? And above all, who has not
dreamt of their report being acted
on immediately or within 48 hours,
depending on the seriousness of
the matter in hand?
Well, the dream has come true in
Nice at least, with the introduction
of an application available from
Apple Store and Android that
enables downloaders to use their
Smartphone to report and geo-
locate any anomaly observed in
the public space, and even add an
explanatory photograph.
“Whistleblowers” are informed by
email of progress in rectifying the
anomalies they report and, the case
arising, of any problems delaying
completion of work. Getting about
in the heart of an interconnected
city also means favouring the
individual and human relations!
Beyond its positive impact on the
urban environment, Service Bleu
– which is also reachable by phone
at Allo Mairies by dialling 39 06 – is
a vector for user appropriation of
and consequent respect for the
public space.
26
Easy adminBenoît is a regular Service Bleu and Allo Mairies user and makes a habit of emailing or phoning 3906 to report small problems that could well become majorly detrimental to quality of life if left undealt with. A hole forming on Avenue Flirey, a large pothole on Chemin des Chênes Blancs, an unsteady lamppost in front of 52 Rue Théodore de Banville? It is reported…and quickly put right unless any unforeseen problems arise, and loyal “whistleblower” Benoît is informed. Service Bleu gets as many as 800 calls a month, with 90% of problems reported solved within 48 hours.
EVERYDAY LIFE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
Who has never dreamt of having
a discreet guide on call as they
make their way around the city,
to whisper information in their
ear when desired - on a church’s
façade, Vieux-Nice’s masterpieces
of baroque art, works on exhibit at
the Modern and Contemporary Art
Museums, Promenade du Paillon’s
plant heritage, the botanical and
zoological wonders of Phoenix Park,
or the Matisse and perched villages
roads?
Who has never felt rising annoyance
as they wait “blindly” on the
sidewalk’s edge for a bus that seems
to take forever to arrive?
And who, not knowing quite
where they are, has never hoped
to be instantly handed a map of an
unfamiliar neighbourhood as they get
off at one of Nice’s 1,600 bus and
tram stops?
Use of new technologies is
widespread across Nice and the
Metropolitan area – to inform,
educate, and generally make
everyday life easier… effortlessly and
on demand, as long as you have a
Smartphone or NFC phone to hand.
NFC (Near Field Communication)
is a close-range communication
technology enabling exchange of
secured data between a reader and
a mobile terminal (Smartphone, NFC
phone or credit card for contactless
payments).
Phoenix Park was the first place to
use “Beacon” technology, which
may well be extended to other
sites given its low cost and high
level of performance. Beacons
are unobtrusive wireless sensors
installed in specific locations and able
to communicate with Smartphones
equipped with Bluetooth Low Energy
systems within a 20- to 30-metre
radius. A visitor’s location determines
what information he or she receives
in situ.
Once such interactive terminals are
installed, this could be indoors or
outdoors – in a museum or park for
example, to inform visitors in light-
hearted fashion, or in a store to guide
customers to the right shelves and
make payments without having to
wait at the cashier’s counter.
Inaugurated in July 2015, the
e-Calman application also rests on
beacons and offers an innovating
walking path making it possible
to discover the Promenade of the
Paillon in Nice. It was especially
carried out for the people suffering
from Alzheimer’s disease and their
assisting people. Through a quizz,
the user discovers his environment
and stimulates his memory.
So far, 2000 tags (NFC, QR Code
and Beacon terminals) have been
installed across the Metropolitan
area!
Paying for purchases without
having to struggle with a wallet
that refuses to leave your pocket or
search in vain for a purse lost in the
depths of your handbag! Without
leaving the store weighed down by
half a ton of small change! Even, in
the not too distant future, without
having to wait at the cashier’s desk,
now that “Beacon” technology is on
the way!… Strictly speaking, none
of this is exactly new in Nice, which
pioneered contactless payment.
In 2010, the city launched a range
of NFC services accessible via
users’ cellular phones and including
purchase and validation of public
transport tickets, Vélobleu and Auto
Bleue rentals, payment for services
supplied by local government
departments and in over
2000 stores (the number is going
up on a daily basis!), as well as a
“magic” multishop loyalty card
integrated into the phone. The range
has also always included access to
a selection of practical, cultural and
historical information.
The NFC system needs no
introduction these days. All you
have to do is put your Smartphone
or NFC credit card (on offer from
growing numbers of banks) up
to a terminal so that payment is
recorded. Easy, secure and no time
wasted! It is just a matter of the
action becoming a matter of course!
Not yet a matter of course, but well
on the way to being so in the United
States, is payment via the Beacon
system (from the name given
to the micro-sensors installed in
museums, parks and stores. Here,
all you do is use your Smartphone
equipped with a Bluetooth Low
Energy system to flash the barcode
of the item you want, recording
the transaction without having to
go anywhere near a cash register!
Watch out, though – your account is
debited all the same!
28
Cultur’code and live news flashes!
Go ahead… you’re all paid up!
Using a Smartphone or NFC phone, you can now get information on any treasures of urban heritage you might come across on your way across the city, as well as real-time updates on bus and tram
movements. And as for Phoenix Park – it is already well and truly in the ”Beacon” age as far as guiding visitors is concerned!
Consumers are well on the way to making contactless payment part of their everyday lives. A revolution long in the making, perhaps, but now
in full swing!
Bernard and Nicole are on holiday on the Côte d’Azur and have decided to leave their car at Le Rouret park-and-ride facility in thenorth of Nice and explore the city by tram and bus. First stop, Cours Saleya market. Using her Smartphone, Nicole snags the NFC tag on the bus shelter to obtain information on which line to take and the name of the right stop. In Vieux-Nice, the coupleget acquainted with the history of its monuments, view photos, listen to the audio guide… and discover the city as they stroll through it, just as easily as if they were accompanied by a real flesh-and-blood guide!
The Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur NFC’s project partners are: the City of Nice, Régie Lignes d’Azur, Nice Office of Trade and Crafts, and Nice Tourism and Congress Office.
EVERYDAY LIFE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
Committed to the development of
digital innovation in the service of
healthcare, Métropole Nice Côte
d’Azur and the City of Nice chose
the east of the city as the location
for a sector with unparalleled
development prospects.
As a 2nd hub of the Metropolitan
area’s burgeoning economic
activity, the east of the city makes
a perfect complement to the Smart
City taking shape alongside the Var
in the heart of the Operation
of National Interest.
Nor was it simply by chance
that the eastside was selected;
here, Pasteur 2 (Nice’s new
university hospital centre), Antoine
Lacassagne Cancer Centre, the
Face and Neck Institute, Saint-
François and Saint-Luc Clinics,
major actors in the private sector
(Saint-Georges Clinic and Les
Sources private geriatric hospital),
Sainte-Marie Specialized Hospital
Centre, research centres (IRCAN)
and training institutes (university
hospital centre and Red Cross)
go to make up an embryonic
“European Healthcare City” all
set to make its appearance on the
world stage – a dozen or more
research, training and healthcare
establishments forming a unique
natural cluster.
Since 10 september, this cluster
includes a new building,
“27 Delvalle”managed by Nice
local authority, which houses
the “Living Lab PAILLON2020”
with the Health Innovation and
prospective department of Nice
local authority Health direction,
and which accommodates the head
office of FSE (FRANCE SILVER
ÉCO), the Centre d’Innovation en
Usages et en Santé (CIU-S
– Centre for Innovation and Usages
in Healthcare) and the Metropolitan
area’s healthcare incubator at the
European Centre for Businesses
and Innovation (ECBI).
“Living Lab Santé PAILLON2020”
is acting as an accelerator of new
solutions at the service of users. Its
strength lies in creation of a single
window facilitating comprehension
of the ecosystem on the part
of “ideas people” looking to
locate in the area, develop their
products, solutions and services,
and construct a new healthcare
model based on the population’s
wellbeing.
The Living Lab includes a
demonstration/simulation
apartment for the housebound,
designed to inform, raise
awareness, test and accompany
homecare or a return home
following hospitalization, as well
as train medical and socio-medical
professionals in NICT.
Such innovation focuses on
development of interconnected
systems, as well as on creation of
new healthcare pathways leading
to improved treatment of patients
and providing health professionals
with the opportunity to assimilate
new practices. Through its
business incubator, the ECBI,
Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur hosts
start-ups developing innovative
projects for improving citizens’
health in everyday life, with a view
to preventing chronic diseases and
treating pathologies with no final
cure. There are 4 start-ups in the
business incubator at the moment.
30
eHealthcare: economy and wellness
27 rue Delvalle, in the East of the city, is the birthplace of an economic initiative devoted to “digital health and the silver economy”,
now making rapid headway at the service of innovation, territorial development, and the area’s inhabitants.
32
Among them, DV Santé
(Healthcare) offers an innovating
and fast service for patient care
support.
Using new information and
communication technologies,
DV Santé allows the optimization
of the patient city-hospital care,
while improving economic
efficiency to care structures, and
an unequalled quality of care for
the patient.
Another medical innovation
promoted by the CIU-S: the
VEADISTA (Veille à Distance
et Alerte Intelligente – remote
monitoring and smart alert)
project, which aims to develop
a technological solution for
remote monitoring of frail
patients. Certified by the Secured
Communication Solutions (SCS)
competitive cluster, the project is
being developed by Entr’ouvert,
at the head of an academic and
industrial consortium. Biomedical
sensors (recording temperature
and pulse) are attached to a
“patch” affixed to the patient.
Physiological data is disseminated
by reading devices using RFID
technology and transmitted to
health professionals, giving them
automatic remote warning of any
deterioration in a patient’s physical
condition.
The conditions to compete to the
IDEX/ISITE project enumerated by
the international IDEX jury - Initiative
of Excellence - extremely resemble
the axes of development chosen by
the Côte d’Azur University(1) (UCA), its
thirteen members and its five principal
partners, gathered under the following
name of candidacy: UCA - JEDI –
Joint, Excellent and Dynamic Initiative.
It was therefore with a sense of having
opted for the best possible path for
preparing the Côte d’Azur’s future
that the UCA, with key support from
companies and local government
bodies including Métropole Nice Côte
d’Azur’s, saw itself accepted into the
highly coveted IDEX “Investment for
the Future” Program.
The prize enables the University of
Côte d’Azur to further extend the field
of possibilities, with allocation of
€58 million over 4 years at the rate
of Euro Monospace 14.5 million/year,
which will be spent on research,
training and innovation on the Côte
d’Azur.
Founded in February 2015, the
University of Côte d’Azur, a community
of Alpes-Maritimes universities
and higher education institutions,
is concrete expression of the
determination to develop an ambitious
common research strategy, promote
knowledge and technology transfer
and increase its training offer.
The goal is to consolidate an institution
responsible for world-class research
and innovation, and increase its
international reputation.
Constructed around a trio of focuses
– healthcare, the challenges of digital
technology and the smart city (themes
also prioritized by Métropole Nice Côte
d’Azur) – the program serves to further
strengthen the excellent relations
between the Côte d’Azur’s academic
and economic worlds, each of which
nourishes the other.
In concrete terms, UCA - JEDI will
enable setup of special funds for
research and innovation, so attracting
top researchers and high-potential
doctoral students, creation of
high-level qualifications stemming
from each of its members’ fields
of expertise, provision of support
to entrepreneurship and setup of
companies, and development of
structured partnerships with the
industrial world and local government
bodies.
36% of IDEX financing will be devoted
to development of research activities,
25% to development of R&D and
technology transfer in partnership
with companies and the territory, and
25% to training. 9% will be allocated
to further improving international
attractiveness and student life.
With excellence, transdisciplinarity
and international attractiveness
as priority goals, the UCA aims to
create a new university model with a
worldwide reputation, recognized for
its innovative training offer and active
at the heart of a dynamic ecosystem
where traditional knowhow goes hand-
in-hand with digital intelligence.
Education, researchand innovation:
A solid gold distinction!“International visibility; maximum cooperation between universities,
schools of higher education and research bodies; major territorial coherence…”
(1) UCA founder-member institutions are: Nice-Sophia Antipolis University (UNS), Côte d’Azur Observatory (OCA), National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), National Institute for Information Technology and Automation Research (INRIA), SKEMA Business School, EDHEC Business School, Nice University Hospital Centre (CHU Nice) and an association of Art and Design schools: National Centre for Musical Creation (CIRM), La Villa Arson – National Higher School of Art, Higher School of Audiovisual Production (ESRA), the Sustainable Design School (SDS), Cannes Rosella Hightower Higher School of Dance and the Conservatoire National à Rayonnement Régional de Nice (CNRR).In addition to the UCA’s 13 members, the candidacy had the support of a number of high-prestige partners: INSERM, INRA, IRD, MINES ParisTech for its Sophia Antipolis site, and EURECOM.
34
Set in the heart of Métropole Nice
Côte d’Azur, the “Smart City”
is no longer an abstract concept
– the increasing numbers of
field experiments carried out are
already having a visible impact on
everyday life.
Sharing and innovation are the
keys to the Smart City’s success,
which can only be achieved
through close collaboration
between the worlds of research,
higher education and innovation.
The Mediterranean Institute for
Risk, Environment and Sustainable
Development (IMREDD) is
a perfect illustration of this
ambition. Developed jointly by
the Metropolitan area and Nice-
Sophia Antipolis University, the
institute’s mission is to motivate
collaboration between the
business and research worlds,
at the service of the territory and
professional integration of younger
generations.
Located in the heart of the
Var Plain, in Nice Méridia, it
has become a generator of
innovation, a centre for validation
of innovative ideas and products,
a space encouraging experiment,
technological demonstrations and
their practical applications, and a
centre for training the Metropolitan
area’s future managers and
engineers.
And finally, the link between
the Mediterranean Institute and
Nice-Sophia Antipolis University,
cornerstone of the future Eco-
Campus, stands as a model
example of a partnership between
a Metropolis and a University.
Besides, within the framework
of the scientific “Smart and
Sustainable Metropolis”
program, supporting Smart City
Development, Métropole Nice
Côte d’Azur decided to create the
“Smart City Innovation Centre”:
The Centre’s mission is to develop
collaboration between public
research laboratories, industrial
concerns, SMEs, and local
government.
With such closely knit smart
networking in place, the
Metropolitan area has become a
large-scale innovation laboratory
for development of the Smart City,
fostering collaboration between its
various public and private partners,
such as IBM, EDF, Orange and
Cisco. One example of a model
innovative collaboration is the data
and urban hyper vision platform,
subject of a 3-year research and
development program concluded
between IBM and Métropole Nice
Côte d’Azur. The program provides
the Metropolitan area with an
opportunity to create and possess
its own data warehouse, develop
its new services, and disseminate
digital solutions designed to
improve management of the area.
Grouping data together, which
encourages maximum utilization
of the information collected
by the 10,000 sensors installed in
the city, including some
2000 dedicated to environmental
problems (both outdoors to
measure air quality or watercourse
flows and within networks to
monitor the good operation of
drinking-water distribution or the
sanitation system) enables setup
of a new mode of centralized
governance.
In the end, it is the Metropolitan
area’s inhabitants’ living
environment and quality of life that
will benefit.
34
Digital technology, cornerstone of tomorrow’s city
development
Successful development of a “Smart City” depends on close collaboration between all of the Metropolitan area’s partners in order to meet the expectations of its inhabitants and optimize management of the city. In order to maintain its leadership in the digital revolution,
Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur is fostering such collaboration by developing appropriate tools and sites.
36
With 1,275 high-definition cameras
including 15 “nomads” – i.e. one for
every 273 inhabitants – broadcasting
the city’s movements in real time
on to a wall of screens monitored in
shifts round the clock by a 80-strong
team, Nice boasts France’s first
Urban Supervision Centre.
To ensure yet more effectiveness,
the CSU is equipped with innovating
technologies serving security and
wellness:
- «alert button» apparatus that
shops, schools, day nurseries,
cultural places (theatre, museums...)
healthcare staff, can press when
real danger occurs,
- Real-time transfer of 170 High
Definition cameras located on
28 train sets of the line 1 tramway,
- Setting of 2nd generation Intelligent
Video Surveillance (IVS) system,
capable to detect and transfer
instantly any unusual changes
in the urban environment such
as accidents, panicking crowd,
suspicious packages, or mobs
gathering, etc.
- Setting of 3rd generation Intelligent
Video Surveillance (IVS) system,
able to identify from the record of
an object, a vehicle or a person
depending on a description.
- multi lens Cameras operating at
360° and a ring equipped with
4 directional fixed lens, the whole in
High Definition;
- experimentation of face
recognition in real time for outdoor
environment.
This fine woven network of cameras
with these new technologies
enable an informed watch to
be kept on the entire area, with
collected information shared with
the national police, gendarmerie
and departmental fire and rescue
brigade.
The tool facilitates coordination
of municipal police teams on the
ground, contributing to a total of
3,149 arrests between 2010 and
2016 and fulfilment of 3,847 court
orders issued by magistrates for the
purposes of ongoing investigations.
These are telling figures, seeing
that when the CSU was initially
launched, 91% of Nice’s inhabitants
questioned were in favour of
video protection, which provides
greater security without interfering
with private lives, serves justice
and encourages protection of the
environment.
The effect that urban supervision
has on the environment is less
talked about but no less real for
all that. The “Video verbalisation”
system (using cameras to book
road-users for minor infractions)
leads to freer flowing traffic as
more and more offending vehicles
(usually double-parked) are taken
off the road, which in turn reduces
emissions of toxic gases harmful to
public health and the environment.
And as it is known that a single
case of double-parking can disrupt
downtown traffic for a kilometre or
more…
The CSU is an invaluable aid to living
better together in Nice.
36
See it all… it’s safer that way!
The Urban Supervision Centre (CSU) has become an acknowledged tool at the service of living well together. Permanent observation of
the public space contributes to greater safety, serves justice, and helps reduce pollution. More than thousand or so cameras operating 24/7 at
the service of inhabitants, visitors and the area as a whole!
A crowd suddenly forms along the rocks on La Réserve beach, Boulevard Franck-Pilatte. An image of panic-stricken people splashes across one of the CSU’ screens, and then shows a little girl who has just hurt herself jumping from one rock to the next. The emergency services are instantly informed and set off immediately… even though no calls from eye-witnesses have yet come through to the fire brigade’s switchboard!
EVERYDAY LIFE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
38
If there is anywhere in France or
even the world to equal
Los Angeles or New-York, where
public data circulates unhindered,
it has to be Métropole Nice Côte
d’Azur, which has developed a
high-performance shared
Open Data portal
(http://opendata.nicecotedazur.org/).
Disseminated in the Metropolitan
area’s public and private space,
data is put to good use by
innovative entrepreneurs,
who make the utmost of such
unpatented, copyright-free “basic
material” in creation of new
services and applications dedicated
to improving the population’s living
conditions.
The concept of liberating
information, which fits perfectly
into the larger project of a
sustainable interconnected
Metropolitan area, is of service to
start-up promoters focusing on
innovation as well as to the area’s
economic development – in fact,
to all users in the region, whether
inhabitants or tourists, industrialists
or students, senior citizens or
people of reduced mobility, young
working people or pensioners…
In the end, it is the whole
population that benefits from
access to information updated in
real time! No tiresome searches
or time wasting toing-and-froing
– just log on to your computer or
Smartphone to find out what is
going on in the way of outings or
shows, get your hands on a map
of polling stations, check museum
and the latest exhibitions’ opening
days and times, introduce yourself
to the plant species growing along
Promenade du Paillon, cast an
eye over geographical maps of
the region, check on sports facility
locations and possible uses, see
what parking space is available
in the City of Nice’s car parks, or,
thanks to partnerships with the
Régie Lignes d’Azur, view bus and
tram timetables and any disruptions
on the lines…
And to further boost innovation
at the public’s service (along with
the local economy!), Métropole
Nice Côte d’Azur, in liaison with
Technology Park’s Telecom Valley,
recently organized the “Smart
App Contest”, a competition for
apps based on open data and
focusing on the theme of the smart
interconnected city.
During a real digital-engineering
marathon – the hackathon! – held
on Nice-Premium’s premises,
young creators produced
prototypes of new apps designed
to improve users’ lives, and
focusing on such areas as tourism,
transport, energy, citizenship,
sustainable development and sport.
Five projects were awarded prizes
at the second edition, and one
hundred people participated to
this whole week of competition
and high-level conferences and
sponsors of influence.
All this information is available on
http://smartappcontest.fr
38
Keeping yourself informed… and
sharing what you know
Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur has recently inaugurated “Open Data” internet portal provides users with in-depth knowledge of the area
and what it has to offer. A way of enjoying a controlled environment to the full and encouraging innovative entrepreneurs.
40
Given existing demographic and
topographical disparities, only action
on the part of local government
bodies, leading the way in matters
of metropolitan and départemental
solidarity, is likely to even out
territorial inequalities and establish a
fair balance in access to optical fiber.
Up until now, private operators’
plans for optical fiber cover have
concentrated on very densely
populated areas (ZTDs - Zones
Très Denses), including Nice,
which is one of the 148 French
cities classified as ZTDs, where
operators are obliged to deploy
their own infrastructures. Orange
is completing the laying of optical
fiber cables serving 100% of Nice’s
housing units.
In areas of medium population
density concerned by the “France
Very High Speed” plan – which
include 27 municipalities in the Nice
Côte d’Azur Metropolitan area –
two operators have positioned
themselves as FTTH (Fiber To The
Home) operators/investors: SFR
in the municipality of Vence and
Orange in the other 26. Laying of
cables to produce 100% optical
fiber cover is planned for 2020.
There remains the case of
municipalities with low populations;
most of them are in the highlands
and will likely be deprived of
optical fiber cover unless public
action is taken. In 2011, Métropole
Nice Côte d’Azur set itself the
goal of achieving total cover of
all its municipalities by 2021. In
January 2016, however, it chose
to integrate the Schéma Directeur
Départemental d’Aménagement
Numérique (SDDAN 06 –
Départemental Master Plan for
Digital Coverage) and entrust it with
the laying of optical fiber cables
serving highland municipalities.
Implementation of a single all-
embracing project at départemental
level ensures an essential
coherence in overall digital coverage
that ignores boundaries between
municipalities and is designed to put
all inhabitants on an equal footing.
A total of some 75,000 connectors
need to be installed across Alpes-
Maritimes territory – 21,469 in
Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur alone – for
an estimated total cost of €115.6 M.
The first phase of work will be
construction of the collection
and service network enabling
coverage of all connectors in 2021,
at an estimated cost of €88.2 M,
€10.9 M of which will be paid by
the Metropolis.
Local government involvement
targets a number of objectives:
ensuring that nobody is left
on the wayside; putting all the
area’s inhabitants on an equal
footing as regards access to new
technologies, whether they live on
the département’s coastal strip or
in its highlands; and meeting needs
with regard to competitiveness,
economic development, drawing-
power and job creation.
And in the long run, it’s social and
territorial cohesion that will come
out on top, two links in a chain
whose good operation is essential
to Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur’s
and Alpes-Maritimes’ success in
France and across the world, while
improving their inhabitants’ quality
of life.
40
Optical fiber:
everyone connected!
It’s a real challenge for Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur, and indeed for the entire Alpes-Maritimes département: providing 100% of
housing units with optimal connections given the marked differences in population density across the area and therefore in the break-even
points that dictate how private operators act with regard to laying optical fiber cables.
42
With the French Tech certification
in June 2015, French Tech Côte
d’Azur entered into the closed
circle of the most remarkable start-
up ecosystems in France.
A deserved reward which follows
an unprecedented union and
mobilization of the Métropole Nice
Côte d’Azur and the innovating
conurbations of Sophia Antipolis,
Cannes and Grasse: for the first
time in history; the first step
towards a success story.
The French Tech initiative with
Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur
alongside the innovative
conurbations of Sophia Antipolis,
Cannes-Pays de Lérins and Pays
de Grasse gives an extra push to
Alpes-Maritimes’ digital sector.
Innovating, closely knit and
dynamic, it has become a real
driving-force for the economy of
the future, focused on international
recognition, sustainable
management and optimization of
services on offer to inhabitants.
The first challenge set, if the
initiative was to have true weight
and meaning, was to ensure a
successful bringing together of the
four territories, each of which has
its own specific areas of interest:
information technologies for Sophia
Antipolis, the smart interconnected
city for Métropole Nice Côte
d’Azur, digital imaging for Cannes-
Pays de Lérins, and excellence in
the field of perfumery and aromas
for Grasse.
The second challenge, to be met
with the combined support of the
Alpes-Maritimes Departmental
Council, the CCI, Nice-Sophia
Antipolis University and a wide
selection of digital entrepreneurs
located across the area, was to
present a coherent submission,
overseen by Team Côte d’Azur,
spotlighting the Côte d’Azur digital
42
French Tech:a “made in
Côte d’Azur” label!
The prospect of belonging to the closed circle of France’s most outstanding start-up ecosystems prompted Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur
and the innovative conurbations of Sophia Antipolis, Cannes and Grasse to join forces and mobilize their resources: a first in history
and the beginning of a success story.
cluster. This latter recorded
10% growth in 2014, 338 start-ups
between 2012 and 2014, raising
86 funds representing a global
amount of 179 million Euros, prize-
giving and special awards, including
20 international ones.
Following in France’s footsteps,
Côte d’Azur aims to position itself
on the world map of digital nations
and regions. With 1,684 enterprises
in the field of digital technology,
22,585 employees and 4,2 billion Euros
in turnover, the area’s IT cluster is
already acknowledged as one of
Europe’s leaders in high-tech.
Standing together to obtain the
label, with a shared budget,
between metropolis, of
215 million Euros thrown in
as part of the Programme
d’Investissement d’Avenir
(Program for Investment in the
Future) to support research and job
creation, the four territories seek
to dynamize growth and take a
leading role in the spread of digital
technology.
Dialogue, networking, multipolar
organization, opening of “Totem
buildings” fostering encounters
between researchers, students,
teachers and entrepreneurs in
latest-generation spaces dedicated
to collaboration and innovation,
and setup of related clusters
such as Nice-Premium and Allianz
Riviera are all part and parcel of
a concerted action to achieve an
ambition with 5 main focuses:
• developing, maintaining and
running a fertile ecosystem;
• facilitating creation and
development of innovative
enterprises;
• speeding up growth of start-ups to
turn them into “tech champions”;
• ensuring the reputation of French
Tech Côte d’Azur spreads thanks to
new communication tools;
• deploying infrastructures
suited to development of digital
technology.
44
The start-up with positive
energy!
Jessica Pellegrini
Gilberto Dias
Azzura Lights which is a start-up
dedicated to energy services
which has received multiple
awards for progress and quality
in sustainable development.
The main part of Azzura Lights
business is the creation and
development of programmes to
save energy. Its « Sustainable
energy for All » programme
saved 2,250 households
250 euros per year on their bills
through use of their « Ecology
Box® » which helps reduce
energy and water consumption
in a fun way. Thanks to its
success and based on an
innovative method following
years of research the company
has created a new range of
innovative games which will be
presented at the exhibition.
Solar-powered travel at the
service of the Smart City
Raphaël BRIERE
David LE BRETON
In response to such issues
involved in development of the
Smart City as pollution, traffic
congestion, and the cost and
consumption of electricity,
Advansolar markets a new
generation of smart, energy-
autonomous street furniture,
the SunPod® range.
Experts in electric mobility,
energy efficiency and design
& communication, they have
designed smart solutions for
solar recharge of smartphones
and electric bikes and vehicles.
Their SunPods® are movable,
connected to the internet,
delivered ready for use and
provided with integrated
services including fleet
management, Wi-Fi portal and
maintenance.
They are intended for local
government bodies and
actors in the tourism, event
organization, mobility and real
estate sectors among others.
“Solar electric mobility” at the
service of sustainable zero-
emission travel.
Multimodal traveler
information and intermodal
car-sharing
Yann Hervouet
Instant System provides
independent expertise in
multimodal urban mobility.
The company designs, publishes,
markets and deploys mobile
applications guiding travelers on
their day-to-day journeys.
It acts on the traveler’s behalf,
suggesting the best travel
solutions by combining all means
of transport, including “soft”
modes and car-sharing.
Instant System helps
conurbations optimize all means
of transport available to their
citizens.
Its solutions are intended for
conurbations, to help promote
the various means of travel
available, and for companies
wishing to assist their
employees in their daily travels.
Smart parking
Irfan GHAURI
Clint HOGESTYN
The Parkego start-up was
founded in 2014 with the aim
of providing high value-added
services related to urban
parking. The company initially
developed a concept involving
rental of parking spaces
between individuals and went
on to launch an innovative
service: valet parking on
demand.
It’s a simple enough concept:
the client sets the time and
place of his/her parking spot via
the app.
It takes less than 5 minutes to
pick the car up and park it in
one of the network’s private car
parks. Appointment is over, the
client calls the parking valet via
the Parkego app, recovers the
vehicle and pays the parking fee
with no risk attached.
A new safety standard for
older adults
Dr. Giuliana Ucelli
Dr. Giuseppe Conti
Massimo Barozzi
Nively proposes MentorAge,
a solution for the «Silver
Economy» that can observe the
movement of ageing people
and understands the risk
connected to their movements.
MentorAge can handle different
risk situations detecting when
a person enters the bathroom
without coming out after a
certain time, when he/she falls,
when he/she starts a night
wandering episode or when
he/she leaves the house or
the room at night. The service
can understand the situation of
risk and react accordingly (for
instance by turning on lights of
the room or by unlocking the
door), and send an alert to a
Smartphone or Smartwatch.
Smart parking solution
Jean-Louis Peyre
Djamil Elaidi
ComThings develops modules,
connected remote controls and
applications for management
of mutualized parking. Our
solutions enable easy sharing of
no matter what parking space:
individual to individual, company
to individual, or shopping mall to
individual.
Driving together
Thomas Côte
Nassim Rezzouki
Brice Eichwald
Wever markets an app
facilitating car-sharing in
conurbations, putting drivers
and passengers with similar
travel needs in direct contact
with each other for their
day-to-day journeys (regular or
occasional), whether planned or
last-minute affairs.
It is unique in that it presents
journey routes in the form of
car-sharing lines made up of
predetermined meeting points.
In addition, the app is free of
charge and users (drivers and
passengers alike) are rewarded
with gifts and practical
advantages (fuel cards, cinema
seats, reserved car-park spaces,
etc.)
Rethinking energy efficiency
Christophe Robillard
Qualisteo’s WATTSEEKER
technology, comprising a
unique measurement system
connected to smart sensors,
enables full energy mapping
of all professional buildings,
no matter what their size. It
measures, maps and analyses
buildings’ energy consumption
by area, apparatus and use. The
company markets its technologi-
cal innovation with the help of
specialized commercial apps
and an innovative business mo-
del, marketing it as a “MaaS”
(Measurement as a Service) to
which you can subscribe rather
than as a product (a meter requi-
ring material investment).
44 START-UPS
46
The most innovative
coastal guide
Edouard Fiess
Benjamin Rousseau
Sébastian Luche
Navily has worked in direct
collaboration with yachting
harbors since 2015. Via a web
platform, harbors manage their
profiles on the app in real time:
services, rates, tourist events
and visits, etc. By bringing
harbors and yachts people
together, Navily has succeeded
in creating Europe’s first harbor
reservation platform.
Natural, 100% renewable
air-conditioning
Thierry Lamouche
Sustain’air’s innovative
technology provides tertiary-
sector buildings (offices,
healthcare facilities, etc.) with
indoor climate comfort based
on renewable CO²-free heat at a
competitive price. The system
blows air at 20°C into the
building, enabling reduction
in energy consumption for
heating and air-conditioning
(an 80% reduction in
air-conditioning consumption).
The air-conditioning system
differs from others of its kind in
that it uses water to
air-condition the building.
sustain’air’s initial demonstrator
met with great success and was
awarded the COP21 label by the
Ministry of the Environment.
The pro platform devoted
to homecare
Emmanuel Sierra
Isabelle Giordana
DV Santé is a startup located at
Nice’s “27 Delvalle” centre in
the heart of the future European
Healthcare City. It selected the
area to develop and provide
an innovative rapid service
accompanying patients on their
healthcare pathways.
With the help of new
information and communication
technologies, DV Santé
enables optimization of
private practitioner/hospital
treatment, improving healthcare
facilities’ economic efficiency
and ensuring patients enjoy
unparalleled quality of treatment.
46
Lexique
Beacon: geolocation tag
whose accuracy is greater than
conventional GPS, especially in
indoor environments. It allows
to interact with a Smartphone
or a tablet through Bluetooth
technology. The user can thus
receive contextualized messages
according to its position within a
site (shop, tourist park...) equipped
with beacons.
NFC / Contactless
Communication: “Near Field
Communication” (= Contactless
communication) is a close-
range wireless communication
technology enabling exchange
of information up to a distance
of around 10 centimeters. NFC /
contactless technology enables
users to read information by putting
their cellphones up to electronic
tags installed in the street, in
bus shelters, on monuments, on
posters, and so on...
NFC tag: equipped with an
electronic chip, such tags deliver
information direct. All you need do
is put your NFC phone up to one
without even having to go through
an app.
NICT: New Information and
Communication Technologies.
QR Code: this is a type of barcode
made up of black modules
arranged on a white square. Their
layout defines the information the
code contains. QR (short for “quick
response”) means that code
content can be decoded quickly
after being read by a smartphone
app. QR codes refer to internet
pages delivering the required
information.
Smart City: a city that
technological innovation and new
means of management are now
making possible. The expression
is often associated with the terms
“connected” and “sustainable”.
A “smart” city is one in which
information and communication
technologies play an increasingly
important role in the context
of responsible and sustainable
development.
A far cry, then, from the “growth
at any price” that marked previous
industrial revolutions.
Smart Grid: “intelligent” electricity
grids use digital technologies for
improved management of electric
energy. The new meter enables
more flexible management on
the part of users, who, knowing
in real time exactly how much
they are consuming, can take
appropriate action and become
“ConsumActors”.
Smartphone: “intelligent”
telephones are not just for making
phone calls, but also enable use
of applications, the most popular
these days being internet access
and emailing.
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– SF
– P
hoto
s : M
étro
pole
Nic
e C
ôte
d’A
zur,
Vill
e de
Nic
e, T
hink
stoc
k, Is
tock
, O. D
igoi
t, E.
Boi
zet,
Loui
s Fa
briè
s, S
tere
au, D
evill
ers
& A
ssoc
iés/
By
Enco
re -
EPA
, CD
06 G
. Vér
an, A
telie
r M
arc
Bar
ani e
t RSI
Stu
dio,
J. V
éran
– M
ai 2
016.