The city council is setting up digital infrastructure and resources as part of its policy to turn Aix, click by click, into a smart city in a French Silicon Valley.
Early last summer, Mayor Maryse Joissains and JC Decaux inaugurated 15 e-Village® totems – a truly innovative service for residents and a first for France. These bollards with their 22" interactive screens give digital access to all sorts of services to make city life and living easier: cultural events, practical information, transport, lifestyle, shops, neighbourhood maps etc. Just one example of the council's digital policy that likewise includes rolling out fast broadband, the Ville d'Aix and Requêtes Aix'press free smartphone applications, and in the near future wi-fi hotspots in strategic locations and social networking services for communicating with residents. A dynamism that places Aix among the 15-odd innovative towns aspiring to the French Tech label launched by deputy minister Fleur Pellerin. Meanwhile, an all-glass digital temple has opened opposite the Rotonde fountain: a see-through Apple Store of a design new to Europe, offering every possible connected device, Mac accessories and much more, with free workshops, One to One spaces, youth programmes, training courses and a 360° Genius Bar where experts serve technical advice and assistance. As of 2015 the business incubator in the La Constance development zone will come into play; a dozen Pays d’Aix e-businesses are ready to move in, among them Voyageprivé.com and Allopneus.com, leader in Aix's digital economy. Nearby is Hexalab Living Lab (part of the Ecole Supérieure d’Art, a groundbreaker in the digital arts). Hexalab has developed an interactive-screen network and the City Media Walk app. In autumn 2017, an American-style digital business campus, code-named The Camp and designed by architect Corinne Vezzoni, is to open in L'Arbois, looking across to Mont Sainte-Victoire. This innovative research incubator, brainchild of the international HighCo group's founder Frédéric Chevalier, should encourage and extend interdisciplinary collaboration.
By Claude Ponsolle
Côteweb 2021, création de site Internet sur Nice