The Côte d’Azur – working with high potential business creators

Nice-Sophia Antipolis is one of the two gateway regions in France for selecting projects, with the Foundation Sophia Antipolis and Team Côte d’Azur coordinating the France/Sophia Antipolis challenge which will elect one of the 20 regional 2010 Galileo Masters. The regional winner will be able to benefit from the expertise and financial incentives offered by the region to help in its development as well as the strategic support of the region’s partners.

Now in its 7th year, the European Satellite Navigation Competition, better known as the Galileo Masters, is open to businesses, research institutes, universities and individuals from 20 regions in Europe and around the world. It rewards the most innovating projects and ideas in the field of satellite applications related to Security, Intelligent Transport systems, (ITS) and mobile telecoms. On offer this year are:

• 20 regional prizes and 6 special prizes worth 500,000 Euros sponsored by industrial partners or  Europeans institutes such as NAVTEQ, T-SYSTEMS, ESA, DLR or GSA.




• Access to European and international  industrial, academic or financial networks




• Coaching for business creation and development  

The General Council of the Alpes-Maritimes, a partner of this competition since its creation, has decided to renew its support this year by offering a prize for the Regional Winner of the Nice-Sophia Challenge 2010.

This prize, valued at 5,000€ , corresponds to 10 days worth of consulting services and the use of 50 m² of premises in the CICA, Sophia Antipolis, for a period of 6 months, rent free.

Over and above this financial assistance, the winner will benefit from support from all the partners of the Nice-Sophia Antipolis Challenge

Galileo, a strategic programme for the European Union

Galileo, the strategic European global navigation satellite system (GNSS) is forging ahead: four In-Orbit Validation satellites due to be tested at the beginning of 2011 and the first 14 Full Operational Capability satellites in orbit for 2014. The deployment of this advanced technology is excellent news for companies developing satellite applications as it represents an exceptional market, estimated at 300 billion Euros in 2020. Such applications are also of interest to European citizens and businesses that will benefit from more accurate positioning techniques as well as greater security on land, sea and air.