28 October 2021

Located about twenty kilometres south of Paris in the Île-de-France region, the Intelligent Cities Challenge (ICC) city of Paris-Saclay Agglomeration Community (CPS) brings together 27 towns and 316 400 inhabitants and is driving innovation forward at a speed.  

CPS is a centre of national and European scope with an unprecedented concentration of universities, research laboratories and high-level companies. These innovative players guarantee a dynamic territory that seeks to strengthen its commitment to future projects that will allow technological and socio-economic development to continue. 

CPS is committed to an innovative digital governance structuring process with ecosystem partners. The main components of this are as follows: 

  • A proactive e-governance and data policy with the following objectives:  

  • digital transition of local authorities 

  • meeting the needs of citizens with innovative and effective tools 

  • taking up the challenge of data governance. 

  • Energy transition focused on increasing its local production of renewable energies and stimulating sustainable consumption patterns through its Territorial Climate Air Energy Plan and energy transition projects (Paris-Saclay Energy, Hestia projects). 

  • Transition to zero carbon mobility through research programmes and investments in autonomous vehicles. Assessment of behaviour change, bicycle policies and alternative modes of transport (MaMob, Geovelo projects, Anthropolis chair and 5G Open Road project). 

  • Economic transition with 3 distinct projects: economic observatory and management of crisis impact, marketplace and circular economy alliance. 

In September 2021, CPS was able to make significant progress on the following projects: MaMob, Geovelo, Hestia and Paris-Saclay Boutiques. 

MaMob 

As a pioneer in the field of mobility, the Paris-Saclay Agglomeration Community is the first local authority in France to deploy this type of solution on a territorial scale. MaMob is a participatory platform for diagnosing mobility, developed by wever. It represents the culmination of two years of public-private collaboration with the start-up, specialising in inclusive mobility. The launch is scheduled for September 2021. 

This large-scale implementation, unprecedented at the national level, contributes towards two major public policies supported by CPS: its Territorial Air-Energy Climate Plan and the fight against gas emissions and the greenhouse effect. Further it demonstrates the proactive and continuous support for actors of innovation and entrepreneurship. The project is supported by the state under the France Relance scheme. 

Geovelo 

The Geovelo project responds to the political objectives of the Paris-Saclay Agglomeration Community as set out in the transport plan and the digital master plan. The CPS wishes to implement an interactive and scalable application to strengthen the practice of cycling in the territory, which currently represents 3.75% of mobility. This interactive application can be used in different settings such as professional, family and leisure, offers activity reports and is GDPR compliant. 

The application is linked to a portal which monitors the impact in terms of reducing greenhouse gases. This will facilitate the monitoring the success of the project and through using a simple interface and common data sharing, feedback can be shared which allows for better contingency planning. This project is being conducted in partnership with the Region, Open Street Map and Open Data France. 

Hestia 

The Hestia project (Holistic demand response services for European residential communities), led by the European Union, aims to supply R&D with flexible solutions for energy consumption. The experiment is based on the active participation of citizens at district scale, which is in this case the Camille Claudel eco-district in Palaiseau. Data is being collected and analysed to assess the possibilities of reducing current consumption and maximising greener energies.  

The inhabitants of the eco-district will first be consulted in order to gather and analyse their energy habits. 40 volunteers will then be selected to be integrated into the programme by collecting the data on their use. This data will feed into a collaborative platform which will allow all energy players to adjust and optimise their services according to the specific needs of residents. This project is due to last for three years and could be replicated in other neighbourhoods if it is successful.  

Paris-Saclay Boutiques 

The Paris-Saclay Agglomeration Community has set up a territorial marketplace – the Paris-Saclay Boutiques which brings together all the products of registered local merchants into a single online sales site. It is a sustainable and long-lasting tool available to merchants who are encouraged to integrate it and move forward in the digital transition. The COVID-19 pandemic proved the need for such digital solution and the platform responds to this need, it was included in CPS’ panel of concrete actions in support of local economic players. The Paris-Saclay Boutiques works as complementary to in-store purchases and allows for more visibility for all and an expanded catchment area. Existing sites belonging to retailers or those developed by cities can be integrated quickly into the platform.