The National Context

Over time, the French National Cybersecurity strategy has largely focused on two regions: Britany for its applications to defense and Paris Region for its business ecosystem. Since 2018, Paris Region has been playing a central role in the race for a globally trusted and secured Cyberspace.  

Get Close to Your Customers 

Paris Region has the greatest concentration of headquarters of Fortune 500 companies in Europe whose decision centers host strategic assets (bank, insurance, mobility, health, energy and more). In the current fast paced context of digital transformation, the cybersecurity market is booming. In France, the turnover generated by Cybersecurity (products and services) reached €6.6 billion in 2019 with a yearly increase of 10% since 2013. 

Several Local Cyber Innovation Clusters 

A unique asset of Paris Region is its upcoming Cyber Campus France at La Défense. In a space of 25,000 m², the campus will bring together up to 1,000 experts in Cybersecurity: private players (such as Orange Cyberdefense, Thalès and Atos among others, and SMEs) as well as academic players  such as Inria and public players such as Anssi. It will host the French interbank CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) next to several SOCs and labs. With an opening scheduled for 2021, the project will come to fruition at a perfect time, ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games which it will help secure. 

The project is inspired by the examples of Israel and Russia, two countries which gathered their cybersecurity players under one roof. Paris Region will be the first region in the world to build its dedicated campus at the heart of a global business district. 

This Cyber Campus will also strategically be located close to the Cybersecurity’s beating heart of Paris Region: Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (SQY). SQY is a member of the European Cybersecurity Organization and is notably part of the “European Cyber Valley” program. SQY counts the following cyber assets: 

• Atos’ global quantum computing R&D laboratory,  
• 6 major Security Operations Centers (SOC) of Airbus, Thales, Atos-Bull, Crédit Agricole, C2S Groupe Bouygues and Antemeta,  
• Bertin IT’s Cyber Intelligence Center, whose aim is to protect against cyber-attacks, 
• The first French experimentation site for securing IoT, 
• As well as a digital campus hosting cybersecurity evaluation and training centers. 

To further stimulate this ecosystem, the Deeptech innovation and technology cluster Systematic Paris offers the perfect setting to develop your Cybersecurity projects with strategic partners at reach: 

• 820+ members including 590 SMEs, universities and 150 major groups  
• 10 Deep Tech hubs: Data Science & Artificial Intelligence, Cyber & Security (& Defense) incl. Blockchain, Digital Infrastructure & IoT, Digital Engineering, Optics & Photonics including Quantum Computing, Open Source 

Security Systems Valley offers a complementary business and experimentation community in the northern part of the Paris Region. 

Top of Cyber Research in Paris Region 

• Artificial intelligence: France excels in deep learning. The 4 most powerful internet companies (Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple) have set up research in Paris and attract many French talents. INRIA is setting up public R&D mixed teams composed of both computer scientists specialized in deep learning and fundamental mathematicians. They are dedicated to defensive and offensive strategies through deep learning. 
• Cryptography: France has historically been a world leader in the field. The #1 university for mathematics worldwide, Université Paris-Saclay, contributes extensively to  maintaining Paris Region’s  leading position in the field 
• Post-quantum technologies (including cryptography): France ranks in the world’s top 3. Within the next ten years or so, Quantum computers should reach an operational level. Post-quantum cryptography is therefore one of the most critical research topics for France. 

Cybersecurity Talents 

What all the IT engineering degrees in Paris Region have in common is their high level of excellence. The ecosystem counts: 

• Academic Research labs: Allistene, CEA, Inria, CNRS, LSE at EPITA, LTCi at Telecom ParisTech; 
• Joint research labs such as Seido Lab with EdF (the national electricity company) and EIC project at IRT SystemX (Environment for Cybersecurity Interoperability and Integration); 
• Graduate schools with training in cybersecurity: ISEP, ESIEA, Epita, Epitech, Institut Mines-Télécom. 

The talents coming out from these centers of excellence can start their own business at Cyber@Station F, a committed accelerator launched by Thales. 

In addition to those research labs and accelerators, talents can also join Europe’s #1 bug bounty and VDP platform YesWeHack based in the city center of Paris. 

They Chose Paris Region 

With nearly 85,000 businesses in the ICT industry and the largest ICT workforce in Europe, counting 710,000 employees including 250,000+ in computer programming, consulting businesses will find all the key players across the value chain (IT for business, telecommunications, digital content producers, defense & security, artificial intelligence, optics and electronics), as well as major multinational corporations: Dassault Systèmes, Orange, Motorola, Criteo, Ubisoft, Accenture, Atos, Capgemini, etc. 

Want to know more? Watch the replay of our webinar: “Unlock Cybersecurity Business Opportunities in the Paris Region” here. 

Cybersecurity Events in Paris Region 

Cloud Expo Europe, November, Paris - Cloud Expo Europe is the industry-leading event in France for tech professionals. It connects technologists, business leaders, senior business managers and experts in the fields of Cloud and Cybersecurity and Big Data. During the 2 days of the show, visitors can meet with 230 national and international leading suppliers, learn from 250 speakers, consolidate their networks and build business relationships. Learn More. 

Cloud + Data Center, March, Paris – The show offers a unique opportunity to understand the challenges of tomorrow through Keynotes, round tables, REX, expert opinions. Learn More. 

Milipol, October, Paris- Milipol is the leading event for homeland security and safety. Key figures: 31,185 visitors, 1,089 exhibitors, 32 conferences, 167 official delegations from 68 countries. Learn More. 

Paris Cyber Week, September, Paris, is the European digital economy’s forum. Key figures: 400 attendees, 60 speakers, 14 nationalities. Learn More.