About us

ARII, the Regional Agency for Innovation and Internationalization of Companies, has been founded by Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, the French government, The PACA regional chamber of commerce and industry, Bpifrance and the French public Deposit and Consignment Fund, to fast-track economic development, innovation and attractiveness in the region.

ARII implements economic development, innovation and internationalization strategies (Regional Scheme for Economic Development, innovation and internationalization, SRDEII in French, Regional Innovation Strategies, Regional Plan for Internationalization of Companies and so on) as well as various European, national and regional operational schemes.

ARII is the favored interface between public and corporate stakeholders thanks to governance combining elected representatives, partners, economic stakeholders and entrepreneurs. Its role is to catalyze funding.

ARII’s task mainly focuses on three development leverages:

Regional Major Structuring Programs
Business growth acceleration among high-potential SMEs
International attractiveness in the region

ARII development focus:

Regional Major Structuring Programs

These programs fall within the scope of the five strategic fields of activity defined in the regional innovation strategy:

Energy transition and power efficiency
Risks – Security – Safety
Health – Food
Smart and sustainable mobility
Tourism, Culture – Digital contents

These programs aim to implement growth environments in the region to promote innovation, job creation, business and talent attractiveness relying on three features

Reconquering high-tech industry in the region thanks to “Industrial Ecosystems”
Setting up a “Smart Region” thanks to “Sustainable and Smart Territories”
Exporting the “Provence-Alpes- Côte d’Azur Well-living program”

Major Structuring Programs unite competitive clusters and PRIDES (Regional innovative clusters dedicated to inclusive economic growth), structures assisting companies in optimizing innovation and globalization as well as local agencies promoting economic development for regional business.

High-potential SMEs Growth

ARII aims to pre-empt job creating future markets and to assist high-potential companies in optimizing their growth and their international development promoting attractiveness in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.

Promoting the Region and regional business abroad

ARII is also in charge of marketing and international promotion of economic development projects in the PACA Region. It steers foreign investors coordination and attractiveness. ARII also manages foreign delegations receptions, regular attendance at target industry and organic-oriented conventions. In 2015, it has implemented synergy between stakeholders within two committees named “Internationalization” and “Attractiveness” in partnership with the international section of the Regional Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Metropolitan & departmental agencies for economic development.

Moreover, it develops economic, technologic and scientific partnerships with foreign countries that help promote international partner initiatives with export stakeholders (San Diego, Tanger and so on). It also helps establishing access networks to international markets (for instance in partnership with the French Tech Hub in the USA). Then, it also develops regional marketing schemes such as the Attract Talent program aimed at strategic targets such as investors, entrepreneurs, artists, sportsmen and so on.

A word from the General Manager, Jean-Yves LONGERE

“Since April 2014, ARII is the agency in charge with economic development, attractiveness and innovation in Provence-Alpes- Côte d’Azur.

In the region, it provides assistance to facilitate the emergence, the acceleration and deployment of structuring projects and high-potential business growth.

The ARII website aims to enhance the range of services daily developed to meet regional challenges.

It is intended to companies, our partners, counseling players and the audience concerned with up and coming issues.”

The Strategic Assessment Expert Group

The Strategic Assessment Expert Group (GES in French) is exclusively comprised of twenty or so company executives, members of the Economic Stakeholder Strategic Committee (CSAE in French).

These business managers get together quite regularly (Four to five times a year) to enhance ARII and CSAE broad guidelines, to expand committees work and strengthen operational recommendations forwarded to ARII Board of Directors.

GES companies’ list:

ACRI (M. Philippe Bardey), AIRBUS HELICOPTERS (M. Gérard Goninet – Président du GES), ALPES RECHERCHE ET DEVELOPPEMENT (M. Frédéric Spagnou, VP du GES), AMADEUS SAS (M. Claude Giafferri), CEA CADARACHE (M. Christian Bonnet, VP du GES), DCNS (M. François Demoulin), EDF (Mme Christine Baze), ION BEAM SERVICES (M. Laurent Roux), JAGUAR NETWORK (M. Kevin Polizzi), OPTIS (M. Jacques Delacour), SUPERSONIC IMAGINE (M. Jacques Souquet) VERRERIE DE BIOT (Mme Anne Lechaczynski et M. Jean-Louis Patenotte), CLARANOR (M. Christiphe Riedel), PROMAN (M. Roland Gomez), NATUREX (M. Olivier Rigaud), GEMALTO (Alain Sigaud), KEM ONE FOS (M. Jean-Philippe Gendarme), ARCADE ASSISTANCE (M. Patrick Agati), FG DESIGN (M. Philippe Mathias), LAPHAL (M. Duron Note), et SAVIMEX (M. Laurent Coyon).
The Economic Stakeholder Strategic Committee

In creating ARII, founding members have established partnership governance that aims to provide economic stakeholders, especially companies with regional services solutions more noticeable and more efficient.

Thus, the Economic Stakeholder Strategic Committee (CSAE in French) was founded. It gathers regional economic growth stakeholders and more particularly, companies counseling structures, PRIDES (Regional innovative clusters dedicated to inclusive economic growth) competitive clusters, companies and economic development agency.

CSAE aims to mobilize networks of stakeholders with a shared and appropriate strategy.

Four working committees give structure to CSAE initiative:

> « Regional marketing»

> « Innovation and innovative contents »

> « International development »

> « Major projects »

Decision-making bodies, committees and working groups continuously provide ARII with strategic thinking.
The team

Structured in five operational areas, ARII inter-disciplinary team includes developers with diverse and complementary professional backgrounds.

Its members have managerial backgrounds in the private sector (large corporations and SMEs), national and regional administrations. They have worked in capital investment companies, within consular services, competitive clusters or were employed in regional marketing or international promotion organizations.

This diversity of profiles helps ARII to fully act as a coordinator.

ARII hinges on a “light” regional team based in Marseille with two offices in Sophia Antipolis and a regional representative in Brussels (thirty whole time equivalent employees work directly for the agency or are dispatched by partners). It relies on innovation and economic development regional stakeholders.