The Toulouse Cluster of On-board Systems: A Process of Collective Innovation and Learning

Abstract

Analysis by product or by type of activity is becoming less and less pertinent when characterizing the production organization of industrial clusters and local productive systems. In numerous regions and metropolitan areas, the way that economic activities are based geographically reveals relationships which go across different sectors of activity, on the basis of the similarity of skills required. At Toulouse, on-board systems, mainly sets of equipment composed of electronic and computer components integrated into an aircraft, a satellite or an automobile, were first developed on a sectorial basis before becoming progressively the subject of transverse skills and knowledge between the different industrial sectors (aeronautics, space, automobile electronics). Today this system is tending to consolidate on the basis of positive externalities such as the sharing of common subcontracting of information technology services, the collaboration of industrial firms with engineering science institutions, the circulation of personnel within the local labour market. To this must be added a strong institutional input which is manifested by the addition of an "on-board systems" section to the Competitive Cluster "Aeronautics and Space" common to the Midi-Pyrenees and Aquitaine regions. In the case of Toulouse, the "on-board systems" activities form the basis of a local organization of these hightechnology activities into a local skills system.

The visible hand of cluster policy makers: An analysis of Aerospace Valley (2006-2015) using a place-based network methodology

“…Greater Toulouse (France) is a leading and historical place for aeronautics and space industries in Europe (Dupuy and Gilly, 1999;Niosi and Zeghu, 2005;Zuliani, 2008;Gilly et al, 2011). The main oligopolistic companies of these two related industries and some of their plants are located in Toulouse (Airbus, Airbus Defense and Space, ATR, Thales Alenia Space, Safran, among others), and the city hosts the main French high schools of engineering and research in this technological domain (Sup'Aero, ONERA, Federal University of Toulouse, among others) as well as the headquarter of the National Center for Spatial Studies (CNES).…”

Hub Firms and the Dynamics of Territorial Innovation: Case Studies of Thales and Liebherr in Toulouse

“…In this way it participates in territorialized processes of innovation and creation of specific technologies for a particular sector. The relationships generated by hub firms can also have a more inter-industry content, as is shown at Toulouse by the scientific collaborations undertaken between firms from distinct sectors of activity in order to develop new technologies with transversal applications (Zuliani, 2008). In this sense, a hub firm like Liebherr has chosen to consolidate its foothold in the aeronautical field while diversifying its This union relies particularly on the combinatory skills of the hub firm.…”

“…The setting up in 2005 of the intermediary structure known as the "Aerospace Valley" Business and Research Cluster common to the Midi-Pyrénées and Aquitaine regions moves in the direction of a significant densification of local scientific relationships (organisational proximity) generated by the two hub firms. The collaborative practices of the latter fit, to different degrees, into the already existing relational architecture in Toulouse between science and industry (Zuliani, 2008). But the Business and Research Cluster, by establishing a regulatory framework for co-operation, allows the rules of the game to be fixed and thus allows an institutional proximity to be shared by local public and private actors (architectintegrators, hub firms, small sub-contractors, research laboratories, local authorities, etc.…”

Comprendre le rôle de l’intermédiation dans la coopétition : le cas des industries aéronautiques et spatiales

“…A ce titre, nous nous inscrivons dans une veine de recherche ayant étudié les relations inter-organisationnelles de ce cluster (Dupuy et Gilly, 1999;Zuliani, 2007 Pour garantir l'anonymat des verbatim, nous noterons la catégorie à laquelle appartient l'organisation (ex : CI) et le nom de l'organisation par un numéro indiqué en indice (ex : CI 1 ).…”