At 18 pm tonight an agreement will be signed between some business centers of Italy, France and Germany in St. Etienne. Thus will be born first cross-border cluster dedicated to mechatronics and advanced production systems. Mechatronics is a sort of intersection between mechanics, electronics and information technology. The protagonists of this automation of production systems are automotive, industrial automation, and robotics. The agreement is based on a network created between three regions (Piedmont, Rhone-Alpes and Baden-Wuttemberg), which will network more than 600 research centers and companies with 120 employees and a turnover of around 24 billion euros.
The regions produce a total of 7,5% of the euro area's GDP. The collaboration agreement also provides for "intercluster technology transfer and scouting activities, exchange of experiences and best practices, sharing of tools and methods".
Companies such as Comau, Prima Industria, Skf, Michelin, Valeo, Renault Trucks, Siemens and others are involved. In this way, business development should increase, together with research projects and business opportunities. The president of Confindustria, Gianfranco Carbonato underlines that this collaboration "offers companies new opportunities for growth and cooperation with leading industrial systems in Europe”.
