VivaTech 2024: a choir of entrepreneurs, researchers, leaders and investors!

The Viva Technology, or VivaTech, fair was created in 2016, and is currently held in the Paris-Expo building, at Porte de Versailles, Paris. It is organised by the Les Echos (press) and Publicis (communication/advertisement) groups. In 2023, VivaTech had registered record visits, with more than 150,000 visitors. According to France info, a public radio, thanks to this unprecedented number, VivaTech has turned into the “1^st global event dedicated to innovation and start-ups, ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES)” held in Las Vegas, in the US.

 Excellent results in 2023

“No need to go to the US to see the European and French tech, just come to Paris!”. This is how the CEO of Les Echos group described the results of the 2023 edition of the fair, an edition marked by the visit of French president Macron for the opening of the event. VivaTech 2023 had thus turned into the place for presidential announcements regarding innovation, the digital sector and artificial intelligence. Announcements made during the fair include new investments, such as a 500 million euros plan to create five to ten clusters focused on AI and generate “two to three centres of excellence” at global level to “make champions”.

As the French government’s website said last year, “the recent arrival of artificial intelligence at the heart of our daily life has unveiled the potential of this digital tool”. The technological disruptions expected “prove that the battle for our sovereignty if fought today on algorithms”.

Strong presence of services from the French government

The French government will be very present in 2024. In the Pavillon numérique de l’État (State’s digital stand), no less than 14 executive directions “committed in the digital transformation” will be visible at VivaTech on a one-stop stand, “to unveil their major projects, present their offer and recruit Tech professionals”.

“To make the everyday life of all the French easier and boost the efficiency of public action”, ensures the website numérique.gouv.fr, the French government relies on “the digital power and technical skills of Tech professionals”. To reach this goal, representatives of the State’s start-ups developed through “entrepreneurship process” will also be present at the fair. The mission of these State start-ups is to “design digital services that would be simpler and more efficient for all the French by relying on innovative methods guided by impact”.

In addition, more than 50 conferences organised by more than a hundred public agents of the digital sector are available. The objective is to discover the digital strategy of the State, its main accomplishments and works, but also to recruit digital professionals: more than 4,000 job offers are available!

The CNRS at VivaTech 2024

The Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) presents itself as a key player of deeptech, and will be present at VivaTech, just like in previous years. The CNRS website also explains that experts, partners of the centre and representatives of start-ups from labs under supervision by CNRS will participate in this new edition “to discuss with the public and present outstanding technologies” in four fields: health, sustainable development, space and the digital revolution.

The CNRS stand will be organised around these four main subjects, boosted by ten start-ups created from research led in CNRS labs. These ten high-potential start-ups develop, each in their field, “disruptive technologies in research fields that answer more than ever to the societal and tech challenges of today and tomorrow”. But the presence of the CNRS at the VivaTech 2024 fair will not stop to innovative start-ups: about a dozen round tables will also be held on the CNRS, gathering “CNRS scientists and representatives of the innovation environment”, talking about “subjects about AI, the central subject of this year’s VivaTech”, the CNRS explains.

Explore more: 

- The VivaTech fair

- Results of the fair 2023

- The presence of the French State’s services at VivaTech 2024

- The CNRS stand