France sets up commission innovation 2030 to boost promising projects

French President Francois Hollande on Friday installed a new commission, "Innovation 2030", to fulfil a mission of meeting "the needs of tomorrow's society ", said a statement from the Elysee.The innovation commission is presided by Anne Lauvergeon, former chief of French energy company Areva, and comprised of 20 experts, including industrialists, scientists and economists.The president expected the new commission to identify and propose to the government the sectors and technologies where France is likely to take leading roles by the year of 2030, especially in domains "that can response to the call of future's society, create the greatest value and more jobs on our territory," the statement said.The commission will select a limited number of industrial challenges, then launch an innovation competition for each of them. The competition will be held among all companies, including start-ups, foreign companies who want to invest in France.The Investments for the Future program will spend 150 million euros (196 million U.S. dollars) for the mission and private funding will also be mobilized for supplement.The French government promised to support the most promising projects until they were industrialized.