Huawei deputy chairman Ken Hu said that the company will invest EUR 35 million in its OpenLab facility in Paris over the next five years. He made the announcement in a keynote speech at the VivaTech event, currently taking place in the French capital.
Covering an area of 1,000 square metres, the facility was inaugurated in April 2018 and has attracted around 50 partners, including Accenture, Intel, and car manufacture PSA. Over the last year, work has centred on fifteen projects, in areas including smart retail and Internet of Vehicles (IoV).
In his speech, Hu highlighted the importance of cross-industry partnerships. "When it comes to innovation," he said, "organisations need to do what they do best, and collaborate on the rest." Huawei has five main R&D teams operating in France. The company's latest R&D centre in the country opened in the city of Grenoble in November, mainly focused on smartphone sensors and parallel computing software development.
The VivaTech event also saw the participation of French President Emmanuel Macron, who was questioned by the press on the decision by his US counterpart to ban US organisations from doing business with Chinese telecom equipment makers. "Our perspective is not to block Huawei or any company," he said, adding that a tech war "is not appropriate."
Macron's statement confirms the government's line that France opposes a ban on specific companies, while taking action to reinforce safeguards to counter the cyber security risks posed by 5G networks. To this end, draft legislation is currently under review in parliament to introduce a stricter approval process, giving state institutions the final say on the security of 5G network infrastructure.
