Nokia and Inria, a French national research institute dedicated to promoting 'scientific excellence in the service of technology transfer and society as a whole', announced the renewal of their joint lab for a four-year period. The announcement took place during an event celebrating the 50th anniversary of Inria with Marcus Weldon, Nokia CTO and Nokia Bell Labs President, and Antoine Petit, Inria CEO.

Orange Marine, a major player in the laying of new submarine communications cables and the maintenance of existing cables across the world's oceans, France-based Orange Group, has signed a partnership with Euro-Argo, the European branch of a global ocean observation consortium, to provide technical resources to launch free-drifting oceanographic data collection floats along its ships' routes.

Three businesses are to collaborate on a decade-long project that will digitalise water services across France.

Government entities in Paris and Beijing have signed a five-year partnership which will enable the two cities to combine their expertise and resources in order to focus on smart cities and sustainable development.

French car manufacturing colossus PSA Group which was formerly known as PSA Peugeot Citroen before rebranding last year, has vowed it will support Opel's plans to produce electric cars but only if it proves 'profitable'.