A center for innovation

 

Castres-Mazamet, innovation as a second nature. 

In Castres-Mazamet, innovation is not only technological or focused on research, although this industrial area constitutes the second private industrial and research unit in the Midi-Pyrénées. Here, innovation is also present in services and throughout technological transfers to traditional industrial sectors: textiles, mechanics…

Successes based on innovation

A pioneer region in the digital sector, Castres-Mazamet was the first agglomeration to create a metropolitan optical fiber network (90 km) in 2007 to allow companies to access Very High Speed Internet and services proposed by a GIX-approved teleport as early as 1998, and a competitive triple play offering in 2004.

This pioneering project, initiated by the SAEM Intermédiasud in 1998, was certified as a project in the public interest, making Castres-Mazamet a reference region in the digital sector, often called upon to share its experience (MID e-news, Odébit 2007 fair, participation in the Interconnecté national meetings in 2004, 2005 and 2007).

A center for experimentation in telemedicine

Thanks to its digital infrastructures, the Intercommunal Hospital Center of Castres-Mazamet (CHIC) currently covering five sites, was able to take advantage of a Very High Speed interconnection as early as 1998, leading to operational cost reductions (telephones, IP voiceover) and the development of teleservices.
A hospital center that has historically been on the leading edge of telehealth – Castres was the center for the first experiments and transmissions of medical images to Toulouse by Professor Louis Lareng’s team, now director of the Institut Européen de Télémédecine.
Castres-Mazamet Technopole is a partner of CATEL, the national network for telehealth professionals.

A test agglomeration for innovations in the health sector

Castres-Mazamet is located in a region of experimentation in the field of health with key partners, such as the Intercommunal Hospital Center of Castres-Mazamet (CHIC), the cancerology network of the Midi-Pyrénées (ONCOMIP), the cancer registry of Tarn region … and major topics, such as cancer, health and care offering issues using new technologies, promoted by a university center and a new IT and IS engineering program (ISIS) for the health sector.
Castres-Mazamet is one of France's two inter-municipalities selected to participate in a national experiment on health care and will thereby  be able to accelerate projects related to the organization of care. For more information: «20 medium-sized test cities».