Silicon and the State

"In the early 1990s, French officials viewed with some concern the emerging and innovative high-technology sectors of the U.S. and British marketplace. Fearful of falling too far behind, the French government implemented a vast array of policies - from tax incentives for investing in risky high-tech start-ups to new standards for electronic signatures - designed to promote the commercialization of new economy technologies in France. The efforts have turned French innovation policy on its head. Traditional government and bank-financed research and development were replaced by private venture capital. Professionals in France's technical elite - long accustomed to secure career tracks in prestigious laboratories and industrial conglomerates - began moving into risky entrepreneurial ventures. New technologies, once developed exclusively by France's national champions of the marketplace, such as Ariane, Airbus, and Renault, began to be commercialized by technology start-ups." "Efforts to promote the new economy, however, have proved politically and socially contentious. Many French policymakers and public intellectuals fear that regulatory liberalization might threaten or undermine stat