# pôle de compétitivité



## Kimica

I am translating a technical text about telecommunications and I have come across the word "pôle". I understand the general sense of the word is maybe workgroup but I am unsure of the exact equivalent. Please can anyone help!? 
Thanks in advance


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## xav

Hi, Kimica,

"Pôle" has many meanings in French, so you should give us a bit of context.


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## danielle_davout

we need to have a little bit of context to ensure we give an exact equivalent !
je ne traduirai pas "pôle" par "workgroup"
s'il s'agit d'un des  pôles d'une pile galvanique par exemple !


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## petereid

ces sont le cathode et l'anode de la pile


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## Kimica

Sorry for the late response. The sentence that the word is in is: 

*Suite à la labellisation du pôle "Images & Reseaux" en tant que pôle de compétitivité à vocation modiale...*

As I have said before, I understand the general sense of the work as workgroup or maybe project but unsure of what the true equivalent is, if there is one!

Thanks again everyone 

Kim


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## pieanne

Isn't it a "pool"?


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## Kimica

In what sense could it be pool?


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## pieanne

A group of people?


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## danielle_davout

pour moi ce serait plutôt un terme d'astronomie
      as "terrestrial poles"
mais google
me donne
[FONT=Verdana,Arial][FONT=Verdana,Arial][FONT=Verdana,Arial][FONT=Verdana,Arial][FONT=Verdana,Arial][FONT=Verdana,Arial] The French Government has selected Brittany as national cluster concentrating skills in broadcast, telecommunications and information technologies.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]


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## danielle_davout

une recherche plus attentive me donne raison:

world-wide *competitivity* pole


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## Kelly B

Check this thread: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=51065


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## Kimica

Thanks everyone! I think I am going to use skill sets!


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## danielle_davout

on parle de pôle _de croissance, de__ développement
y-a pas à dire on tourne autour 
*mais 
*la partie  en langue anglaise  du site *officiel *
http://www.competitivite.*gouv.fr*
consacré 
à_ la promotion et au développement des pôles de compétitivité
s'intitule 
website  for the promotion and development of competitiveness clusters in France 
et il n' y aucun "matching content" pour  "pole"


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## danielle_davout

Kimica said:
			
		

> Thanks everyone! I think I am going to use skill sets!



j'espère que les références que je donne en faveur de *cluster*
vous feront changer d'avis


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## danielle_davout

pour moi:
 world-class competitiveness clusters
world-class est peut-être à améliorer:
7 occurences sur le  web avec world-class mais  *21,700* for *"competitiveness cluster"*.


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## fingfing

Hello everybody,

I am trying to translate "pole de competitivité" but I am still struggling to understand what it really means. I have decided "competitive intelligence unit". Is that nonsense? 

here is the sentence:
"Le Pôle de compétitivité "Mobilité et Transports Avancés", situé au Futuroscope, initie des projets structurants dans la recherche, le developpement et l'expérimentation autour d la thématique des véhicules hybrides et electriques...."

Any suggestions very very welcome, thanks


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## gws75

How about research center?  Or maybe research and training center?


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## Paf le chien

fingfing said:


> "Le Pôle de compétitivité "



It's a new (marketting) expression that nobody really understands but which sounds dynamic/modern.

I, fr_FR, couldn't even "translate" it in French ! So in English...

It should be a business place where companies with specific knowledge about a subject (_i.e.:_ nanosciences) would be working all together without competition or only fair one (sounds like nonsense to me), to compete with the rest of the world.

Nothing to do with "research" (ideas) : it's all about industry (money)...


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## fingfing

thank you, i put research centre in now, it is a bit vague but i dont think "competitive intelligence unit" means anything to anyone, and it sounds slightly military.
Also I'm glad to see it's not just me who doesn't understand the term, even a French person doesn't! yay.

thanks guys


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## fingfing

hah! i changed it again to "research and development centre with pooled resources"  but I am still not happy...


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## Agent Literary

A "competitive conglomerate" perhaps, but it think it's still lacking in the shared aspect despite "conglomerate".


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## mym

I think I've seen "cluster" being used for "pôle de compétitivité" in English, but you would have to google it to figure out whether it really corresponds in your sentence.


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## mym

Depending on the context, you could even add "business cluster" or "techno cluster"...


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## fingfing

COMPETITIVE CLUSTER!!!

That is it!
Thank you every one, I'd never heard that crazy term before but I googled it and it definitely seems to be right.

This forum is excellent, thank you


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## Cincinnatus

Hello,
I am also stuck with this translation... The "pôles de compétitivité" are something clearly defined by the french government...

I found several translations on the net, including :
- competitivity poles : the word "competitivity" doesn't seem to exist in english, well-done...
- competitiveness poles : at least the words exist, I'll choose this, I think.

On www[.]lyon-sciences[.]fr , I found:
"_A competitiveness pole is defined as a combination in a given geographical area of companies, training centres and public sector or private research facilities, all committed to a partnership approach in order to create synergy around innovative projects._"


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## Sebb

Hi,

The English equivalent to the French governmental "pôle de compétitivité " I found some days ago was "competency center". Do you think that could fit? Or is it really different? I think it's also an area with various firms and univ. centers and labs working on similar subjects...


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## Jean-Michel Carrère

competitive cluster


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## BexTrad

this comes a bit late on i know but i'm researching what looks like the exact same sentence ("pôle de compétitivité Image et Réseaux"), and it's true that "competitiveness cluster" has loads of hits if you search it on google. 
BUT they're all French sites, and some of them are even Brits and American asking what the hell they are, so i think it should be avoided..


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## Alphatradien1

Here you have a definition in French:
«Un pôle de compétitivité est                 une combinaison, sur un espace géographique donné,                 d’entreprises, de centres de formation et d’unités                 de recherche publiques ou privées engagés dans                 une synergie autour de projets communs au caractère innovant.                 Ce partenariat s’organise autour d’un marché et                 d’un domaine technologique et scientifique qui lui est                 attaché, et doit rechercher une masse critique pour atteindre                 une compétitivité et une visibilité internationale».
http://www.lesechos.fr/poles-competitivite/definition.htm

So, what is it? My try: "Innovation pool".


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## BexTrad

Despite my previous rant, it looks like I may have been wrong, at least in part.
As it is an entirely French concept, the fact that they're all French translations might not be a problem. 
However, "competitive cluster" means nothing to English-speakers.
I opted for "competitive clusters" rather than "competitiveness clusters" partly because there seem to be a lot of definitions for it if you type it into google, which is going to be handy for the English-speaking audience, if they're really that interested! 

There doesn't seem to be any equivalent in English, and "innovation pool" comes up with 0 hits or explanations on google..


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## Alphatradien1

How about combining both expressions with "innovation cluster", then?
I googled and found 15000 hits.


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## BexTrad

ah that looks pretty promising. thanks for that


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## Aglandau

I hate this word !
I have to translate "le pôle Mer" and "le pôle Risques" which are both pôles de compétitivité. 

-> National Sea Cluster?  National Risk management cluster?


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## Alphatradien1

Is it in an insurance company? Could you give us a bit of context?


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## Aglandau

No, each pôle is in fact a group of local businesses that have got together to represent French excellence in a particular field.  These groups are officially recognised by the national government and local governments can/and do subsidise projects / actions led by the pôles.

There are all sorts of pôles, including fruit and veg !!


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## Jean-Michel Carrère

Further reading on "competitive clusters" : http://www.ecgroup.com/meth_2.htm

Find out it is not just a franco-français concept, by a long chalk !


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## Moon Palace

it seems that 'itechnology clusters' is even more commonplace.


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## Aglandau

Excellence Cluster or Cluster of excellence gets 272 000 google hits. Although they mostly seem to relate to schools/universities, I have found several specialised medical Clusters of excellence.

How about Maritime Cluster of excellence / Risk management Cluster of excellence / Fruit and vegetable Cluster of excellence....  ????


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## BexTrad

I wonder if cluster alone isn't the most appropriate and the most English.


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## Squiggle

Can I just check, after extensive Googling it seems to me "competitive clusters" only exist in France or in obscure bio-physics type documents I can't even begin to understand.
Has anyone heard of a "competitive cluster" as in a group of companies in the same area doing more or less the same thing outside of France?

Many thanks


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## Edinburger

Hi,

Is a competitive cluster similar to a business or research park? Could they be used as UK-friendly/understandable terms?

Thanks


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## Squiggle

I'm not sure. A business park in my mind is something that has been specifically built to house many businesses whereas this cluster thing could just grow organically. If I'm wrong then please someone correct me beacuse I would love to use business park!


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## SJ313

Hi, 

As for as I know, there is no UK term or concept that's equivalent to a "pôle de compétitivité" because it's a specifically French set-up. I had to use this term a lot for a set of translations for the French university UPMC and I personally found it best to add a brief explanation in brackets or as a footnote to explain the term to English. Here is an explanation of exactly what the term means: 

	 	 Dans une économie mondiale de plus en plus concurrentielle, la France a lancé en 2004 une nouvelle politique industrielle qui mobilise les facteurs clefs de la compétitivité, au premier rang desquels figure la capacité d’innovation.
 Un *pôle de compétitivité* est sur un territoire donné l’association d’entreprises, de centres de recherche et d’organismes de formation, engagés dans une démarche partenariale (stratégie commune de développement), destinée à dégager des synergies autour de projets innovants conduits en commun en direction d’un (ou de) marché(s) donné(s).
 Cette politique vise à susciter puis soutenir les initiatives émanant des acteurs économiques et académiques présents sur un territoire.


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## Anaele

Hi, I work in a "Pole de compétitivité" myself and we have struggled for a while before finding a satisfactory translation... "business and research cluster" 

Despite all options suggested in the forum we chose "business and research cluster" which sum's it up. If you goggle "business cluster" ou "research cluster" you will find many hits, and the results are quite close to what a Pôle de compétitivité is. It's a mix between the two concepts.

I can confirm that English native speakers do not understand what a "Competitive cluster" is... (and most French persons don't understand what a Pôle de compétitivité is anyway)


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## Anaele

Hi, I work in a "Pole de compétitivité" myself and we have struggled for a while before finding a satisfactory translation... "business and research cluster" (innovation cluster is not bad but not very explicit for people who don't know the concept)

Despite all options suggested in the forum we chose "business and research cluster" which sum's it up. If you goggle "business cluster" ou "research cluster" you will find many hits, and the results are quite close to what a Pôle de compétitivité is. It's a mix between the two concepts.

I can confirm that English native speakers do not understand what a "Competitive cluster" is... (and most French persons don't understand what a Pôle de compétitivité is anyway)


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## badgrammar

I have exactly the same translation regarding Futuroscope...  I'd like to go with Research and Development center...  Atleast it's a general concept that English speakers all understand - that stuff about clusters just doesn't sit right with me!
In any case, for the particular translation I'm doing, I don't think it's terribly important that the viewer undertsand the precise function/set-up of the center - I'm going with the idea that what's most important is to get the idea that there is a large infrastructure for... research and development.


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## Dweena

"Competitiveness hub" would be another option.


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## CDHMontpellier

All these years later, Wiki now has a page calling it a "business cluster" and noting that it is also called an "industry cluster" or a "competitive cluster" - "grappe industrielle" on the French Wiki page, also called "pôle de compétitivité"... voilà!

Business cluster - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## expat66

CDHMontpellier said:


> All these years later, Wiki now has a page calling it a "business cluster" and noting that it is also called an "industry cluster" or a "competitive cluster" - "grappe industrielle" on the French Wiki page, also called "pôle de compétitivité"... voilà!
> 
> Business cluster - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia




THANK YOU.  I was looking at the older posts and kept thinking "oh great, there wasn't a good translation back then, but there probably is now".   I'm translating so many business-related articles that not only am I learning new words/terms in French, but I'm learning new business words and terms in Englsh.


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