The first results of the partnership between the City of Lyon and Microsoft, signed in February 2007 in the presence of Bill Gates, President and founder of Microsoft, were announced on June 30 by Gérard Collomb, Senator and Mayor of Lyon and President of Greater Lyon, and Eric Boustouller, President of Microsoft France.

This partnership has the following aims:

• Assist the development of innovative projects in digital applications in the Lyon metropolitan area (three Lyon startups - Prim'x, Kalistick, Dreamap - were sponsored by Microsoft)
• Support the software industry and startups in terms of technology, sales and marketing, as was the case with the three startups
• Recognize and promote the talent of video game designers in the region (Lyon developers benefit from special access to the Microsoft France development platforms)
• Support the vitality of the video game sector in the Lyon region
• Facilitate access to information technologies, and introduce as many people as possible to the use of digital technologies (this was implemented in 8 libraries, including Bachut, La Duchère, La Guillotière, Part-Dieu, Vaise, the 1^st, 2^nd and 4^th districts, as well as 9 digital agencies; more than 1500 people participated in training classes in 2008)
• Raise awareness of local associations such as Lyon Infocités and Cluster Edit.

The partnership implemented in Lyon, home of the inventors of cinema, pioneer in video games, leader in software publishing, has proved highly effective for all those involved and the results are very satisfying. This further confirms Lyon's solid basis in the digital sector.

In July, a delegation of Lyon software companies will visit the Microsoft Research Silicon Valley site in order to study the possibility of developing a Lyon Silicon Valley.