UBIC (Université Bordeaux Inter-Culture)

What UBIC (Université Bordeaux Inter-Culture) does

UBIC (Universités Bordeaux Inter-Culture) is a publicly funded societal innovation center (Centre d'Innovation Sociétale) in humanities and social sciences, labeled by IdEx Bordeaux and operating as a transfer cell within the Université de Bordeaux ecosystem. Founded around 2012 and hosted at Université Bordeaux Montaigne, UBIC brings together research laboratories, teacher-researchers, students, professionals, territorial collectivities, and field actors to study the role of culture, creative economies, and territories within socio-economic continuums. Its hybrid methodology combines research-action, information design, cartography, and formation-action to produce accompaniment, evaluations, and publications for cultural and territorial projects.

The platform's core offering is a single research-action service rather than a portfolio of commercial products. Outputs include published studies, evaluations of cultural programs (e.g., orchestra programs in schools, museum visitor experience renewal at Abbaye d'Arthous), prospective cultural planning (e.g., Ville de Mérignac to 2030), and digital mediation strategies for cultural institutions. Notable technical and methodological components are its interdisciplinary research framework spanning labs such as MICA, PASSAGES, and TELEM, and its accumulated knowledge base of territorial case studies. No distinct commercial products, APIs, or add-on services are offered.

UBIC's business model is non-commercial: it is financed through France's Investments for the Future program via IdEx Bordeaux and executes research-action accompaniments under collaborative arrangements with French public-sector institutions — primarily regional and departmental councils, intermunicipal communities, municipalities, DRAC, FRAC, and cultural networks. Distribution occurs via direct institutional partnerships and academic channels in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, with limited national reach through professional associations such as FNCC. The organization operates with approximately 5 employees and is led scientifically by Jessica de Bideran, with Manuel Tunon de Lara serving as Director of Publication in his capacity as President of the IdEx Bordeaux Management Council.

Name

UBIC (Université Bordeaux Inter-Culture)

Legal name

Université de Bordeaux

Website

https://ubic.u-bordeaux.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

UBIC is a publicly funded French societal innovation center at Université Bordeaux Montaigne that conducts action-research on culture, creative economies, and territories for Nouvelle-Aquitaine public institutions through a hybrid methodology spanning research-action, cartography, and formation-action.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural Research and Territorial Development Services

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAHAAAG

Public Research Universities with Major Extension & Outreach Missions

Education/Higher Education (Colleges & Universities)/Public Research Universities

SECONDARYEDAHAAAA

Flagship Public Research Universities (R1/R2)

Education/Higher Education (Colleges & Universities)/Public Research Universities

Keywords

• Cultural research
• Action research
• Societal innovation
• Territorial development
• Creative economies

Headquarters

HQ city

Bordeaux

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Public Research Funding: UBIC is a transfer cell funded within the framework of the Initiative d'excellence (IdEx) Bordeaux. It does not operate as a commercial entity but as a university innovation center supported by government excellence funding.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

UBIC is a university-affiliated Centre d'Innovation Sociétale en Sciences Humaines et Sociales that operates as a research-action platform bringing together laboratories, teacher-researchers, students, professionals, territorial authority representatives, and field actors around cultural, creative economy, and territorial issues. Its core service is hybrid accompaniment (research-action, information design, cartography, formation-action) delivered to public authorities, cultural institutions, and research laboratories in Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

Product overview

UBIC operates as a single unified platform for societal innovation research in humanities and social sciences. Rather than a multi-product portfolio, it offers a comprehensive research-action service that brings together diverse academic and professional stakeholders to study culture and creative economies across territories. The platform's core offering centers on collaborative research accompaniment, with publications and territorial laboratory development as supplementary offerings. No distinct commercial products, modules, or add-on services are offered.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Plateforme de recherche-action UBIC
• Publications et études UBIC
• Open Labs et ateliers territoriaux

Named customers9 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Via InnocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVia Inno is a Centre d'Innovation Sociétale specializing in technological intelligence at the University of Bordeaux. UBIC collaborates with Via Inno on joint innovation projects and methodological exchanges within the CIS network.
• Université de BordeauxcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUBIC is labeled by IdEx Bordeaux and operates within the University of Bordeaux ecosystem, receiving institutional support and framework through the Initiative d'excellence program.
• Université Bordeaux MontaignecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUBIC is hosted at Université Bordeaux Montaigne, with its scientific direction and most of its researcher network originating from this institution.
• DRAC Nouvelle-AquitaineflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerDirection Régionale des Affaires Culturelles de Nouvelle-Aquitaine is a major institutional partner, co-financing and collaborating on numerous research-action projects including Open Lab programs and artistic education initiatives.
• Région Nouvelle-AquitaineflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region is a key partner for regional cultural development projects, francophonie strategies, and territorial cultural planning initiatives.
• Cap SciencescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCap Sciences Bordeaux collaborates with UBIC on the European Night of Researchers (Nuit Européenne des Chercheur.e.s), with UBIC coordinating the cultural and humanities research valorization from 2017 to 2020.
• ISIC Bordeaux MontaigneminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInstitut Supérieur de l'Information et de la Communication - institutional partner for cultural research and education projects.
• ESPE AquitaineminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEcole Supérieure du Professorat et de l'Enseignement - collaborative partner for educational projects and Master programs in cultural engineering.
• FNCCminorOthersFédération Nationale des Centres Culturels - network partner for cultural cooperation and professional exchange.
• ALCAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerALCA (Agence Livre, Cinéma, Audiovisuel du Sud) - regional cultural agency partner for literary heritage and digital mediation projects including the Neo-Aquitan Authors Heritage digitization initiative.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• OECD Culture and Creative Economy Programme: OECD unit producing research and indicators on culture, creative economy, and territorial development. Comparable to UBIC in producing evidence-based research on cultural and territorial development for policy actors, but operating as a major intergovernmental institution with global scope rather than a regional research-action platform.
• CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique): France's largest public research institution spanning all scientific disciplines including humanities. CNRS regional units conduct similar fundamental and applied research in social sciences and humanities, but with vastly broader scope and scale than UBIC's culture-specific mandate.

Direct peers

• KEA European Affairs: Brussels-based consultancy and research firm specializing in cultural and creative economy policy research for the European Commission and other public bodies. Comparable to UBIC in serving cultural policy research needs of public-sector clients, but operating as a private consultancy across Europe rather than a regional university research-action platform.
• MSH Bordeaux (Maison des Sciences Humaines): Maison des Sciences Humaines coordinating humanities and social sciences research across the Bordeaux academic ecosystem. Shares UBIC's mandate of bridging academic research with socio-economic actors, but operates at a broader institutional level across all humanities disciplines, not only culture and creative economies.
• INHA (Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art): French national institute dedicated to art history and cultural heritage research. INHA shares UBIC's focus on humanities research applied to culture and creative industries and operates a similar model of academic research serving public cultural institutions, but at national scale rather than regional Nouvelle-Aquitaine focus.
• Via Inno: Centre d'Innovation Sociétale at Université de Bordeaux specializing in technological intelligence. Via Inno is a documented UBIC partner within the CIS network, sharing the same IdEx Bordeaux funding framework and Societal Innovation Center model, but focused on technology rather than cultural research.
• ERICarts: European research institute on cultural policy and cultural cooperation. Shares UBIC's mandate of producing evidence-based research for cultural policy actors and operates a similar model of applied cultural research serving public-sector needs, but at pan-European level rather than regionally focused.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ubic-bordeaux-inter-culture

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about UBIC (Université Bordeaux Inter-Culture)