Laura Chaubard, the new director general of Polytechnique, appointed Wednesday, October 5 by the Council of Ministers, is an expert in military innovation. Having passed as a student by the prestigious school (promotion X99), she then obtained a doctorate in algorithms at the University of Paris-Diderot. In 2006, she joined the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA), the branch of the Ministry of the Armed Forces in charge of providing equipment to the military, from armored vehicles to aircraft, including ships, assault rifles, missiles or uniforms again.
In August 2017, Laura Chaubard joined the office of the Minister for the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, as an advisor for innovation and digital technology, when the word cyberwar was finally on everyone’s lips at the top of the State. With its experience in managing strategic SMEs, it is a key player in the major upheaval of the French innovation system with the creation of the Defense Innovation Agency (AID). This new entity must be more agile and more responsive than the venerable DGA, a formidable tool for managing nuclear submarine programs over thirty years, but less accustomed to juggling start-ups. AID remains under the supervision of the DGA, but its former boss, the bubbling Emmanuel Chiva, has just taken over the reins of the parent company by becoming the new general delegate for armaments at the end of July.
