June 27, 2025
Ineo Opens an Immersive “Urban LAB” in Lesquin to Support Local Communities
On Friday, June 27, Ineo, a division of Equans France, inaugurated its new urban technology hub in Lesquin (59). Conceived as a miniature city, this immersive, full-scale LAB was designed with and for local governments. It showcases more than 50 practical solutions that address the challenges local communities face in terms of digital and environmental transition: smart street lighting, security and video surveillance, connected mobility, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, air quality, connectivity, citizen participation, and centralized data monitoring. This system, which is both operational and scalable, is designed to train, test, and co-develop the smart urban services of tomorrow.
Innovations with and for Local Governments
Serving as a true real-world demonstration, this LAB centers around a hypervision center that controls and coordinates all the deployed technologies. This integrated approach allows visitors to experience how the proposed solutions complement one another and to better envision concrete applications that benefit their communities. By drawing on specific use cases, the LAB supports local governments in evaluating, selecting, and combining the tools best suited to their needs.
Among the innovations on display, the LAB features illuminated pedestrian crossings, smart poles equipped with solar sensors, four-sided retrofitted streetlights, connected and controllable lighting solutions, as well as energy-optimization systems such as Wattway, a photovoltaic sensor integrated into the road surface. The site is also testing low-carbon construction equipment, such as 100% electric forklifts and mobile batteries inspired by power banks.
In the area of urban monitoring, artificial intelligence is being used to improve safety, regulate traffic flow, and manage infrastructure in real time through solutions such as OC Vision. Innovative digital tools, such as Kraaft—a messaging app designed for construction sites—and computer-aided maintenance solutions (CMMS), enrich this ecosystem designed to build the smart city of tomorrow.
Smart Solutions for Controlled Lighting
In Lille, Ineo has been working with the city for several years to modernize and renovate its lighting infrastructure, with more than 30,000 light fixtures renovated to date. The goals are multifaceted: to reduce energy consumption while optimizing the systems, to enhance safety in public spaces for all users, to modernize street lighting—including lighting at sports facilities, heritage lighting, and festive illuminations—all while preserving biodiversity through environmentally friendly solutions. In this context, the LUCIOLE project (Urban Lighting Optimized for the Environment) fully exemplifies this commitment. It aims to restore biodiversity in Lille’s Citadel Park while improving the quality of its lighting. The surrounding installations have been adapted using devices—light cut-offs, timers, and more efficient light fixtures—to minimize light pollution at this sensitive site. The solution developed as part of the LUCIOLE project, which allows the color temperature of the lighting to be adjusted to reduce its impact on biodiversity, will also be presented at LAB Lesquin, offering a concrete showcase of the innovations implemented.
Comprehensive support for regions and future talent
Beyond serving as a showcase for technology, the Lesquin LAB embodies a broader strategy. It is part of a network of platforms already deployed in the Île-de-France and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regions. All these LABs share a common purpose: to serve as spaces for experimentation, dialogue, and training. They enable local governments of all sizes to test new approaches, receive strategic guidance, and build their skills in a state-of-the-art technological environment.
The LAB also plays a key role in training young talent and building teams’ skills by hosting work-study students, technicians, and aspiring engineers. In collaboration with partners such as ICAM, it helps combat high school dropout rates, promote technical careers, and support the reindustrialization of regions. It thus serves as a catalyst for transformation—not only for regions but also for career paths.
“ This LAB is more than just a showroom. It is an operational and strategic tool serving local communities, designed to experiment, educate, and build the city of tomorrow together. Through this initiative, we aim to demonstrate that innovation is not limited to large cities: it can—and must—be accessible to all communities, regardless of their size. ”
Key Figures
5 locations
In the Hauts-de-France region:
Lesquin, Hazebrouck, Doullens, Compiègne, and Holnon
+ 1 million
remotely managed light points
