SERVICE TECHNIQUE DE L'AVIATION CIVILE

Their core work

STAC is the technical arm of the French Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC), responsible for setting standards, testing, and certifying airport infrastructure, airfield equipment, and aviation safety systems across France. They bring regulatory and technical authority to EU research projects, contributing real-world operational data, safety expertise, and access to airport testing environments. Their work spans fire safety on aircraft, transport infrastructure resilience, and increasingly autonomous vehicle operations in logistics contexts.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Between 2015 and 2019, STAC focused squarely on aviation safety fundamentals — fire safety, human factors, organizational safety culture, and multi-modal infrastructure durability. Their three early projects all addressed how to make existing transport systems safer and more resilient. By 2021, their participation in AWARD signals a pivot toward autonomous transport and digital fleet management, suggesting the organization is adapting its safety regulation expertise to next-generation mobility challenges.

STAC is transitioning from traditional aviation safety oversight toward the regulatory and technical challenges of autonomous transport, making them a valuable partner for projects needing a public authority perspective on autonomous systems certification.

How they like to work

STAC has never coordinated an H2020 project, consistently joining as a participant or third party — fitting for a public authority that contributes regulatory expertise rather than driving research agendas. Despite modest funding, they have worked with 86 unique partners across 23 countries, indicating they are sought after for their institutional credibility and access to real operational environments. Their value in a consortium is as a credibility anchor and end-user validator, not as a research engine.

With 86 consortium partners across 23 countries from just 4 projects, STAC operates within large European consortia and has broad geographic reach. Their network is strongest in the transport and aviation research community across Western Europe.

What sets them apart

STAC is not a research lab or a company — it is France's official civil aviation technical authority. This gives consortium partners something no university or SME can offer: direct access to the regulatory perspective, real airport testing conditions, and the institutional weight of a national aviation authority. For any project that needs to demonstrate safety compliance or validate results against real-world operational standards, STAC is an exceptionally credible partner.

Highlights from their portfolio

• AWARD
  Marks STAC's shift into autonomous logistics and digital transport, showing the organization's evolution beyond traditional aviation safety into next-generation mobility.
• Future Sky Safety
  Major pan-European aviation safety programme covering fire, human factors, and organizational safety — STAC contributed as one of many aviation authorities validating breakthrough safety research.