On 1 September 2020, Jean-François Lavignon became the new ITEA Vice-chairman,
succeeding
Philippe Letellier, who held the position since 2008. So who is the new right hand in the ITEA
Community, what are his views and what does he bring?
From Bull to HPC ETP
Having studied at engineering schools in France,
Jean-François kicked off his career working for a
Ministry of Defence agency, which actually gave
him the opportunity to do a year exchange in the
US. “Shortly after, in 1998, I decided to enter
the world of industry and joined Bull. This was
an excellent environment in which I was able
to take my interest in computer science further.
I ended up spending 18 years there, initially
engaged in the organisation’s research strategy
and then becoming the business unit leader for
the cybersecurity product line. That’s also when
I came into contact with ITEA since at Bull we
were involved in the creation of the Cluster and
in several ITEA projects.”
So, not really a newcomer to the organisation?
“No. In fact, I was also involved in setting
up the first ITEA roadmap around the turn of
the millennium. When I became head of the
cybersecurity group, I withdrew from the ITEA
Steering Group but still stayed in touch. In
2002 at Bull the garden was not all that rosy
so we decided to invest in high-performance
computing and I was tasked with leading this
initiative. Soon after, Bull became a leading
international player in this niche market. ATOS
(the Bull successor) has continued this activity
and is now competing very well on the world
stage. Also, we realised a European Technology
Platform (ETP) for this technology through a
joint effort between industry and the European Commission. This resulted in a PPP (publicprivate
partnership) and a commitment of €700
million to develop high-performance computing
(HPC) within the Horizon 2020 programme. I was
the chairman of this HPC ETP. With that, I then
had a dual role – steering the ETP and steering
research at Bull.”
Technology and Strategy
In 2016, Jean-Francois decided to make a career
shift and begin his own company. “I did not
have any ambitions to grow but rather wanted to
bring my knowledge and expertise to companies
in the field, focusing on two main domains:
helping to boost the European HPC ecosystem,
establishing European coordination and support
action with other players, and working with
SMEs that have very good technical ideas and
innovations but often find it difficult to find
the path to market – what is the right business
model for their innovation and who could be the
right partners to gain access to the market? So
the name of my company is Technology Strategy
– it reflects the interdependence of strategy on
technology and vice versa as ingredients for
success. With a focus on the market and end
user.”
Spirit of collaboration
The ITEA credo? “Yes, indeed. ITEA really is
an industry-driven programme with a bottomup
approach that targets real needs. Our role
is to support the project participants to get
the most out of their potential, not to give a
project ‘marks’. We want to appreciate the
effort, give positive feedback. All this will be a
very important aspect especially for the highly
complex problems that we will have to solve
in the future. We can’t work alone. We have to
collaborate. To generate the innovations that will
be needed. With our spirit of collaboration we
will be able to achieve that impact.”
All about sharing
From a personal perspective, Jean-François
says that ITEA will also help broaden his scope,
especially with regard to the technology range.
“In fact, it was one of the main reasons for me
to apply for this role. Another motivation for me
comes from my involvement in support action, in
coaching projects and helping them to achieve
even more. I see this very much as the role of
Vice-chairman. And thirdly, I have been on the
Board of ITEA since 2007 and I’ve always seen
the Community as one that focuses on impact
and results. ITEA is an organisation that is all
about sharing. To work in such an environment
is a real motivating factor for me. It’s the spirit
that really makes the difference. Even within
Eureka, I have found that the ITEA sharing spirit
is very distinctive.”
In the flesh
Jean-François' introduction to ITEA anno 2020
began back in May this year when he attended
the Online ITEA Cyber Security Customer
Workshop as well as working with the team on
the Inter-Cluster Call on Artificial Intelligence
during the summer. His first official task, as
it were, began with the Online ITEA Project
Outline Preparation Days. “There has not even
been a single physical meeting!” Sitting in his
apartment in the Saint-Cloud suburb of Paris
(“I can see the Tour Eiffel from my balcony”), he
notes that there is very little prospect of such a
meeting taking place in the near future. “France
is now seen as a ‘red’ country. Nonetheless,
while the different digital vehicles we have at
our disposal mean that we can still maintain
contact and relationships, many of us are still
missing the physical social contact. I really hope
we can meet soon, in the flesh.”
