Insight | London Technology Week, Innovation and the Internet of Everywhere
Corporate
It has now been about three years since I joined Inmarsat, and this month marks one year in the role as the company’s Chief Technology Officer. It happened to coincide with London Technology Week; the celebration of the city’s global role in tech innovation and entrepreneurship. London is second only to Northern California in creating fertile grounds for innovative start-ups and nurturing them.
I am based in Switzerland; I spend a lot of time in London, and am Italian, all while working at a global mobile satellite company, so I do have a particular interest in the global impact of the visions discussed during London Technology Week. I enjoy hearing about how new start-ups like Voyage Control and growing tech companies like (our old neighbour) Huddle get the recognition for succeeding in such a competitive, and demanding, global industry. I have no doubt that in the next few years we will uncover some even more exciting ideas that will reach different parts of the world in new ways.
We talk about innovation a lot, and lately I’ve been calling into question what the true meaning of innovation is. It can be an overused word but it is fundamental to the success of many organisations from small start-ups to established stalwarts – like Inmarsat.
Being innovative means being able to adapt, connect dots that others don’t see and solve the problems that others thought couldn’t be fixed. It also means permanently questioning one’s way of doing things and never settling for what might just be ‘good enough’.
At Inmarsat we’ve evolved how we operate, and collaborate, so that we can ensure global communications can keep up with the astonishing speed of how we live, travel and talk with each other. In the time I have been here, I have seen the company invest substantially in open technology building, laying the foundations to provide developers with an opportunity to learn about our new technologies and tools, like Global Xpress, as well as create new business opportunities and partnerships to make a truly connected world a reality. That to me is what innovation is all about. And being based in London, Inmarsat is in a unique position to be able to work alongside some incredibly talented people; collaborating to do something new.
We hosted our first Inmarsat Developer Conference (IDC15) to allow the next generation of tech stars to develop the solutions that will make a connected world a reality – it is not just about the ‘Internet of Things’, it’s about enabling the ‘Internet of Everywhere’ – a world where no matter what you do or where you are, you need to have access to high-speed broadband connectivity.
It may well be that in years to come you will read about a rising tech star at a future London Technology Week, that has broken new ground using Inmarsat technology to meet a previously unforeseen problem. All I can say is that it will be an exciting journey for us all.
Join us at IDC16 on 29 February to 1 March 2016 at Park Plaza Westminster in London. The Inmarsat Developer Conference is where our developer community meet to share ideas and find out about the latest technologies to build innovative solutions on the Inmarsat network. To receive a notification when registration opens email [email protected].
Michele Franci, CTO, Development and Engineering, is responsible for the Inmarsat space and ground infrastructure (network and access technology), and product and service development. He is also in charge of the delivery of the Global Xpress programme, bringing it to its commercial launch, including regulatory and market access programs.
Michele has also been tasked to frame and develop a yield analysis and management capability, and is responsible for the infrastructure competition intelligence and analysis.
Prior to joining Inmarsat, Michele worked at SES from 2006 to 2012, as SVP for Planning and Procurement, he was part of the Engineering management committee, responsible for the SES fleet management, mission design and development, satellite and launcher procurement and risk management. Before that, he worked at Arianespace. From having responsibility for initial mission management (including twelve launch campaigns) he rose to VP Business Development, leading the marketing group, including commercial strategy and proposals, long-term strategic development and sales oversight. Between 2000 and 2005 he was a member of Arianespace’s Board of Directors. Before that, Michele spent five years with Fokker Space, as Program Manager of a European multinational robotic arm development for use on the ISS. He also spent one year at ESTEC’s advanced studies and simulation department.
