fbpx

Interview of the month: Franck Moine

4 minutes of reading
Franck Moine, CEO of Winnovation, tells us about this technology watch unit of the Bouygues Group
l'interview shared innovation

Winnovation is an innovation watch structure of the Bouygues group. Can you tell me more about its history and goals?

Winnovation is a Bouygues Telecom subsidiary created in the 2000s. With the introduction of 3G and all the technological breakthroughs it could bring about, Bouygues Telecom wished to have an innovation watch unit in the United States to be as close as possible to the innovations. This unit, then based in San Jose, California, served to conduct a few studies for TF1. Afterwards, there was a desire to expand the unit to the other business lines of the group. It started with Colas, then, more recently, Bouygues Construction and Bouygues Immobilier signed framework agreements with us. Our watch activity is composed of three main types of tasks: • Conducting intelligence studies on certain innovations, which requires thorough understanding of the needs of the various business lines of the group and regular exchanges with different employees. • Conducting learning expeditions; sending delegations to the United States to explore specific themes. It can be themes relevant to all Group business lines, such as IT activities, human resources or Smart Cities, or business line specific themes such as modular construction. • Connecting with start-ups. Operations collaboration with start-ups is not always easy: the size difference between the structures, the project timelines, the geographical distance and the language and cultural barriers all create obstacles to overcome. These connections are very fruitful when there is a real match between the operational need and the start-up. This also enables us to challenge our own technological solutions and keep up-to-date with new technologies.

You are now based in San Francisco. Can you describe some projects or collaborations initiated by Winnovation?

Artificial intelligence and image recognition are very advanced in the United States. Bouygues Construction is launching an experiment on an image analysis solution to identify risks and prevent potential accidents. Another collaboration is about to start with the start-up Kenzen, where a solution enables the detection of site workers’ hydration levels; something quite sought-after in countries with warmer climates, and which could be used, for example, in Morocco during Ramadan. In addition to very specific collaborations with some start-ups, we can also have open relationships with bigger, less accessible players for Europe, such as Katerra, which aims to revolutionise the construction industry. This enables us to closely monitor their evolution, investments and partnerships. Technological breakthroughs can change markets and the way people with different areas of expertise function throughout the world. For example, a start-up company offering lossless compression of 3D scans in the cloud could enable offshoring architect services. The role of Winnovation is also to identify player dynamics and to detect and anticipate major changes, whether they represent an opportunity or a risk for our activities.

How do you organise the collaboration with the various group business lines, namely with Bouygues Construction?

We are a team of four, with Franck Moine as the CEO, Hédi Calabrese in charge of the construction sector, Clément Anthonioz-Blanc in charge of the media and telecom industry and Adrien Chaussinand in charge of real estate in Boston. On average, one learning expedition is organised each month, and very precise studies are conducted according to the specific needs reported to our representatives in the various business lines. We also work in partnership with two major American universities: • MIT, where we have access to the various laboratories, researchers and companies created; • and Stanford, where we partner with a research lab focused on construction, along with many other manufacturers. In fact, a project with the Centrale Lille research chair is currently in progress. Follow us on LinkedIn ! https://www.linkedin.com/company/winnovation/