France Mission
The mission in France was my last research mission with the MINE project; it covered visits and interviews with CIOs and CTOs of some of the leading French organizations and multinationals, all in Paris. These interviews were organized with the cooperation of the CIGREF (Club Informatique des Grandes Entreprises Françaises); a prestigious club of CIOs (both Chief Information and Innovation Officers) from the largest French organizations.
India Mission
In India, my research focused on the largest and most innovative IT service providers in two tech/IT hubs in the country: Bangalore and Chennai (previously Madras). The visits and interviews in Bangalore and Chennai enabled me to build several key case studies used in my PhD thesis. These case studies were also used by other researchers in the MINE project to develop their PhD theses and to publish around the “Games of Innovation” concept.
Canada Mission
Several of the key interviews and case studies for my PhD thesis were conducted in Canada, mainly Montreal and Ottawa. These interviews (with CIOs and CTOs and other innovation and information/IT leaders) covered both the IT service/software provider side and the buyer side.
These Canadian case studies included the following IT service/software providers:
California Mission
The mission in California (mostly in Silicon Valley) was focused on providers of high-tech R&D and engineering software tools; one of the seven games of innovation studied in the MINE project and the subject of my Master’s thesis. Case studies were developed through the interviews conducted with CIOs (Chief Innovation Officers), CTOs (Chief Technology Officers) and heads of R&D at these companies.
China Mission
In China we visited innovative organizations in several cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Changsha, Shenzhen, Xi’an, Wenzhou, and Hong Kong.
In Beijing we visited the China Federation of Industrial Economics and met with several Government representatives working in the field of innovation.
In Shanghai we visited Huaye Iron and Steel Group and other key industrial players. We also had the chance to visit the Port of Shanghai; the world’s largest port.
In Changsha we visited the following organizations:
- Jiuzhitang, one of the oldest traditional Chinese medicine institutions (and state enterprise) in China; established in 1650
Taiwan Mission
The mission in Taiwan focused on the largest Taiwanese contract manufacturers in the high-tech industry as well as key R&D and innovation institutions.
The mission included the following visits:
- Premier Image; a leading contract manufacturing of digital cameras as well as camera components and lenses for the top smartphone brands globally
- VIA Technologies;
- Foxconn; a major Taiwanese contract manufacturer, the world’s largest provider of electronics manufacturing services, and the maker of the iPhone for Apple.
- BenQ; one of the largest consumer electronics companies in the world
- Optimax; a global leader in liquid crystal display technology
Switzerland Mission
The Switzerland mission was the yearly project organized by Poly-Monde, a selective engineering student initiative that picks about 20 top students from across the school’s departments to participate in an industrial research mission in a different country every year. Our role included fund raising for the project (all of our costs were covered by sponsors and donors), choosing and planning the industrial visits, developing case studies, and preparing and presenting the final report with our key learnings to the school’s community and sponsors/donors.
The group was divided into three main teams covering three key industries of the Swiss economy: 1) biotech, 2) the precision industry, and 3) industrial automation.