ALTEN Labs: A workspace for innovation
Interview with Yann Rougemont
Director of Innovation, Engineering Careers, and Development of Skills and Services
What are ALTEN Labs?
Innovation is a hallmark of our Group and the ALTEN Labs are the perfect example. Initiated in 2016, ALTEN Labs were designed to give consultants, regardless of their experience, a means of testing innovative technologies. The objective is twofold: the definition of a core team, and the selection of promising technologies. These last include things like big data, artificial intelligence, user experience and user interface (UI/UX) design, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) methodology, virtual and augmented reality, photo-real rendering and digital twin technology, among others.
In 2019, these labs were grouped together within the Innovation Department. In total, 11 ALTEN Labs have been created in France and internationally, offering customers innovative value propositions that combine engineering and digital know-how with business services.
What do your research programs cover?
ALTEN’s Innovation Department conducts research around our SMART Digital initiative, which includes nine main research programs on cross-cutting themes. These themes cover all our business sectors and are designed to address our customers’ needs. Our innovation process is based on a bottom-up approach rather than a top-down marketing method. Our consultants have ample experience in our clients’ businesses and know their needs. This enables us to shape our topics based on highly diversified experience, with each consultant bringing to bear his or her engineering skills. The quality of our innovation processes and of our technical supervision ensure the relevance of each project.
In addition, ALTEN is continuously strengthening its eco-responsibility in the context of the climate and societal challenges of our global society. More than 25% of our innovation activities each year are focused on environmental or sustainability issues. In ALTEN Labs, we are passionate about relentlessly innovating and thinking outside the box, going ever further to apply technology in ways that serve our customers and help build the world of tomorrow.
