Olivier Jerphagnon

High-tech passionate with a green heart

After 10 years in the Telecom industry on both sides of the Atlantic, I have developed a unique expertise in fiber optics and broadband communication with a dual culture that makes a difference for my colleagues and my customers. It was the case in my last position where I led the business development of a US company in Europe: I was able to position quickly an innovative technology (optical switching) to solve an important challenge locally (unbundling and monitoring of FTTH networks). My European upbringing gave me a well-rounded education but it is in California that I discovered a passion for entrepreneurship.

In the first start-up I took part of, I learned that the ability to communicate and sell a new solution is key to sucess beyond developping a great technology. I am proud to have been part of the original team at Calient that brought to market a world-class product under intense competition at the height of the "Internet bubble". But it is in the "bubble burst", that I showed my true value taking upon strategic marketing taks to re-direct the company's focus and critical sales responsabilities to deliver revenues.

Working in the high-technology sector led me to work and give talks in many parts of the world that I did not know before (Japan, Thailand, Czech Republic, Poland, etc) . I enjoy working with people of different cultures and backgrounds, and I have nurtured a global network of contacts. It was exciting for instance to help interconnect Research & Education networks on 3 different continents to enable new collaborative Grid solutions. I believe that the digital age we are living has a profound impact on the way we interact in our profesional and personal lives, and on how we learn and deal with new challenges such as protecting our Environment.