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Talsom at C2 Montreal 2019 : three pillars to help build TOMORROW

Publié le 21.05.2019 by Stéphane Ricoul

May 22nd through 24th 2019, Talsom’s whole team will once again be onsite at C2 Montréal 2019, an immersive event that transforms the way things are done in the business world. This year, C2 Montreal’s theme, “Tomorrow”, draws upon the mission that we try to embody at Talsom; creating a positive impact through people, innovation and technology.

So how do we create this positive impact of “Tomorrow”, right now, and not ten years from now? Each of us, in our own way, in parts of our own lives, has the power to act towards creating a more sustainable future; after all, we are the ambassadors of Tomorrow.

That’s why Talsom contributes to the future through three key pillars.

Taking action for tomorrow is…

1-Ensuring continuity for our Quebec companies

Creating tomorrow means ensuring that our Quebec enterprises can continue on strong, with the next generation taking the wheel and ensuring our longevity and value creation in the future.

What can we do for our companies to ensure that they are long-lasting, from one generation to the next, all the while creating value for Quebec?

To help equip us with answers and solutions for this first question, we’ll be joined on May 22^nd by the Business Families Foundation whose mission it is to promote the success and the longevity of family companies through a worldwide partner network comprised of family entrepreneurs, academia and family company consultants.

At 1pm, Ken Tencer, author, intrapreneur and household name on the topic of of innovation, will speak with us about his intrapreneurial and entrepreneurial experiences. He’ll also get into what’s called the 90% Rule®, a proven innovation process he co-developed to help companies identify, filter and put into action growth opportunities.

This podcast will be broadcast live on our Facebook page. At the end of the day, a publication featuring some of the challenges around company longevity and inheritance through generations will be available for download on talsom.com.

2-Facilitate the journey of women towards tech

Creating tomorrow also means recognizing and cultivating how women feel empowered in the business world and more specifically the tech world, so that more of them can play an impactful role in the leadership and success of our organizations.

How and when can we can we have an impact on the journeys of girls and women to foster their interest in tech and grow their leadership in the field?

For this second day focused on women, a Design Thinking Workshop, built around the C2 program, will be led by our innovation consultant Adil Mansouri, in partnership with L’effet A which aims to empower and take concrete action for women. L’effet A offers a vast program of professional development to companies and women to help highlight female talent, foster their ambition and help them advance in their careers.

At 11am, about a hundred attendees will participate in an ideation session. Their goal will be to help identify solutions that help women surmount obstacles on their path to leadership and decipher ways to help them enter the tech world, in addition to the development of their career in the field.

At 12:30pm on the Talsom balcony, we’ll host a discussion on diversity and inclusion with Marie-Josée Lamothe, former Director General of Branding at Google Canada, Julie Lachaine, vice-president of change management at Talsom, and Olivier Laquinte, Talsom’s president and a member of L’effet A. How do we leverage our differences to maximize the value that each one of us brings to society and the business world?

This podcast will be broadcast live on our Facebook page. At the end of the day, a publication outlining the insight that emerged from the talk will be available online at talsom.com.

3-Tearing down silos through the actors of the innovation change to stimulate growth

Creating tomorrow also means giving a hand to all the players in the innovation chain, from the plucky start-up all the way to leadership, to help understand the challenges that come with innovation and break down silos to see our tech innovation projects to fruition.

Since C2 Montreal is, after all, a place to meet one another, Talsom chose, for its final day, to take on the role of moderator and bring together different actors in the innovation chain. Together, we can understand the main challenges each actor is facing, the lessons they can share and tomorrow’s actions they can contribute to.

At noon on the Talsom balcony, Paul Kruszewski, CEO of wrnch, Patrick Gagné, CEO of the Osmo innovation hub, and Stéphane Goyette, vice-president of Innovation at CAE will discuss challenges of growth vs risk in an open innovation environment. The session will be moderated by our vice-president of innovation, Eric Dupont.

This podcast will be broadcast live on our Facebook page. At the end of the day, a summary of the challenges and solution tracks for each actor in the innovation chain will be published on talsom.com

Keep up with all of our activities at C2 Montréal 2019 :

@TALSOM ? https://fr.linkedin.com/company/talsom

@talsom.moments ? https://www.instagram.com/talsom.moments/

@TALSOMinc ? https://fr-ca.facebook.com/TALSOMinc/

Takeaways and lessons learned from the Design Thinking Jam

Publié le 15.10.2018 by Talsom

Weren’t able to attend the 2018 Design Thinking jam? We’ve got you covered – in this article, we’ll go over everything you need to know about the first of these events, as well as cover the state of affairs alongside the “L’Itinéraire” project.

Since last summer, Talsom’s innovation experts have been accompanying the community group throughout a comprehensive Design Thinking process in order to help the organization and its vendors come to terms with the reality of digital content consumption in the context of street ‘zine sales.

A human-scale ideation session
September 13th, 2018: The Faubourg Québec space was buzzing. The reality is that it’s uncommon to have a gathering of about 180 people underneath an overpass to host an outdoor Design Thinking workshop. An unusual venue, a sunny afternoon, and a strong desire to make a lasting, positive impact – all ingredients that help stimulate creative thinking. As the participants arrived and spread out across about thirty picnic tables, we got to work.

A space for unorthodox ideas

Following a detailed explanation by the event hosts coupled with a clear understanding of the worker and working environment, each team was assigned a design challenge for which they had to come up with solutions via a brainstorming session.

Identified beforehand by the project teams, these four design challenges are the results of initial research and observation conducted over the first months of the project:

How do we increase visibility, awareness and contributions for the L’Itinéraire organization?
How do we enable potential buyers to purchase L’Itinéraire products using a payment method other than cash?
How do we ensure that the interaction between the vendor and the public is memorable, pleasant and mutually beneficial for both parties involved?
How do we highlight the vendor’s best qualities through a more relevant and interesting product or service?

Quantity, broad thinking and an open mind were the keywords of the day – there aren’t any bad ideas. All told, over a thousand ideas were put to paper.

“Ideation is the funnest part of Design Thinking – that’s when we let our craziest ideas out!” – Adil Mansouri, Tech Strategy & Innovation Consultant.

Once all the ideas are categorized, participants vote for their favourites. Out of this ideation step, every team has to narrow their choice down to one single idea in order to move forward.

When an idea comes to life
What’s the next step after we’ve identified the right idea? We need to make it real. To accomplish this, the event participants were provided with boxes containing various tools and materials allowing them to craft a version of their idea. Each team then recorded their very own presentation of their prototype.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE VIDEO PRESENTATIONS

Following this step, known as the “imagination phase”, over 30 prototypes were developed by our participants.

“One of the interesting quirks of Design Thinking is how much deeper we dive than in what folks think of as traditional brainstorming when we’re facing a challenge. What each participant was able to accomplish within the span of 3 hours involved placing themselves in the skin of the organization’s workers, learning about their on-the-ground reality, helping find ideas and developing them.” – Dany Jutras, Tech Strategy & Innovation Consultant.

Three weeks later – where are we now?
Thanks to all the content coming out of the Design Thinking Jam, the team was able to collect considerable data to move the project forward. The team members learned a great deal about the organization’s workers and their environment. Furthermore, the team participated once again in a new ideation exercise based upon hundreds of ideas stemming from the last event. By adopting an iterative approach, the final proposed answer stands a greater chance of achieving success with the workers and the public.

“Upon review of all the ideas and prototypes, we chose the ones with the greatest feasbility and potential impact to push them even further. We then presented those to the team at L’itinéraire.” – Valérie Dionne, Innovation & Tech Strategy Consultant.

Ideas are only brought to life when there’s work behind them. That’s why our teams evaluate the selected project for feasibility, impact and viability. Design Thinking considers potential solutions along a financial, social and technological axis.

Testing prototypes in the field
This past week, the team turned their focus on the next phase in Design Thinking: co-creation.

Coinciding with the release of the latest edition of L’Itinéraire magazine, our experts accompanied the vendors at the points of sale to test two carefully chosen payment options with the aid of prototypes and thorough testing, in order to determine various hypotheses for each potential solution.

Over the next two weeks, the team will continue to work with the public and with the vendors to not only validate the initial ideas which sprung out from the Design Thinking Jam, but also to foster additional innovation and potential solutions. Furthermore, L’Itinéraire can already begin envisioning what the ultimate idea will look like, a solution that has already been validated, tested and accepted by both the public and the vendors.

Live – or relive – the 2018 Design Thinking Jam experience?

Talsom at C2 : Meetings at the juncture of humans and technology to promote innovation

Publié le 02.05.2018 by Talsom

Digital and human transformations define our era. Every organization is affected – yours as much as ours. These deep, sudden transformations are continuously redefining the keys to success and criteria for survival in the business world. For eight years, Talsom has been evolving to equip you with the very best tools for a successful digital transformation. By completing our own daily transformation, we have acquired valuable skills and insights regarding the collision and synergies between humans and technologies. With this in hand, we are able to harness our talent to ensure your success.

What will the reality be tomorrow and what should it be today?To answer this question, we are joining C2 Montréal as a partner on May 23, 24 and 25, 2018, where we will be present with our entire team.

What is C2 Montréal?

C2 Montréal is an event where the worlds of commerce and creativity collide to explore substantial, upcoming trends, opportunities, disruptions and mutations. Every year, more than 6,500 creators and decision-makers come together to shape, live and reinvent the future of business. As every member of our team will attend, the sum of our parts will help drive innovation within our organization and ultimately within yours.

Our Initiatives

In addition to allowing each of our employees to grow their knowledge and develop new ideas through the different activities proposed by C2 Montréal, we will also launch several initiatives to gather today’s visionaries and to promote the revolutions of tomorrow.

For this year’s event, our talents have identified three “Transformative Collisions” that Talsom will discuss at its booth, which is located at the Arsenal art gallery in Montréal:

#1 Collision between Digital Code and Social Code. On May 23, with our partner TECHNOPOLYS, the movement to promote Quebec’s technology industry, we will discuss the training, recruitment and recognition of female talent in the field of information technology.

#2 Collision between New Technologies and Traditional Industries. On May 24, with our partner ADRENALYS, we invite you to learn how a traditional industry such as agriculture can reinvent itself and prosper with the help of digital technologies.

#3 Collision between Failure and Transformation. On May 25, our partners at CEFRIOwill immerse us in a conversation at their Change Lab to identify the perfect conditions for failure with digital transformation, in order to reveal the keys to success for our Quebec-based SMEs.

For several months, Talsom has also been fascinated about another collision: that among the business sector, technology and non-governmental organizations that work to develop international assistance to create a positive impact in communities that need it the most. In May, Talsom will officially announce its collaboration with the KANPE Foundation and the Humanos Institute for their pilot project for international development in Haiti. Through this collaboration, we will work and develop sustainable solutions in Haiti and to resolve the situation identified by Dr. Niels Billou, who is a Design Thinking Expert at Talsom and Founder of the Humanos Institute:

On their return from an exploratory mission on the ground, Dr. Niels Billou, Olivier Laquinte (President of Talsom) and Isabelle Thibault (Executive Director of KANPE) will lead discussions on this subject in the company of distinguished guests such as the co-founders of KANPE and of Impak Finance. During C2 Montréal and in the context of this project, Talsom will also support the “Design Thinking for Humanity” organized by the Humanos Institute and given by Dr. Niels Billou.

If you are able to attend C2 Montréal this year, do not hesitate to visit our booth to experience transformative collisions with us. Write to us and join us for a breakfast or a drink served by the KINOVA robotic arm during our daily 5 à 7 cocktail parties. And for those who wish to participate remotely, we will post the full discussions and content concerning these collisions in real time via live YouTube links. You will also be able to view these discussions again at any time after the event.

If you wish to learn more about our activities during C2 Montréal, our collisions, and our guests, stay tuned!

Feel free to visit the sites of the Humanos Institute and KANPE to learn more about the actions

MOVIN’ON 2017: Sustainable Mobility in Smart Cities

Publié le 11.04.2018 by Talsom

Last week, Montreal hosted the 13th edition of the global sustainable mobility summit MOVIN’ ON. In the creative environment of this event, visionaries, scientists and entrepreneurs gathered together from the four corners of the globe to present and discuss subjects and innovations that concern mobility. One watchword guided their interactions: innovation.

“Innovation is not a new idea we have, but an old belief we get rid of.” (Bertrand Piccard, Psychiatrist and Solar Flight Pioneer)

How is mobility moving forward in 2017, and what are the current innovations, advances and concerns in the field? By learning about the themes covered and the technologies presented at MOVIN’ON, attendees were able to understand in concrete terms the issues inherent to sustainable mobility. But one element remains central to this all: user experience.

Smart Transportation

Members of Generation Y who live in urban centres are rethinking their methods of transportation. They increasingly wish to distance themselves from the daily use of cars, which creates a sizeable dent in their pocketbook even though they only use cars 1% of the time. With Communauto, Amigo Express and other car rental and carpooling solutions, shared mobility is more dominant than ever before.

Mobility is thus becoming thought of as a service or commodity, and the concept of Mobility as a Service (or “MaaS”) is developing to a greater degree. What is MaaS? This term refers to a multimodal urban mobility system that aims to simplify the movement of users as much as possible by combining diverse types of transportation within a sole and unique service. This involves offering personalized solutions according to the individual needs of each user. The only thing that users need to worry about is their target location and time of arrival. Scheduling, offers for multimodal transportation and reservations are all encompassed within one application. A few Uber-inspired services that integrate this concept have already been introduced. But emerging technologies push these concepts even further and are disrupting current economic models: among other things, we will see car manufacturers launching their own self-driving taxi services in Smart Cities.

Smart Cities

Smart Cities collect a lot of data about themselves. To obtain a better grasp of their reality, Smart Cities pay attention to social media, traffic, the weather and all other events that concern them. Today, Montreal already has tools such as Transit App and Moovit that allow it to measure road congestion, accidents or construction in real time and to predict the impact that these elements have on traffic.

Over the last several years, several billions of dollars have been invested in artificial intelligence, particularly as regards self-driving vehicles, and many results have already been seen with companies such as Google and Uber. These advances combining self-driving vehicles and MaaS make it possible for projects such as that completed by nuTonomy in the roads of Singapore, where self-driving taxis have been transporting passengers since August 2016.

Self-Driving Cars for Use by the Public Promised for 2025, Self-Driving Taxis Promised for 2030

If we consider that 90% of road accidents are the result of human error, the automatization of vehicles stands to improve the safety of cities substantially. Another concern for Smart Cities is to optimize the use of their resources to reduce consumption costs and to design more sustainable models. But the implementation of these processes has associated challenges as regards infrastructure and legislation. Concerns relating to cybersecurity also exist: how secure should the data be? What are the risks of piracy?

Building Trust with Users

All of these concerns gravitate around one key point: user trust. This element is one – if not the most important – obstacle to the marketing of self-driving vehicles. How will passengers react to a car that has no steering wheel? To what extent are they comfortable with the use of their personal data?

Beyond the revolutionary technology aspect of these solutions, we need to rethink, adopt a new perspective and place user experience at the core of innovation. If we push technological advancement too quickly without giving individuals time to adapt, they will not yet be ready enough to accept such changes in their lifestyle because they will consider them to be too risky. A lot of work remains to be done to help the evolution of how mobility is thought about and understood.

Just like a project leader who implements a new solution with his or her client, the city-wide integration of self-driving vehicles is a lengthy process. To gain user trust, manufacturers are working hard and testing solutions that are 100% safe for users.

In the same manner as change management consultants, it is by working together and mobilizing all players at different levels of a project, both among private commercial entities and members of the public, that we can help such changes succeed.

A cet effet, on dit sur le site Internet de MOVIN’ON : « MOVIN’ON will be the 13th edition of the global sustainable mobility summit. It will be held on June 13, 14 and 15, 2017 in Montreal ».

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1-Ensuring continuity for our Quebec companies

2-Facilitate the journey of women towards tech

3-Tearing down silos through the actors of the innovation change to stimulate growth