Outstanding Innovations by Thales Avionics Recognised

Achieving Investor in Innovations is a mark of recognition to all those contributing to innovation in the business

The Avionics business of Thales in the UK has secured the Investor in Innovations (I3) Standard awarded by the Institute of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange.

Thales develops, manufactures and maintains a wide range of products and systems in the civil and military aviation markets including Avionics Satellite Communication Systems, Air-to-Ground Connectivity, Next Generation of Cockpit Communication Systems, Military Avionics and Degraded Visual Environment solutions.

Thales is also a trusted partner to Defence forces and organisations around the world, providing innovative training and simulation products for the Air, Land and Maritime domains.

The Investor in Innovations is an integrated, leading-edge standard that uses a structured and balanced framework to benchmark and validate an organisation’s innovation capability. It deploys a practical process that helps organisations to drive growth by providing a clear action plan to enable the organisation to constructively align its innovation efforts with the direction of the business strategy. Thales’ innovation profile was assessed in six key areas that included: Strategy and Alignment; Organisational Readiness; Core Capabilities; Technologies & IP; Industry Foresight; Customer Awareness; and Impact and Value.

Jean Paul Berger, Product Line and Technical Director in the Avionics business of Thales, said: “Thales is a world-class provider in the aviation market. We constantly review our innovation portfolio to ensure our competitive edge is maintained. The Investor in Innovations programme benchmarked our approach to innovation not only amongst our peers but against other multinational businesses from different sectors. The feedback from interviewing a number of our stakeholders together with the input from the Innovation Council’s review of our work has been invaluable. Achieving Investor in Innovations is a mark of recognition to all those contributing to innovation in the business.”

Amit Talati, Head of Technical & Product Line Management in the Avionics business of Thales, said: “Developing complex training solutions requires innovation not only in the way we create and deliver the training offers, but also in our business models. Digital technologies are evolving at an extraordinarily rapid rate that is transforming the training solutions landscape. The Investor in Innovation accreditation has provided us with additional confidence in our plans to realise our vision for growth. It has also encouraged us to consider more innovation breakthrough areas in partnership with SMEs in order to deliver further advantage to our customers and partners. Our investment in people and their ideas is key to our continued growth.”

Prof Sa’ad Medhat, Chief Executive of the Innovation Institute said: “Innovation-driven change is the only certainty in today’s business environment. Therefore, it is so important for a business to assess and reflect on its innovation journey and identify with confidence how it is going to achieve its business ambition. This means an organisation has to be true to itself, and benchmark its activities in a systematic and balanced way to ensure its ecosystem remains connected and healthy to enable it deliver sustainable growth. It was exciting to see the range of innovation activities exhibited by Thales Avionics, both technically and organisationally. We are very pleased that Thales Avionics has been successful in securing the Investor in Innovation standard. Many congratulations and well done.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Thales UK

Thales is a global technology leader for the Aerospace, Transport, Defence and Security markets. With 64,000 employees in 56 countries, Thales reported sales of €14.9billion in 2016. With over 25,000 engineers and researchers, Thales has a unique capability to design and deploy equipment, systems and services to meet the most complex security requirements. Its exceptional international footprint allows it to work closely with its customers all over the world.

About the Institute of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange (IKE Institute)

IKE Institute is the professional body for innovators in the UK. It accredits and certifies innovation practices, and confers the Investor in Innovations® standard and the IKE Assured® accreditation. The Institute influences the inter-relationship between education, business, and government through research and collaborative networks. IKE’s Innovation Manifesto highlights its commitment to support the development of innovative people and organisations.

IKE’s accreditation work is guided by the Innovation Council, which brings together over forty C-suite executives representing different economic sectors. Companies such as Thales UK and Panasonic (Research and Development) have also been through the Investor in Innovations Standard.

Investor in Innovations® is an integrated, leading-edge Standard that offers a practical way for an organisation to assess, validate and benchmark its innovation capability. It uses a well-defined six-category Framework that brings together: strategy and alignment; organisational readiness; core capabilities, technologies and IP; industry foresight; customer awareness and impact and value. In addition, Investor in Innovations® is a business diagnostic, used to understand where an organisation is and where it needs to be from an innovation standpoint. A coherent Action Plan to close the innovation gap is a key outcome from this programme.

PRESS CONTACTS
Thales Avionics Business
Bethany Read
Bethany.read@uk.thalesgroup.com
Mob: 07531 892 046

IKE Institute (Innovation Institute)
Michelle Medhat
michelle.medhat@ikeinstitute.org
Mob: 07720 286633