The first European Business Intelligence Symposium - 27-28 January 2005

There is enough material to derive some initial conclusions from the initiatives taken in France over the last ten years by large enterprises and SMEs, ministries, public organisations, the consular network, the regions, the universities and the Grandes Ecoles.

However, those initiatives were taken in national conceptual setting and considered, sometimes excessively so, as a part of economic defence. Yet, while business intelligence of course focuses on protecting heritage, it also aims at developing companies and territories. As such, the approach can no longer be limited to France: it must necessarily develop in response to the emergence of a European market that is playing a growing part in the everyday activities of companies, regions and nations.

Conference Objective

It was to take up this challenge that a number of major business intelligence players joined their efforts to hold a European Business Intelligence Symposium and benchmark practices.

The aim of the event is to bring about dialogue between public and private operators who have developed original business intelligence initiatives and have them tell of their achievements and outlook. The symposium's could be said to aspire to coming up with a European business intelligence model that would make it possible to open new experimentation paths for the benefit decision-makers in both the private and public arenas.

Format

The symposium will be structured around a number of workshops involving professionals, experts, institutions, academics and representatives of any economic sector interested in sharing experiences in the field of business intelligence.

Conference Topic

The educational map: specialised or supplementary training programmes?
How have universities and Grandes Ecoles taken into consideration the business intelligence methodologies and tools?
Is the movement developing or stabilising?
How are the various degree programmes positioned, from the educational standpoint?
Is this the right time to bring out a European BI school? If so, which European programme would back the project?
How should responsibilities be divided up between public and private educational players?
What are the main focal areas for academic research in BI?

Methodological benchmarking: a flash in the pan or a new operating mode?
How can the various approaches to BI methodology be benchmarked? (watch, knowledge management, opinion-making strategy)? How have they changed over the past ten years?
Can a single methodology bring together all current BI initiatives and form a coherent setting for them?
What distinguishes BI methodologies from other related methodologies (quality process, innovation, marketing, process management, project management, etc.)?
What are the criteria (outcomes/objectives) for evaluating how economically appropriate a BI approach is?

Territorial intelligence: the role of institutions
What are the latest achievements and initiatives in business intelligence, and what prospects should be developed?
How are roles divided up between institutions and private structures in regional BI processes?
How should national BI policy be blended with regional policy? How should the subsidiarity principle be applied between the national, regional and local levels (employment pools, country, etc.)?
How can BI be used by the regions to foresee changes, and vitalise industrial development and innovation?
How can institutional structures use BI to become more modern in their tasks and user services (e-government)?

Managing complexity: cross-fertilisation between BI and forward-looking studies
How can BI shed new light on forward-looking studies?
What fields can make helpful contributions to forward-looking studies?
How can BI facilitate decision-making in a complex environment?

BI and SMEs: distinctive features, initiatives and success stories
How can SMEs be reassured and convinced that BI is within their reach?
What kind of BI is best for SMEs: market watch, product watch, technological watch, strategic watch, security, defence, opinion-making, etc.?
What BI strategy is best for SMEs: internal watch, pooled/shared watch, watch by external service providers?
What BI initiatives do public and semi-public institutions or industrial cooperation bodies offer to SMEs?
What are the success factors for SMEs and what are the reasons behind their failures?
What are the shared or diverging BI practices amongst SMEs in various European countries?

Multinational corporations: organisation process and information systems
What are the features specific to deploying BI processes in multinational corporations (limits and opportunities)?
How do multinational corporations manage the multi-cultural and trans-national dimensions of their teams?
What are the current internal organisation models for BI (centralisation/decentralisation)?
How do European companies position BI in their information systems?
What is the impact of information systems on the development of BI instruments in companies?
What are the main accomplishments to date in setting up BI projects in IS?
What are the most innovative companies in this area (structure, size, locations)?
What organisational structure would facilitate the introduction of BI in IS?
What are the most innovative technologies offering new applications?
How can organisations remedy new weaknesses in SI ?

« Comparative approach to methods » - Educational Map - Methodological benchmarking - Managing complexity - Business intelligence and SMEs - Multinational enterprises - Territorial intelligence Relive all the highlights of the first event: proceedings, presentations, videos, etc. Order the DVD at www.atelis.org