WHITE PAPER EnginEEring consultancy and …

1 WHITE PAPER EnginEEring consultancyand innovationWHITE PAPERE ngineering consultancy & InnovationPublisher:Syntec-Inge nierie, Professional EnginEEring consultancy Federation, FranceProject management:Syntec-Inge nierie innovation committeeProject leaders:Philippe Bisch, Michel RayEditorial coordination:Martine Bastin, responsible for Syntec-Inge nierie events and developmentsEditor:Ce line von der WeidWorking group:members of the Syntec-Inge nierie innovation committeeCo-authors:Claude Bessiere (Inge rop)Philippe Bisch (Iosis group, Iosis Industries)Jean-Pierre Bre geon (Abmi Group)Bernard Gausset (Arcadis)Michel Ray (Egis Group)Alain Thirion (Coteba)Jean-Marc Usseglio-Polatera (Sogreah)Other contributions:Dominique Baujard (Abmi Group)Marie Godard-Le Beux (SCE)Philippe Schvartz (Sodeg Inge nierie)Christian Tarpin (Setec Its)Jan Van der Putten (EFCA, European Federation of EnginEEring consultancy Associations)The original WHITE Book is in French and refers to French institutions and legislation.

2 It has beentranslated into English by EFCA with the assistance of Syntec-Inge nierie. In order to make the translationmore understandable for foreign readers, it has been slightly adapted and completed with footnotes byJean Fe lix (Syntec-Inge nierie).copyright Syntec-Inge nierie 2008|2| EnginEEring consultancy and innovationNovember 2008 WHITE PAPERE ngineering consultancy and innovationFrom the French : LIVRE BLANC, l Inge nierie et l innovation , Syntec-Inge nierie, May 2008 Translation into English by EFCA,commented and adapted by Syntec-Inge WHITE PAPER is based on the situation in France in 2008, and includesnaninventory,which describes the different aspects of EnginEEring consultancy and the various types ofinnovation implemented therein.

3 Na part dedicated to theleverage forinnovation, that is to say the various factors that are favourable toinnovation within EnginEEring consultancy companies;na part dedicated to theobstaclesto innovation that often impede its implementation;nbased on these facts, a list ofrecommendationsmade by Syntec-Inge nierie to improve the practice ofinnovation in EnginEEring of these parts gives details of the same subjects from a different angle (cultural,financial, administrative, organisational, legal aspects, etc.).Asummaryof the WHITE PAPER lists the major topics tackled and the key 2008 EnginEEring consultancy and innovationNovember 2008|3|FOREWORDIn March 2000, the Lisbon European Council adopted a programme of reform aimed at making the EU themost competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010, capable of sustainableeconomic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion, and respect for the this context, the release of the European potential for innovation is extremely important for allknowledge-based fields of the economy.

4 Notably in EnginEEring consultancy . EFCA, the European Federationof EnginEEring consultancy Associations, therefore welcomes the 2009 Year of Creativity and innovation andis proud to support the joint publication of this WHITE PAPER on innovation in EnginEEring consultancydeveloped by Syntec-Inge reasons of compliance with the FIDIC (International Federation of Consulting Engineers) contractterminology, the following concepts have been used throughout this document:The employer:should be read as the awarding authority or the client ;The engineer:refers to the consulting engineer, the EnginEEring consultancy .

5 The contractor:refers to the hopes that this publication will contribute to trigger the wider debate on creativity and innovation at Panos PanagopoulosEFCA President18 February 2009 EnginEEring consultancy and innovationNovember 2008|5|CONTENTS9 INTRODUCTION10 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY14 EnginEEring consultancy AND INNOVATION15 WHAT IS EnginEEring consultancy ?17 WHAT IS A PROJECT?18 innovation IN A FEW WORDS19 CURRENT CHALLENGES20I innovation IN EnginEEring CONSULTANCY20 EnginEEring consultancy IN DEFINING REQUIREMENTS AND CONSULTATION22 DESIGN ENGINEERINGa) Internal innovation : optimising productionb) Innovations developed on behalf of employersc) innovation in daily engineeringd) innovation in consulting EnginEEring and technology25 PROJECT MANAGEMENT ENGINEERINGa) What is project management EnginEEring ?

6 B) innovation is necessary for project managementc) Managing Projects- The tools of project management- Risk management tools- Collaborative working toolsd) The contribution of EnginEEring in consulting and technology28II THE LEVERAGE FOR INNOVATION28 THE INTERNAL MOTIVATIONS OF EnginEEring FIRMS29 RESEARCH FINANCING STRUCTURESa) At national level- National Research Agency programmes- Competitiveness Centres and company competitiveness funds- OSEO- Programmes of the Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Territorial Development- Agency programmes- Miscellaneous sector-based programmes- Aid from the National Association for Technical Research (ANRT)- Regional financingb) At European level- The 7thFramework Programme for Research and Technological Development- The EUREKA PROGRAMME- The European Investment Bank-Other programmes of the European Unionc) The Research Tax Credit (RTC)34 PUBLIC PROCUREMENTa)

7 The French public procurement legislationb) Intellectual and/or industrial propertyc) Competitive dialogue36 THE ROLE OF THE PROFESSIONAL FEDERATIONSa) The French EnginEEring consultancy Federation (Syntec-Inge nierie)b) The European Federation of EnginEEring consultancy Assocations (EFCA)c) The International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC)37 III OBSTACLES TO INNOVATION37 CULTURAL OBSTACLES IN EnginEEring FIRMSa) The preponderance of production constraintsb) The importance of standardisation38 FINANCIAL OBSTACLES IN EnginEEring FIRMSa) Internal organisationb) Structure of the operating accountsEngineering consultancy and innovationNovember 2008|7|39 RELATIONS WITH SCIENTIFIC PARTNERSa) University researchb) The Scientific and Technical Network40 EXTERNAL FINANCIAL OBSTACLES41 ADMINISTRATIVE OBSTACLESa) Insuranceb) Public procurement legislation- Procedures for awarding public contracts- The role of the Employer/ Engineer / Contractor chainc) Partnership contracts- The paradox of partnership contracts (ex-PPP)- innovation in partnership contracts45 INADEQUATE PROTECTION OF EnginEEring INNOVATIONa) Intellectual and/or industrial copyright and innovationb)

8 The risk of cherry picking during competitive dialoguec) Private Law47IV THE EnginEEring consultancy INDUSTRY RECOMMENDATIONS47 INTERNAL ACTIONS WITHIN EnginEEring COMPANIESa) Integrating, managing and exploiting innovationb) Benefiting from financial leveragesc) Capitalising on knowledge and experienced) innovation in internal methods49 THE STATE AS SUPERVISOR AND REGULATORa) Improving the structure of accounts to encourage innovationb) Improving the Implementation of Research Tax Credits (RTC)c) Developing synergies between public research and the private sectord) Reorganising the technical corpse) Developing more reactive and collegiate cross-pollination between public and private bodiesf) Developing methods for taking global strategic choices into account at national level51 THE RELATIONSHIP OF EnginEEring consultancy WITH DECISION MAKERS ANDEMPLOYERSa) Make better use of the know-how and quality of service of EnginEEring consultancy - Assistance to decision makers, employers at the upstream stage- Design EnginEEring - In project managementb) Improve the effectiveness of the Employer/Engineer/Contractor chain to encourage innovationc)

9 Improve protection of EnginEEring innovations- By intellectual and/or industrial property clauses- Better use of innovationsd) Encourage public employers to make use of all contractual possibilities- By enforcement of the Public Procurement Code- By new contracting methodse) Provide liability clauses and insurance cover consistent with innovation56 THE RELATIONSHIP OF EnginEEring WITH RESEARCH AND TRAININGa) Sharing know-how on innovation and researchb) Strengthen relations with the public research network58 POSSIBLE COLLECTIVE ACTIONSa) Improve information flow about external funding opportunitiesb) To identify centres of strategic competitiveness for EnginEEring firms and facilitate access to themc) To create a technical breeding ground with research partners59V GLOSSARY OF KEY WORDS AND ABREVIATIONS63 WHITE PAPER : EnginEEring consultancy AND innovation A TRANSLATION OF LIVRE BLANC.

10 L INGE NIERIE ET L innovation (MAY 2008)64 RECENT PUBLICATIONS OF SYNTEC-INGE NIERIE, THE FRENCH ASSOCIATION OF ENGINEERINGCONSULTANCIES|8| EnginEEring consultancy and innovationNovember 2008 INTRODUCTIONThe development and implementation ofinnovation has always been at the heart ofthe EnginEEring consultancy realise that today, innovation in the industryis not sufficientto face up to the major economicand environmental challenges. The Lisbon Strategyunderlined the strategic importance of innovation ina knowledge-based society faced with industry is convinced that it can and must playits part in confronting today s challenges bycontributing its experiencein several fields:anticipation of new requirements and engineeringnew solutions; ever m