Letter to a friend Letter to a friend from Jean JeanDevos Devos
My Dear Friend
The next revolution! “Botany Bay”
My dear friend, I published recently a modest novel, whose title You are an Bay. old member ofplace our industry and then It is the in Australia where is Botany you have an engineering background! Years ago a Alcatel established all the leaders and even all the marketing cable and facsubmarine sales people were engineers.tory Technology the of in 1989was as part main driver of our industry! its Our contract industry was fora the high-tech industry, and the advanced Tasman technologies 2 link. In this were at the heart of everything. It was same bay,impossible where two to manage such an activity without at least a centuries before the technical culture. ImpossibleFrench to attend expedition meetings, visit customers, discuss a project without the “La Pérouse” made of basic understanding of the performances, the two ships, La Boussole
the Australian Government.
But the fact is thatwas ourthe activity canmotivated. only reborn Such a Alcatel most from its ashes through another technical in the Pacific factory could expand its influence revolution!! needother “something” where theWe three playerswhich were would historically make all the existing networks suddenly obsolete, well established in this region, which represents panicking the of established management, a large all part their market. They saw this suddenly awake and concerned, in the absolute factory as a risk for their existing facilities! obligation to invest in the “novelty”!! SubOptic ‘87 in Versailles came at the right time.
My Dear Friend Paris July 1rst, 2005.
Warrior event was still in everyone’s memory. It
Even worse: Inreasons many developed countries there is for these among others that STCis(UK) now a worrying tendency:suggestion A significant rejected the Alcatel‘s todecrease come with a in joint the number of university students choosing bid, to offer a “European” solution. engineering!! Science is not so attractive anymore One of the winning factors has been the andPort-Botany is perceived cable as a risk for humanity more thanwas a factory. Such a factory a progress!! strong requirement from OTC (now Telstra) and
functionalities, the reliability figures, etc. The main area of competition was the technology and It is where the Australian teams discovered the Yes! We need something drastic, like an system performance. and l’Astrolabe, landed in 1788 to discover that French model, a close cooperation between single fibre, ultra wide band, Captain Cook was already around bearing the unrepeatered Alcatel and FT, exactly what they wanted to estranspacific or transatlantic cable. I am told that This is notflag. true So anymore andBay an engineering British Botany is now for me the tablish in their country. nothing like this is to be expected soon, and I can background is almost a handicap for someone symbol of a dream which becomes a reality! My friend, things are changed since, but see people laughing! who hopes to take management or marketing Tasman 2 has been yet another chapter
one thing stays true: When you offer something,
positions; to hold a business or a in this much long better Anglo-French competition! The the reader can see between the lines if you are It does not really matter, my friend: It may take law degree!! This means that our activity is now award to Alcatel came out as a big surprise to or not genuinely motivated and sincere. Then some time, but it will definitively come. just an ordinary one!! The boss does not need many, including inside Alcatel. Everybody was your offer becomes really attractive and this tonaturally understand the technologies involved, but he expecting the British to win that batopens the route to “Botany Bay.” Take care. needs to be able to decrease the headcounts. The tle, and such an expectation was at that time sales marketing director does not need to veryand logical. See you soon. explain There to his customers technical merits of and were sothe many difficulties the offered product, but he needs the Australia ability to and Jean Devos misunderstanding between Submarcom consulting workout business The best engineers France,athe mainplan! one being theR&D French presence Submarcom Consulting are rushing to other areas. The submarine system in the Pacific area, the worse being the nuclear activity is not sexy anymore. We are an old lady!! bomb experiment in Tahiti! The sad Rainbow
Jean Devos Jean Devos
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