Skip to main content

Futures Forum Research Group

Information on the Futures Forum Research (FFR) Group, a partnership between Capgemini and the Informatics Research Centre (IRC)

The Futures Forum Research (FFR) Group is a partnership between Capgemini and the Informatics Research Centre (IRC), part of the Henley Business School at the University of Reading. FFR benefits from Capgemini’s continuous input of industry knowledge, the company’s expertise in enterprise architecture and its contribution to the OASIS (Organisation for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) group. The University contributes the knowledge and research expertise of its staff and postgraduate researchers in various fields including business management, economics, informatics, systems engineering, computer science, cognitive science and organisational semiotics.

FFR aims to bring together business practitioners, industry thought-leaders and leading academics to better enable Capgemini’s clients to tackle new challenges presented by fragmented IT portfolio landscapes that are not fully aligned to business strategies. FFR will generate research ideas, insights, results from studies, tools and techniques that address the concerns of Capgemini clients and, where possible, provide practical solutions.

"This unique partnership differentiates Capgemini and the University of Reading, as it blends the best of our industry experience, our joint abundance of innovative ideas and the force of deep and thorough research, to deliver tangible solutions for our clients." -- Karl Deacon, Vice President - CTO, Outsourcing Services, Capgemini UK

FFR Activities

The work plan for FFR is continually evolving, and is reviewed periodically by the group’s management team. The examples below illustrate some of the current capabilities and approaches that FFR offers to its stakeholders.

1. Enhancement of Capgemini’s Business Aligned IT Strategy (BAITS) offering

  • Combination of Capgemini’s BAITS with Problem Articulation Method (PAM) and other techniques
  • Improved consistency and interoperability between BAITS methods and products
  • Stronger provenance and greater rigour for BAITS methods
  • Improved agility and tool support for enterprise architects

2. Discussion Support for Futures Forum

  • Delivery of monthly lectures, seminars and workshops for delegates
  • Supporting Capgemini’s Futures Forum social networking site
  • Research driven by delegates’ pressing issues followed by dissemination of results and findings.

3. Collaborative Development of Enterprise Architecture Modules at MSc/ PhD Level

  • Delivery of lectures, seminars and workshops for MSc/PhD students
  • Co-supervision of MSc/PhD projects as an industrial collaborator

For more information, please contact: Soi Luong irc.ffr@henley.ac.uk

Team Structure

Capgemini

  • Karl Deacon (Vice President and Executive Sponsor)
  • Dr Samuel Chong (Co-Director FFR)
  • Glenn Adams
  • Les Bristow
  • Clive Fernandez
  • Alexander Furneaux
  • Richard Gillam
  • Jack Hanison
  • Douglas Hanley
  • Craig Jones
  • Steve Jones
  • Gregory Lindsay
  • Stefan Piotrowski
  • Chendreshwar Prasad
  • Cameron Spence
  • Mark Walton-Hayfield
  • Jason Warwick

University of Reading

  • Professor Kecheng Liu (Co-Director, FFR and Director, Informatics Research Centre)
  • Dr Stephen Gulliver
  • Professor Rachel Harrison
  • Dr Chris Harty
  • Soi Luong
  • Dr Sharm Manwani
  • Tim Mcginley
  • Dr Keiichi Nakata
  • Dr Lily Sun
  • Dr Yinshan Tang
  • ChekFoung Tan