Rayna Thierry
After a decade spent in the UK, notably at the University of Cambridge, LSE, UCL and Imperial College London, Thierry Rayna joined the MIE department as Professor in September 2017. Holder of a PhD in Economics and Habilité à diriger des Recherches (HDR) in Management Sciences, his research focuses on the impact of digital technologies (3D printing, IoT, Blockchain, AI, etc.) on "Business Models" and corporate strategy. Thierry Rayna holds the "Technology for Change" Chair at the Paris Polytechnic Institute (funded by Accenture) and is co-director of the "Innovation and regulation of digital services" Chair (IRSN, funded by Orange). He is Associate Editor of the International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management, and a member of the Editorial Board of Innovations (I.REMI) and the Revue d'économie industrielle.
Research topics
Business model innovation and the transformation of corporate strategy
My research focuses on how companies (and other organizations) need to innovate their business models in order to remain relevant in a rapidly changing world, not only because of the emergence of "disruptive" technologies, but also (and above all) because of the imperatives of sustainable development and sustainability. In particular, this involves action-research projects with different types of players (CAC 40 companies, SMEs, startups, scale-ups, associations, public authorities), based on a methodology combining management tools linked to business model innovation, stakeholder ecosystem mapping, and impact assessment in the broadest sense (environmental, economic, social and societal impact) to help these players reconcile financial performance and positive impact.
Emerging or "disruptive" digital technologies: beyond the hype, impacts and adoption trajectories.
The aim of my research is to "deconstruct" so-called "emerging" or "disruptive" digital technologies, in order to provide a sufficiently detailed understanding of their technical aspects to identify their likely adoption and use. During the waves of hype and excitement that accompany the media coverage of these technologies, the many cases of use envisaged are often too idealistic from the point of view of usage (due to approaches that are too "techno-push" and, in fact, fantasized), or from the point of view of the capacities, performance and evolutionary potential of these technologies (due to approaches that too often ignore physical and technical constraints and, in fact, resemble science fiction). This research has been applied (among others) to the following technologies: Web 2.0 (social media), Cloud, 3D printing, Industry 4.0, blockchain, AI.
Open innovation and user innovation
My research focuses on the role played by users and user communities in open innovation phenomena, particularly in the case of open source software and open source hardware. Beyond the role played by professional users in collective innovation phenomena, I'm particularly interested in the role played by consumers, who, appropriating the means of production provided by digital technologies, have become increasingly active in the production and distribution of content (social media, cultural content), services (collaborative economy or "sharing economy"), physical products ("dropshipping", etc.), energy (self-consumption), thus becoming "prosumers".