Orange France presents the Roaming Challenge at the Genesis Hackathon 2024

As part of Genesis 2024, ROCCO introduces The Genesis Hackathons

We think we can all agree the Industry has some major challenges, some of which have been ongoing for many years. In our annual Genesis event, ROCCO brings together mobile operators, enterprises and vendors to unite to try to address some of these challenges.

• This March, the Genesis team are organising industry Hackathons where two specific challenges one for Messaging and one for Wholesale Roaming, will be raised by Mobile operators, to the participants.
• In the Hackathon style, the participating teams made up of members of MNOs, Vendors or mixed teams will have a short time to respond to the challenges (three weeks) and when the time period has expired will present their solutions.
• The stakeholders who raised the challenges will judge the solutions, and a short list of the top 3 for each Hackathon will be created.
• The top solutions will then go to Genesis 2024 on May 20th and 21st in Seville and be presented to the Lions Den where the Lions will judge them.
• The winner of each Hackathon will receive an award at the Genesis Visionaries Gala.
• The challenges will only be known in March when the Hackathons begin, to ensure all companies have the same time to respond to the challenges. The objective is to find solutions which can be adopted by the industry, potentially helping the entire ecosystem.
• The benefit to the participants will be the ability to demonstrate how in a limited time they have the skills and resources to develop solutions which meet market needs. Are you up for the challenge?

ROCCO is happy to announce that Orange France will raise the challenge in the Roaming Hackathon

Alain Barbier, Roaming Dep Director at Orange France, will be the person in charge of representing this stakeholder.

Alain Barbier

Alain (only the French can pronounce it correctly) is a seasoned professional working as Roaming Dep Director at Orange France. With a strong academic background in International Marketing and Business, Alain has seamlessly combined his experience with technical expertise in IT and telecommunications, honed during his time at Universal Music and Interop tradeshow.

He started his journey with Orange during the France Telecom era, and has held various roles within the company, from B2B and Wifi to the wholesale roaming business. His tenure has been marked by navigating the complexities of EU regulation and leading initiatives such as the challenging VoLTE go-to-market strategy.

Beyond his professional life, Alain is the father of two daughters. He is currently rehabilitating his sports addiction, indulges his musical passions as an amateur guitarist and singer, and nurtures a deep fascination with foreign cultures and geopolitics.

Despite his notable contributions and his unofficial nickname of “the dinosaurus of roaming”, Alain remains humble and has never sought the limelight as an industry lion. His dedication to innovation and his resilience in the face of challenges speak for themselves, earning him the respect and admiration of colleagues and peers alike.

What is the Genesis Hackathon about?

The Hackathon is a new and revolutionary competition in our industry in which the participating companies come up in a short time (three weeks) with new and original ideas/products/ services/solutions to solve specific challenges announced in March.

These challenges will be presented by recognised stakeholders (MNOs or Enterprises) in two different categories: Roaming & Messaging on March 4th. The challenges are real industry issues/cases to which several companies are looking for a solution. Participants will have to develop a product/service/ solution that solves the challenges in an original way.

Find out more about The Genesis Hackathons & register to participate here.