Olivier Ezratty, consultant and author
olivier(at)oezratty.net, https://www.oezratty.net, @olivez
What I am doing
I am a consultant and author on quantum technologies working with businesses and public services. I created the open-source book “Understanding Quantum Technologies”, with its 5th edition published in 2022. I am also the coordinator of the quantum elective at EPITA, a trainer at CapGemini and CEA INSTN and an independent expert for the French government as part of the France 2030 plans as well as for Bpifrance. I cofounded the Quantum Energy Initiative in 2022 along with Alexia Auffèves (CNRS MajuLab Singapore) and Robert Whitney (CNRS LPMMC in Grenoble).
On quantum technologies
Here are my various activities in the quantum technologies ecosystem.
Author
- I published the reference ebook Comprendre l’informatique quantique in September 2018 and updated in September 2019 and 2020, then in English with Understanding Quantum Technologies, published in September 2021 (836 pages) and September 2022 (1128 pages). The English versions can also be ordered in paperback edition on Amazon worldwide.
- With Fanny Bouton, I host two podcast series on a pro-bono basis: Quantum on quantum news (since September 2019) and Decode Quantum, one-hour interviews with specialists in the field (researchers, entrepreneurs, etc) since March 2020, in partnership with Frenchweb, which broadcasts them on its website. They are in French, so far.
Speaker
- With Fanny Bouton, we launched popularization conferences for the general public on quantum computing starting with Le quantique c’est fantastique, played in Nantes during the Web2day event in June 2018 (video).
- I am a speaker on quantum technologies for many private and public sector actors. With for example: Société Générale, BNP, Crédit Agricole, Michelin, Adeo, L’Oréal, FIECC, IHEDN, Business France, Avolta Partners, as well as in various conferences (Minalogic days in Grenoble, QCB conferences of Bpifrance, #GEN2021 in Metz, etc., and often in duo with Research Directors such as Alexia Auffèves, Pascale Senellart, Eleni Diamanti, Elham Kashefi (all from CNRS) and Maud Vinet (CEA-Leti).
- I also moderated panels on quantum computing, quantum sensors and quantum software in Bpifrance’s BIG event in 2018, 2019 and 2021. Then at the launch of the hybrid quantum computing strategy on January 4, 2022 at IOGS as well as in the Quantum Ambitions conference organized by CEA, CNRS and Inria on February 21, 2022 at CEA in Saclay and at the France Quantum event in June 2022 at the Eiffel Tower.
Trainer
- I run a seminar on quantum computing for corporate IT and innovation audiences at Capgemini Institute as well as for the CEA INSTN.
- In September 2021, I took charge of the “quantum computing” elective at EPITA, intended for its 5th year engineering students.
Expertise
- I am an expert on quantum technologies for Bpifrance (i-NOV, i-LAB, i-Demo and deep tech programs).
- I am a member of the ministerial committee on the digital strategy of the France 2030 plan since February 2022 as an independent “qualified personality”.
Research
- I contribute to the research work on the energetics of quantum computing led by Alexia Auffèves and her team from CNRS Institut Néel in Grenoble and MajuLab in Singapore. I am the co-founder with her and Robert Whitney of the Quantum Energy Initiative that we launched in 2022.
- I also participate in the strategic board of QuantAlps, the quantum ecosystem of Grenoble, since January 2022 although I live in the Paris region.
Past topics
Between 2006 and 2021, I published many other open source ebooks: Les usages de l’intelligence artificielle (2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021) as well as the CES Las Vegas Report, each January from 2006 to 2020, and the Startup Guide, which became a reference in France with more than 400,000 downloads, between 2006 and 2019). These books were published on my blog “Opinions Libres” (www.oezratty.net) which deals with technological innovation from the scientific, technological, entrepreneurial and innovation public policies and now, mainly about quantum technologies.
Since 2005, I carried out various missions in different verticals such as the media and telecoms (Orange, Bouygues Télécom, TDF, Médiamétrie, BVA, Astra), finance and insurance (BPCE group, Caisse des Dépôts, Société Générale, Swiss Life, Crédit Agricole, Crédit Mutuel-CIC, Generali, MAIF), industry and services (Schneider, Camfil, Vinci, NTN-STR, Econocom, ADP, Air France, Airbus) and in the public sector (Ministry of Defense, CEA, Météo France, Bpifrance, Business France, Douanes Françaises, Inria, European Union).
QFDN
I am also the co-initiator in 2012 of Quelques Femmes du Numérique ! (“some digital women”, www.qfdn.net) which became an association in 2016, and aims to increase gender balance in digital professions, by raising awareness among young people about these professions. I am the portraits photographer for the initiative and I also developed their new web site launched in April 2021.
Before
I was initially a software engineer and developer in electronic publishing, starting in 1985 at Sogitec, a subsidiary of the Dassault group, where I was consecutively Software Engineer, then Head of the Research Department in the Communication Division. I initialized developments under Windows 1.0 in the field of editorial computing as well as on SGML, the ancestor of HTML and XML.
Joining Microsoft France in 1990, I gained experience in many areas of the marketing mix. I launched the first version of Visual Basic in 1991 and Windows NT in 1993. In 1998, I became Marketing and Communication Director of Microsoft France and in 2001, Director of the Developer Division, which I created in France to launch the .NET platform and promote it to developers, higher education and research, as well as to startups. These were 15 very busy years but a long time ago.
Education
I am a software engineer from Centrale Paris (1985), which became CentraleSupelec in 2015.
Pictures of me can be found here.
