Today, Orange received the "Best Innovator 2007" prize - for its "Organisational innovation and Marketing/R&D/Networks/IT partnership". The prize was awarded by strategic consulting firm   A.T. Kearney in partnership with Les Echos.  The group had previously received the "Best Innovator" prize in 2005.

This year's prize rewards the creation of the Orange Labs network, which now forms the group's new chain of innovation and, more particularly, the creation of the Technocentre, which aims to improve the selection of the innovations developed by the group and to reduce their time to market.

Under the responsibility of a Strategic Marketing Department, which provides the group's orientations and knowledge of the market, two new structures have been created, the Explocentre and the Technocentre, which work in close collaboration with the R&D laboratories installed all over the world. 

Consisting of 3,800 researchers in 15 laboratories on three continents (8 in France and 7 in Europe, America and Asia), its scope and coverage enables it to detect all technological breakthroughs and encourage partnerships.

- The Explocentre, created in September 2005, is an incubator for projects with high innovation potential. As a supplement to R&D and Technocentre missions, it introduces a new approach based on design and co-creation with customers. The most promising projects are developed in the Technocentre.

- The Technocentre reduces the time required to progress from the concept to the product ready for the market. It brings together around 30 "3P" teams (for 3 partners): under the responsibility of a marketing specialist, a researcher and a network engineer work together to select, conceive, produce and bring to market innovative products and services.