Joanna Truffaut

Joanna Truffaut
Truffaut at the eGov4 Conference
Born	1977 (age 46–47)
Nationality	French
Education	Institut Mines-Télécom, Virginia Tech
Occupation(s)	Advisor, Businesswoman, Entrepreneur

Joanna Truffaut is a French Digital transformation advisor and entrepreneur. Truffaut has played an influential role in leading awareness creation and developing free Wi-Fi networks in urban areas in the US and France, and has launched Internet start-ups in the Middle East. She now specializes in advising public institutions, cities and media firms on the opportunities and threats of digital experience and technology in their overall business strategy. Truffaut is an alumna of Institut Mines-Télécom and of Virginia Tech.^[1][2]

Joanna Truffaut was born on the 15th of October 1977, in France (46 years old). Joanna’s earlier career includes two higher educations, from Institut Mines-Télécom and an exchange affiliated program from Virginia Tech.[1][2]

When talking about her experience at the Institut Mines-Telecom, Joanna exclaims that she was inspired to proceed with her dual degree in management and telecom engineering at the university, after in CM2 class she was asked who she wanted to be when she grew up; and she quickly realized that the idea of computers revolutionizing the world was something she wanted to be a part of.

She aspired to innovate and make a difference, even though, at the time, she had limited knowledge on both business and engineering. In her third year of Institut Mines-Télécom, she was fortunate to get an offer for an exchange experience as a part of an International Business Engineering Program, partnered with Virginia Tech, in the United States. Those opportunities resulted in her gaining knowledge and experience in her desired field of expertise and not that much later bringing her skills to Dubai, where she got a chance to work on a local contract. Overall, in one of her interviews, Joanna concluded that her experience at Institut Mines-Télécom allowed her to master “the language of ICT and business technologies and provided her with information on how to be a leader in large scale projects." ^[3]

2001 In 2001, Truffaut became a member of NYC wireless executive team, a non-profit organization that advocates and enables the growth of free, public wireless Internet access in New York City and surrounding areas, and cofounded by Anthony M. Townsend.

2003 Subsequently, in 2003, Truffaut co-founded Paris Open Network, which aimed to enable the growth of free Wi-Fi networks in the city of Paris. She became a recognised figure in France for the evangelisation of free urban Wi-Fi networks^[4] and co-wrote her first book.^[5] During that time period in Europe, she worked in the ICT Innovation transfer field for a branch of the French Ministry of Industry and Economy and then for a start-up, Cityneo, which later got bought out by Pure Agency.^[6]

2012 After her move to the Middle East, Truffaut founded Ibtikarati,^[7] the first start-up platform in the Middle East in 2012, which allowed entrepreneurs to sell their apps through the online portal.

2013 In 2013, she founded Ejaba.com,^[8] an online business Q&A platform in the Middle East, that allowed entrepreneurs to ask business related questions to a network of experts against a fee.

In translation from French, the book title is: The Wi-fi and Bluetooth Guide. This book was authored by Joanna Truffaut, Guy de Lussingny and Bertrand Grossier. It was published in 2004 and originally written in French, containing 704 pages. Le guide du Wi-Fi et du Bluetooth essentially describes a new vision of the world of computing. Wi-fi and Bluetooth are the two most dominant and applicable notions when talking about Wireless technologies.

Description from Amazon: “Through a didactic, exhaustive and pragmatic approach, this work, accessible to all, aims to answer all the questions you ask yourself about the field of Wireless, mobility, in general use public or professional. It is equally suitable for members of IT Departments, General Management, consultants and students wishing to frame and manage large-scale mobility projects within SMEs, large accounts, universities or local authorities. But also for individuals who want to use Wi-Fi at home, use computers with a mobile phone, etc. You will discover what these technologies are, and their impacts in terms of safety, health and use. We will explain in detail how to create your Wi-Fi network, equip yourself, and use it everywhere, including in public places equipped with "°HotSpot". The same goes for Bluetooth°: we will show you how to use it with all current equipment in a mobility situation (mobile phones, headsets, computers, keyboards, GPS, etc.). The authors of this book are recognized Wireless professionals, enthusiasts of mobility technologies and their applications. They decided to combine their experience and their complementary vision of this field, in order to offer you this reference work.” ^[9]

• Le guide du Wi-Fi et du Bluetooth by Joanna Truffaut, Guy de Lussigny, Bertrand Grossier - Editions Eska, January 2004 - ISBN 2747206165
• L’annee des TIC by Joanna Truffaut, Michel Berne – INT – Laboratoire OSTIC, 2005
• Territoires et sociétés de l'information en France by Bruno Salgues with Joanna Truffaut contribution - CRITIC, 2003

• Conference speech on smart government – video in English
• Official website