Gianfranco Zaccai
President and CEO, Continuum Boston, Milan, & Seoul
President and CEO, Continuum Boston, Milan, & Seoul
Zaccai is co-founder of Continuum, a pioneer in the interdisciplinary field of using design research to identify compelling opportunities for innovation, accelerating product time to market and ultimately creating consumer delighting experiences.
Continuum has played a key role in the development of breakthrough products in such industries that span the gamut from high volume consumer goods to bio-medical devices—exemplified in work on the Swiffer and Thermacare product lines for P&G to the US Genomics Trilogy Analyzer.
Zaccai and Continuum are dedicated to exploring the power of design in relation to developing nations. A current project in this field is the $100 laptop for the Media Lab at MIT. Zaccai has engaged in development projects in Mexico, Colombia, South Africa, India, and Chile.
Continuum’s work has been featured in both national and international publications and has received global recognition including: a Presidential Design Award from President Clinton, the Compasso D'Oro, Italy, the Red Dot and IF Awards, Germany, and numerous awards from IDSA and BusinessWeek.
Zaccai serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Design Management Institute (DMI) in Boston and on the Board of Advisors to the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University. He is also a Visiting Lecturer at the SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan, Italy.
Zaccai holds degrees in industrial design from Syracuse University and in architecture from the Boston Architectural Center.
Continuum has played a key role in the development of breakthrough products in such industries that span the gamut from high volume consumer goods to bio-medical devices—exemplified in work on the Swiffer and Thermacare product lines for P&G to the US Genomics Trilogy Analyzer.
Zaccai and Continuum are dedicated to exploring the power of design in relation to developing nations. A current project in this field is the $100 laptop for the Media Lab at MIT. Zaccai has engaged in development projects in Mexico, Colombia, South Africa, India, and Chile.
Continuum’s work has been featured in both national and international publications and has received global recognition including: a Presidential Design Award from President Clinton, the Compasso D'Oro, Italy, the Red Dot and IF Awards, Germany, and numerous awards from IDSA and BusinessWeek.
Zaccai serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Design Management Institute (DMI) in Boston and on the Board of Advisors to the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University. He is also a Visiting Lecturer at the SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan, Italy.
Zaccai holds degrees in industrial design from Syracuse University and in architecture from the Boston Architectural Center.
Gianfranco’s statement of provocation:
India’s vibrant democracy is both an asset and, occasionally, a liability in its development.
It is clear that more autocratic governments, such as China, have been able to “will” the creation of new and state-of-the-art infrastructure, which has given manufacturing and logistics a great head start in the global economy. India, on the other hand, is a country which has a diverse, vocal, and very powerful electorate which can be manipulated to delay and compromise the decision making process, in regards to both policy and infrastructure development, to the detriment of all. In addition, the legacy of India’s colonial and protectionist post-colonial history have often made mediocre manufactured products and services seem acceptable to producer and consumer alike.
How can world class, but uniquely Indian, design at all scales and for all people become a rallying cry for Indians, of all political persuasions, to achieve sustainable development and improve the quality of life for all strata of society?
