At the end of 2015, I got the green light for a sabbatical visit in the institution of my choice. Such a chance does not materialise very often, so I had to pick the right place! The plan was to use this period as a stepping stone to embark on a new academic adventure involving 3 main characters: Digital technologies, Innovation, and Social (& environmental) progress. I thus naturally chose INGENIO, whose members work both on innovation studies and on social innovation, using a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods, from the perspective of multiple disciplines. From a more personal point of view, since this was going to be a family adventure, it was important for my wife (see her own testimony below…) and I to be able to send our 11 year old son Léo to a French school, so that he could finish the year he started in Paris in the fall of 2016 (thanks to LFVAL). As I am writing these lines listening to Lluís Llach, I think of all the results I could achieve thanks to the excellent work environment provided by INGENIO (for follow ups, cf. the INESS Blog). These would not have existed without the help of Pablo d’Este and Jordi Molas Gallart who facilitated this adventure. Many thanks to both of them! Most pages of the book of this academic adventure remain to be written, but there is no doubt that INGENIO will be part of it. Last but not least, besides the friendly lunches in the INGENIO kitchen, an Homo laptopus like me could only enjoy the regular self-organised social events, some of which would probably qualify as social innovations such as the famous “foot-beer” gathering… Long live INGENIO! Cédric Gossart is Associate Professor at Télécom École de Management (Institut Mines-Télécom).