Jean-Pierre Lacotte has spent most of his career within the Thomson group, starting with Thomson CSF at Central Research Laboratory in the Optical Storage Lab, working on video/audio storage and videodisc.

Following that he was seconded for few years to the French Administration of Parc de la Villette in Paris, to create the audiovisual presentations of the Sciences and Industry Museum. After the opening of the Museum he joined the Broadcast Division a subsidiary of Thomson in 1986 and held various positions up to General Manager. He has also been Vice-Chairman of the ITEA Board "Eureka cluster" and now is Chairman of the French HD-Forum and Director of Thomson European Public Affairs.