Academy’s advice and position paper

21 Oct Impact of ICT on world energy consumption

National Academy of Technologies of France (NATF)
2015

How does ICT impact on worldwide energy consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions? This is what NATF went to find out when auditioning French and foreign experts to evaluate the overall energy and environmental balance that is due to the ICT sector, considering the impacts generated by the operation of its various hardware and infrastructure, and the savings it spawns in other areas of activity. The final energy and carbon balance of ICT, the Academy report concludes, is clearly a positive one. In 2012, ICT accounted for 4.7% of worldwide electricity consumption, and a total carbon footprint of about 1.7 percent (including private, industry and telecom hardware and infrastructure and data centres). These numbers are on an upwards trend, but in smaller proportions than the growing use of ICT, thanks to its contribution to reduce these footprints in other areas of activities such as in the transport sector, buildings, manufacturing industries, or even dematerialised procedures. The report focuses on the (global) transport/mobility sector benefitting from digitisation in and around vehicles, with gradually reduced/optimised travel needs (example United States).  It also lists current lines of research aimed at better performance of computing, with lower energy consumption. Group Leader: Erol Gelenbe, Professor in the Dennis Gabor Chair Imperial College, London, and NATF Fellow and Yves Caseau, Director of the Digital Agency, AXA Group, and NATF Fellow

21 Oct Big Data: a change of paradigm can hide another – Opportunities and threats related to the emergence of new ecosystems

National Academy of Technologies of France (NATF)
2015

Big Data implies a revolution in IT, reaching from technology to applications and practices, enabling the analysis of vast pools of "digital traces" to know customer intentions with unmatched precision. Data manipulation from smartphones and connected objects opens up new service opportunities and significant cost reductions of information systems.  While it is a major issue for sciences, politics and citizens, this report looks at the impact on businesses: mastering these methods permits a new immediacy in customer relationships and may leave enterprises less vulnerable to the GAFAs. Big data is: • a disruptive data-analysis methodology, in particular in marketing, replacing classic approaches by iterative loops in which detected patterns are immediately confronted with situations of implementation and judgement on operational effectiveness. • a new way of massive parallel data-centred programming and of designing algorithms, due to the: - treatment on a myriad of machines, - high-performance requirements and - need to develop algorithms through learning. • a major challenge and paradigm shift for Governments and companies, deserving strong support in terms of training and awareness. Technology and practice play key roles; new ways of working with an extremely wide scope need to be developed. Rapporteur : Yves Caseau, Director Digital Agency, Axa Group, and Fellow of NATF

21 Oct Large Socio-Technical Systems

National Academy of Technologies of France (NATF)
2013

Large, networked Socio-Technical Systems (or LSTSs), often continental or even global in scale, such as railroad-, air traffic-, electric-, and telecommunications systems, and the internet, have modified life-styles and society. Citizens see them as combining sciences and technologies, offering essential value-for-money services. They have common characteristics: expected safe and no-break service quality; co-operation of a myriad of component parts, including agents. Success and vulnerability through complexification (national and European regulations, multiplication for each LSTS of autonomous agents) and inter-dependence (inroads by ICTs, liberalisation) go hand-in-hand. During the past 15 years, the drafting of new regulatory texts that promote sustainable development of the LSTSs, incorporating technical trends while reconciling local aspirations and nation-wide issues, has become increasingly difficult. NATF proposes: 1) An objective analysis of the experience from the last 20 years for each LSTS, covering operations, quality, costs, jobs, risk control, governance and regulation, crises situations/incidents and the degrees of interdependence with other LSTSs. 2) Exploring possible (global) trends for the next two decades including sustainable development. 3) Teach LSTSs to young people early on for a better appreciation, including of S&T and ongoing innovations. These proposals should contribute to better informed decision processes that benefit our children. Yves BAMBERGER (WP Chair and Draft author) – Scientific counsellor to EDF CEO – Fellow of the NATF