SICT2022 aims to bridge the gap between research in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and the overarching and inter-related social, environmental, and economic questions of our time.
Nanoelec is partner of the event scheduled between August 29th and Sept. 2nd 2022, for the first time in Grenoble. Zoom on it with Blandine Ageron, Professor at UGA & co-organizer of the SICT2022.
Blandine Ageron, Professeur des Universités – Rédactrice en chef de la revue Logistique & Management
What are the motivation of the SICT summer school ?
SICT is an international doctoral summer school for PhD students. It addresses the issue of sustainability in communication and information technologies (ICT) through an interdisciplinary aspect.
What are the issues to be covered with this event ?
SICT 2022 is a continuation of previous editions of this doctoral summer school, where the difficulty of determining the impacts of ICT has been outlined. We have highlighted the complex interactions between our growth-based socio-economic systems and (new) digital technologies: ICT is often exploited for continued economic growth instead of reducing our absolute impacts on the planet. Finally, we see a lack of multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity in current research and innovation processes, which biases the resulting digital technologies. Indeed, as ICTs are socio-technical elements, we need to study them from different perspectives to get a representative global picture. SICT2022 therefore aims to bridge the gap between information and communication technology (ICT) research and the overarching and interrelated social, environmental and economic issues of our time.
Could you give us a previous of the highlight of the 2022 program?
The third edition of SICT aims to bring together researchers from different backgrounds to collaborate and rethink the way forward for ICT and how we research and develop digital technologies for a sustainable future. With this in mind, we will ask what we need to do for a post-growth world, tackling both short and long term challenges. We will also discuss the limits of our current socio-economic systems and the mechanisms that prevent a deep transition of our systems with key actors from institutions and industries. This will feed into thinking about transformations of our usual business practices and transition paths to sustainable alternatives in post-growth economies. We will hear from communities affected by the negative impacts of consumerism. In workshops and group work, we will debate and challenge the way we researchers approach the roles of ICTs for the future of humanity. We will bring together our different experiences to describe, question, consider and outline new approaches to ICT research and development to secure our future within planetary limits.
The previous editions were in Leuven (Belgium). How come it is now in Grenoble ?
The UGA and the actors of the Grenoble site (CEA and CNRS) have already been collaborating with the University of Leuven for many years. The question of sustainable electronics is an issue that has been the subject of an ambitious and interdisciplinary research programme called Need for IoT. Eight theses have been financed within this programme. They have led to numerous scientific productions (publications and patents). This programme has also created an important dynamic on the issues of sustanability in the field of electronics. It is within the framework of this dynamic and the privileged relations with UCL that it was decided to organise the SICT summer school in Grenoble. A team of about ten people are involved in the organisation of this school which will take place from 28 August to 02 September 2022 at the MACI in Grenoble.