1. médialab Sciences Po
  2. News
  3. A look back at the conference "Vers la dénumérisation ?"

A look back at the conference "Vers la dénumérisation ?"

On 30 September, the médialab brought together Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, Nastasia Hadjadji and Thomas Honnet, alongside Robin de Mourat and Clémence Seurat, to examine the limits of an “all-digital” approach and explore alternative ways of relating to digital technology.

Post

Vers la dénumérisation ? Rethinking Our Relationship with Digital Technology

Introduced by Sylvain Parasie, Director of the médialab, and Thomas Honnet, an expert in law and digital transformations and lecturer at Sciences Po, the conference brought together several perspectives on denumerisation: social, legal, technical and political.

Iframe https://player.vimeo.com/video/1232331390?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, former Minister, President of France terre d’asile and author of Sevrage numérique, opened the discussion by examining the limits of an “all-digital” approach and the social divides associated with digitalisation. Her contribution invited participants to question the place digital technology has come to occupy in our societies and to collectively consider ways of rethinking it.

Denumerisation also raises legal questions. Thomas Honnet, who teaches “Digital Culture and Issues” at Sciences Po and has written several articles on the denumerisation of public services, presented the legal issues and perspectives surrounding this process, particularly in a context where digitalisation is transforming the relationship between public services and their users.

Rethinking digital technology also means examining its underlying infrastructure.  Nastasia Hadjadji, journalist and author of Apocalypse Nerds, presented mesh networks, which offer alternative ways of connecting and provide an alternative to today’s Internet infrastructure.

Finally, Robin de Mourat and Clémence Seurat, researchers at the médialab, presented their work with Maxime Crépel exploring the possibility of an “alternative digital future”, designed to be more inclusive and to foster participation in collective life.

From reducing the role of digital technology and denumerising public services to alternative infrastructures and new forms of participation, the discussions provided an opportunity to explore various approaches to rethinking the role of digital technology in our societies.