video, la rotonde, vulgarisation

Video, the chameleon-like medium of scientific culture

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In recent years, a real passion for science videos has emerged, especially with the rise of YouTube. Video is a comprehensive and complex tool that adapts to different audiences. This explains why video holds such a prominent place as a vehicle of scientific culture at CCSTI La Rotonde (Mines Saint-Étienne). It also explains why I’MTech now shares audiovisual content.

 

Whether it’s a light, funny commercial or a serious and thoughtful documentary, video is an effective and appealing tool for popularizing science. It can bring the viewer something real, and is accessible for all ages. This chameleon-like medium can stand alone, or complement other forms of media. Video is central to the technical and industrial scientific culture at La Rotonde, Mines Saint-Étienne, and has been a tool of choice for the 18 years of the organization’s existence. Its director, Guillaume Desbrosse, talks to us about this medium’s presence in the scientific culture.

 

How important is video at La Rotonde?

Guillaume Desbrosse: Since our organization was established, we have been developing video as a tool. It is part of our DNA. This is fairly unusual, since video skills are not easily developed. The structure quickly began partnering with professional and amateur videographers to produce scientific culture resources on video. We use it fairly regularly. We also use video in the exhibitions we organize. It is an extremely interesting medium for reaching an audience that is very accustomed to screens and animated images.

 

In recent years, we have seen a rise in amateur videographers, how are they contributing to scientific culture today?

GD: This love of videos has exploded over the past years thanks to YouTube. Amateur videographers are now beginning to produce content they intend to broadcast on a wide range of subjects, and scientific culture has not been left behind, although there are varying levels of quality. At La Rotonde, we have followed this closely; we considered it significant since other players outside the institutional realm were beginning to disseminate the sciences. Their success, as seen in the number of subscribers, comments, and number of views, made us think. How can we encourage these projects – which play an important role in today’s scientific culture – and support them?

This is why, along with Mines Saint-Étienne, we decided to renovate a building that became studio Papaï (Plug And Play Audio and Image) based on a project by engineering students. Beyond the in-house use of this studio (engineering students, teachers, researchers…), it is also open to amateur videographers. We offer to host them for a residency so that they can produce resources on scientific culture. Currently, we are supporting the YouTube channel “Balade Mentale”, which addresses a wide variety of themes, ranging, for example, from the sense of smell to the study of motion. This channel is run by dynamic group of young people, and is gaining popularity, with a little over 30,000 subscribers. We have decided to support this channel for one year. We also support their joint projects with Florence Porcel, who popularizes the science of the universe. Following the success of this joint effort, we decided to organize calls for projects to make this opportunity available to other videographers.

 

Does this enthusiasm for online science videos reinforce the idea that we do not need a lot of resources to do something that is successful?

GD: The ideas are what drive the projects. One issue is scientific credibility. When an audience comes to view an exhibition at La Rotonde, they know that it is an official structure, and that the content has been approved by a scientific committee. It’s important to have this rigorous aspect. Of course, the more we see scientific culture online, the happier we are, but it must also be done in accordance with professional standards, and with good quality content. This is the case for many CSTI channels. Then, there is the question of the legal status of these creators, which is a key issue. What is the appropriate economic model for these creators? What is the most suitable positioning in the professional audiovisual landscape? I am against using their creations and skills without fair compensation. We are working on a model that would provide them with quality assistance and support them decently!

 

In general, does video allow you to expand your target audience?

GD: What is interesting is that there is not one medium that is better than all the others, since they each target a specific audience. We must be active on all fronts, and the video tool offers many advantages in this area. However, there are also constraints involved, this medium is very time-consuming in terms of the editing, filming, lighting… If you want to give your audience something to look at, you need a lot of images when you produce a report. However, in general, video has the advantage of not being exclusive; it is often fun and can offer a variety of formats.

 

Is the ability to offer several video formats an advantage?

GD: We have produced long videos, with 30-minute reports, and short video clips that only last one minute. We like to play around with the different types of media and, for me, video is an exciting and very interesting medium for this reason. It works a little like a test laboratory. When they were starting out, Balade Mentale used a format that took a long time to produce, and required a lot of work. They then moved onto the “facing the camera” format, which enabled them to become faster and more efficient. They improved by using more humor and giving their videos more “punch”.

So, it really depends on who we are targeting. I know the current trend is to use short formats. People like watching something fast. It has to catch their interest, and if it’s not funny 4 seconds in, they turn it off. But we need to give people the possibility of using longer formats, in which we take the time we need, and provide a different relationship between the videographer and audience. We should not avoid these formats by giving into the trend towards quick consumption. Humankind is rich and diverse, and we also need to respect that fact.

Annales des Mines, Union numérique européenne, Réalités industrielles

The European digital union

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This issue of Réalités Industrielles is devoted to several subjects central to European Commission’s strategy, such as the data economy, the economic and social functions of online platforms, and cybersecurity.

 

To build a Digital Single Market is to construct Europe’s future. Given the many crises facing Europe, it is more important than ever to project ourselves into the future and lay the foundations for a European Union where all citizens will be able to live better.

We are convinced that our future is digital, since the present is already digital. Day after day, the new technology accompanies us, as we buy, sell, study or work on line. This technology, now part of our environment, is evolving in fields ranging from health to education and culture, not to mention transportation or research and development. It does not reckon with borders.

For this reason, the European Commission has set as one of its ten policy priorities the creation of a Digital Single Market. After six months of exercising this mandate, we presented, in May 2015, an ambitious strategy with no fewer than sixteen major work areas. We stand at the midpoint, having presented half of our proposals to the members of the EU Parliament and Council of Ministers. We want to modernize existing regulations in the key areas of e-commerce, telecommunications, audiovisual media, cybersecurity and copyright law. By doing this, we want to stimulate innovation propelled, in particular, by the data economy. We are delighted to see this issue of Réalités Industrielles devoted to several subjects central to our strategy, such as the data economy, the economic and social functions of on-line platforms, and cybersecurity.

Through its articles (far from exhaustive) from persons active in this domain, this issue of Réalités Industrielles discusses some of the most important topics for conceiving of a digitized European Union.

It opens with a firsthand account from a Polish entrepreneur, Éric Salvat in data-mining, a lively field of activity in all countries, whether in the EU or not.

This article is followed by a series of viewpoints about a “digital  Europe” with focus on, respectively: the geopolitics of data; the geopolitics of European policies and the policy of constructing common interests and defending EU achievements.

Policies directly related to the Digital Single Market are then brought under discussion: competition, integration of the socially vulnerable, personal data and digital platforms, defense and security, and health. Topics related to data or platforms are, directly or indirectly, well represented herein.

 

Foreword by Andrus Ansip, vice-president of the European Commission in charge of a Digital Single Market and Günther Hermann Oettinger, European Commissioner on the Digital Economy and Society

Introduction by Jean-Pierre Dardayrol, engineer from École des Mines, Conseil Général de l’Économie

Download full texts of the articles

Nabyla Daidj, Télécom École de Management

“Strategy, Structure and Corporate Governance”, by Nabyla Daidj

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Nabyla Daidj, associate professor at the Télécom École de Management, authors a book entitled Strategy, Structure and Corporate Governance.

 

Since the beginning of the 2000s, important changes in external environments have affected the corporate governance practices of firms all around the world. The corporate governance structure in each country develops in response to country-specific factors and conditions. Firms are currently engaged in a variety of dynamic business relationships such as business networks, strategic alliances, and conglomerates especially in high technology sectors.

Strategy, Structure and Corporate Governance by Nabyla Daidj, proposes to analyze the main trends and drivers of change in corporate governance of several kinds of organizations:

  • Large conglomerates. The development of large and complex conglomerate organizations have played an important role in the economy in Japan but also in other countries such as Korea with chaebols, which can be defined as closely intertwined industrial groupings,
  • Inter-firms networks (districts, clusters etc.),
  • “Recent” forms of inter-firms networks (business ecosystems).

The author examines several case studies and shows how shifts in markets and global competition are reconfiguring transactions within these organizations and are impacting corporate governance systems.

 

Nabyla DaidjAbout the author
Nabyla Daidj is Associate Professor of Strategic Management at the Télécom École de Management in France. She received her doctorate in Economics from the Pantheon-Sorbonne University in Paris in 1994, with a thesis on strategic alliances in high-tech industries.

 

Nabyla Daidj, Strategy, Structure and Corporate GovernanceStrategy, Structure and Corporate Governance
Expressing inter-firm networks and group-affiliated companies
Nabyla Daidj
Routledge, 2016
226 pages
112,53 € (hardcover)

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Noël Crespi, Networks and new services, Télécom SudParis, Internet of Things, IoT

Networks and new services: A complete story

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This book shines a spotlight on software-centric networks and their emerging service environments. The authors examine the road ahead for connectivity, for both humans and ‘things’, considering the rapid changes that have shaken the industry.

The book analyses major catalytic shifts that are shaping the communications world: softwarization, virtualization, and cloud computing. It guides the reader through a maze of possible architectural choices, driven by discriminating and sometimes conflicting business considerations. The new ICT capabilities lead us toward smarter environments and to an ecosystem where applications are backed up by shared networking facilities, instead of networks that support their own applications. Growing user awareness is a key driver towards the softwarization process.

Softwarization disrupts the current status quo for equipment, development, networks, operations and business. It changes radically the value chain and the involved stakeholders. The dilemma is between a ‘slow burn’ traditional step-by-step approach and a bold transformation of the whole infrastructure and business models. This book is essential reading for those seeking to build user-centric communication networks that support independent agile and smart applications. See more

 

About the authors

 

Roberto Minerva, Networks and new services, IoTRoberto Minerva, has a Master Degree in Computer Science from Bari University, Italy, and a Ph.D in computer Science and Telecommunications from Telecom Sud Paris, France. Roberto is the head of Innovative Architectures group within the Future Centre in the Strategy Department of Telecom Italia. His job is to create advanced scenarios derived from the application of emerging ICT technologies with innovative business models especially in the area of IoT, distributed computing, programmable networks and personal data. he is currently involved in Telecom Italia activities related to Big Data, architecture for IoT, and ICT technologies for leveraging Cultural Heritage.

Noël Crespi holNoël Crespi, Télécom SudParis, Networks and new services, IoTds Masters degrees from the Universities of Orsay and Canterbury, a Diplome d’ingénieur from Telecom ParisTech and a Ph.D and Habilitation from Paris VI University. He joined Institut Mines-Telecom in 2002 and is currently Professor and MSc Programme Director, leading the Service Architecture Laboratory. He coordinates the standardisation activities for Institut Telecom at ETSI, 3GPP and ITU-T. He is also adjunct professor at KAIST (Korea), and is on the 4-person Scientific Advisory Board of FTW (Austria). His current research interests are in Service Architectures, Communication Services, Social Networks, and Internet of Things/Services. He is the author/co-author of 250 articles and contributions in standardisation. See more

 

Noël Crespi, Networks and New Services, Internet of ThingsNetworks and New Services: A Complete Story
Roberto Minerva, Noël Crespi
Springer, 2017
Series “Internet of Things”
186 pages
100,21 € (hardcover) – 79,72 € (eBook)

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Claudine Guerrier, Security, Privacy

Security and Privacy in the Digital Era

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“The state, that must eradicate all feelings of insecurity, even potential ones, has been caught in a spiral of exception, suspicion and oppression that may lead to a complete disappearance of liberties.”
—Mireille Delmas Marty, Libertés et sûreté dans un monde dangereux, 2010

This book will examine the security/freedom duo in space and time with regards to electronic communications and technologies used in social control. It will follow a diachronic path from the relative balance between philosophy and human rights, very dear to Western civilization (at the end of the 20th Century), to the current situation, where there seems to be less freedom in terms of security to the point that some scholars have wondered whether privacy should be redefined in this era. The actors involved (the Western states, digital firms, human rights organizations etc.) have seen their roles impact the legal and political science fields.

 

Author Information

Claudine Guerrier is Professor of Law at the Institut Mines-Télécom and the Télécom École de Management in Paris, France. Her research focuses on the tense relationship between technology, security and privacy.

 

Security, Privacy, digital eraSecurity and Privacy in the Digital Era
Claudine Guerrier
Wiley-ISTE, 2016
284 pages
108,70 € (hardcover) – 97,99 € (E-book)

Read an excerpt and order online

 

Claude Shannon, a legacy transcending digital technology

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Claude Shannon, a major scientist from the second half of the 20th century, marked his era with his communication theory. His work triggered a digital metamorphosis that today affects all levels of our societies. To celebrate what would have been Shannon’s 100th birthday this year, the Institut Henri Poincaré will pay tribute to the scientist with a conference on October 26 to 28. At this event, Olivier Rioul, a researcher at Télécom ParisTech, will provide insight into the identity of this pioneer in the communication field, and will present part of the legacy he left behind.

 

 

Claude Elwood Shannon. The name is not well known by the general public. And yet, if the digital revolution the world is experiencing today had a father, it would doubtless be this man, born in 1916 in a small town in Michigan. His life, which ended in 2001, received little media coverage. Unlike Alan Turing, no Hollywood blockbusters have been dedicated to him. Nor has his identity been mythicized by artistic circles, as was the case for Einstein. “Shannon led an ordinary life, and perhaps that is why nobody talks about him,” observes Olivier Rioul, researcher in digital communications at Télécom ParisTech.

Though his life was not particularly extraordinary, Claude Shannon’s work, on the other hand, was thrilling in many ways. In 1948, he wrote an article entitled A mathematical theory of communication. “Its publication came as revolution in the scientific world,” explains Olivier Rioul. In this article, Claude Shannon introduced the concept of bits of information. He also outlined – for the first time – a schematic diagram of a communication channel, which included all the active parts involved in transmitting a signal, from its source to its destination.

Claude Shannon, Communication Theory, Olivier Rioul

First schematic diagram of a communication system, published by Claude Shannon in 1948. He explained that a channel could be “a coaxial cable, a band of radio frequencies, a beam of light, etc.”

 

Shannon and his magic formula

Yet in addition to his channel diagram, it was above all a formula published in a paper in 1948 that went on to mark the scientific community: C=W.log(1+SNR). With this mathematical expression, Shannon defined the maximum capacity of a transmission channel, in other words, the quantity of information that can be transmitted in a reliable manner. It shows that this capacity depends solely on the channel’s bandwidth, and the relationship between the strength of the transmitted signal and the noise in the channel. Based on these results, every channel has a throughput limit, below which the message transmitted from the transmitter to the receiver is not altered.

“Shannon’s strength lies in having succeeded in obtaining this result in a theoretical way,” insists Olivier Rioul. “Shannon did not provide the solution required to reach this limit, but showed that it exists, for all channels.” It would not be until 43 years later, with the work of Berrou, Glavieux and Thitimajshima in 1991, that Shannon’s limit would be nearly reached for the first time with the development of turbo codes.

Olivier Rioul believes the story behind this formula is out of the ordinary, and has been the subject of many historical approximations. “And the time was ripe. In 1948 – the year in which Claude Shannon made his results public – seven other scientists published similar formulas,” he explains, based on research carried out with José Carlos Magossi on the history of this formula.

However, the results obtained by Shannon’s peers were sometimes inaccurate and sometimes inspired by Shannon’s prior work, and therefore not very original. And all of them were part of the same environment, were in contact with each other or participated in the same conferences. All except Jacques Laplume, a French engineer who obtained a correct formula similar to Shannon’s at almost the same time. Yet what he lacked and what kept him from leaving his mark on history was the enormous contribution of the rest of Shannon’s theory.

Read the blog post What are turbo codes?

A pioneer in communications, but that’s not all…

While his work represents the beginnings of modern digital communications, Claude Shannon also left behind a much greater legacy. In 1954, behavioral psychologist Paul Fitts published his law, named after him, which is used to model human movements. In his scientific article, he explicitly cited Shannon’s theorem, referring to his channel capacity formula. “Today we use Fitt’s formula to study human-computer interactions,” explains Olivier Rioul, who worked with a PhD student on reconciling this law with Shannon’s theory.

The scope of Shannon’s work therefore far exceeds the realms of information and communication theory. As a lover of games, he developed one of the first machines for playing chess. He was also one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence and machine learning, with his demonstration in 1950 of a robotic mouse that could find its way through a labyrinth and remember the optimal route.

Although Shannon’s life was not necessarily extraordinary in the literal sense, he was undeniably an extraordinary man. As for his lack of fame – which the centenary celebration of his birth seeks to remedy – he himself had said, referring to his information theory, “In the beginning I didn’t think it would have an enormous impact. I enjoyed working on these problems, just like I enjoyed working on lots of other problems, without any ulterior motives for money or fame. And I think that a lot of other scientists have this same approach, they work because of their love of the game.”

 

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Claude Shannon, code wizard

To celebrate the centenary of Claude Shannon’s birth, the Institut Henri Poincaré is organizing a conference dedicated to the information theory, from October 26 to 28. The conference will explore the mathematician’s legacy in current research, and areas that are taking shape in the field he created. Institut Mines-Télécom, a partner of the event, along with CNRS, UPMC and Labex Carmin, will participate through presentations from four of its researchers: Olivier Rioul, Vincent Gripon, Jean-Louis Dessalles and Gérard Battail.

To find out more about Shannon’s life and work, CNRS has created a website that recounts his journey.[/box]

Read more on our blog :

Simplicity theory: teaching relevance to artificial intelligences

At La Rotonde, the scientific mediation is based on experiments

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A venue for exhibitions, mediation, and more generally scientific, technical and industrial culture, La Rotonde is a Mines Saint-Étienne center with a difference. Its role is to share knowledge with different audiences, young and old, who are fans of science or simply curious. For its director, Guillaume Desbrosse, this involves first and foremost encouraging an interest in science, and allowing each individual to apply the investigatory process. For this purpose, La Rotonde bases all its mediations on experiments.

 

“I never should have come here“. These are words that no cultural center mediator wants to hear from the public. Guillaume Desbrosse, director of the La Rotonde Center for Scientific, Technical and Industrial Culture (CCSTI), in Saint-Étienne, aims to inspire the opposite reaction. “We want visitors to feel included, and to realize that they have an important role at La Rotonde, regardless of the level of their scientific expertise” he advises.

Therefore, in order to be as inclusive as possible, the CCSTI focuses on experiments. So, out with traditional signs and their captions and in with a more hands-on approach. At La Rotonde, no exhibition is set up without experiments for the public to carry out, or without mediators to guide the public in understanding the results obtained from any interaction with scientific tools. Besides more direct contact with science, experiments also make it possible to instate a scientific approach and develop critical thinking. “We place the public in the same position as a researcher in a laboratory” summarizes Guillaume Desbrosse.

The hands-on approach is recognized as an asset at La Rotonde. “It is part of our identity, and appeals to the public” he confirms. Perceiving science as something to be enjoyed is an essential component of the vision of the Saint-Etienne CCSTI. Therefore, discovery is a very strong theme in the activities on offer to the various audiences. Moreover, Guillaume Desbrosse insists that “curiosity never killed the cat, quite the opposite!”

 

La Rotonde, a laboratory of ideas and innovation

The team of nine at La Rotonde is not afraid of taking risks. In 2012, the center devised the “Mondo Minot” exhibition for very young children, returning for a second time between February and November 2016. Open from two years of age, this exhibition is a real gamble. “The cultural activities on offer for preschoolers are scarce enough, but in terms of scientific culture, you could even say it’s a wasteland!” points out Guillaume Desbrosse. He goes on to say: “Nobody opens an exhibition from that age. The minimum age for admission is generally three years, but we have worked on offering inclusion from two years of age.”

In the case of this exhibition, particular thought has gone into the surroundings. The team called on the services of scenography designers to devise an elaborate graphic and immersive environment. A yurt has been set up, and the children can pass from one module to another through a somewhat unusual closet. The narrative and the experiments are constructed based on the five senses, offering a fun and educational introduction to science, suitable for such a young audience.

Therefore, La Rotonde is not hesitant about innovating and developing novel mediation methods. In this regard, it fully warrants its status as the center for scientific culture of Mines Saint-Étienne, the school which is also host to the La Rotonde exhibition area. This proximity with the world of research is “a real asset” according to the director of the CCSTI.

 

The team at La Rotonde bases its mediations on observation and a hands-on approach, which engages even the youngest audience.

 

Bringing the public and researchers closer together

Devising experiment-based scientific popularization programs with mediator guidance is no mean feat. Each practical experiment, each module is developed in close cooperation with researchers. “We are experts in popularization, but not experts in science” Guillaume Desbrosse admits humbly. Scientists are even requested to talk to the public about their specialty. “We want to create a link and interaction between science and society, our job consists of devising cultural mediation models and creating the conditions for this encounter” he continues.

Therefore, the team at La Rotonde prioritizes direct contact between researchers and the public, with in-depth consideration on how they can interact. For, behind all this, the aim is also to break the many stereotypes still used to depict scientists. “It is a long-term undertaking, because there are a lot of preconceived notions out there. In the collective unconscious, a researcher is male, generally older, reserved and has little interaction with the outside world” says the director of La Rotonde regretfully.

 

Restoring the image of science

These misconceptions can be combated by bringing female researchers or young PhD students, for example, to the La Rotonde center, but also involving them off-site programs conducted by the CCSTI for schools. The team thus conducted an experiment. Before a researcher came to talk to students in schools, they asked the children to draw how they imagined a researcher to be. Many had the stereotypical view described above. The students then produced another drawing after the scientist’s visit, for a more realistic result. “Meeting a male or female researcher shatters the myth, and offers an opportunity to broaden the scope of possibilities particularly for girls who find it difficult to see themselves in scientific professions” observes Guillaume Desbrosse.

La Rotonde and its team have set their hearts on building or rebuilding an awareness of research and those involved. Guillaume Desbrosse hopes above all to bridge the gap between science and society: “There is a resistance to science, and innovation. My goal is to develop a cultural habit in all audiences, and encourage interest in science.” Behind this aim lies a wish to build a society based on rational thought. This objective can only be achieved through collective effort, in which La Rotonde very much hopes to play its part.

 

Guillaume Desbrosse, directeur de La Rotonde.Guillaume Desbrosse, mediating between science and the public

With an interest in science from a very young age, Guillaume Desbrosse started his university studies in Poitiers to become a teacher. At that time, he discovered a passion for sharing knowledge and obtained a vocational degree in scientific mediation in Tours. This profession provided him with the contact with the public and science that he was seeking.

He joined La Rotonde in Saint-Étienne as a project manager in 2012. Guillaume Desbrosse subsequently developed his expertise in the field of popularization further with a Master’s degree in scientific communication completed in Grenoble. In 2015, he became director of La Rotonde, with the aim of continuing to innovate to promote the cultural mediation of science.

 

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Le+bleuLa Rotonde, a CCSTI with an active role in society and the region

The movement of Centers for Scientific, Technical and Industrial Culture (CCSTI) started in 1979 in Grenoble with La Casemate. It was followed by the Cité des Sciences in Paris in 1986. More CCSTIs subsequently emerged, including La Rotonde in 1999. This center is the only one to be incorporated in a school of engineering: Mines Saint-Étienne. It offers engineering students a glimpse of the promotion of scientific knowledge and sharing with society.

La Rotonde, like any CCSTI, seeks to play an active role in social and economic development by offering citizens the tools to understand major scientific issues of our times. Its local roots allow it to extend its influence particularly throughout the scientific culture network of its region. La Rotonde heads the network in the French department of the Loire for organizing the “Fête de la Science” science festival, coordinating all the activities in the department associated with this event. In addition to its exhibition area within Mines Saint-Étienne, La Rotonde organizes a large number of off-site activities, for schools, cultural centers, and associations, and receives 40,000 annual visitors.

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