Intellectual, professional, political, personal, private: every aspect of our lives is affected by technological developments that are transforming our society in a profound way. These changes raise specific challenges that require a connection between the empirical approaches of sociology and philosophical questioning. Pierre-Antoine Chardel, a philosopher, social science researcher and specialist in ethics at Institut Mines-Telecom Business School, answers our …

As a repository of French culture, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF, the French national Library) has always sought to know and understand its users. This is no easy task, especially when it comes to studying the individuals who use Gallica, its digital library. To learn more about them, without limiting itself to interviewing sample individuals, the BnF has joined …

Stéphanie Tillement, IMT Atlantique – Institut Mines-Télécom and Olivier Borraz, Sciences Po Until the 1970s, nuclear power plants were considered to be inherently safe, by design. Accidents were perceived as being highly unlikely, if not impossible, by designers and operators, in spite of recurring incidents that were not publicized. This changed abruptly in 1979 with the Three Mile Island (TMI) accident in the United …

In August 2019, it was announced that the Astrid project for sodium fast reactors (SFR) was to be abandoned. In late 2020, Stéphanie Tillement, a researcher at IMT Atlantique, analyzed the rationale behind this abandonment in an article for I’MTech. But what is the global situation? Does this technology still have a future? Stéphanie Tillement and her colleague Frédéric Garcias analyze the …

Laura Draetta, Télécom Paris – Institut Mines-Télécom and Valérie Fernandez, Télécom Paris – Institut Mines-Télécom Some digital innovations, although considered to be of general interest, are met with distrust. A responsible innovation approach could anticipate and prevent such confidence issues. “Alicem” is a case in point. Alicem is a smartphone app developed by the State to offer the French people …

In this time of crisis, solidarity has been widely called for in response to the risk posed by the epidemic. In this article, Sophie Bretesché explores the historic origins of solidarity as a societal value. A sociologist at IMT Atlantique, she specializes in issues of risk and memory in relation to organizational change. In light of past epidemics and their …

Fabrice Flipo, Institut Mines-Télécom Business School Covid-19, an anthropocene disease? This is how professor Philippe Sansonetti sees the crisis we are experiencing. As a reminder, this concept proposed by Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer in 2000 refers to the present geological time interval, in which “conditions and processes on Earth are profoundly affected by human impact”. This period has not yet …

IMT Atlantique | risk management, sociology, nuclear safety

In socially controversial sectors, marketing professionals who promote potentially harmful products are faced with a conflict of values. This is the case for the tobacco, alcohol and pharmaceutical industries. Between economic logic and established social norms, how do these individuals handle the negative view of their profession? Loréa Baïada-Hirèche is a researcher in business ethics at Institut Mines-Télécom Business School. …

Article written in partnership with The Conversation France.  By Mélissa Boudes (Institut Mines-Télécom Business School), Guillaume Compain (Université Paris Dauphine – PSL), Müge Ozman (Institut Mines-Télécom Business School) So-called collaborative platforms have been very popular since their appearance in the late 2000s. They are now heavily criticized, driving some of their users to take collective action. There is growing concern …