After our homes and workplaces, the social environments in which we spend time are referred to as third places. These are places for gathering, adventures – but at the same time, of safety, security and control. In the following article Müge Özman[1], Mélissa Boudes[2], Cynthia Srnec (FESP-MGEN)[3], Nicolas Jullien[4] and Cédric Gossart[5], members of IMT’s INESS idea lab, explore our …

The prefecture of the Tarn department worked with a research team from IMT Mines Albi to meet their needs in managing the Covid-19 crisis. Frédérick Benaben, an industrial engineering researcher, explains the tool they developed to help local stakeholders visualize the necessary information and facilitate their decision-making.   “The Covid-19 crisis is original and new, because it is above all …

This article was originally published (in French) in the Conversation.  By Laura Nirello, IMT Lille Douai, and Ilona Delouette, University of Lille.   With apocalyptic accounts of conditions in French nursing homes, where deaths have soared (over 9,000 estimated as of 3 May 2020), the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed, more than ever, the hardships facing this sector. For years, care providers who …

This article originally appeared (in French) in newsletter no. 17 of the VP-IP Chair, Data, Identity, Trust in the Digital Age for April 2020. The current pandemic and unprecedented measures taken to slow its spread provide an opportunity to measure and assess the impact of digital technology on our societies, including in terms of its legal and ethical contradictions. While …

Stéphane Safin, Télécom Paris – Institut Mines-Télécom The lockdown has upended the ways we communicate and maintain social connections. It has forced us to rethink our social habits and to create new ones. The use of video conference systems has become widespread. But is this technology designed to facilitate work as effective when it comes to socializing on a personal …

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 …

Hervé Debar, Télécom SudParis – Institut Mines-Télécom ; Gaël Thomas, Télécom SudParis – Institut Mines-Télécom ; Gregory Blanc, Télécom SudParis – Institut Mines-Télécom and Olivier Levillain, Télécom SudParis – Institut Mines-Télécom The current health crisis has led to a rise in the use of digital services. Telework, along with school closures and the implementation of distance learning solutions (CNED, MOOCs, …

Rumors about the origins of the Covid-19 epidemic and news about miracle cures are rampant. And some leaders have taken the liberty of putting forth questionable figures. To combat such misinformation, Paolo Papotti and his team at EURECOM have developed an algorithmic tool for the general public, which can determine the accuracy of the figures. In addition to its potential for …

In agriculture, biological alternatives to pesticides are being sought for environmental and health reasons. Use of a virus as a biocontrol agent for crop pests has become relatively widespread. One such example is Cydia pomonella granulovirus. It has been used for decades to target a crop pest that is fond of apples and pears: the codling moth. Miguel Lopez-Ferber, a …