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Data and climate change: lessons from six local experiments

Six local experimentsIn 2022, the Banque des Territoires had launched a call for expressions of interest with the OpenDataFrance association, to facilitate the deployment of data use cases likely to provide concrete answers to the fight against climate change in the territories. The result is six local experiments:In Saint-Omer and Alès, the data has been used to improve tree management, with the deployment of a "strategic tree species planting tool" for the former and a "tree charter" for the latter.To combat urban heat islands (UHI), the Vitré municipality has been working on mitigating and adapting to the phenomenon. Over a two-year period, data was collected by two students, revealing a difference of 6 and 7 degrees, as well as a one-week difference in flowering between town and country.The city of Bayonne, for its part, had been working on the creation of a new service for citizens, the "trame fraîcheur", to collect data on their thermal sensations and comfort in summer.More focused on participatory sciences, Niort had listed its open data on its portal and worked on the development of an interactive cartography to make accessible and enhance data linked to the sustainable city on three themes: biodiversity, adaptation to climate change and risk prevention/management.The town of Fécamp, for its part, has deployed a communal biodiversity atlas (ABC), an approach already implemented in over 2,800 communes in France. This involves defining a survey perimeter and carrying out participatory and scientific inventories to record and map the flora and fauna of a given area. On this basis, the local authority then draws up a species protection plan.In its report on the six experiments it has supported, Banque des Territoires draws six lessons from this feedback. Broad governance essential for data & environmental transition projectsEnvironmental transition policies are many and varied, and involve multiple departments (green spaces, urban planning, housing, mobility, etc.). "During the six experiments, a new problem emerged: the working groups brought together numerous departments and external partners, sometimes specializing solely in data, sometimes in environmental transition, rarely both. While the creation of business/data pairs was already a delicate exercise (vocabulary, specific skills, roadmap, inter-departmental project coordination, political support), environmental transition projects bring together even more players". Partnership governance of these cross-functional projects is therefore a major challenge to be anticipated.Data sharing still too timidEnvironmental transition policies, which are cross-functional par excellence, imply that competencies and data use necessarily involve several administrative levels (commune, intercommunality, départements, regions and decentralized government departments). "In the absence of perfect collaboration between these levels, the data produced and reused by each of them must be easily accessible, preferably in open data or in open circles of trust. However, this is not yet the case everywhere. During this experiment, numerous obstacles were observed in connection with the lack of technical and human resources in communes in terms of GIS (absence of data inventory carried out upstream, difficulty in acquiring the right software, lack of in-house skills): thus, open data is not always a reflex, despite the legal obligation to open up data promoted by the Digital Republic law back in 2016."Skills still too compartmentalizedBusiness departments are often dependent on the technical data expertise of a specialized department (IT Services or GIS department). "With the exception of highly specialized business practices, departments systematically express the need to increase their skills in collecting, manipulating and exploiting data, whether internal or external. In this sense, data training for local and regional staff is essential today".Database formats still too heterogeneous"All the participants in the experiments commented on the complexity, and often irrelevance, of the gigantic masses of data coming from numerous players. Often conceived in a strictly "producers" approach and for closed circles of reusers, data is not easy to find. Not always freely accessible (access control or viewing without downloading). They are difficult to use due to a lack of interoperability (unsuitable or incompatible technical, temporal and spatial reference systems). Finally, they are not designed with future reuse in mind (complex technical interface, ill-suited to the real needs of local authorities). These principles for good re-use of public data, known as "FAIR", are not sufficiently taken into account by public data producers". With this in mind, the French Ministry for Ecological Transition will shortly be publishing the Ecosphères portal, which will offer improved access to the tens of thousands of data items it references.Prioritizing projects for the long termFaced with the growing complexity of regulations, the diversity of players and data sets and formats, it is more than ever necessary to have a common vocabulary of data and indicators. "In view of the multiplicity of environmental transition indicators, local authorities must now prioritize their objectives. This prioritization will be carried out according to the reality of their territory, the main aim being to achieve sustainable projects. The main challenge for the players in the six areas presented is to mobilize resources over the long term (skills, partners and budget). Strong political support is therefore essential. It's a question of focusing on the long term, by concentrating on a design phase (of an action or solution studied) that is sufficiently solid to integrate all the players concerned. To achieve this, we need to build alliances and coalitions of local players, drawing in particular on members of civil society.

• Data

• Innovation

• Commons

• Environment

Published on 17/07/23



"Transitions 2050": what implications does digital technology have for achieving carbon neutrality in 2050?

"If the definition of carbon neutrality is more or less shared, the path to achieve it remains unclear, if not totally unknown, for most decision-makers and citizens (...). Faced with the climate emergency, the changes to be made are so great that it is essential to accelerate the debate on the societal choices to be made, but the path to achieving it remains unclear, if not unknown, to decision-makers and citizens.To this end, ADEME is submitting four scenarios for debate, four "typical", coherent and contrasting paths to lead France towards carbon neutrality: "Frugal Generation", "Territorial Cooperation", "Green Technologies", "Restorative Bet"."This unprecedented foresight exercise is based on two years of development work, the mobilization of a hundred or so ADEME employees and regular exchanges with a scientific committee and external partners and service providers who are specialists in different fields. Four scenarios The four scenarios for metropolitan France are based on the same demographic macroeconomic data and climate change (+2.1°C in 2100). They all lead to carbon neutrality for the country, but take different paths and correspond to different societal choices. They " require an orchestrated planning of transformations, involving the State, territories, economic actors and citizens".For each scenario, ADEME has built a coherent narrative, broken down into each economic and social sector, through structuring variables.The description of the scenarios is broken down into eight themes: society, food, housing, human mobility, technology-relationship with progress-digital technology-R&D, governance (decision-making scales, international cooperation), territory (rural-urban relationship, artificialization), macroeconomics.In the Generation Frugal scenario , " major transformations in the way we travel, heat, eat, buy and use equipment make it possible to achieve carbon neutrality without involving carbon capture and storage technologies, which are unproven and uncertain on a large scale. New consumer expectations, but above all new practices, are rapidly being expressed in consumption patterns. The growth in energy demand, which is depleting resources and degrading the environment, is coming to a halt, thanks to behavioral, organizational and technological innovations. The transition is mainly driven by frugality through constraint and sobriety".In the scenario Territorial cooperationIn the scenario, "society is transformed in the framework of shared governance and territorial cooperation. Non-governmental organizations, public institutions, the private sector and civil society find pragmatic ways to cooperate in order to maintain social cohesion. To achieve carbon neutrality, society is counting on a gradual but sustained evolution of the economic system towards a sustainable path combining sobriety and efficiency. Consumption of goods becomes measured and responsible, sharing becomes widespread.In the scenario Green technologiesIn the scenario, "it is technological development that allows us to respond to environmental challenges rather than changes in behavior towards greater sobriety. Technologies and digital technologies, which enable energy and material efficiency, are present in all sectors. The best technologies are widely deployed and widely accessible to solvent populations."In the scenario Restorative bettingscenario, "the lifestyles of the early 21st century are preserved. But the proliferation of goods consumes a lot of energy and materials with potentially strong impacts on the environment. Society places its trust in the ability to manage and even repair social and ecological systems with more material and financial resources to maintain a livable world. This exclusive reliance on technologies is a gamble as some of them are not mature. Four scenarios, four approaches to digital Each of these four scenarios questions the weight, the contribution, the status of digital technology in reaching carbon neutrality objectives: to what extent do digital technologies, their uses (and therefore their energy consumption), and their implementation complicate the trajectory towards carbon neutrality? Under what conditions could they contribute to it.The authors of the report integrate digital technology in the construction of each of these four scenarios. Depending on the scenario, it is one dimension, one facet, one approach to digital rather than another, that is emphasized: " A collaborative digital" in the Generation Frugal scenario " Digital technology for territorial development " in the Territorial Cooperation scenario " Digital for optimization " in the Green Technologies scenario " A ubiquitous Internet of Things and artificial intelligence " in the Fixer Bet scenario. These different approaches to implementing and mobilizing digital technologies lead to different levels of consumption in data centers (the second most important vector of environmental impact, after terminals, according to a recent study by Arcep and ADEME). study by Arcep and ADEME). Data center consumption is stable in the Frugal Generation and Territorial Cooperation scenarios " thanks to the stabilization of flows"; Data centers consume 10 times more energy than in 2020 in the Green Technology scenario and up to 15 times more in the Repair Bet scenario. This work, says ADEME, is only the first part of a series of serials that will be published between January and March 2022. The whole will then be put into perspective during the Grand Défi Écologique, an event organized by ADEME on 29 and 30 March 2022 in Angers.

• Innovation

• Environment

Published on 11/02/22



Digital decarbonation: new professions, but what kind of training?

The Observatoire des métiers du numérique, de l'ingénierie, du conseil et de l'évènement (OPIIEC) has set out to identify the skills, employment and training needs of companies in the digital sector, in light of their obligations to reduce their environmental footprint.Companies in the digital and engineering sectors see the ambitions and obligation to reduce their environmental footprint " as simply another technological evolution on top of those they have already overcome... The sector is also used to constant innovation, and therefore considers itself perfectly capable of integrating this new paradigm"."The environmental criterion is already gaining ground in recruitment, both on the employer's side and the candidate's, particularly among young graduates ", notes OPIEEC. "To date, the training on offer lacks maturity and clarity: it is not yet equipped to meet the challenges of tomorrow, despite the real abundance of solutions available to companies".New professions ..."While the ecological transition has not revolutionized core businesses, new areas of expertise seem to be developing in response to the challenges of digital sobriety".A number of "new" professions are emerging within larger organizations.Responsible Digital Manager: he/she provides expertise and acts as an interface between the IT Department, the CSR Department and the General Management. He/she creates value through the responsible design of digital products and services.Sustainable Development Director: he/she oversees an organization's sustainable development impacts, activities and aspirations. " The job is becoming increasingly important to companies as they steer strategies linked to sustainable development and sobriety issues in general. These people supervise project managers, heads of responsible departments and work full-time on these issues".Carbon auditor: he/she takes "exhaustive photographs" of all the GHG emissions of a particular organization, event or project. He/she facilitates decision-making in terms of actions to be taken to reduce carbon impact.Responsible Digital Trainer: provides expertise and support to Green IT managers. He/she is responsible for raising awareness and training internal teams."These new professions tend to be reserved for larger companies," says OPIEEC. " In smaller companies, these functions are often integrated into general management, or even technical management".... and new skills for core businessesWhile business function mapping is only slightly affected, "all business functions will have to comply with the requirements to reduce the impact of digital technology: management, sales and marketing functions, technical/product departments, but also all types of other support functions".The study identifies a series of key skills directly linked to reducing the environmental footprint of digital technology.In terms of hardware, this means knowing how to use input peripherals (mouse, trackpad, tablet, microphone, Ethernet cable, etc.), mastering processing peripherals (processor, microprocessor, CPU, motherboard, etc.), storage peripherals, understanding output peripherals (screens, network output devices, different ports, etc.), understanding how to power devices, and mastering man-machine interactions.When it comes to software, it's important to master software eco-design via various tools, the user interface (UX Design), automation and the continuous integration environment.Finally, when it comes to network and cloud computing, this means mastering architecture in all its forms (functional, solution, application, data, software, integration, technical), mastering cloud computing architectures (private, hybrid, public) and virtualization.A training offer that is insufficient in number, unclear and, according to the majority of players, ill-adapted."Some engineering schools and universities offer modules on the subject ", such as ESAIP in Angers and the University of La Rochelle. " But the subject is unfortunately only touched on in the majority of training courses".This brief initial training offer does not cover the entire spectrum of the theme.In particular, OPIEEC points to" The absence of a training course totally dedicated to the theme"."Training that skims the surface of eco-design (Life Cycle Assessment - LCA) and doesn't go into digital optimization in depth"."Business and engineering schools insufficiently involved"."Students are sometimes forced to self-train on their own initiative to acquire a base of knowledge".As far as continuing education is concerned, OPIEEC observes " a profusion of offerings", and even " a Far West effect ", as it is " so difficult to find one's way around". This is due to the multiplicity of players positioning themselves to offer training on this theme: digital service companies (ESN), consultancies, training organizations and associations. Complementary training modules are often " too generic".An action plan?The OPIIEC study concludes with an action plan:Define and clarify the concept of the digital environmental footprint;Raise awareness among all players in the ecosystem;Densify and increase the reliability of technical training;Adapt the mapping of professions.

• Environment

Published on 23/04/24



Geocommunes and territorial data: the new map factory of public action

Geographic data is everywhere: geolocation, navigation applications, urbanization plans, risk prevention plans, intelligent territories. "As a privileged instrument for data analysis and representation, maps allow us to understand territorial issues from a spatial perspective. The conversion of cartography to digital and the Web has transformed the role and status of maps as an instrument of public action," explains geographer Boris Mericskay. At a time of open data, massive data, and artificial intelligence, the map as an instrument of public action is undergoing a major transformation.In 2018, a parliamentary report on sovereign geographic data called on the state to fully support the transformation of the IGN (Institut national de l'information géographique et forestière).In 2021, the IGN identified a new "compass" for all of its activities and decided to place its activity in " a dynamic of building the commons: a set of geographic information databases (production) and digital tools (dissemination) accessible to the greatest number of people".A Senate report inOctober 2022 validated the refocusing of the IGN on public service data useful for the management of the ecological transition and called on the IGN to strengthen its partnership with communities. The IGN strengthens its ties with local communities through GeocommunesSince the law n° 2015-991 of August 7, 2015 on the new territorial organization of the Republic, known as the "Notre law", the regions have seen their competences reinforced in terms of geographic information. Each region is now responsible for ensuring "the coordination, through a digital services platform that it runs, of the acquisition and updating of reference geographic data necessary for the detailed description of its territory as well as for the observation and evaluation of its territorial policies, data which it promotes access to and reuse," observes a Senate report devoted to the National Institute of Geographic and Forestry Information (IGN).The regions have become the strategic drivers of geographic information policy. In parallel with the rise of the regions, the major cities are also devoting more and more resources to geolocalized information. Some pioneering cities such as Nice, Bordeaux, Lyon, Rennes and Strasbourg have particularly strong ambitions in this area.Geocommons" and the Geoplatform program at the heart of the IGN's repositioning.In 2019, the IGN has undertaken to transform itself and redesign its model. " From a mission of production-distribution of geographic information, the IGN is evolving towards the roles of data aggregator, expert, coordinator or certifier. It is refocusing its action on the production of sovereign base data as well as on the management of vast projects to support major public policies directly financed by their sponsors.The "Geocommons" concept and the geoplatform program are thus at the heart of the IGN's repositioning. Intended to take over from the current geoportal, the geoplatform should constitute a shared infrastructure for the management and distribution of geographic information. However, Senator Vincent Capo-Canellas observes that there isstill a long way to go. He notes that, in addition to its own resources for updating various layers of the large-scale reference system (RGE), the IGN now aggregates data collected by partners, mainly from the public sphere. "A collaborative space that prefigures the geoplatform allows the IGN to collect data collected by the departmental fire and rescue services (SDIS), surveyors, local authorities or natural parks.After outlining the prospect of a single cadastre between the tax authorities and the IGN, and reviewing the project for a single cadastral parcel representation (RPCU) and the simplified street plan (PCRS), Senator Vincent Capo-Canellas called for " strengthening and formalizing the IGN's collaborations with the local sector" and emphasized, in conclusion, " the importance for France of having a sovereign geographic reference institution such as the IGN to support prevention policies. The Geoplatform, future public space for geographic informationThe Geoplatform program aims to provide public authorities with a collaborative and shared infrastructure for the production and dissemination of geodata. Its ambition is to allow public policy makers and local authorities who wish to do so to benefit very simply from advanced functionalities to disseminate their own data and open up to contributing communities. This future space, a geographic component of the State-platform recognized as a major digital project of the StateThis future space, a geographic component of the State-platform recognized as a major digital project of the State, responds in particular to the challenges of sovereignty of State data in the face of the Internet giants. The IGN points out four issuesBuild an open and shared platform dedicated to geographic information and contributing to the deployment of the State-platform,Organize the collaborative mechanism for the maintenance and enrichment of geographic data within the public sphere,Build an ecosystem of users; equip, support and connect existing communities,To propose a new robust infrastructure that will ensure the recovery of existing services of the IGN and its partners; to optimize the access path to these resources and to offer complementary functionalities.The total cost of the project is estimated at 21.5 M€. The Geoplatform, winner of the 2nd call for projects of the Fonds pour la transformation de l'action publique (FTAP), has received 3.6 M€ in funding. The rest of the funding is supported by the IGN. 

• Data

• Innovation

• Commons

Published on 16/05/23