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Knowledge transformation
The Open Institute supports the transformation of knowledge generated by research and academics into concrete innovations that meet the needs of society, with the help of partners.
The aim of the Institute is to contribute to the production of renewed knowledge for action (political, public, social, corporate) in a context of digital transformation of our societies.
This implies:
- Promoting access to the knowledge produced by Sciences Po’s research centers and schools
- Supporting interactions between the student and research communities in order to experiment and create practical applications, including tools dedicated to open and citizen science and supporting public and private decision-making processes
- Supporting the transfer of research productions to the market
THE TRANSFORMATION FORUM
The knowledge produced by members of the Sciences Po community is accessible to the wider public and civil society with a specific focus on:
- high school students, in particular via Sciences Po’s Equal Opportunity Programme, which oversees projects developed with high schools in the CEP (Conventions Education Prioritaire) network
- recent Sciences Po graduates and young alumni, through initiatives led by Sciences Po Careers and the Sciences Po Alumni professional groups
- the general public interested in the challenges of digital transformation
Initiatives undertaken in this framework include Sciences Po's diverse events or the podcast series, Conversations with Sergei Guriev.
CONVERSATIONS WITH SERGEI GURIEV
This podcast series helps listeners understand the changes taking place in and for our societies. Sergei Guriev, former Provost, discusses urgent social issues with members of our research communities. Season 3, devoted to digital issues, is available below.
THE UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE'S CIVIC LEARNING PROGRAMME
Within the Undergraduate College, the Civic Learning Programme is an exercise in citizenship that enables students to fully assume their social and civic responsibilities. By blending together the theoretical knowledge they acquired and the data and information gained during their field experience, students build a personal project on a theme of their choice in the fields of general welfare, the common good and the promotion of equality and solidarity.
In the field of digital technologies, students work with a number of organizations. For example, many students work with associations that seek to combat exclusion and the digital divide, or support local governments in their digital transitions, for example by promoting gender equality in digital professions. In this context, students work on a range of projects, from running workshops to working directly with people experiencing digital exclusion. Students also work with schools or local authorities, where they contribute to strengthening the protection of certain vulnerable groups and awareness-raising on digital challenges (for example, workshops on recognizing fake news, campaigns against cyberbullying, etc.).
Recent examples of student projects include:
- The democratic and civic stakes of digital education and its challenges (Les enjeux démocratiques et citoyens de l’éducation au numérique et à ses enjeux) - Yasmine El Ghazi
- Developing public policies to promote the digital inclusion of disadvantaged people (Le développement des politiques publiques en faveur de l’inclusion numérique des personnes précaires) – Soline Bernard
- Leading the digital transformation and healing the digital divide - Promoting independent living for the elderly in the digital age (Mener la transformation numérique et guérir la fracture numérique – Promotion de l’autonomie des personnes âgées dans l’ère numérique) - Alice Lord
- Progress and Problems in Closing the Digital Divide - Taiga Yamada
THE POLICY FACTORY
Beyond dissemination, the knowledge produced at Sciences Po can be essential in formulating recommendations for public and private actors. A distinction is made here between :
- Research-based analyses: the production of research, mainly from research centers, intended directly or indirectly for public and private decision-makers, in the form of reports, notes, and policy briefs,
- Pedagogical initiatives: practical programs and workshops developed within Sciences Po’s graduate schools, aimed at training students to combine theory with the application of acquired knowledge and methodologies.
RESEARCH-BASED ANALYSES
Beatriz Botero Arcila (EDD), Rachel Griffin (EDD). “Social media platforms and challenges for democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights”. Policy Department for Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs Directorate-General for Internal Policies PE 743.400 -April 2023. European Parliament. 2023, pp.154.
Aymeric Luneau (médialab), Manon Berriche (médialab), Dominique Cardon (médialab), Jean-Philippe Cointet (médialab), Théophile Lenoir (médialab), Béatrice Mazoyer (médialab), Andreï Mogoutov (médialab), Thomas Tari (médialab). “L’expertise sanitaire à l’épreuve des espaces publics numériques”. Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l’alimentation, de l’environnement et du travail. 2023.
Bartoletti, Ivana, and Raphaële Xenidis (EDD). "Study on the impact of artificial intelligence systems, their potential for promoting equality, including gender equality, and the risks they may cause in relation to non-discrimination." Conseil de l'Europe. 2023.
Gray Anderson, Louise Beaumais (CERI), Iris Lambert (CERI), Thomas Lindemann, Sami Makki, Frédéric Ramel (CERI) et al.. Considering Practices of Conflict Data Production, Analysis, Dissemination, and Practitioner Reception: Findings, best practices and recommendations. [Research Report] Université de Lille. 2023
Sébastien Bock, Aya Elewa, Sarah Guillou, Mauro Napoletano, Lionel Nesta, Evens Salies, Tania Treibich. “Documenting the widening Transatlantic Gap.” 2024.
Johanna Deperi, Ludovic Dibiaggio, Mohamed Keita, Lionel Nesta (OFCE). "Ideas Without Scale in French Artificial Intelligence Innovations". 2023.
For more OFCE publications, check out their website.
Chair Digital, Governance and Sovereignty
- Dominique Boullier (CEE). Social media reset. 2024.
- Jean-Pierre Landau and Sarah Nicole. Monetary Sovereignty in a Digital World. 2024.
- Fabien Lechevalier. Digital Fairness Act: The EU's next project to ensure a fairer digital environment for consumers. 2024.
- Guillaume Tusseau (Law School). Taking Chaos Seriously: From Analog to Digital Constitutionalism(s). Watch Guillaume explain his article below.
Chair in Work and Organisational Change
- Sophie Louey, Cécile Thomé, Henri Bergeron (CSO). Le télétravail contre les collectifs de travail ? (FR), 2025
- Sophie Louey. L’important c’est de télétravailler ! ». Les incitations de l’État au télétravail pendant les Jeux Olympiques et Paralympiques 2024 (FR), 2024
As part of the DE FACTO (FR) project, Sciences Po, in partnership with AFP, CLEMI and XWiki SAS, has contributed to the development of a platform (FR) to bring together fact-checks from leading French media (including AFP, 20 Minutes, Libération, Les Surligneurs, and France Info) tutorials, analyses and tools to help decipher fake news, and research and policy briefs analyzing the impact of misinformation on media space and democracy.
Policy briefs produced as part of the project include :
- Felipe Lauritzen. Misinformation and the Evolution of Fact-Checking in French Media. 2024.
- Sergei Guriev, Emeric Henry (Economics department), Théo Marquis (Economics department), Ekaterina Zhuravskaya. Short-term Policies to Fight Disinformation. 2023.
- Shaden Shabayek, Héloïse Théro, Dana Almanla, Emmanuel Vincent. Monitoring misinformation related interventions by Facebook, Twitter and YouTube: methods and illustration. 2022.
- Emeric Henry (Economics department). Sifting truth from fiction: enhanced protection from fake news. 2022.
The Technology and Global Affairs Innovation Hub creates resources for both students and practitioners, informing and empowering present and future decision-makers as they navigate the complex intersection of technology, business, and international relations. Recent policy briefs published by the Hub include:
- Beyond Electoral Uncertainty: Rethinking the Transatlantic Alliance in Times of Change - Trade, Technology, and Innovation, 2024
- How Young European Citizens Propose to Combat Disinformation in Democratic Societies, 2024
- Building an inclusive AI governance process: takeaways from public consultations, 2024
PEDAGOGICAL INITIATIVES IN SCIENCES PO’S GRADUATE SCHOOLS
A number of Sciences Po's graduate schools offer students the opportunity to participate in rigorous, supervised exercises combining theory and practice that respond to real-life issues, developed in partnership with associations and public and private actors. The aim of these initiatives is to provide recommendations and practical applications.
The Public Policy Incubator welcomes first-year Master students to think about and design public policies differently. Divided into small groups, students work on a problem of general interest (called a “challenge”) proposed by external partners.
Examples of recent challenges proposed on digital themes include:
- How to improve information and digital literacy as well as critical thinking skills among young people so that they can be literate users and informed citizens in the age of generative AI ? Défi proposé par l’UNESCO
- Comment lutter contre la haine et la mésinformation en ligne en mobilisant les acteurs locaux d’un territoire ? Défi proposé par l’Association #jesuislà
- Comment permettre à chacun d’organiser le devenir de ses données numériques après sa mort et faire en sorte que ses volontés soient respectées ? Défi proposé par le SIILAB (lab d'innovation porté par la DREETS des Hauts-de-France)
- Comment outiller les décideurs publics, notamment les collectivités locales, pour leur permettre d’avoir une meilleure connaissance des problématiques de santé sur leurs territoires et de leurs déterminants, notamment avec les données de Santé publique France? Défi proposé par Santé publique France
- Comment les dispositifs numériques peuvent faciliter l'accueil des victimes, les signalements ou dépôts de plaintes tant pour les usagers que pour les services de police ? Le cas du commissariat du 13e arrondissement. Défi proposé le Commissariat du 13ème arrondissement de Paris
- Comment prévenir et détecter le cyberharcèlement durant la vie de l’élève ? Défi proposé par le Ministère de l'Éducation nationale et de la Jeunesse
The objective of the DIGILAW Clinic is to train and work with law students to find concrete solutions to a practical problem, including:
- How can the values and rights needed to sustain democracies and the common good be upheld and ensured in our digital world?
- What is the role of the law in this environment where technologies, infrastructures, big players and users themselves construct normativities beyond the law itself?
DIGILAW involves teams of students and researchers working on action-research projects addressing these issues, designed in collaboration with a range of partners from civil society, public institutions and private actors. The DIGILAW clinic is funded as part of the New Digital Rule of Law project with Project Liberty’s Institute (former McCourt Institute).
The projects for 2024-2025 are:
- Access to harmonized public safety standards. Partner: Public.Resource.Org, Inc.
- Algorithmic Surveillance in the Criminal Justice System. Partner: Sciences Po Law School, Assistant Professor Rebecca Mignot-Mahdavi
The Group Projects is an unique module in the Urban School's LAB in which students respond to a real territorial issue posed by a public, private or associative organization. Every year, students present their final projects during the “Lab Day.”
The Urban School strives to work on all the problems that contemporary societies may encounter in cities and territories, including the accumulation of data and technologies.
Recent projects linked to the digital theme include:
- Evaluation du dispositif «Atelier flash» et capitalisation des stratégies de requalification de friches et/ou des espaces publics en centre-ville ou entrée de ville (Master STU) - in partnership with Direction Générale de l’Aménagement, du Logement et de la Nature
- La fabrique urbaine à l’heure de la ville-hashtag (Master STU) - in partnership with PUCA
THE INNOVATION PAVILION
Transforming knowledge can also mean in certain situations adapting it for the market (and allowing us to generate additional financing for research activities).
In concrete terms, this means setting up structures and mechanisms to bring students and entrepreneurs together, to create optimal conditions for incubating innovative initiatives.
The Center for Entrepreneurship is a cross-disciplinary program designed to support Sciences Po students interested in learning about entrepreneurship: from entrepreneurial management to business creation. Backed by Sciences Po's extensive network of teachers, partners, researchers and alumni, the Center for Entrepreneurship has three missions:
- Raise awareness of entrepreneurship and technological innovation among Sciences Po students
- Incubate innovative startups
- Foster public debate on entrepreneurship and innovation.
Each year, 10 to 15 start-ups are incubated at the Center for Entrepreneurship, which organizes an annual presentation session, the Demo Day (FR), designed to bring together young entrepreneurs, investors and institutions.
The Impact Project Studio (FR) is an educational initiative aimed at positioning the School as a major hub of research and innovation in the field of impact. Co-founded with the Sciences Po Centre for Entrepreneurship, and in partnership with Accenture, the Studio is both an educational programme and a proactive mentoring initiative. Its aim is to train students in the research and development of business models incorporating impact criteria.
The studio brings together students, academics, international institutions and companies to explore sustainable business models. For students, it is also a space for inventing and developing innovative impact-driven solutions, then testing them in the field.
Nous contacter
- Director : Jean-Philippe Cointet
- Secretary General : Carly Hafner
- Executive Director of the TIERED project : Marie-Hélène Caitucoli
