With Francesca Bugiotti, teacher-researcher at CentraleSupélec, LISN (Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Digital Sciences), CNRS, Paris-Saclay University, academic director for CentraleSupélec of the program Bachelor in Artificial Intelligence, Data and Management Sciences et Guillaume Chevillon, co-academic director ESSEC Metalab for Data, technology & Society, co-academic director of the Master in Data Sciences & Business Analytics coordinated by CentraleSupélec/ESSEC.
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1- Why did CentraleSupélec and ESSEC Business School decide to come together on data issues? |
Francesca Bugiotti: CentraleSupelec and ESSEC are two schools of excellence in two different themes, engineering and management, which are the basis of today's innovation.
In recent years, we have become aware that data analysis is important, but we still need to work on the idea that it is not the analysis itself that is important, nor even the data, but knowing how to analyze it to develop knowledge that has an impact on business, research and the community in general.
So we see the importance of having business leaders who understand what data analytics and artificial intelligence are, and technical teams who can identify the value in this data and in the analyses they implement.
It is in this context that our schools have begun to work together on training courses that will impart these varied and complementary skills, so that students naturally cultivate the technical and managerial automatisms that are the basis of this innovation.
Guillaume Chevillon: The collaboration between our two schools goes back many years, and we were the first in France to offer a dual cross-degree program, where students from both schools can earn the Grande Ecole/Master in Management or Engineering degree from the other institution. This long shared history, linked to our shared humanist values of responsibility and autonomy, leads us to develop ever more programs together when the need to combine science, social sciences, and management becomes evident.
Today we have three programs entirely designed by CentraleSupélec and ESSEC: a Specialized Master® in Entrepreneurship, a Master in Data Sciences & Business Analytics and we will welcome the first class of the Bachelor in AI, Data & Management Sciences (BSc AIDAMS). These three programs, each in their own way, contribute to training enlightened citizens to understand, analyze, and lead the radical transformation that the advent of the era of data and artificial intelligence is bringing to businesses and society. No company, institution, or professional today can avoid understanding the workings and possibilities offered by data science, machine learning, and AI. Designing joint programs and combining our training and our professors is one of the best ways to prepare today's leaders.
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2- Why is it necessary for the two schools to work together on the challenges of data in the ecological and social transition? |
Francesca Bugiotti: The ecological transition is a rich subject that finds its drivers of innovation in the context of management as well as in that of engineering.
A company's actions must therefore be led by management that takes all these elements into consideration and is naturally capable of identifying the processes that can be put in place thanks to the new opportunities of data science and artificial intelligence for an environmentally friendly company.
This innovation can also be guided in a complementary manner by the company's technical team which, being aware of the overall value of the processes developed, can identify new sources of data and new analyses to lead the ecological transition.
Our two schools share this potential for innovation with more technical or managerial aspects, and can establish a synergy to train experts with complementary knowledge and a realistic vision of change. For example, an engineer could improve the writing of a code to decrease energy consumption or plan processes according to the optimal compromise between the time that constitutes the real need of the company and its environmental impact.
Guillaume Chevillon: The ecological transition and climate change mitigation cannot be achieved with a magic wand, nor with a miraculous technology that will solve all our problems (nuclear fusion, carbon capture from the atmosphere, etc.). They require everyone to adapt in all of our activities, both private and professional. Therefore, all our students must understand energy and pollution issues (an area where technical knowledge is essential) and the best ways for the public and private sectors to reduce their impact through better organization and management. Furthermore, technological development naturally has a negative impact on the environment, but it can—it must—contribute to solutions. The social transition is not independent of this process, because the development of AI can lead to numerous problems of discrimination, social alienation, and a breakdown of democratic consensus. The alliance between ESSEC and CentraleSupélec, both in our teaching and our research, allows us to be a force for good. We must rise to these challenges!
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3- What are the expectations of the younger generations? |
Francesca Bugiotti: The new generations are driving the evolution of society. They are attentive to the environment, climate change, and sustainable development. These topics have interdisciplinary implications, and the new generations are aware that it is necessary to have skills in several sectors of activity.
They expect the training we offer to be dynamic and for us to anticipate innovation for and with them.
It is important that schools are open in their expertise and that they allow a dynamic, interdisciplinary and transversal context which will allow their students to be the protagonists of the future.
Guillaume Chevillon: Younger generations are demanding of themselves and of us. They question our contradictions, our economic and thought models, our ways of being and working, and our unconscious cognitive biases. Their connection to the world and their access to knowledge are astounding when compared with the opportunities available to us in the 20th century.
Our students force us to question ourselves and innovate. As educational institutions, we believe that intellectual exchange, the cross-fertilization of ideas, and the encounter with diversity are essential to the education of today's citizens. But how can we reconcile these necessities with, for example, the necessary reduction in air travel? How can we ensure that continents do not close in on themselves and that our students maintain their understanding of cultural differences, thoughts, and visions? Does the solution lie solely in digital exchanges—social media today and metaverses tomorrow?
