Le séminaire du CIS accueille Jean-Christophe Plantin le 8 avril 2021 de 14h à 15h30.
Making space programmable: Networking power via other means
EN. Current innovation in networking aims to make communication infrastructure more flexible, agile, and adaptable to massive and fast-changing data traffic. This model of programmable networking, currently promoted by tech giants, replaces proprietary hardware with open components, modular interfaces, and software.
While this trend is mostly studied at the component level (such as racks, servers, telecom antennas, etc.) this talk will show that programmable networking is similarly applied at the spatial and architectural levels: containerized modular data centers embody the desired properties of network flexibility, mutability, light-weight, and modularity, but at the architecture level. Describing how space is made programmable will reveal a surprising, yet essential dimension of the power struggles over the future of networking infrastructure.
Jean-Christophe Plantin is Assistant Professor in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE (London School of Economics and Political Sciences). His research investigates the politics of digital platforms, the evolution of knowledge infrastructures, and the rise of digital sovereignty. Before joining the LSE in 2015, he was Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan (Department of Communication & School of Information), and holds a PhD from Université de Technologie de Compiègne. He has been Visiting Scholar at Fudan University, Northwestern University, and Sciences Po Paris.