The Need for IoT

The NEED for IoT project brings together microelectronics and the social sciences and humanities to explore the capacity to support the digitalization of the planet with finite resources. Electronic components require increasingly large quantities of rare earth elements. At CERAG, Karine Samuel is co-leading the project alongside Thierry Baron (Director of LTM) and Thomas Ernst (Scientific Director of CEA LETI). Two CERAG doctoral theses are funded within this framework: Lamia Mouloudi is focusing on securing the supply of these metals (supervised by Karine Samuel); Justine Marty is studying consumer integration for the sustainable management of the nanoelectronic supply chain (supervised by Blandine Ageron).

Because the project is multidisciplinary, it began with an organizational structure designed to help stakeholders understand each other's perspectives on the research topic. A weekly steering committee has been in place since the project's inception. The CDP is funding eight doctoral theses. In addition to the project manager, three people have been recruited to organize the CDP's cross-cutting and multidisciplinary aspects and to create a serious game. The CDP has expanded by creating a European-wide network (ENCOS Network) whose objective is to develop a sustainable approach to microelectronics by integrating social and environmental considerations.