Christian Després

Christian Després

Ministry for an Ecological Transition
Defense and Security Service
Head of the Innovation and Research Mission

Abstract

During major crises, the problem of decision-making by the public authorities is of maximum criticality, both on the material and human level and on the political level because of the importance of the stakes. It is indeed a question of anticipating the evolution of situations which are most of the time of an immense complexity. And, while our time often gives us to dream with the prowess of artificial intelligence, the richness of data flows, the power of computing resources... it offers nothing really effective in terms of helping to the strategic decision. The SANCTUM project has not resolved this question, but it has made it possible to federate the efforts of many actors both in the field of formal sciences and in the field of human and social sciences. His current conclusion, while awaiting the promises of the future, is that it is necessary to know how to combine quantitative and qualitative approaches.

About the Speaker

Christian Després is head of the Innovation and Research mission within the Security and Defense Service of the French Ministry of Ecology, which is particularly responsible for transport and energy. He is an expert in issues of global security and strategic crisis management and writer of methodological guides and articles dealing with these issues. His current focus is assisting in strategic decision-making and thinking about future crises. For this purpose, he leads an international scientific think tank (SANCTUM project) in conjunction with the EU-HYBNET project. Previously, as chief engineer, he was involved in the studies or the management of major infrastructure projects in France and the Middle East, which gave him solid experience in the field.