Translator: Karen Lapprand Reviewer: Claire Ghyselen
Is it working? Yes it is!
There is a sector of activity
which, from start to finish,
has major social
and environmental implications
for the planet.
This sector of activity
emits 6% of the world's greenhouse gasses.
As much as the aviation industry.
This sector of activity consumes 10% of the world's electricity,
and it continues to grow.
This sector generates 15 billion dollars
of annual profit
to traffickers.
This sector is
digital technology.
I would like to share with you today
a few simple solutions
that we can put into place now
to reduce all of these impacts
and to also avoid compromising
our children's ability to access
digital technology tomorrow.
We can achieve this
simply by becoming
responsible digital citizens.
My name is Vincent Courboulay, I have been a professor and researcher
at the Université de la Rochelle for fifteen years.
To give you a sense of the evolution of all things digital in that time,
in April 2004,
I was, by invitation, one of the first users
of an instant messaging system
that today has 1.5 billion users:
Gmail.
Fifteen years ago,
phones looked like this.
Today,
Apple's
market value
is worth
more than a thousand
billion
dollars
thanks almost exclusively to the following:
the iPhone.
Plenty of other things have changed in 15 years
but that's not the point.
(Laughter)
And so, fifteen years ago, I embraced digital technology.
And very quickly, a saying arose:
"If you are not paying for the product,
you are the product."
I don't know about you,
but I don't like being a product.
So I began to scratch beneath the surface of all the glamour
that surrounded and still surrounds technology.
And what I found
was large-scale disaster.
To put this in perspective, I will follow digital technology's life cycle.
To properly evaluate the cost of technology
one must consider its life cycle.
It's essential
to avoid making errors and to really grasp
the environmental, social and economic costs.
The life cycle of digital technology begins
in the mines of Asia and Africa
with the extraction of raw materials.
In Asia,
we find rare-earth minerals
called "digital vitamins."
Entire regions are razed
to ensure that a monopoly of these strategic metals
is awarded to countries ready to pay the price.
In Africa we find blood minerals:
cobalt, gold,
tantalum, tungsten and tin.
And when we get drift of the methods of extraction of these minerals,
the term "blood minerals" is by no means a distortion.
According to Unicef, in 2014,
40,000 children
worked
in the southern mines of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Children seven years-old
talked of working twelve-hour days
to earn one to two dollars.
And every year, there are hundreds of deaths.
Next comes the production phase.
And the situation
is hardly better.
Smartphones do not grow on trees.
Yet sub-contractors drive output of break-neck speed.
up to 20,000 products a day
for the best-sellers.
To keep up with demand,
recruitment is a no-holds-barred process.
They are capable of emptying
entire schools
close to factories
to put students into
"mandatory traineeships"
on the production line
for up to 11 hours a day.
When the technology reaches in Europe,
things don't get any better.
To get our apps up and running
to obtain videos,
our beloved series,
to stock our information, our photos
this requires data centers,
huge factories consisting of hundreds of computers.
Right now in the world
the number of data centers is close to 9 million.
If we put them side by side,
we are looking at the equivalent of 25,000 football fields.
Imagine the amount of electricity required to run these things.
Once stocked, the information needs to be relayed to your doorstep.
This entails fibre optics,
copper,
3G broadband, 4G broadband
and soon 5G broadband
Everyone here probably has a box.
It consumes enormous amounts
of materials and energy.
And that's not taking into account
the health and social problems linked to excessive use
of so-called social media
or of video games.
And once
these devices have reached their shelf life,
what becomes of them?
They become garbage.
In 2014,
it's estimated that we produced 42 billion kilos
of electronic
and electric waste.
And, according to Interpol,
three-quarters of this tonnage
is subject to mafia activity.
Three quarters.
The crazy thing is that coherent management of this waste
could generate revenue
of more than 350 billion euros
and create - and this is proven -
thousands of jobs.
After researching this,
I realized that we must develop better practices that demonstrate
responsibility and
restraint where technology is concerned.
A bit like what we have already done with our cars.
At night, you turn off your cars, you don't keep the engine running.
And yet we keep our ADSL boxes on all night
no one is using them.
If you have a crack in your windshield
smaller than a 2-euro coin,
you know who to call.
You don't get rid of your car.
If your trunk is full,
you empty it, you don't change cars.
If the motor doesn't run like it used to,
you don't change cars, you get it fixed.
We should do the same with digital technology.
But let's say you do want a different car,
Nothing is stopping you from buying a second-hand one.
Yet we hesitate to do this with our smartphones and computers.
And if you want to buy a new car
- you have the right -
would you not prefer to choose a cleaner one,
that is easier to repair?
It's time to change our attitude -
with respect to technology.
We need to develop good habits.
What are those good habits ?
We all know them
because they are the same
as those used in other parts of the economy.
They are the famous 4 R's.
The first is to refuse.
I refuse
to systematically change my smartphone.
Today, the rate of renewal is about every 20 to 22 months,
less than two years.
That's too much.
In business, we replace our computers with new ones
every three or four years: as soon as the warranty is up.
We need to change the way we think.
We need to control our consumption.
The next good habit, the next solution,
is that of...
reuse and repair.
I agree with you: it goes without saying.
We would like nothing more than to repair our computers and smartphones,
but, true, it's difficult and complicated,
but, little by little, things are changing.
mainly
thanks to European laws and their French adaptation.
For example,
the Ministry Responsible for Sustainable Environmental Change commissioned me
to be part of a working group
whose objective was simple:
come up with a means of alerting consumers as to when smartphones need repair.
This means that we, the consumer,
at the moment of purchase,
will be able to establish with certainty
when and how our smartphones will need repair.
The third lever is that of reuse.
Let's return to the automobile analogy.
We're driving on the highway at 130, our children in the backseat,
people who are dear to us,
traveling in a used car.
We know nothing of the previous owners,
but it being a used car is reassuring.
Yet we're still reluctant to buy
used smartphones and computers.
We need to get rid of this mentality
for the planet's sake.
It creates jobs.
The last point is recycling.
You've heard me say
three quarters of the stuff
ends up in the mafia's hands.
A simple gesture
is to make sure that when finished with an item,
we drop it off at a certified disposal centre.
These four gestures, which apply to all economic sectors,
when applied to technology,
create satisfaction,
value,
jobs,
create savings and contribute to the circular economy.
There are but gains.
We must
adopt these best practices
in our businesses,
in our homes.
Some companies and communities are trying
to become digitally responsible.
The university,
the town,
a well known company in the vicinity of Niort,
all these different actors are conscious of the digital footprint
and are doing something about it.
At home,
there are things we can do.
I spoke of it earlier.
We can add power switches to our boxes to turn them off at night.
Simple gestures that go far.
And we must
communicate this information to our young people
who are particularly attached to their devices and new technology.
Young people, rightly so,
are an important part of the picture.
Last year,
I did a stint at the City School of Surgères
- a college and high school in one not far from here -
to help them obtain the title of
"digitally responsible" institution.
But more than the title,
what I found fascinating,
was that the administration,
the technicians,
the teachers, of course, and the students,
got together
for a common purpose.
Some simple examples.
The technicians, once sensitized to the importance of being digitally responsible,
asked the Rector
permission
to turn off
the computers at night.
Reduction in electricity bills,
reduction in greenhouse gas emissions,
the prolonging of the shelf-life of equipment,
all this with one simple action.
Through this project, the teachers were able to address
the whole question of sustainability,
but also of physics,
chemistry,
math, geography,
geopolitics
and music.
The idea was not to suggest
"Let's stop everything!"
but simply,
"Let's change how we do things."
This might have surprised you,
to hear me link music with digital responsibility?
Well allow me
the immense
pleasure
of presenting to you
the musical group from the City School of Surgères
in its digitially responsible version of the Big Flo and Oli's song
« Dommage » ("Too Bad")
(Applause)
(Music)
Like every day, he takes his tunnel,
not knowing if he will emerge the next day.
Hired to bring out the minerals,
he is exposed to dangers to his health.
Working 12-hour days and poorly paid,
he does not want to go and cowers at the back of the cart.
Once disembarked, he sees that the light is gone,
and from that day forward, he never saw it again.
Ah, you didn't know
Well, now you know, it's happening!
We have all said it: "Oh, how sad! How very sad!"
This has to end.
With her good marks, she knows she has what it takes.
Her monotonous routine is that of making iPhones
It is what she must do if she wants her diploma
And her father reminds her:
"Hey, your smartphone, it's what you wanted."
Sometimes she imagines herself studying in Limoges
In her study carrel, and, next, receiving her diploma and robe
But Yasmine is forced instead to make iPhones
While at the factory, it's impossible to study.
Ah, you didn't know
Well, now you know, it's happening!
We have all said it: "Oh, how sad! How very sad!"
This has to end.
Ah, you didn't know
Well, now you know, it's happening!
We have all said: "Oh, how sad! How very sad!"
This has to end.
Like every evening, Thomas comes home
and exchanges his identity for that of his avatar
In life, true friends are not to be had
On social media, he counts no one.
Hours spent
in front of the screen
only to find himself ever alone.
On the Net, he searches for a gun to buy.
He pulls the trigger and ends his life.
Ah, you didn't know.
Well, now you know, it's happening!
We all said: "Oh, how sad! How very sad!"
This has to end.
Akit took the initiative to help his parents
He gets up every morning to work with his little hands.
Under the supervision of an aunt,
he works diligently.
This is how it is for thousands of children.
He digs for metals: silver, gold, palladium
He risks his life with lithium particles
for a miniscule wage
just to be able to give his mother some cash.
Ah, you didn't know
Well, now you know, it's happening!
We have all said: "Oh, how sad! How very sad!"
This has to end.
We have all said: "Oh, how sad! How very sad!"
So very, very sad.
We have all said it: "Oh, how sad! How very sad."
So very, very sad.
Oh, you didn't know?
Well, know you know, it's happening!
We have all said: "Oh, how sad! How very sad!"
This has to end.
Oh, you didn't know?
Well, now you know, it's happening!
We have all said: "Oh, how sad! How very sad!"
This has to end.
Better to be digitally responsible than not!
Your turn!
Better to be digitally responsible than not!
(Applause and cheers)
(Music ends.)
(Applause and cheers)