Data Sprints: A Collaborative Format in Digital Controversy Mapping

International audienc

Linear lexicographic optimization and preferential bidding system

Some airlines use the preferential bidding system to construct the schedules of their pilots. In this system, the pilots bid on the different activities and the schedules that lexicographically maximize the scores of the pilots according to their seniority are selected. A sequential approach to solve this maximization problem is natural: the problem is first solved with the bids of the most senior pilot; then it is solved with those of the second most senior without decreasing the score of the most senior, and so on. The literature admits that the structure of the problem somehow imposes such an approach. The problem can be modeled as an integer linear lexicographic program. We propose a new exact method, which relies on column generation for solving its continuous relaxation. To design this column generation, we prove that bounded linear lexicographic programs admit "primal-dual" feasible bases and we show how to compute such bases efficiently. Another contribution on which our exact method relies consists in the extension of standard tools for resource-constrained longest path problems to their lexicographic versions. This is useful in our context since the generation of new columns is modeled as a lexicographic resource-constrained longest path problem. Numerical experiments show that this new method is already able to solve industrial instances provided by Air France, with up to 150 pilots. By adding a last ingredient in the resolution of the longest path problems, which exploits the specificity of the preferential bidding system, the method achieves for these instances computational times that are compatible with operational constraints

Designing Controversies and their Publics

Controversy mapping is a teaching and research method derived from the Science and Technology Studies and meant to explore and represent modern sociotechnical issues. Striving to make the intricacy of scientific debate readable for a larger public, controversy mapping is trapped in a classic simplicity/complexity trade-?‐off: how to respect the richness of controversies without designing maps too complicated to be useful? Having worked on the question for almost two years in a project bringing together social scientists and designers (emapsproject.com1), we can now propose a way out of this contradiction and suggest three ways of moving through the simplicity/complexity continuum. The first movement -?‐by multiplying the number of maps and by taking into account users before the beginning and after the end of the design process-?‐ allows to bypass the simplicity/complexity trade-?‐off. The second movement bind together narration and exploration and allows the publics to venture in the maze of controversies unraveling the story that will guide them out. The third movement allows to involve the publics through all the phases of a cartographic campaign and to engage it again and again

Staying with the trouble of networks

Networks have risen to prominence as intellectual technologies and graphical representations, not only in science, but also in journalism, activism, policy, and online visual cultures. Inspired by approaches taking trouble as occasion to (re)consider and reflect on otherwise implicit knowledge practices, in this article we explore how problems with network practices can be taken as invitations to attend to the diverse settings and situations in which network graphs and maps are created and used in society. In doing so, we draw on cases from our research, engagement and teaching activities involving making networks, making sense of networks, making networks public, and making network tools. As a contribution to “critical data practice,” we conclude with some approaches for slowing down and caring for network practices and their associated troubles to elicit a richer picture of what is involved in making networks work as well as reconsidering their role in collective forms of inquiry.</p

Les glitchs, ces moments où les algorithmes tremblent

De suite d’instructions traduites en langage informatique, les “algorithmes” ont été investis d’un sens bien différent depuis qu’ils sont devenus des compagnons quotidiens de nos activités en ligne, et influencent notre vie économique, sociale et politique. Ils sont aussi de vastes assemblages sociotechniques distribués qui comprennent données, plateformes, calculs, hypothèses, monétisation de l’attention, etc., qui reconfigurent l’innovation dans un large éventail d’activités et concentrent un pouvoir dont il est difficile de saisir la nature. La relation entre la société et ses algorithmes est conflictuelle. Par l’intermédiaire d’une méthodologie interdisciplinaire croisant sciences sociales et design, nous cherchons à nous saisir des erreurs commises au quotidien par les technologies de calcul pour en rendre visible certaines caractéristiques, rendre compte de l’expérience des utilisateurs de services numériques qui sont calculés par les algorithmes, et poser les bases d’une éthique de la négociation avec l’agentivité algorithmique. Nous faisons appel à la figure du glitch pour convoquer un imaginaire alternatif qui rééquilibre la relation entre intelligence humaine et intelligence artificielle.From series of instructions translated into programming language, “algorithms” have taken a very different meaning since they became daily companions of online activities and started influencing our economic, social and political life. They are also vast and distributed socio-technical assemblages that comprise data, platforms, computation technologies, hypotheses, attention, etc., reconfigure innovation in numerous fields of activities, and muster a power whose nature is difficult to grasp. The relationship between society and its algorithms is strained. Through an interdisciplinary methodology mixing social sciences and design, we seek to make sense of routine mistakes computation techniques make to foreground some of their features, account for the experience of users of online services who are being calculated by algorithms, and lay the foundations of an ethic of negotiation with algorithmic agencies. We call upon the figure of the glitch to summon an alternative imaginary that rebalances the relation between human intelligence and artificial intelligence

Notes de lecture

"Jan BAETENS ET Ana GONZALEZ: Le roman-photo", par Marc Lits; "I. CINTRAT, L. COLLES, M. MASSAU, C. MATEA BARREIRO, L. SOARES, Le récit de voyage,: ", par Marc Lits; "Bernard DARRAS: Au commencement était l'image", par Jean-Pierre Meunier; "Henri-Pierre JEUDY: L'ironie de la communication", par Marc Lits; "Roselyne KOREN: Les enjeux de l'écriture de presse et la mise en mots du terrorisme", par Benoït Grevisse; "Luc MARCO (dir.), Les revues d'économie en France (1751-1994)", par Axel Gryspeerdt; "Rogério SANTOS: A negociação entre jornalistas e fontes", par Marc Lits"Jan BAETENS ET Ana GONZALEZ: Le roman-photo", par Marc Lits; "I. CINTRAT, L. COLLES, M. MASSAU, C. MATEA BARREIRO, L. SOARES, Le récit de voyage,: ", par Marc Lits; "Bernard DARRAS: Au commencement était l'image", par Jean-Pierre Meunier; "Henri-Pierre JEUDY: L'ironie de la communication", par Marc Lits; "Roselyne KOREN: Les enjeux de l'écriture de presse et la mise en mots du terrorisme", par Benoït Grevisse; "Luc MARCO (dir.), Les revues d'économie en France (1751-1994)", par Axel Gryspeerdt; "Rogério SANTOS: A negociação entre jornalistas e fontes", par Marc Lit