With a launch planned for 2021, the DFSSU “Digital Revolution: Strategic and Geopolitical Issues” aims to provide continuing education to working professionals.

This training takes place over the course of 12 months with a rhythm of 2 to 3 days per month and an intensive 5-day practical module. The detailed schedule had to be modified following the Covid-19 pandemic and will be published as soon as possible.

Objectives

The aim is to train specialists in the strategic issues of the datasphere and in the tools that allow to exploit the data available in open sources.

The geopolitical approach is essential for the handling of these resources, which requires some technical knowledge but allows, by crossing immense volumes of spatialized and non-spatialized data, to understand the relationships between actors, the strategies of influence, the stakes of a geopolitical conflict or of a sensitive market, and to develop predictive analysis.

This course aims to:

• Understand and analyze geopolitical power dynamics and rivalries related to the digital revolution;
• Identify long-term strategic issues of the digital transformation and how they apply to companies and states;
• Understand the strategic environment in which organizations, both public and private, operate and the main risks and threats of this new environment;
• Understand the fundamentals for anticipating, mitigating, and responding to cyber risk;
• Use digital resources to infer actor strategies;
• Master open source investigation tools.

This training is mainly aimed at professionals from human and social sciences, or computer and engineering sciences, including executives from companies, the defense or diplomacy sector.

It welcomes both professionals with technical skills who want to learn about the strategic challenges of the datasphere, as well as strategy managers who need to learn about cybersecurity issues and the challenges of the digital revolution.

At the end of the training, participants will be able to:

• Take into account the digital revolution in the strategy of a state or a company in the medium and long term;
• Apply geopolitical methodology to multi-actor conflict situations and draw strategic consequences for their organization;
• Conduct a cyber risk analysis, develop a strategic analysis of these risks, and anticipate potential crises related to these risks.
• Anticipate changes in the strategic environment of organizations;
• Mobilize open source data collection and analysis tools.

The training will be structured around 10 thematic modules, alternating theoretical and methodological courses, workshops, practical work, exercises on scenarios and research work (writing a professional thesis). Site visits will also be organized, as well as participation in the International Cybersecurity Forum and the Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge.

Module 1: From cyberspace to the datasphere: the challenges of the digital revolution. This module introduces the main challenges of the digital transformation for society, companies, the State and organizations: security and strategic issues, uberization, artificial intelligence, competitive issues, impacts of the digital revolution on the economy, the economy and the environment.

Module 2: Geopolitics of digital technologies and sovereignty issues. This module shows how digital technologies – datacenter, cloud computing, cryptography – pose sovereignty issues for States today and the various solutions they are putting in place (whether on a technical, logical or legal level) to deal with them.

Module 3: Geopolitics of digital technologies: disruptive technologies. This module proposes to address the issue of disruptive technologies (AI, 5G, blockchain, quantum computing) in order to understand, through the broad outlines of their functioning, how they could modify social and political relations within our societies, and how the international competition and rivalry they generate become new geopolitical issues.

Module 4: Cyberwarfare: cyberspace as a place of conflict. This module focuses on the new challenges of digital conflict (modes of action, nature of threats, strategies of actors, surprises and strategic ruptures, case studies).

Module 5: State power strategies in the digital space. The aim is to study the power strategies implemented by various States or organizations in the digital space (China, Russia, the United States, France, the European Union, states notable for their grasp of digital innovation: Estonia/Israel).

Module 6: Security and stability of cyberspace: the challenges of international regulation. This module shows how cyberspace has become a major issue in diplomatic negotiations, how collective security is constructed in the digital age (GGE, OSCE, Code of Conduct (OSC), private initiatives, Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace, London Process), and how international law responds to the challenges of the digital revolution.

Module 7: Cybersecurity Strategies and Digital Risk Management. This module, taught by professionals, addresses the main cybersecurity issues facing companies and manufacturers: how to analyze risks? How to manage cyber risk? What is the cybersecurity ecosystem in France? It concludes with the development of attack scenarios and role-playing.

Module 8: Mapping the datasphere: how to represent the digital space. Mapping the datasphere is a particularly powerful tool for decision support. This module presents the methodological basis for implementing and interpreting geographic and geopolitical maps of digital space.

Module 9: Mapping the datasphere: investigations in digital space. Social networks and all open source data have become powerful intelligence tools that can be used for strategic and geopolitical analysis (informational influence mapping, actor networks, etc.). This practical module will present tools to implement this type of investigation.

Module 10: Digital revolution: data at the heart of power. This module presents the major societal challenges of digital technologies because of their ability to regulate and anticipate complex phenomena (pollution, energy consumption, the spread of a virus, etc.) and the transformations they bring about in the relationships between actors at all levels. The use of these tools nevertheless raises new ethical and political questions (personal data, privacy, democracy, etc.) that need to be taken into consideration.

Module 11: International Cybersecurity Forum and participation in the Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge. Participation in this key international cybersecurity event and in the Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge provides a panoramic view of French and European actors in the field of IT security and cyber defense.

Module 12: Restitution of the individual research work. The restitution of the research work of the trainees will be the subject of a special event, allowing the presentation to the trainees of the major issues studied and the results of this training.

Admission to this training can be granted:

• On title: Master 2 in the fields of human and social sciences (Geopolitics, Law, Management Sciences, Communication, Geography, etc.) or computer and engineering sciences;
• Or with the validation of professional and personal experience: the VAPP (Decree No. 85-906 of August 23, 1985 amended by the decree of August 19, 2013 – Articles D.613-38 to D. 613-50) may be granted to people who do not meet the above conditions after explaining their motivations and based on the examination of the coherence of their professional project, and on justification of at least 3 years of professional experience in the field of digital technology.

In both cases, admission is granted after selection based on the application file, then on a possible interview.

Cost :

Company: €7,500.

Public administration: €4,000.

Student in initial training: Standard tuition fees

Costs related to accommodation, food, and transportation are the responsibility of the participant or his/her employer.

Applications:

Applications, consisting of a letter of motivation and a curriculum vitae, must be submitted on the Paris 8 E-application website: https://appscol.univ-paris8.fr/admission-inscription/

Due to the health crisis, we have changed the training schedule. Until a new deadline is communicated, registrations remain open.

Course director: Amaël Cattaruzza, University Professor at Paris 8

Capacity: 15 to 20 places

Training location*: Condorcet Campus, Aubervilliers (Metro line 12, RER B)

*Depending on the evolution of the health situation, the courses may take place online.