Law and Innovation: A Chronicle of a Marriage in the Making
Electronics engineers and legal experts working side by side: this is the pioneering initiative launched by the Institute of Electronics and Systems (IES) and the “Dynamics of Law” laboratory at the University of Montpellier.
The smart city? We’re hearing more and more about it. Alain Foucaran is certainly not the only one discussing the concept; this comes as no surprise from the director of an Institute of Electronics whose mission is to develop the key innovations for the modern city. A city“littered with sensors,” he says: “managing water, energy, health, security issues, population flows… In all these areas and many others, the devices designed by the IES provide concrete solutions.”
“Any innovation can face resistance”
Devices that are both smart and autonomous, designed to meet emerging needs… But which can pose entirely new problems. For example: what happens to the data about us? Should I allow myself to be “geolocated”? Credit card glitches, infringements on civil liberties, data ownership, cybercrime… The list of potential harms for which our wonderful electronic servants could be held responsible is long. “Any innovation can encounter obstacles,”sums up Alain Foucaran. Yet while in the past we were content to settle disputes as they arose, today we would like to anticipate in advance what backlashes might be expected. An area in which electronics engineers admit their limitations…
Anticipating societal barriers
For the past year, the IES has been collaborating with a research unit focused on a very different field: the “Dynamics of Law” research unit led by Éric de Mari, a professor at the University of Montpellier. The goal is to explore the legal implications of technical innovations in order to prevent litigation. “When difficulties arise, the individuals or organizations that have been harmed invariably turn against the company that developed the technology in question,”says Éric de Mari. Consulted downstream on patents and copyright protection, the UM experts are thus also entrusted with a genuine forward-looking mission upstream: it is up to them to anticipate future obstacles.
A role that suits them quite well, continues Éric de Mari, who welcomes the already fruitful cooperation with the IES. “We often think of law as an auxiliary discipline that exists to maintain order. But this field also drives innovation. In a society in constant flux, the rules of coexistence must be continually reinvented. It is up to us to explore this creative dimension of law.”