Les politiques numériques, vecteurs d’apprentissage de la coopération intercommunale ?

Abstract

This work examines the impact of ICT in the building process of intercommunality. The study examines the stakes and implications of extending the “Very-High-Speed Broadband Project” beyond its initial town-level application (Gonfreville l’Orcher) to include the entire metropolitan area of Le Havre. Qualitative analysis was prioritised by means of interviews with local representatives and inter-borough administrators and also with the IT technicians who worked on the initial project. The study has produced several important findings. The integration of ICT more and more frequently in the public affairs brings a new light on the institutionalization and even more, on the territorialisation of intercommunality. Whereas public transportation, culture, sport, economics and social affairs are constant policies, the ICT sector remains confidential for most of the public actors and is especially invested in a unequal way. Therefore, a township commitment on this issue offers leadership opportunities to the elect, but facilitates also the entry of entrepreneurs or political outsiders in the intercommunal scene. The hybrid status and volatility of ICT sets them as interface between three main key issues : political gain, creation of community solidarity, technical learning. Actors of intercommunality experience their commitment in ICT field around these three dimensions sometimes with moderate ambitions or cautious waiting. Finally, as ICT bring political, technical and territorial complexity as well as a real institutional creativity, it reveals and feeds dynamics around intercommunality governance.

Keywords

• information communication and technology
• intermunicipality
• governance
• spatial planning
• learning
• Le Havre