De l’artefact à la naissance de l’instrument pour la maîtrise de la consommation d’électricité : approche ergo-sociologique de la genèse instrumentale des smart‑grids

Abstract

In the current context of sustainable development issues, energy efficiency included, smart grids must develop new options allowing users to control their electricity consumption. This paper looks at the way in which smart grids are becoming a demand-side management resource (DSM). The question of the appropriation of these new technologies by end-users is central to understanding the brakes and the levers for the construction of their use and of DSM activity. This paper proposes an interdisciplinary approach articulating theories from ergonomics and sociology to study and understand the process of smart grid appropriation. In the proposed framework, the appropriation of smart-grids is considered as an instrumental genesis, i.e. a passage from artifact to instrument for activity. The ergo-sociological approach offers a broader view of this genesis from three focus points: (i) micro, based on the study of the activity mediated by smart grid technology and on the development of resources for and within the activity; (ii) meso, based on the study of social practices as the birthplace of the mediated activity and; (iii) macro, looking at the interactions between actors of the socio-technical network in which the mediated activity occurs.

Keywords

• smart-grids
• appropriation
• instrumental genesis
• social framework
• socio-technical network