Digital Twin: the revolution in the global economy and industry
Publié le October 27 2023
Innovation and research are at the heart of our concerns at Telecom SudParis. It is also one of the aims of Noel Crespi and Roberto Minerva, two Telecom SudParis faculty members. The publication of their work, The Digital Twin, jointly edited with Adam T. Drobot and published by Springer, marks a major turning point in the field of digital twins.
The Digital Twin is about harnessing the power of technology, business practices and digital infrastructure to deliver revolutionary improvements for society. With contributions from 90 experts from around the world, the book summarizes four decades of progress and digital successes and defines the potential of the digital twin for future decades. The work describes how digital twins are set to play a key role in specific applications and in important sectors of the global economy, making it a must-read for executives, policy-makers, technical managers, researchers and students.
The book includes 38 chapters covering the concepts of digital twins, supporting technologies, and practices and specific implementation strategies for a range of production and service sectors.
The Digital Twin: the ideal starting point for teaching and research in all fields of application
Digital twins make it possible to create products, processes and services that are faster, cheaper and error-free. This includes systems engineering for energy, communications, construction, transportation and food processing. It is also about solutions to make peoples’ lives better and more enjoyable through life sciences, smart cities and artistic creations.
The uses of digital twins concern the entire product and service lifecycle, and the book notably describes the necessary path for companies and public bodies to integrate digital twins into their toolbox.
So, how will digital twins play a key role in important sectors of the global economy in the coming decades? Find the answer in this book, available on Amazon!
Most of us use GPS – the Global Positioning System – to guide us to and from work every day or to show us the way to this year’s holiday destination, and it’s a catastrophe when it doesn’t work! GPS is also widely used in professional and scientific environments, such as transport and civil engineering, for geolocation services, topography, and geodesy – the study of the Earth’s shape – not to mention the military applications that were the raison d’être behind the GPS system.
Physically, GPS relies on radio signals at specific frequencies. If, for one reason or another, these cannot be accessed in good conditions, geolocation is disrupted or perhaps impossible. Here, we are going to look at one reason in particular: jamming, which can be voluntary or involuntary and is separate from spoofing.
GPS jamming causes a “denial of service”, meaning that it is unable to calculate our position. This can be critical because many sensitive applications rely on it, such as civil aviation, defence and emergency services. Voluntary jamming can be one aspect of a cyberattack in armed conflicts such as the one in Ukraine, for example.
To understand what this means, let’s first start with an explanation of what GPS is.
“GPS” is a receiver
“GPS” is commonly understood as the function that provides “geolocation” information, by which we mean the physical location of a device in the geographical sense of the term. It aims to produce mathematical quantities, known as coordinates, that can be used to place an object in a representation system, such as a map. In addition to geolocation, GPS allows for the receiver’s clock to synchronise to within a few dozen nanoseconds of coordinated universal time. For example, this allows mobile networks and banking and stock market transactions to be synchronised. With the latter, for instance, we can instantly timestamp the sale of a stock and refer to its market price to better than the nearest second.
We often call the object we use for GPS by the system’s acronym, GPS. However, we should call it a “GNSS receiver”. GNSS stands for Global Navigation Satellite Systems and refers to all the systems that allow for geolocation across the globe: the American GPS system, Europe’s Galileo, Russia’s GLONASS and China’s Beidou. So, if you are in Europe, you really should say, “I’ll be there in five minutes, my Galileo says I’m near your place”.
In practice, satellites send radio signals to Earth. These are received by an antenna integrated into the receiver (such as a smartphone) and processed to calculate the antenna’s geographic coordinates. It is important to note that there is no response from the receiver to the satellite: the link is only one-way. Therefore, “GNSS” systems are position calculation systems, not tracking systems.
And this is important information for the subject at hand: a disruption to GPS impacts the reception of the signal by the device on Earth. Even if we were to scramble all the receivers on Earth, the satellite network would continue to send its signals like nothing had happened.
Jamming GNSS signals
Jamming a system is an action, not necessarily a voluntary one, that consists in emitting a signal over the system’s frequency band and which will add to the system’s own emissions, disrupting its operations. We commonly call this additional signal “noise” that is added to the natural noise created by the sum of the signals from all existing radio sources on Earth, the Sun, in space and even from human activity. To give a representation of what the noise in question is, the simplest analogy would be everyday language.
Imagine you are at a table in a restaurant speaking to the person in front of you. You can hear and understand what they are saying. You hear but do not understand the other conversations around you: this is natural noise that is added to ambient noise such as traffic, for example. Then, someone at the next table starts speaking very loudly, so much so that you can no longer understand what the person in front of you is saying. You’ve been scrambled!
For GPS, the nature of the waves changes, but the principal remains the same: anything that is emitted over the frequency band and does not come from the system’s satellites acts as a scrambler.
What’s more, the signals from the satellites are in fact very low power, just a few tenths of a femtowatt in reception. This makes them very sensitive to jamming . A scrambler located a few kilometres away emitting a few milliwatts, about the same power as a Wi-Fi emitter, is enough. To carry on with our previous comparison, imagine that the person in front of you had a very soft voice that was hard to hear – the slightest noise nearby would prevent you from understanding them.
Voluntary and involuntary jamming
Involuntary jamming generally results from a faulty device. This can be a telecommunications device like a Wi-Fi router or relay antenna that emits outside its operating frequency and over a GNSS band. This can also come from electrical devices such as mobile telephones or microwave ovens with poor electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) due to damage or a lack of respect for standards of manufacture or use. In common parlance, we call these devices “poorly isolated”.
Voluntary jamming is like a cyberattack. This can happen during electronic warfare, such as in the conflict in Ukraine where jamming from both sides has been proven. In this case, the aim is to disrupt the enemy’s tactical organisation by depriving them of information about their deployment positions or to counter their guided weapons.
→ This article is a translation of an article originally published in French on The Conversation under a Creative Commons Licence. Read the original article.
Why choose Telecom SudParis? The strategic choice of digital technology
Publié le August 4 2023
Digital technology is already having an impact on our daily lives and those of businesses, but it remains a long-term strategic challenge for most business sectors. It is therefore wise to choose a recognized generalist Engineering degree in this field.
of our students where hired within three months of graduation
43k
is the average salary for our graduated students when they start working
25%
of our graduated students are working around the world outside France
41%
of our graduated students are working in leading companies
Digital engineers are highly sought after by recruiters. Each year, the Conférence des Grandes Ecoles conducts a survey on Engineer’s first job. The latest survey shows the dynamism and attractiveness of these graduates of Télécom SudParis.
Join a prestigious institute and an exceptional network of schools
Telecom SudParis is first and foremost a school of the Ministry of Industry. This closeness to the business world is part of its DNA. It also has the particularity of being both a co-founding member of the Institut Polytechnique de Paris and a school of the Institut Mines-Télécom, the leading network of engineering schools in France.
You can take advantage of mobility opportunities within the Institut Mines-Télécom (IMT): 8 schools to choose from in 3rd year. You can also spend six months studying at another school in the group to follow a theme that is not offered on your campus, while remaining a graduate of your home institution.
Since 2019, the Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris) is a world-class alliance that we are forming with the École Polytechnique, ENSTA Paris, ENSAE Paris and Télécom Paris. Thanks to the experience, history and roots of these five founding schools, IP Paris is positioned as a leading teaching and research institution in France and internationally.
The first campus is shared with Institut Mines-Télécom Business School and allows a perfect mix of engineers and managers. It is located in Evry-Courcouronnes, part of The UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC).
The second campus is in Palaiseau on a 5,000m2 site, in a building built by the prestigious Irish studio Grafton Architects and shared with Télécom Paris, in the École Polytechnique district.
404 CTF is the biggest hacking competition in France, with over 3,000 participants for its 2nd edition, held this year. On June 15, the finalists came together at VivaTech, the European trade show dedicated to technological innovation, for the awards ceremony.
Capture the flag
The term “404” refers to the online error message and the acronym CTF stands for “Capture The Flag”. The aim of the competition is to invite people interested in cybersecurity to collect as many flags as possible, concealed in code snippets hidden in secure online files.
Jointly organized by the DGSE, Telecom SudParis and its HackademINT student club, OVHcloud, and VivaTech, 404 CTF aims to identify talent to address the shortage of 15,000 jobs in the field of cybersecurity in France.
Participants of all levels
The participants were from all walks of life and included professionals (45%), students (34%), apprentices (10%), high-school students (4%), and retirees. 2,343 people solved at least one of the 20,206 challenges. For 3 weeks, from May 12 through June 4, they tested their ability to exploit a variety of IT security issues through 90 challenges divided into 13 categories, including intercepting and decoding 5G radio transmissions, testing the reactions of printed circuits, and fooling artificial intelligence.
A new category was also added to make the competition more open to beginners: Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT), which involves seeking and analyzing data from freely accessible sources such as news sites and social media.
An innovative educational project
404 CTF was designed and organized by first-, second-, and third-year students at Telecom SudParis, supervised by the DGSE and Telecom SudParis faculty, as part of the school’s ambition to contribute actively to France’s cybersecurity strategy. It is the result of a partnership agreement to promote cybersecurity in teaching, signed by Telecom SudParis, the French Directorate General for External Security (DGSE) and IMT, and is an innovative educational project that aims to respond to the challenges of digital sovereignty.
Many thanks to HackademINT Presidents Quentin Michaud (2021-2022), Julien Ribiollet (2022-2023) and Marie Leclerc (2023-2024), whose commitment has made this achievement possible.
Telecom SudParis is enhancing its engineering training, for sustainable and responsible digital technology
Publié le May 5 2023
Since 2021, Telecom SudParis is enhancing its trainingto fully incorporate ecological transition issues. The challenge is to train “cybersecurity,” “video game” and “AI” engineers who are aware of the environmental implications of their innovations, and better respond to the urgent needs for environmental skills in the labor market.
Pollution generated by computer servers, the race for the latest cell phone model, the real and hypothetical dangers of 5 G – digital technology is often cited as a cause of environmental problems. Yet, with its immense potential for ecological transformation, it is actually part of the solution. According to several reports*, digital technology could reduce global CO2 emissions by 15 to 20% by 2030.
Responsible digital engineer: an innovative career to meet the challenges of climate change
Telecom SudParis trains hundreds of engineers specialized in digital technology every year, so it has a key role to play in building responsible digital technology. That’s why, starting this September, the engineering school has decided to introduce 120 hours of training dedicated to sustainable development in its required first-year core curriculum, equivalent to 4 ECTS – the points system for recognizing degrees throughout the European Union – out of 60 required credits. Students who wish to go further may enroll in a special “Environment” program offered as an option.
Scientific tools behind the notion of ecological transition
A far cry from greenwashing, this new course has been developed with the entire educational team and reflects a commitment to empower students to contribute actively to environmental sustainability.
What is the purpose of studying networks within an environmental context? How can probabilities contribute to sustainable development? What are the rules for more frugal, less energy-intensive programming? Through serious games and visual approaches such as the climate fresco, students will address these questions from the beginning of their studies through two modules, “Climate and Energy” (60 hours) and “Responsibility, Ethics and Controversies Surrounding Transitions” (30 hours). In addition to this training, students will study responsible research (30 hours) throughout their first year.
“Our former curriculum already included a unit dedicated to the philosophical and sociological aspects of sustainable development. Now, we’re expanding this approach by introducing modules on energy/climate issues,” explains Emmanuel Monfrini, Deputy Director of Education.
Accelerating the environmental transition with the “Environment” course offered through the Integrate chair
The optional “Environment” program is based on high-level engineering training, specialized in digital technology, combining expertise in computer science, networks, data science, physics and images through an “environmental” approach. This ranges from (“smart”) ecological optimization to changing individual practices. Hands-on projects and 9 to 10 months of internship experience will complete the two modules, “Digital Technology and Energy Consumption: Taking Action, from Processors to Software” and “Environmental Risk.“
Ecological transition at the heart of the new curriculum
As Emmanuel Monfrini explains, “Students must be able to forge their own personal ethics in relation to environmental issues. That’s why we’ve developed a charter for engineers, to build responsible digital technology, based on ten commitments, including abandoning digital technology if its negative impacts on the environment are too great.”
Of course, industry and the labor market are also a central focus of Telecom SudParis’ educational shift. “Today’s students must be able to list environmental skills on their resumes.”
Junior Enterprise Sprint wins The Most Impactful Project Award JEE
Publié le March 27 2023
Telecom SudParis is proud to announce that Sprint, the junior enterprise, has won the Most Impactful Project* 2023 award at the Excellence Awards held by the European Confederation of Junior Enterprises (JEE). This award was presented in Brussels on March 13 during the JEE Winter Conference 2023, which brought together junior enterprises from 16 European countries.
A project with academic, commercial and societal impact
The JEE award recognizes the involvement and work of the project members: Alizée MESNARD (1st year at Telecom SudParis), project manager, supported by Arthur CHAUVE (2nd year at Telecom SudParis), Sprint President, Yohan FRANÇOIS (1st year at Telecom SudParis), Lucien LY (1st year at Telecom SudParis) and Amrit MBUMBA (IMT-BS). The project also benefited from the assistance of Quentin MICHAUD (3rd year at Telecom SudParis), for the application development part.
The team competed in the “Most Impactful Project 2023” category. To be eligible, the project must have been sponsored by a client, be related to the field of study of the school from which the junior company comes, and generate an impact at one of the three following levels: academic, commercial and societal.
Their “Political advertising barometer” project consisted in collecting and analyzing data from influence strategies on networks during the French presidential electionsof May 2022. The client, the Good In Tech chair, is a research network between the Institut Mines-Télécom and Sciences Po, under the umbrella of the Fondation du Risque, which focuses on the following two research areas: (1) Data, algorithms and society and (2) Corporate Digital Responsibility.
A sensitive subject: influence strategies during the presidential campaign
This project’s originality is its multidisciplinary nature, dealing with political, societal, technological and ethical issues. Each week, data was collected on several platforms, Facebook, Snapchat and Google, and then transcribed in the form of barometers linking the keywords used in the presidential campaigns with analyses of their impact. Thanks to graphical representations, it is possible to observe the distribution of ads published in Meta’s advertising library according to the themes proposed during the election campaigns.
The results highlight the major impact that influence strategies can have on voting decisions. The quantification of this impact and the explanation of the strategies allow to build a more critical vision of digital advertising.
This study proposed by Christine BALAGUÉ, teacher-researcher at IMT-BS and holder of the Good In Tech Chair, is also used as a pedagogical tool in her courses. Students are invited to reverse-engineer the study to understand the methodology used.
The Good in Tech Chair has renewed its confidence in the SPRINT Junior Enterprise by extending this study during the legislative elections in June 2022.
SPRINT, the only JE in France composed of engineering and business students
Since its creation in 1981, SPRINT (Services, Projects, Realization of the Institut National des Télécommunications) is the joint Junior Entreprise of our engineering school, Telecom SudParis, and the Institut Mines-Télécom Business School. 40 years later, the synergy between the two schools is still the strength and originality of this Junior Entreprise, unique in France.
Alizée Mesnard, project manager at Sprint and a first-year engineering student at Telecom SudParis, says that the junior company is a real asset for her skills: “I joined the junior company mainly for what it does, but also to develop technical and human skills necessary to my future career as an engineer. On a regular basis, we manage projects and teams, we communicate and negotiate”.
The student association now has 275 members from both schools. Within Sprint, we find the disciplinary fields of their training, which are now obviously complementary in terms of missions: digital marketing, web audit, ChatBot, e-commerce site, etc.
Only 25% of students on Engineering and IT courses are women. Stereotypes persist in this sector, meaning that certain areas like cybersecurity are deprived of countless talented female candidates. Magda Chelly is the Managing Director and Chief Information Security Officer at Responsible Cyber Pte. Ltd. IFSEC Global listed her as one of the top 20 global influencers in cybersecurity. In 2011, she completed a PhD in Telecommunications at Telecom SudParis. Here, she gives us her thoughts on the role of women in the digital sphere.
At present, there are more than 4.5 million cybersecurity experts in the world. However, in this lucrative, booming sector, there are hardly any women. It is a worrying situation, as described by Magda Chelly: “Women represented 20% of the global cybersecurity workforce in 2021. According to UN Women, there is an even greater deficit in the Asia-Pacific region, where women represent less than 10% of the workforce. This percentage does not reflect the number of women with the potential to add value to the industry.”
Stereotypes: the glass ceiling for women
According to the 2021 (ISC)² report, women in cybersecurity have higher levels of education and certification than their male counterparts. So why do they have such difficulties establishing themselves in this sector?
The answer to this question is simple – it is because of the stereotypes that remain in this profession. For many years, careers in digital technology have been made the province of men, with people saying that it’s a highly technical sector, only for geeks, not for women, etc. “There’s one experience that I will never forget. At the beginning of a work meeting, the person opposite said to me, looking me straight in the eyes: ‘You seem young to know about all this. I expected a far older man with gray hair,” Magda recounted.
For employees with similar levels of education and positions, there are still significant wage gaps. “[…] Women in management positions in cybersecurity earn around $5,000 less yearly than men on average,” (source: ICS – Women In Cybersecurity 2019). Concerns around a lack of work-life balance and the absence of female role models in the industry are just some of the obstacles to more women moving into this sector.
“If you are passionate, never give up”
It is undeniable: women are a minority in the digital sector. But things are beginning to change, with female role models sharing their experiences to get as many young girls interested as possible. And we are starting to see the results, particularly at Telecom SudParis, with 25% female students enrolled for the 2021 academic year. Magda Chelly has a message for them: “If you are passionate, never give up – be the best in your team, the best in your class. The rest will follow. The situation is getting better and there are more and moreopportunities.”
Learn more:
Discover other inspiring graduates from Telecom SudParis who have succeeded in the digital industry.
U-Multirank: Telecom SudParis shines in digital education and knowledge transfer to companies
Publié le July 16 2022
U-Multirank, a multi-criteria global ranking system, was initiated by the European Commission to compare the performance of higher education and research institutions. Published on June 21, U-Multirank 2022 assessed 2,200 universities and higher education institutions from 96 countries.
Telecom SudParis has participated in U-Multirank for several years, and distinguished itself in several categories:
Number one French institution for “digital education investment” and “spin-offs“,
Tie for first in the “pedagogically skilled teaching staff” category,
4th French institution for the “co-publications with industrial partners”, “interdisciplinary publications”, “Master graduates working in the region” indicators and
10th for “international academic staff”.
Ranked among U-Multirank’s top 100 in the world
This year, more than 60% of the indicators are good or very good for Telecom SudParis (22/36) and more than 83% are average or higher (29/36).
Telecom SudParis even ranked among the top 100 in the world on these three indicators:
TOP 5 worldwide (1st)– 1st French institution – digital education investment indicator
TOP 10 worldwide (8th) – 1st French institution – spin-offs indicator
U-Multirank “Very good” and “Good” scores for Telecom SudParis
Telecom SudParis achieved the following scores:
VERY GOOD: 18 for
Digital education investment
Graduating on time (bachelors)
Graduating on time (masters)
Pedagogically skilled teaching staff
External research income
Interdisciplinary publications
Professional publications
Research publications (size-normalized)
Top cited publications
Co-publications with industrial partners
Publications cited in patents
Spin-offs
International academic staff
International doctorate degrees
International joint publications
Master graduates working in the region
Regional joint publications
Regional publications with industrial partners
GOOD: 4 for
Bachelor graduation rate
Citation rate
Foreign language Master’s programs
Student mobility
U-Multirank: The largest international database of world universities
The U-Multirank system is based on 5 dimensions, which are rated from A “very good” to E “low”:
Research
Knowledge transfer
Teaching and learning
International orientation
Regional engagement
In recent years, U-Multirank has become the largest international database of universities from around the world. Because of the database’s representative nature, users can perform multidimensional and interactive comparisons on five performance criteria. U-Multirank is a customizable online tool that helps students choose the university or program that is right for them. It is available at www.umultirank.org.
Telecom SudParis and Airbus create the “Intelligence in Networks” joint laboratory
Publié le March 16 2022
With the aim of making networks more flexible, Telecom SudParis and Airbus have created a joint innovation laboratory. Academic and industrial researchers will be working together on the challenge of placing intelligence at the heart of networks.
Challenges of tomorrow’s network infrastructure
Networks today are highly static and preconfigured, which limits their ability to adapt to shifting contexts and makes them very costly to maintain and run. If network infrastructure, including configuration, control and management, was more dynamic, it would be possible to handle a wide variety of needs, while optimizing efficiency. The idea is therefore to allow networks to evolve by introducing artificial intelligence (specifically machine learning), for them to be more flexible. This is an area of research that particularly interests Airbus Defence & Space, which wishes to offer more intelligent and useful solutions to its clients and contribute to developing the most cutting-edge artificial intelligence technologies.
To face this challenge, Telecom SudParis and Airbus have partnered up through a joint innovation laboratory, named “Intelligence in Networks”. Its purpose is to combine forces and accelerate research into how artificial intelligence could be added into networks.
At present, we are far from being able to roll out artificial intelligence in networks on a large scale. It is crucial to ensure that algorithm operations are sufficiently understood and explainable to guarantee that there is no risk, especially since any problem that arises in an automated system can have a domino effect. “We need to design intelligent, reliable, rational, interpretable and explainable algorithms, to ensure that decisions are perfectly controlled and systems run smoothly,” explains Djamal Zeghlache, professor at Telecom SudParis and head of the Networks and Mobile Multimedia Services Department. “Only under these conditions will we be able to introduce artificial intelligence into networks and deploy it in real network infrastructure,” he continues.
The birth of “Intelligence in Networks”
Created in February 2021, the Airbus and Telecom SudParis joint innovation laboratory is the fruit of two years of discussions between experts at Airbus and the school’s researchers. Marc Cartigny, executive expert in fixed and mobile IP network architecture at Airbus Defence & Space and member of the Telecom SudParis research committee, remembers his first talks with Zeghlache: “We were both convinced that only artificial intelligence could help solve the problem of network flexibility, in the context of multiple combinatorics where decisions must be made quickly. We had identified the advances needed to design more agile, programmable, controllable networks, that can be optimized while operating.”
The decision was made to combine the mathematical abilities of Telecom SudParis researchers and Airbus experts, to move towards this goal. The “Intelligence in Networks” laboratory was created. Its aim: to build an intelligent control plan for networks and automate configuration, control of network services and channeling application flows. To do so, the Airbus teams and Telecom Sudparis researchers use a mixture of combinatorial optimization, machine learning and network modelling.
Telecom SudParis and Airbus, a fruitful collaboration
The partnership between the industrial experts and academic researchers is based on trust, with each stakeholder’s interests being met. For Telecom SudParis, it is an opportunity to tackle concrete problems faced by industrial bodies. For Airbus, it is a way to develop skills, make use of new technologies and offer more effective solutions to their clients.
The joint innovation laboratory is home to PhD candidates, postdoctoral students and researchers. Based in Issy-les-Moulineaux, teams can meet in person to speed up the collaboration. Other researchers from Institut Mines-Télécom will join over time to strengthen the partnership.
Experimental platforms, specific to Telecom SudParis and Airbus, have been shared, and seven major projects have been defined under the “Intelligence for Networks” program. There is no end date scheduled, as the project is being built gradually – its long-term future will depend on the success of this initial phase, which aims to make networks more intelligent.
“The added value of this ecosystem is that it creates a collaborative environment in which researchers can test and validate their methods, and in time, transfer them to operating systems,” explains Zeghlache.
According to Airbus, “setting up the joint laboratory took significant investment and heavy equipment, with shared premises created to promote efficiency,” states Cartigny.
The collaboration is already bearing fruit. The first experiments show that artificial intelligence allows a network to continue to function with greater efficiency following a breach. This research has already been published. The studies will be continued, to further develop network reliability while ensuring that each stage is consolidated to guarantee the robustness of results. Building on this success, the joint laboratory will extend its scope to cybersecurity and the field of quantum research. Exciting developments are on the horizon for this exceptional collaboration.
Digital twins make it possible to create products, processes and services that are faster, cheaper and error-free. This includes systems engineering for energy, communications, construction, transportation and food processing. It is also about solutions to make peoples’ lives better and more enjoyable through life sciences, smart cities and artistic creations.
Telecom SudParis is first and foremost a school of the Ministry of Industry. This closeness to the business world is part of its DNA. It also has the particularity of being both a co-founding member of the Institut Polytechnique de Paris and 
VERY GOOD: 18 for
