Gilles Dowek appointed to the conseil superieur des programmes

Gilles Dowek, an invested computer scientist

Gilles Dowek is head of the Deducteam team, a joint team of Inria and the Université Paris-Saclay within the Formal Methods Laboratory. He is also a professor at the ENS Paris-Saclay.

In addition to his positions at the Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies du numérique (INRIA) and at ENS Paris-Saclay, Gilles Dowek is a member of the Laboratoire de Méthodes Formelles (LMF) within the Deducteam.

His work focuses on the formalisation of mathematics, proof processing systems, the physics of computation, the safety of aeronautical and space systems, and the epistemology and ethics of computer science.

His book Les métamorphoses du calcul was awarded the Grand Prix de philosophie by the Académie Française. He is co-author of the textbook Informatique et sciences du numérique, published by Eyrolles in 2012. More recently, he is also the co-author, with Serge Abiteboul and Laurence Devillers, of a play entitled Qui a hacké Garoutzia?

In the past, he has been a professor at the École Polytechnique, deputy scientific director of Inria and consultant to the National Institute of Aerospace, a NASA laboratory.

Since the mid-2000s, he has been trying to draw the attention of public authorities to the importance of teaching computer science in schools, colleges and high schools. He was a member of the Group of Experts set up by the French Minister of Education to propose the syllabus for the Computer Science and Digital Science speciality in the final year of secondary school, which resulted in the syllabus published in the Official Bulletin on 13 October 2011.

Although he has been battling cancer since April 2022, he maintains his professional life in an adapted framework, concerned that companies and administrations should be able to function with the inclusion of sick people.

Role and missions of the Conseil supérieur des programmes

The Conseil Supérieur des Programmes (CSP) prepares draft curricula under the authority of the French Minister of National Education and Youth.

It examines, discusses and votes on the drafts with a group of experts who carry out the reflection, hearings and drafting before forwarding it to the Minister. The Ministry then adopts the draft curriculum, which is presented to the Conseil Supérieur de l'Éducation for its opinion, and then the Minister finally adopts it. The new curriculum is then published in the Journal officiel and the Bulletin officiel de l'éducation nationale.

The Conseil Supérieur des Programmes brings together:

• 3 deputies and 3 senators
• 2 representatives of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (EESC)
• 10 qualified personalities

The qualified personalities are appointed by the Minister of Education for their excellence in their field and their knowledge of the education system. It is currently chaired by Mark Sherringham.