The governance of urban data between projects territory and territory project. The example of Rennes Métropole

The observation of the politics of data in Rennes (Brittany, France) over time enable to analyse the way information projects are used as a lever for the production and reinvention of urban services, both challenging the principles of public action. Our main hypothesis is that the implementation of a collective governance of data is used for regulating the power relations between actors and, moreover, that this dynamic would allow the metropolis to progressively reposition itself in this highly competitive sector. Between the search for a position and the defense of a local reappropriation of data, the role of public actors in the information commons deserves to be studied through a qualitative and historical approach. The article describes the bifurcations of data policy in a local trajectory, that of Rennes Métropole, with regard to the ideologies underlying the projects carried out since the early 2010s and their updates in recent years. The article concludes with the challenges that still need to be overcome in order to talk about shared data governance, including the limited inclusion of citizens and the ambiguous issue of sovereignty.