Cybergeonomy, a new discipline [2025]
The emergence of Cybergeonomy as a new discipline responds to an urgent need of our time: understanding and mastering the complex dynamics that link the digital ecosystem, energy flows and strategic resources. In an era where digital technology is redefining global power relations, critical raw materials—such as lithium, cobalt, rare earths, and copper—are becoming the pillars of a technological revolution that is shaping our societies. These resources, essential for the manufacture of batteries, semiconductors, and other essential components, are no longer mere " commodities " : they are the levers of a new energy and digital sovereignty.
Definitions :
Genonomy focuses on the relationship between geological resources (fossil and mineral resources) and human activities, especially those with high energy demands, such as industry, transportation, or digital infrastructure.
The term originally comes from the Romanian naturalist Grigore Antipa (1867-1944) and then from the Austro-Hungarian geologist Gyula Szádeczky-Kardoss (1860-1935).
Geonomics analyzes how resource exploitation fuels economic and technological progress while posing environmental and social challenges: resource depletion, pollution, and unequal access.
In a world with escalating energy demands—driven notably by digital infrastructure like data centers, 5G networks, and artificial intelligence—genonomics highlights humanity’s reliance on finite geological resources. For instance, producing batteries for electric vehicles or semiconductors requires metals like lithium, cobalt, or silicon, with significant ecological and geopolitical consequences. Genonomics thus questions the sustainability of these models and seeks pathways to optimize resource use while mitigating negative externalities.
Initiated by Norbert Wiener (1894-1964) in the 1940s, cybernetics studies communication and control mechanisms in systems, whether biological, mechanical, or social. It focuses on feedback loops that enable systems to self-regulate or adapt. In the modern era, cybernetics underpins applications in artificial intelligence, automation, communication networks, and human-machine interfaces.
Cyberstrategy, daughter of Cybernetics, is central to the digital revolution, managing complex information flows between humans and machines. For example, machine learning algorithms rely on cybernetic principles to adjust behaviors based on incoming data. Similarly, smart grids use feedback loops to optimize electricity distribution in real time, balancing supply and demand efficiently. All within a specific framework of action : cyberspace.
Especially nowadays, Cyberspace is acknowledged as the fifth strategic domain, alongside land, sea, air, and space. This domain, primarily composed of digital networks, IT infrastructure, and data flows, is distinguished by its transversality: it interconnects and influences the other four domains. In the civilian industry, it underpins communications, economic transactions, and critical systems such as power grids and transportation. In the military sphere, it has emerged as a distinct theater of operations, where cyberattacks, digital espionage, and information warfare are conducted, directly and indirectly affecting operational capabilities across other domains.
This strategic capacity of cyberspace hinges on a significant dependence on strategic, and often critical, raw materials such as silicon, lithium, cobalt, and rare earths, which are essential for manufacturing semiconductors, batteries, and other electronic components. These resources, frequently concentrated in a few regions of the world, are vital for maintaining and developing digital infrastructure, making their supply a major geopolitical issue. Added to this is the increasingly nagging problem of energy and its storage to power both data centers and computing units. Consequently, mastery of cyberspace, through its transversal role and material requirements, is critical to the security and competitiveness of nations in both civilian and military spheres.
Cyberstrategy, daughter of Cybernetics, is central to the digital revolution, managing complex information flows between humans and machines. For example, machine learning algorithms rely on cybernetic principles to adjust behaviors based on incoming data. Similarly, smart grids use feedback loops to optimize electricity distribution in real time, balancing supply and demand efficiently. All within a specific framework of action : cyberspace.
Especially nowadays, Cyberspace is acknowledged as the fifth strategic domain, alongside land, sea, air, and space. This domain, primarily composed of digital networks, IT infrastructure, and data flows, is distinguished by its transversality: it interconnects and influences the other four domains. In the civilian industry, it underpins communications, economic transactions, and critical systems such as power grids and transportation. In the military sphere, it has emerged as a distinct theater of operations, where cyberattacks, digital espionage, and information warfare are conducted, directly and indirectly affecting operational capabilities across other domains.
This strategic capacity of cyberspace hinges on a significant dependence on strategic, and often critical, raw materials such as silicon, lithium, cobalt, and rare earths, which are essential for manufacturing semiconductors, batteries, and other electronic components. These resources, frequently concentrated in a few regions of the world, are vital for maintaining and developing digital infrastructure, making their supply a major geopolitical issue. Added to this is the increasingly nagging problem of energy and its storage to power both data centers and computing units. Consequently, mastery of cyberspace, through its transversal role and material requirements, is critical to the security and competitiveness of nations in both civilian and military spheres.
Cyberstrategy + Geonomy :
The two disciplines converge in their contributions to managing complex systems, particularly in the context of energy and digital transitions. Key points of intersection include :
The two disciplines converge in their contributions to managing complex systems, particularly in the context of energy and digital transitions. Key points of intersection include :
- Optimized Resource Management : Cybernetics provides tools to enhance the efficiency of geological resource extraction and utilization. For instance, cybernetic systems can model and control supply chains for minerals or energy, minimizing waste. Smart grids exemplify how cybernetics addresses genonomic concerns by aligning energy demand with available resources.
- Digitalization and Energy Dependence : The cybernetics-driven digital revolution relies on energy-intensive infrastructure that consumes geological resources. Data centers, for example, require vast amounts of electricity and rare metals for their components. Genonomics warns of the limits of this dependency, while cybernetics offers solutions to optimize energy consumption, such as energy-efficient algorithms or leaner computing architectures.
- Feedback and Sustainability : Cybernetic feedback principles are vital for integrating genonomic concerns into technological systems. IoT sensors, for instance, can collect real-time data on resource states (e.g., mineral reserves, quantity and quality of these) and feed predictive models for more sustainable exploitation. These feedback loops enable human activities to adapt to geological constraints.
- Human-Machine Interfaces and Governance : By facilitating communication between humans and machines, cybernetics can support genonomic governance. AI-based platforms can simulate the impacts of resource exploitation, raise awareness among policymakers, and coordinate global strategies for sustainable management.
Cybergeonomy offers an integrated approach to analyzing these issues. It transcends traditional silos by combining the study of digital flows (data transiting through cloud computing or edge computing infrastructures, satellites, terrestrial and submarine cables, telecommunications towers, etc.) with that of physical supply chains, often concentrated in geopolitically sensitive regions. For instance, dependence on countries like China for rare earths or the Democratic Republic of Congo for cobalt exposes nations to major strategic vulnerabilities. In this context, cybergeonomy provides a framework for anticipating tensions, diversifying supply sources, and securing critical technologies in the face of international rivalries.
Furthermore, this discipline highlights the interconnection between the virtual (logical - informational) and the material layers. Cyberattacks targeting mining or logistics infrastructure, for example, can paralyze access to raw materials, while controlling big data makes it possible to optimize their extraction and distribution. Thus, Cybergeonomy is not limited to an economic vision: it integrates Cybersecurity as a key factor in resilience in the face of disruptions.
A factual example : strategic raw materials play a key role in the construction of an electric drone (mobility 3.0, because it is electric, autonomous, and connected), as they guarantee the performance, durability, and efficiency of the device. Materials such as lithium, essential for high-capacity batteries, or rare earths, used in electric motors and sensors, are essential to ensure extended autonomy and optimal precision. Their availability and quality directly influence production costs and technological competitiveness. In a context of energy transition, securing access to these resources is becoming a priority to support innovation and meet the growing demand for electric drones.
Promoting this discipline means providing policymakers, businesses, and researchers with the tools to navigate a world where power is measured as much in terabytes as in tons of minerals. It also encourages sustainable and ethical management of these resources, so that the digital transition does not come at the expense of environmental or social balances. In short, Cybergeonomy is not only a response to today's challenges: it is a proactive vision for building a future where technology and economy harmonize to serve global progress and rational management of raw material resources, which are notoriously critical.
The most prominent contemporary powers will be those that can combine algorithmic mastery, metallurgical mastery and energy mastery.
To summarize: Within cyberspace, cyberstrategy is the management of digital resources, cybergeonomy is the management of mineral resources.
Furthermore, this discipline highlights the interconnection between the virtual (logical - informational) and the material layers. Cyberattacks targeting mining or logistics infrastructure, for example, can paralyze access to raw materials, while controlling big data makes it possible to optimize their extraction and distribution. Thus, Cybergeonomy is not limited to an economic vision: it integrates Cybersecurity as a key factor in resilience in the face of disruptions.
A factual example : strategic raw materials play a key role in the construction of an electric drone (mobility 3.0, because it is electric, autonomous, and connected), as they guarantee the performance, durability, and efficiency of the device. Materials such as lithium, essential for high-capacity batteries, or rare earths, used in electric motors and sensors, are essential to ensure extended autonomy and optimal precision. Their availability and quality directly influence production costs and technological competitiveness. In a context of energy transition, securing access to these resources is becoming a priority to support innovation and meet the growing demand for electric drones.
Promoting this discipline means providing policymakers, businesses, and researchers with the tools to navigate a world where power is measured as much in terabytes as in tons of minerals. It also encourages sustainable and ethical management of these resources, so that the digital transition does not come at the expense of environmental or social balances. In short, Cybergeonomy is not only a response to today's challenges: it is a proactive vision for building a future where technology and economy harmonize to serve global progress and rational management of raw material resources, which are notoriously critical.
The most prominent contemporary powers will be those that can combine algorithmic mastery, metallurgical mastery and energy mastery.
To summarize: Within cyberspace, cyberstrategy is the management of digital resources, cybergeonomy is the management of mineral resources.
