Over the past twenty years or so, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has spread into our everyday lives and throughout our land. Its mass take-up, combined with the deregulation of telecommunications and the continuous development of the Internet, raise the issue of its impact on spatial and territorial organisation. The object of this research is to offer particular areas an interpretation of what has changed for them in the fields of digital planning, service innovation and the take-up of ICT facilities, as well as in the joint construction of public goods and the creation of ecosystems based on the values of the knowledge society. The first part is devoted to the fast-moving context of the spread of ICT throughout society. Employing an approach that combines legislative, technological, economic and organisational dimensions, the challenges of the knowledge society are examined at a national level and with reference to European strategic policy frameworks. The second part analyses the geographical distribution of ICT, which does not equate merely to whether the technologies available are present or absent. It also addresses operators' commercial strategies, political priorities and the differential take-up of use. Not all these factors operate at the same pace or are structured in the same way. The methodological basis is a three-tier analysis of networks, presented by G. Dupuy in 1991. The dozen indicators that contribute to this analysis were selected for their structural character: roll-out of alternative PPP broadband networks, location of ICT businesses, networking of Digital Public Spaces, deployment of e-administration service platforms, pooling of geographical data, digital sector leadership, access to public data etc. The intersections between these indicators have allowed a landscape to be painted of the spatial distribution of ICT within France over time, spanning a 10-year period between 2002 and 2012. The complexity generated could not be explained in detail without adopting a systemic approach so as to model the development of different areas over time and without citing the challenges that face decision-makers. The theoretical benchmark used as the basis for part three arose from a systemic approach, for which the work of Joël de Rosnay in "Le Macroscope" (1975) was a precursor as regards the development of an ICT-equipped society. The objective is to provide decision-makers with keys to assist comprehension as well as to encourage a global approach to the development of their areas under the knowledge society. At a time when the Internet is evolving towards a semantic web, whereby energy creation and distribution models are becoming distributed models, it is possible to change the model of telecoms networks: from the dominant, operator-oriented "integrated" model towards a more horizontal, user-oriented "open" model. A systems modelling approach explains today's choices which will affect the territories of tomorrow.
