My research interest regards:
- environmental and social impacts of ICT ;
- materiality and infrastructure dependencies ;
- ICT sustainability ;
- software obsolescence.
Post-doctoral researcher @ CEA (2026 - 2028)
Working on software obsolescence at code architecture level.
Assistant Professor @ Université de Bordeaux (2026)
Investigating the environmental cost of mobile network dependencies of digital agriculture technologies.
Teaching C programming, algorithm and programming technic and software development (Java, Javascript).
PhD @ LaBRI, Inria, Université de Bordeaux (2022 - 2025)
This thesis introduces methods for assessing the environmental impacts of large-scale deployment of digital agricultural equipment and its dependence on infrastructure. The general framework adopts a prospective scenario-based approach and parametric and consequential modelling. A first contribution concerns the estimation of the impacts of digital technologies deployed on farms in a given agricultural context. A second contribution extends the case study dedicated to weeding robots and focuses on the impacts associated with their use of the mobile network. This thesis provides an initial overview of the consequential carbon footprint associated with the deployment of digital equipment on farms and their use of the mobile network.
Publications
2025
P. La Rocca, G. Guennebaud, A. Bugeau. (2025). To what extent can current French mobile network support agricultural robots? 11th International Conference on ICT for Sustainability. Best Paper Award. link
2024
P. La Rocca, G. Guennebaud, A. Bugeau, A-L. Ligozat. (2024). Estimating the Carbon Footprint of Digital Agriculture Deployment: A Parametric Bottom-up Modeling Approach. Journal of Industrial Ecology. link
2023
P. La Rocca. (2023) Towards a methodology to consider the environmental impacts of digital agriculture. Doctoral Symposium - 9th International Conference on ICT for Sustainability. link
Communications
2026
S. Allier, L. Brissiaud, O. Gallot-Lavallée, T. Lapierre-Bourrely, P. La Rocca. (2026) Démocratiser la technique ? Leviers de réappropriation et limites systémiques. Archipel. link
2025
P. La Rocca. (2025). Que sait-on des effets environnementaux de l’agriculture numérique ? Revue Sésame. link
S. Allier, L. Brissiaud, O. Gallot-Lavallée, T. Lapierre-Bourrely, P. La Rocca. (2025). La technique est-elle politique ? Perspectives historiques. Rencontres Inter-AtEcoPol. link
P. La Rocca. (2025). Le réseau mobile actuel suffit-il au déploiement de robots agricoles ? Green Days. link
2024
P. La Rocca. (2024). Estimating the environmental impact of Digital Agriculture. Séminaire Numerics. link
Teaching
Total of 214 hours between 2022 and 2026.
Computer Sciences
| Name | Level | Type | Time (h) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algorithmic Techniques and Programming | L3 | Tutorial Sessions | 11 |
| – | – | Practical Works | 21 |
| Algorithms for Data Structures | L2 | Practical Works | 11 |
| Software Development Project | L3 | Practical Works | 42 |
| C programming with Unix | L1 | Integrated Class | 30 |
| – | – | Tutorial Sessions | 24 |
ICT and sustainability
| Name | Level | Type | Time (h) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Awareness to Ecology and the Environmental Impact of ICT | L3 | Integrated Lectures | 40 |
| Low-tech Approaches and ICT | Mixed | Commissioning and supervision of Agribot | 12 |
Supervision
| Name | Level | Type | Time (h) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading Scientific Articles and Documentation | M2 | 1 | |
| Internship Supervision | M2 | 10 | |
| Supervising a research project | M2 | 12 |