ZERO NET
Initiated and conceived by DISNOVATION.ORG collective (Association Phosphène).
Produced in partnership with Waag Futurelab.
Intention
The main ambition of ZERO NET is to develop a new format for distributing content and media online that is at once transparent, inclusive, accessible, and low in environmental impact.
This project addresses several major challenges:
- Enabling journalists and content creators to access responsible communication tools that are compatible with planetary limits;
- Offering artists, designers, and developers a creation space under constraint that stimulates new forms of expression and storytelling;
- Improving digital accessibility, particularly in low-connectivity areas or on older devices and terminals;
- And finally, rethinking society’s relationship to technology by proposing an open and frugal alternative to dominant formats.
ZERO NET is not just a tool for producing lightweight content: it is also an invitation to relearn how to design technological tools, stories, and media in a context of energy constraint. This approach aims to show that creativity does not depend on technical power or available bandwidth, but can instead flourish through sobriety.
The project is non-commercial in purpose: the tool will be fully open source, free of tracking, and developed in line with web accessibility standards. The aim is to offer a real alternative to dominant media production and distribution tools, which are often resource-intensive and opaque.
ZERO NET seeks to foster a new culture of digital creation that is sober, inclusive, respectful of technical and ecological contexts, and accessible to everyone, everywhere in the world.
Partnership
ZERO NET was initiated and conceived by DISNOVATION.ORG collective through Association Phosphène, which leads its artistic, conceptual, political, and strategic direction. The project is produced in partnership with Waag Futurelab, which contributes operational leadership, technical expertise, communication capacity, and its institutional network to co-shape the project’s concrete realisation, public deployment, and long-term impact.
Features
• Non-linear narratives
• Code-based music and visuals (live coding)
• Interactive or location-based content
• 3D integration
• Integration of standard video clips (mp4, etc.) / or ultra-low bitrate
• Integration of standard audio/music (mp3, etc.) / or ultra-low bitrate
• In progress...
Target audiences
In the long term, ZERO NET aims to be a useful tool for anyone producing video content online. The project identifies several priority audiences for whom this format is particularly relevant:
- journalists and data journalists;
- artists and multimedia authors;
- researchers sharing knowledge and findings;
- developers of interactive web content;
- influencers engaged with ecological or social issues.
These groups are at the core of the project’s approach: they regularly work with online video and are directly confronted with questions of format, accessibility, and the ecological impact of their productions.
The initiative also addresses communities living in regions with limited digital infrastructure, where internet connections are unstable or constrained (rural areas, isolated territories, or parts of the Global South). By proposing a lightweight, accessible audiovisual format, ZERO NET aims to support greater digital inclusion at both international and local levels.
These audiences will be involved in the project at several stages:
- as early adopters during testing phases;
- as providers of feedback to improve the tool;
- and as key vectors for disseminating the format within their respective communities.
Concrete actions
The following actions are planned as part of the ZERO NET initiative:
Research
The project will further investigate existing tools and methods for choreographing synchronized web elements, while exploring implementation strategies that remain compatible with lightweight files and reduced energy consumption. This phase aims to ensure that the approach remains coherent with the principles of digital sobriety.
Prototyping the tool with user communities
The prototype will be developed in close collaboration with future user communities, represented by a consortium of practitioners and early adopters from the fields of culture, education, journalism, and free/libre technologies.
Testing, dissemination, and documentation
To support broad adoption, the tool will be tested and shared with target audiences — through workshops, fairs, conferences, schools and universities, as well as among journalists, artists, developers, and hackers. This phase will be followed by the creation of tutorials, educational resources, and documented use cases, in order to prepare the release of a version aimed at a wider audience.
Campaigns, public relations, and communication
Finally, to support the project’s impact and long-term adoption, the partners will implement a communication and public-relations campaign, building relationships with media outlets and cultural organisations to reach a critical mass of users, advocates, and supporters.
Project structure and team
Initiation, conception, and artistic direction
DISNOVATION.ORG collective — Association Phosphène, France
(Maria Roszkowska, Nicolas Maigret, Baruch Gottlieb)
DISNOVATION.ORG initiated and conceived ZERO NET and leads its artistic, conceptual, political, and strategic direction, as well as its dissemination. The collective works at the intersection of post-growth economies, technological infrastructures, and ecological issues.
Production partner
Waag Futurelab — Netherlands
Waag Futurelab contributes operational leadership, technical expertise, communication capacity, and its institutional network to the project’s development, public deployment, and long-term impact.
Pourya Omidi
Project developer – electronics engineer and software developer
Member of Waag’s Future Internet and Commons Labs, he brings expertise in embedded software, open hardware, and ethically oriented technical innovation.
Taco van Dijk
Software developer
Active at Waag since 2008, he designs mobile and web applications with a social focus. He holds a degree in social science informatics from the University of Amsterdam and is interested in human–computer interaction, privacy, and generative music.
Alain Otjens
Front-end developer and designer
Specialist in interaction design, data visualisation, and web development. With a master’s degree in sociology and new media, he develops digital tools that promote democratic values and alternative cultural uses.
Associated contributors and advisers
Sarah Garcin
(L’Atelier Des Chercheurs, PrePostPrint)
Web development
Web developer and graphic designer, founding member of the PrePostPrint collective, she designs lightweight, reusable web-to-print tools based on free and open technologies. Her practice aligns closely with ZERO NET’s philosophy.
Cédric Carles
(Atelier 21, Solar Sound System)
Scientific consulting
Eco-designer, engineer, and activist for energy transition, he founded the Solar Sound System network. His multidisciplinary approach ensures the technical and ecological consistency of ZERO NET.
Atelier 21 · Solar Sound System
Dasha Ilina
(NØ School Nevers)
Use-case scenario development
Artist, filmmaker, educator, and organiser, she critically examines the use of digital technologies. She will contribute to bridging sustainable audiovisual formats and narratives that remain accessible to broad audiences.
Support
ZERO NET is supported by Fondation de France through the program Libertés et démocratie numériques.
Initiated and conceived by DISNOVATION.ORG collective (Association Phosphène).
Produced in partnership with Waag Futurelab.