CIRED.digital project final report

The CIRED.digital project successfully demonstrated the feasibility of deploying an artificial intelligence system for accessing the laboratory's scientific publications. Over a five-month period (April-October 2025), the project team developed, tested, and deployed a retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) digital librarian -rather than a general-purpose chatbot -providing natural-language access to the Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement (CIRED) knowledge. Project Scope and OutcomesThe project pursued these objectives: (1) deploying a functional natural language interface to CIRED's publications for non-experts; (2) implementing a technically robust architecture supporting service continuity open to public access, without user authentication; ( 3) contributing replicable open-source tools enabling other research institutions to deploy similar systems; (4) ensuring ethical compliance including user privacy protection and transparent citation mechanisms; (5) evidence-based learning on usage patterns and costs to inform decision-making and (6) Internal capacity building on AI technology.The system underwent three distinct phases: initial development (April-May 2025), integration and user testing (May-June 2025), and public deployment with monitoring (June-October 2025). All objectives were substantially achieved within the project timeline and budget constraints, though data collection limits disallows statistical analyses. The system provides access to approximately 1 238 CIRED publications from HAL. The project's environmental footprint (3-4 kg CO₂ for 96 days) demonstrates sustainability comparable to conventional literature access methods, while operational costs (€50-200/year) remain accessible to research institutions with modest budgets. Key FindingsThe system attracted 259 unique sessions over 96 days of public availability, generating 1,849 documented events from 290 user queries. Users represented diverse constituencies including researchers, students, science communicators across CIRED partner institutions and the general public. Query patterns revealed strong demand for publication search, research synthesis, and methodological information. Identifed priorities for future enhancement including multi-turn discussion and extending the knowledge base. Main RecommendationsThe project recommends: (1) continued system operation for 12 months; (2) transition to institutional hosting infrastructure to reduce costs and ensure data sovereignty; and (3) dissemination of findings to the research community through publication and workshop engagement. Detailed recommendations for CIRED leadership, other research institutions, and the broader research community are provided in the conclusion.