In the age of artificial intelligence, is digital technology denigrated by the government? On Thursday, the Élysée downgraded the discipline from a delegate minister to a simple secretary of state.
Officially gone from a few fifteen to 34 members, the government is no longer really tight and includes more personalities than an Olympique de Marseille at the end of the transfer window, that’s saying something! However, one thing should be noted: the place “given” to Digital. If, since 2022, Digital could boast of having a delegate minister for the first time since 2014, Emmanuel Macron and Gabriel Attal confirmed a step backwards, with the appointment of Marina Ferrari as Secretary of State, this Thursday 8 February 2024.
A simple State Secretariat for Digital, “ a very bad signal »
If she is an illustrious unknown in the eyes of the general public, Marina Ferrari is nevertheless cited for having contributed to the development of TousAntiCovid, an application which, we hope, definitely belongs to the past. But without denigrating her skills, the CV of the elected and deputy Modem de Savoie, incidentally former president of the National Institute of Solar Energy, frankly does not make you dream, at least for this position.
But what annoys the lawyer specializing in new technology law, Maître Constantin Pavléas, all the more is the demotion of the digital discipline. For him, it is a “ major error » by Emmanuel Macron and Gabriel Attal.
“ This decision is a very bad signal, a very bad signal sent to digital players, to economic players in general, to young generations and to our European partners and other countries. », laments the lawyer. And he adds: “ It demonstrates an incredible gap in relation to the challenges of our time “. The observation is harsh, but is it that far from reality?
Digital is struggling to find a place at the top of the State
Constantin Pavléas is right to point out: France is at a crossroads in the digital discipline, with the impasse in the storage of health data, which will be entrusted to Microsoft for the next three years, and a generative artificial intelligence which even among members of the Competition Authority.
The European Union, which has just unanimously adopted a regulation on AI, has opened the way for France, which established a Generative AI Committee a few months ago. But these steps forward seem to be hampered today by a lack of political consideration at the top of the State, which although adept at social networks and other digital tools, does not yet seem to have understood the importance of digital in our modern society.
The demotion, coupled with a lack of incarnation of the last French representatives of new technologies, is in fact not a good signal sent to investors, start-ups and French and European profiles. Let’s all hope that we won’t be safe from a pleasant surprise.
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