The Senate published, on Monday, its 20 proposals corresponding to measures called ” pragmatic and common sense “, intended to reduce the gap that exists between certain territories, in the digital field.
Four years after the launch of the National Strategy for Inclusive Digital, intended to fight against the global technological divide, the Senators are making a new alarming observation. For the Committee on Regional Planning and Sustainable Development, things are not developing as they should. According to her, this is evidenced by a majority of French people who claim to have given up on carrying out certain procedures online, because of a lack of clarity in the latter.
Nearly 2 out of 10 French people do not yet master any basic digital skills
Senator LR Patricia Demas, rapporteur for the commission, judges the state’s commitment still fragmented and insufficient, calling in passing to make digital inclusion a national priority, with long-term funding. First, the Senate calls for a better understanding of the digital divide in order to develop an ambitious policy.
Behind this very political qualification, the Wise men point to a difficult access to digital skills, networks and digital equipment in certain territories. 17% of French people still do not master any basic digital skills today, and fiber optic coverage is still far from complete, while the end of 2022 is supposed to correspond to a dematerialization of public services 100 %.
Arguing that the 2018 National Strategy is not fully effective, the senators propose to draw up a national roadmap on digital inclusion, with clear objectives and a timetable for achieving them.
Supporting territorial hubs struggling for their own survival
Regarding digital inclusion, the senatorial committee wonders about the functioning in silos of territorial interventions, between public, private and associative actors, which lead to a fragmentation of funding sources. In this sense, designating a “leader” does not seem to be a good idea for the Senate, which believes that each level can bring its own value. ” Observation on the ground pleads in favor of setting up local coalitions in a flexible format, making it possible to strengthen coordination between actors. “, he explains.
The strengthening of digital inclusion must also go through the strengthening of territorial hubs, in their role of supporting local authorities, which today would be insufficient. These hubs (Hinaura, Hub Bretagne, NUMI, Hubik, RhinOcc, Hub du Sud, Les Assembleurs, Hub’Est or Hub-Lo) are the privileged interlocutors of local authorities and the State in the dissemination of national measures on the digital inclusion (production of maps, fundraising, project engineering, etc.). The hubs would currently struggle to raise funds and are in fact ensuring their own survival, rather than responding to their core mission.
The importance of network access
Finally, it is also obvious that digital inclusion requires access to internet networks throughout the territory. If the generalization of fiber optics (planned for 2025) progresses, rural areas, which are more difficult to equip, could still suffer from this lack of deployment. The Senate thus wants to encourage the use of wireless technologies (such as fixed 4G for example), to allow homes that cannot benefit from fiber to have a connection of at least 8 Mbit/s.
Overall, local authorities will need to be accompanied in their support projects for people remote from digital technology, 8 out of 10 elected officials claiming in particular that they do not have a census of digital mediation players who are nevertheless present in their territory. This makes it all the more difficult to reach citizens who do not have access to digital. In this sense, the State will have to accelerate and sustain the deployment of digital advisors.
Source: Senate
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