#DATA: Overview of digital support in France

What means are deployed to combat the digital divide in France? What actors intervene with French people in difficulty with digital technology, and in which regions are they most present? Who benefits from this support, and what topics does it cover? The answers in numbers.

Focus on France Services Digital Advisors

A France Services digital advisor is a trained professional who supports French citizens in becoming independent in their daily use of digital technology. Through individual coaching and group workshops, they ensure that each person progresses, according to their needs, in the use of digital tools and practices.

Source: Presentation brochure of the CnFS (France Services Digital Advisor) system

⚠️ Please note: The figures presented below focus solely on the France Services Digital Advisors system. This system is entirely funded by the State as part of the fight against the digital divide. Across the country, other digital mediators also work with French citizens, particularly in an associative setting.

Who are the France Services Digital Advisors?

In France, there are currently

3670 France Services digital advisors

Of whom 57 are in training and 3613 are already trained

A closer look at the current advisors in training:

36 years old

Average age

Near parity

45.9% are women and 51.7% are men

Where to find a digital advisor?

In metropolitan France, there are significant regional disparities in the number of positions assigned to France Services digital advisors. However, these figures should be put into perspective with the population of these regions.

Regions with the highest number of advisors available

  1. Île-de-France (476 advisors)

    for 12,358,932 inhabitants

  2. Nouvelle-Aquitaine (444)

    for 6,110,365 inhabitants

  3. Occitanie (435)

    for 6,101,005 inhabitants

  4. Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (409)

    for 8,197,325 inhabitants

Regions with the fewest available advisors

  1. Corsica (36)

    for 351,255 inhabitants

  2. Centre-Val de Loire (168)

    for 2,572,278 inhabitants

  3. Pays de la Loire (174)

    for 3,907,426 inhabitants

  4. Brittany (178)

    for 3,429,882 inhabitants


24,32%

of structures hosting Digital Advisors are located in QPV (Priority Neighborhoods for City Policy)

That's 705 reception points

The priority neighborhoods for city policy (QPV) is a device of the French government's city policy, bringing together the poorest urban areas requiring intervention by public authorities, particularly in terms of urban renewal. [...] There are nearly 1,500 priority neighborhoods for city policy (1,300 in mainland France and 200 overseas). These were officially unveiled on June 17, 2014.

Source: Wikipedia


20,8%

of structures hosting Digital Advisors are located in ZRR (Rural Revitalization Areas)

That's 604 reception points

The rural revitalization areas (ZRR) aim to help the development of rural territories mainly through fiscal and social measures. Specific measures in favor of economic development apply there. The objective is to concentrate State aid measures for the benefit of job-creating companies in the least populated rural areas and most affected by demographic and economic decline. In 2021, 17,694 municipalities were classified as ZRRs, in mainland France and overseas.

Source: National Agency for Territorial Cohesion

Who are the beneficiaries?

Their age:

46,38%

are over 60 years old

29.87% are between 35 and 60 years old

11.12% are between 18 and 35 years old

Their activity:

43% are retired

12% are students

16.9% are unemployed

15.8% are employed

Their place of residence:

  1. North (56,944 people supported)

    for 2,606,646 inhabitants

  2. Gironde (45,742)

    for 1,691,437 inhabitants

  3. Rhône (40,643)

    for 1,921,014 inhabitants

How many support services were provided?

1,561,841

support services provided through the France Services Digital Advisor program

An increasing number of people have been supported between 2021 and 2023*:

1,943
in 2021
8,431
in 2022
12,981
in 2023
*Maximum number of people supported in a day that year.

What topics are covered?

21.36%
Completing administrative procedures online
20.63%
Becoming familiar with computer equipment
11.37%
Navigating the internet
3%
Only some of the support services address security concerns.
1%
They pertain to fraud and harassment.

Methodology

The aforementioned statistics were retrieved on February 22nd, 2023, providing a snapshot on this date of the digital support deployed by the French government. All figures presented in this article were extracted from a government webpage, which presents the information in open source format, entitled Data on the Deployment of France Services Digital Advisors.

The population data corresponds to estimates from INSEE as of January 1st, 2023.

[Cover photo: NASA]

Louise PASTOURET
Louise PASTOURET
A digital that is accessible to all and does not exhaust the planet's resources: a future challenge that we can address now. My mission: to find responsible, ethical, and inclusive initiatives that are moving things in the right direction.

Comments

Write a comment

Reduce your carbon footprint with simple gestures

Follow our tutorials

Les Enovateurs

Find us also on

linkedin