#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:
Average age
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
Île-de-France (476 advisors)
for 12,358,932 inhabitants
Nouvelle-Aquitaine (444)
for 6,110,365 inhabitants
Occitanie (435)
for 6,101,005 inhabitants
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (409)
for 8,197,325 inhabitants
Regions with the fewest available advisors
Corsica (36)
for 351,255 inhabitants
Centre-Val de Loire (168)
for 2,572,278 inhabitants
Pays de la Loire (174)
for 3,907,426 inhabitants
Brittany (178)
for 3,429,882 inhabitants
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
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.
Who are the beneficiaries?
Their age:
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:
North (56,944 people supported)
for 2,606,646 inhabitants
Gironde (45,742)
for 1,691,437 inhabitants
Rhône (40,643)
for 1,921,014 inhabitants
How many support services were provided?
support services provided through the France Services Digital Advisor program
An increasing number of people have been supported between 2021 and 2023*:
in 2021
in 2022
in 2023
What topics are covered?
Completing administrative procedures online
Becoming familiar with computer equipment
Navigating the internet
Only some of the support services address security concerns.
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]
