In recent years, France has become a technology leader on the European stage. It benefits from a particularly rich and constantly growing ecosystem.
In recent years, France has become a technology leader on the European stage. It benefits from a particularly rich and constantly growing ecosystem. But the appearance of this start-up is sometimes done without thinking about its social usefulness in relation to the challenges that our country has to face: climate change, inequality, territorial gap, etc. We have to write a new page: that of technology at the service of the public interest.
This new nationwide start-up model is also still in its infancy. He particularly stood out during the Covid emergency. The urgency of the situation has favored collaboration between the public sector and private initiatives, especially in the GovTech sector: CovidTracker, Quickly my Dose, Breaking the Chain, these successes are full of lessons to bring innovations to a greater number.
Obstacles remain to better collaboration between the public and private sectors. To raise them, we need the strategist state to go beyond the stage of a simple slogan and become a concrete reality. We will not spare a revision of the doctrine of public action.
Public procurement is an underestimated lever for disseminating innovation and therefore needs to be strengthened in its strategic use. This doctrinal revision must be done together with the reasons for being innovative actors. The goal of start-ups in the GoVTech ecosystem goes far beyond simple financial profitability and is more focused on the profound transformation of public action. This transformation also makes it possible to generate numerous productivity gains at the level of the company as a whole.
In a world where geopolitical threats are piling up, it is essential that France guarantees its sovereignty in the most innovative sectors. In this regard, GovTech’s national anchor is an essential asset to strengthen our sovereignty. They come to strengthen the state in its sovereign powers as well as essential public services. It is also a better ethical guarantee, as French and European data protection frameworks are more protective than elsewhere. Bringing forward national and European digital champions is essential to build an alternative path to Gafam and the Chinese giants and thus preserve our sovereignty over promising economic sectors.
GovTechs are also essential to pave the way for the economy of tomorrow, and in particular the ecological transition. Artificial intelligence with low carbon emissions, intelligent systems for water and energy saving, flow optimization, climate data improvement … There is no shortage of applications to transform all public actions in a way that is consistent with climate challenges. This momentum is the prerequisite for a more global shift of the entire private sector in favor of low-carbon sectors.
Productive, this sector is also job intensive as an average of 5.2 indirect jobs are created by job creation at GovTech. This should be compared with the industrial sector, which generates on average only 1.4 indirect jobs per job created. This rapidly growing € 16 billion market is therefore an important source for the creation of skilled, stable and profitable jobs.
However, the desire for cooperation exists and is reflected in many initiatives: an incubator for citizens’ initiatives, the Approch platform set up by the Department of Public Procurement, etc. The President of the Republic expressed himself in favor of a better diffusion of innovation within the public service.
Progress has been made as the state has maintained an experimental system that reduces barriers to entry for procurement on innovative topics. Finally, for eight years, November has been dedicated to public innovation and to sharing methods, solutions and experiments that transform action and public services in a sustainable way.
However, the changes taking place are too timid and are reflected in relatively disappointing figures. In the space of two years, only 231 innovative contracts were concluded in the context of the experimentation.
It is up to the executive and parliamentary powers to change the rules of the game.