On 4 October 2014, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, along with State Secretary for digital economy Axelle Lemaire, launched a national consultation on digital technology, which will be implemented under the aegis of the French Digital Council (Conseil National du Numérique). In this scope, Prime Minister Manuel Valls expressed his wish for digital technology to become “a tool of growth, competitiveness, education, culture, justice and equality“.
The main goal of this national consultation is to issue independent opinions and recommendations on any question relating to the impact of digital technologies on economy and society. These recommendations will notably be used by State Secretary for digital economy Axelle Lemaire to draft the future bill relating to digital technology, which should be submitted to the French Parliament during the course of 2015. The results of this broad consultation will also be used to redefine France’s new strategy with respect to digital technology, as well as new operational tools.
The national consultation is organized around four main topics which will be opened to consultation from 4 October 2014 until 30 January 2015. The four main topics are the following: growth, innovation and disruption (from 4 October to 4 November 2014); loyalty in digital environment (from 4 October to 28 November 2014); digital transformation of public action (from 3 November to 31 December 2014); and society faced with digital transformation (from 3 November 2014 to 30 January 2015).
Each general topic contains several specific subjects such as: 10 years after French law for the confidence in digital economy: new liabilities, right to be forgotten and delisting, net neutrality, fight against online criminality, health and digital technology, open data, loyalty between economic actors, internet governance, State technologic strategy etc.
On each specific topic, the French Digital Council firstly identifies the main issues and suggests various approaches and ways forward. On this basis, every internet user within civil society, including companies, institutions, associations, experts, citizens etc. is invited to contribute to assess the propositions made, offer alternative solutions, enrich the debates with additional information etc. The idea behind this process is to enable the French Digital Council to gather as much information as possible and to identify disagreements. At the end of the consultation process, the French Digital Council will draft summaries for each topic and finally a general opinion which will be officially communicated to the French Government.
To learn more, participate and submit an opinion, contributors are invited to visit the following website: http://contribuez.cnnumerique.fr