Digital Wallonia welcomed Jacques-François Marchandise, General Delegate of the Fing, as part of the Digital Wallonia Champions Summer University, dedicated to the digital society model we want for the future. He shares his vision and perspectives on a subject that concerns us all.
Jacques-François Marchandise is General Delegate and Director of Research and Forecasting for the Fing (Association for the New Generation Internet Foundation). In this interview, conducted during Digital Wallonia Champions Summer University 2019 organized by AdN in collaboration with the FING, it presents the challenges of tomorrow's digital society and the levers to be used to achieve them.
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The end of Internet utopias
For Jacques-François Marchandise, the Internet is initially a formidable tool for personal development, open to all. For some years now, we have been witnessing a re-centralization in the doubly paradoxical context of a digital world more powerful than ever and a growing awareness of the limits of our environment.
"Recently, we've had the impression that the game has closed, with the promises of digital technology drying up, which is all the more paradoxical given that it has never been so powerful. We're at the point where digital technology can tell us more and more, but the planet can't."
The promises and shortcomings of digital technology
The digital society we want for tomorrow is a place where we can enrich our understanding of the world through the development of knowledge and education. "This approach has an impact on our model of democracy. We achieve better-informed, shared and more mature forms of information, deliberation and consultation, within a framework of greater trust. This approach also stimulates entrepreneurial practices, both commercial and otherwise."
Nevertheless, for many people, the Internet today appears to be under pressure, even threatening. Many voices denounce its excesses in various fields: the danger to privacy, the takeover by a handful of players, the vector of inequalities created by the digital divide, the environmental impact, etc.
Concrete levers for action
Jacques-François Marchandise is convinced that we can counter these shortcomings and develop the promises of the digital society. To achieve this, he identifies several levers for action. Firstly, you have to be convinced and willing to act. Secondly, he recommends a global approach shared by heterogeneous players (trainers, teachers, designers, buyers, etc.).
"Let's formalize our intentions towards a desirable digital future. There is no fatality. There are ways of introducing criteria into the investment and purchasing choices of large companies and public institutions, and of establishing principles for action. As a designer, you can do nothing on your own. As a buyer, we can have an impact. If a recruiter is faced with talent with high environmental standards, he or she is going to have to take that into account."
The Fing has developed the RESET program aiming for tangible results as early as 2022. This program brings together players from all walks of life to develop, together, the criteria for a digital society that is desirable for all. Digital technology can indeed be desirable if it is in line with our intentions.
Initiated in France, RESET aims to reach out to other territories. "The European scale is particularly interesting. Many researchers are working on a European path of digital innovation, not aligned with the dominant continents, and respectful of the environment in particular. This work is intended to be collaborative and limitless. We're working with Digital Africa, for example, because Africa has a lot to teach us."
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