#1 A developing ecosystem to support growing needs
Summary
A relatively new industry
The first digital mediation activities emerged in the 1980s, mainly thanks to non-specialized structures that began to develop digital mediation activities: libraries, media libraries, popular education associations or neighborhood associations in particular.
Structures specializing in digital mediation took off in the 2000s when local governments built their own local digital strategies, and then in the 2010s, with a peak in creation between 2012 and 2017.
In 2021, a large number of structures will see the light of day, with the funding provided under the Recovery Plan. Older structures working in other fields (social action, training, etc.) have recently turned to digital mediation activities, such as ANSA or the French Red Cross.
"This sharp increase in the number of players in the sector has been accompanied by the Recovery Plan and associated funding, and in particular the creation and funding of France Services Digital Advisors (CnFS) positions."
76% of structures created after 2020 (in 2021 or 2022) employ France Services digital Advisors (CnFS) compared to 43% of structures created before 2020 (in 2018 or 2019).
A wide variety of actors
"The digital inclusion ecosystem is extremely diverse and brings together a variety of players - public, private, for-profit and non-profit structures, independent mediators, etc. - and of all sizes. Several "families" coexist and form a heterogeneous ecosystem that has been built up little by little, according to the needs identified and the public support policies".
The historical actors, such as associations, especially those of popular education, represent 46% of the structures that responded to the survey
57% of the structures that responded to the survey are private structures: associations, but also limited companies, cooperatives, and micro-enterprises.
More and more local authorities (32.50% of these structures) are setting up public policies for digital inclusion on their territory, often through their libraries and media centers.
More than 6% of the individuals who work as digital mediators are self-employed. "Their consequent number could correspond to the historical impossibility - because of the lack of financial means of the structures - to create perennial full-time positions".
Finally, 4.5% of these structures are public establishments: public interest groups, higher education establishments, or Pôle Emploi agencies, for example.
The vast majority of the actors intervene locally
58% of the structures that responded to the survey focus on the territory of their location, 22% operate in a slightly wider area, on the scale of their department or neighbouring departments.
However, 10% of them operate in one or more regions and 12% across the country thanks to a national presence. "This very broad scope of intervention corresponds mainly to structures whose main activity is not digital inclusion.
However, the development of initiatives and actors is unevenly distributed across the regions.
Extremely varied activities
"The activities related to digital mediation and inclusion are extremely diversified and can range from the function of "digital public writer", for people in digital emergency situations, to real digital mediation activities. Thus, from the detection of digital fragility to the sensitization to an ethical and responsible digital, there is a multitude of practices and accompaniments that allow individuals and groups to reach, in the long run, their digital inclusion.
The survey questionnaire distinguished 8 categories of "traditional" digital mediation activities.
- 83% of the structures offer support to acquire basic digital skills for people who are farthest from the digital world: using a computer, surfing the Internet, managing emails, etc.
- "As a logical consequence of the extremely rapid dematerialization of public services", the same proportion (83%) of structures indicate that they offer support for online administrative procedures to access their rights or social benefits.
- Three quarters of the structures indicate that they offer digital education activities and education through digital technology. Digital (re)creative activities such as web programming, electronics, robotics, modeling and 3D printing, embroidery, drawing and digital cutting, and film editing are offered.
- In digital literacy awareness actions, the preferred subjects are data literacy, personal data protection, digital identity, cybersecurity (password management, phishing, cookies, etc.) and the associated risks, but also digital eco-actions or digital tools for participatory democracy. These educational activities can also be embodied in the support of digital practices of specific audiences, such as the relationship to digital in families, the support of students in digital schooling or people with disabilities on tools and software adapted.
- 59% of the structures offer access to the network and to equipment: provision of computer equipment and an Internet connection; repair, reconditioning and reuse of terminals, as well as the sale of equipment at low prices for people in situations of social insecurity.
- 43% of the structures participate in the detection of the public in situation of digital fragility
- 41% assess the digital skills of the people they support.
- 36% of the structures indicate that they provide training in digital professions or train professionals in the digital tools necessary for their activities (elected officials, civil servants, social workers, actors in national education, youth work, early childhood, etc.) or train educational, social and cultural professionals in the posture of digital helper.
- Some structures indicate that they offer consulting services to local authorities or to companies wishing to undertake their digital transition, or accompany small structures in the development of their power to act with digital technology.
- Finally, 16% of the structures indicated that they offer other activities than the 8 identified in the survey: structuring of local networks of digital inclusion actors, coordination of these networks (management of #APTIC passes, coordination of CnFS for local structures, link between mediation and social actors, etc.). Other actors have specialized in the development of inclusive digital tools and services adapted to the public to improve access to websites and to facilitate people's lives.
"This plurality of activities can be explained by the very rapid evolution of digital uses and the diversity of the sector's needs, which force the players to multiply their actions and to constantly renew them.
Diversity of the publics accompanied
Studies, carried out before the health crisis, estimate that 14 million people would be far from digital, i.e. would have difficulties of access (material, connection) and uses (knowledge of the tools and capacities of use) with the digital.
While there is obviously a significant correlation between advancing age and lack of digital autonomy, the data collected show a more nuanced situation:
- One third of the people supported are elderly, another third are adults and the remaining third are young people or children. "Young people, commonly referred to as "digital natives", also need support for their uses: sending an e-mail, carrying out administrative procedures online, protecting their virtual identity or their information on social networks..."
- The support of children is often complemented by that of their parents, who often find themselves at a loss when faced with the digital uses of the new generations, particularly in single-parent families and in situations of fragility.
- Some mediators are specialized in a specific age group (youth, seniors, etc.), while others are versatile and work with children, youth, adults and seniors, with the daily challenge of adapting to these heterogeneous audiences.
- An analysis of the gender of the clients served is enlightening in more ways than one. The vast majority (61%) of the structures support as many women as men. But for 1/3 of them, their public is mainly female.
In addition to age and gender, location and geography are also differentiating factors. Thus, 61% of the organizations that responded to the survey operate in rural areas, 55% in priority districts of the city policy and 51% in small towns (less than 20,000 inhabitants). These three types of territories imply very different intervention methods and ways of mobilizing the public.
A continuum of support needs
Despite the necessary efforts of categorization to create typologies, the real differentiating element for digital mediators in their practice is the level of the accompanied public. " From a person who doesn't know how to use a keyboard, to another who is looking to perfect his or her video editing skills, to someone who knows how to use his or her smartphone but has absolutely no control over his or her e-reputation: the needs of the people being supported are spread out over a vast continuum.
Four million accompaniments in 2021
The methodology does not allow for an exhaustive estimate of the number of people supported per year, for the entire ecosystem. The authors of the survey do, however, provide an estimate.
The structures that responded to the survey had carried out 752,702 accompaniments in 2017 against 4,385,206 in 2021, i.e. a 5.8-fold increase in the number of accompaniments by digital mediators.
The methodology does not allow for a comprehensive estimate of the number of people supported per year, for the entire ecosystem. " This increase is also likely due to the gradual improvement in the accuracy of the count of people supported."
Most of the support is free of charge
The support offered is generally free of charge for the beneficiaries, but if the latter are solvent, it can be paid for. Thus, 90% of the structures surveyed indicate that they offer free support to their beneficiaries.
In this case, the cost of the support can be covered by the structure itself, or by a third party within the framework of service provision, public contracts or calls for projects and expressions of interest.
As such, more than 1,500 structures are qualified #APTIC and use the #APTIC pass, designed on the model of restaurant vouchers, and allowing to pay totally or partially for digital mediation services.
The majority of support is accessible by simple registration (in 79% of the structures) or even completely free and open to all (72%).
Individual and group coaching
The proposed accompaniments can be individual or collective, each having its own advantages and disadvantages.
69% of the structures offer both types of support to their clients and sometimes, individual and collective support can be intertwined.
Although some mediators only work individually (17% of respondents), the collective mode is also used (14%) because it is, among other things, a vector of social link.
Although the health crisis has contributed to the development of online support to continue activities and monitoring of people during confinement, face-to-face support is still widely preferred by 80% of facilities.
These accompaniments take place in different places: in the premises of the mediation structures, in the homes of the people accompanied, on the road (mobile digital mediation), or in other places available to the structures.
With Covid, a reinvention of practices
The testimonies collected in this survey show a real renewal of professional practices since the health crisis. "The extent of the needs has led to an increase in activity and many projects have emerged.
Nearly 40% of the responding structures were created or started digital mediation activities in the year 2020.
For a large number of players who did not use videoconferencing tools before the crisis, the development of remote activities has disrupted the practices necessary to maintain their activity in times of confinement.
"For some, the face-to-face format should be preferred, as it is considered more effective and reassuring for a large part of the public. This format also remains necessary for learning the basics of digital technology and for people who do not have computer equipment. Some structures have had to update their educational programs in response to the changing demands of the public. The latter want to learn more about remote communication tools and how to carry out online procedures.
Initiatives have also been launched to adapt mediation activities in times of health crisis, such as Solidarité Numérique, a state-run telephone platform operated by La Mednum and its members, which has mobilized several thousand volunteers.
The 2022 Digital Inclusion Observatory
#1 A developing ecosystem to support growing needs
A relatively new industry
The first digital mediation activities emerged in the 1980s, mainly thanks to non-specialized structures that began to develop digital mediation activities: libraries, media libraries, popular education associations or neighborhood associations in particular.
Structures specializing in digital mediation took off in the 2000s when local governments built their own local digital strategies, and then in the 2010s, with a peak in creation between 2012 and 2017.
In 2021, a large number of structures will see the light of day, with the funding provided under the Recovery Plan. Older structures working in other fields (social action, training, etc.) have recently turned to digital mediation activities, such as ANSA or the French Red Cross.
"This sharp increase in the number of players in the sector has been accompanied by the Recovery Plan and associated funding, and in particular the creation and funding of France Services Digital Advisors (CnFS) positions."
76% of structures created after 2020 (in 2021 or 2022) employ France Services digital Advisors (CnFS) compared to 43% of structures created before 2020 (in 2018 or 2019).
A wide variety of actors
"The digital inclusion ecosystem is extremely diverse and brings together a variety of players - public, private, for-profit and non-profit structures, independent mediators, etc. - and of all sizes. Several "families" coexist and form a heterogeneous ecosystem that has been built up little by little, according to the needs identified and the public support policies".
The historical actors, such as associations, especially those of popular education, represent 46% of the structures that responded to the survey
57% of the structures that responded to the survey are private structures: associations, but also limited companies, cooperatives, and micro-enterprises.
More and more local authorities (32.50% of these structures) are setting up public policies for digital inclusion on their territory, often through their libraries and media centers.
More than 6% of the individuals who work as digital mediators are self-employed. "Their consequent number could correspond to the historical impossibility - because of the lack of financial means of the structures - to create perennial full-time positions".
Finally, 4.5% of these structures are public establishments: public interest groups, higher education establishments, or Pôle Emploi agencies, for example.
The vast majority of the actors intervene locally
58% of the structures that responded to the survey focus on the territory of their location, 22% operate in a slightly wider area, on the scale of their department or neighbouring departments.
However, 10% of them operate in one or more regions and 12% across the country thanks to a national presence. "This very broad scope of intervention corresponds mainly to structures whose main activity is not digital inclusion.
However, the development of initiatives and actors is unevenly distributed across the regions.
Extremely varied activities
"The activities related to digital mediation and inclusion are extremely diversified and can range from the function of "digital public writer", for people in digital emergency situations, to real digital mediation activities. Thus, from the detection of digital fragility to the sensitization to an ethical and responsible digital, there is a multitude of practices and accompaniments that allow individuals and groups to reach, in the long run, their digital inclusion.
The survey questionnaire distinguished 8 categories of "traditional" digital mediation activities.
- 83% of the structures offer support to acquire basic digital skills for people who are farthest from the digital world: using a computer, surfing the Internet, managing emails, etc.
- "As a logical consequence of the extremely rapid dematerialization of public services", the same proportion (83%) of structures indicate that they offer support for online administrative procedures to access their rights or social benefits.
- Three quarters of the structures indicate that they offer digital education activities and education through digital technology. Digital (re)creative activities such as web programming, electronics, robotics, modeling and 3D printing, embroidery, drawing and digital cutting, and film editing are offered.
- In digital literacy awareness actions, the preferred subjects are data literacy, personal data protection, digital identity, cybersecurity (password management, phishing, cookies, etc.) and the associated risks, but also digital eco-actions or digital tools for participatory democracy. These educational activities can also be embodied in the support of digital practices of specific audiences, such as the relationship to digital in families, the support of students in digital schooling or people with disabilities on tools and software adapted.
- 59% of the structures offer access to the network and to equipment: provision of computer equipment and an Internet connection; repair, reconditioning and reuse of terminals, as well as the sale of equipment at low prices for people in situations of social insecurity.
- 43% of the structures participate in the detection of the public in situation of digital fragility
- 41% assess the digital skills of the people they support.
- 36% of the structures indicate that they provide training in digital professions or train professionals in the digital tools necessary for their activities (elected officials, civil servants, social workers, actors in national education, youth work, early childhood, etc.) or train educational, social and cultural professionals in the posture of digital helper.
- Some structures indicate that they offer consulting services to local authorities or to companies wishing to undertake their digital transition, or accompany small structures in the development of their power to act with digital technology.
- Finally, 16% of the structures indicated that they offer other activities than the 8 identified in the survey: structuring of local networks of digital inclusion actors, coordination of these networks (management of #APTIC passes, coordination of CnFS for local structures, link between mediation and social actors, etc.). Other actors have specialized in the development of inclusive digital tools and services adapted to the public to improve access to websites and to facilitate people's lives.
"This plurality of activities can be explained by the very rapid evolution of digital uses and the diversity of the sector's needs, which force the players to multiply their actions and to constantly renew them.
Diversity of the publics accompanied
Studies, carried out before the health crisis, estimate that 14 million people would be far from digital, i.e. would have difficulties of access (material, connection) and uses (knowledge of the tools and capacities of use) with the digital.
While there is obviously a significant correlation between advancing age and lack of digital autonomy, the data collected show a more nuanced situation:
- One third of the people supported are elderly, another third are adults and the remaining third are young people or children. "Young people, commonly referred to as "digital natives", also need support for their uses: sending an e-mail, carrying out administrative procedures online, protecting their virtual identity or their information on social networks..."
- The support of children is often complemented by that of their parents, who often find themselves at a loss when faced with the digital uses of the new generations, particularly in single-parent families and in situations of fragility.
- Some mediators are specialized in a specific age group (youth, seniors, etc.), while others are versatile and work with children, youth, adults and seniors, with the daily challenge of adapting to these heterogeneous audiences.
- An analysis of the gender of the clients served is enlightening in more ways than one. The vast majority (61%) of the structures support as many women as men. But for 1/3 of them, their public is mainly female.
In addition to age and gender, location and geography are also differentiating factors. Thus, 61% of the organizations that responded to the survey operate in rural areas, 55% in priority districts of the city policy and 51% in small towns (less than 20,000 inhabitants). These three types of territories imply very different intervention methods and ways of mobilizing the public.
A continuum of support needs
Despite the necessary efforts of categorization to create typologies, the real differentiating element for digital mediators in their practice is the level of the accompanied public. " From a person who doesn't know how to use a keyboard, to another who is looking to perfect his or her video editing skills, to someone who knows how to use his or her smartphone but has absolutely no control over his or her e-reputation: the needs of the people being supported are spread out over a vast continuum.
Four million accompaniments in 2021
The methodology does not allow for an exhaustive estimate of the number of people supported per year, for the entire ecosystem. The authors of the survey do, however, provide an estimate.
The structures that responded to the survey had carried out 752,702 accompaniments in 2017 against 4,385,206 in 2021, i.e. a 5.8-fold increase in the number of accompaniments by digital mediators.
The methodology does not allow for a comprehensive estimate of the number of people supported per year, for the entire ecosystem. " This increase is also likely due to the gradual improvement in the accuracy of the count of people supported."
Most of the support is free of charge
The support offered is generally free of charge for the beneficiaries, but if the latter are solvent, it can be paid for. Thus, 90% of the structures surveyed indicate that they offer free support to their beneficiaries.
In this case, the cost of the support can be covered by the structure itself, or by a third party within the framework of service provision, public contracts or calls for projects and expressions of interest.
As such, more than 1,500 structures are qualified #APTIC and use the #APTIC pass, designed on the model of restaurant vouchers, and allowing to pay totally or partially for digital mediation services.
The majority of support is accessible by simple registration (in 79% of the structures) or even completely free and open to all (72%).
Individual and group coaching
The proposed accompaniments can be individual or collective, each having its own advantages and disadvantages.
69% of the structures offer both types of support to their clients and sometimes, individual and collective support can be intertwined.
Although some mediators only work individually (17% of respondents), the collective mode is also used (14%) because it is, among other things, a vector of social link.
Although the health crisis has contributed to the development of online support to continue activities and monitoring of people during confinement, face-to-face support is still widely preferred by 80% of facilities.
These accompaniments take place in different places: in the premises of the mediation structures, in the homes of the people accompanied, on the road (mobile digital mediation), or in other places available to the structures.
With Covid, a reinvention of practices
The testimonies collected in this survey show a real renewal of professional practices since the health crisis. "The extent of the needs has led to an increase in activity and many projects have emerged.
Nearly 40% of the responding structures were created or started digital mediation activities in the year 2020.
For a large number of players who did not use videoconferencing tools before the crisis, the development of remote activities has disrupted the practices necessary to maintain their activity in times of confinement.
"For some, the face-to-face format should be preferred, as it is considered more effective and reassuring for a large part of the public. This format also remains necessary for learning the basics of digital technology and for people who do not have computer equipment. Some structures have had to update their educational programs in response to the changing demands of the public. The latter want to learn more about remote communication tools and how to carry out online procedures.
Initiatives have also been launched to adapt mediation activities in times of health crisis, such as Solidarité Numérique, a state-run telephone platform operated by La Mednum and its members, which has mobilized several thousand volunteers.
