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Digital Public Writer: a service, a function and a profession that is still in search of itself

Published on 02 May 2019
Update on 26 September 2022
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Summary

A growing number of communities are offering citizens the services of a "digital public writer" to help them with their administrative procedures. Depending on the case, this service is offered by the social welfare center, the library, a digital public space or even by associations. As for the people in charge of this service, there is a wide disparity in situations: some communities call on a professional "public writer" who provides this service during office hours, a few hours a week. Other local authorities entrust this mission to one of their agents or create a position explicitly dedicated to this mission.

There is also a wide variety of situations in terms of the audiences for the "digital public writer" service: depending on the local authorities or associations, this service is primarily intended for the most "impeded" audiences, those who are illiterate or have no or poor command of the French language, or more generally for people who have difficulty with digital technology, particularly the elderly.

There is also a wide variety of configurations in terms of the spectrum of services: the "digital public writer" service generally refers to the completion of online administrative procedures or the drafting of e-mails "on behalf of the person": it can extend to the drafting of CVs or include an initiation component to digital tools. In some libraries, the service is provided by librarians, and by volunteers in several associations.

Finally, there is great diversity in the profiles that provide this service: specially recruited agents, young volunteers in the framework of the Civic Service, librarians in certain media libraries, professional "public writers", and even volunteers.

This "digital public writer" function largely covers the functions of mediation or digital support. If these communities put forward the terminology "digital public writer" rather than "digital mediator", which is generally used, it is probably because it gives a more concrete and immediately understandable content to the proposed service.

This terminology of "digital public writer" can also be a source of confusion for the profession of "public writer" which has also started its digital transformation.

One of the recommendations of the Strategy for the Prevention and Fight against Child and Youth Poverty (developed by the Interministerial Delegation for the Prevention and Fight against Child and Youth Poverty) was to "promote the profession of public writer and launch a vast recruitment policy in public or subsidized organizations (CCAS, social centers, etc.)".

Grenoble: public writers with a social vocation

The city of Grenoble has set up a "social writer" service in several Maisons des Habitants (MDH), which combines a local service with socio-linguistic activities (ASL).

"Public writers provide a local service to help people understand and file administrative documents, and to help them write letters, forms and other documents. They offer consultations with or without an appointment at the Maisons des Habitants. They develop collective information for the public and organize meetings with the organizations and institutions that provide rights, in order to promote access to rights. The public writers with a social vocation can also assist users in carrying out their electronic administrative procedures. The public writers provide the first reception and orient people according to their needs and requests. They follow up on the social and professional path of the people enrolled in the socio-linguistic actions, always within the framework of a mid-term and final assessment". The objective of the socio-linguistic actions is to allow the beneficiaries to appropriate the social, cultural and professional environment by improving their mastery of the French language and by developing their personal and civic autonomy.

In the Maison des Habitants Teissere, the city has decided to create a pair of public writers and digital facilitators to lead co-constructed workshops.

Boulazac: a public writer by appointment

The town of Boulazac, in the Dordogne, has created adigital public writer position "to fight against illiteracy and to accompany the inhabitants". According to the holder of this position (a librarian by training), "this job combines digital technology and human relations. I help people who come to see me to do their administrative procedures online or to write emails, letters, CVs. I receive people by appointment. The first contact is usually made by phone, it is necessary to target the request of the person in order to ask him to come with the necessary papers. If a document is missing, the procedure cannot be successful. For me, the appointment is not only an administrative step, it is also a time for exchange. The people I accompany have a diverse profile. They are from 20 to 80 years old. Some people are not at ease with digital technology, others do not have access to the Internet and still others have difficulties with a particular procedure. There are no specific skills required, it's mainly a question of knowing how to behave: being at ease with the users. I have in fact trained myself on the various sites and I learn from case to case, according to the problems of the people who come to meet me ".

A wide variety of statuses and systems

  • The city of Berck has brought together in the same place the CCAS, the social services (pensions, health insurance, CAF), a point of access to the law as well as a Digital Point. The Digital Point, in addition to an introductory computer workshop, offers support for online administrative procedures. To this end, it has created a position of digital public writer.
  • The city of Lisieux, for its part, has recruited a public digital writer. The analysis of social needs (ABS) of the territory carried out by the CCAS had highlighted important needs, especially among people over 50 in precariousness, who are rarely equipped with computer tools. Beyond simple administrative assistance, the city intends to fight against illiteracy by providing the persons accompanied with keys to use new technologies. The digital public writer's activity takes the form of walk-in sessions in several strategic points of the city (CCAS premises, Sociocultural Center, CAF in a priority district), completed by home visits for residents unable to travel.
  • In the Vosges, it is a social landlord, Vosgelis (the department's public housing office), which in 2018 recruited an online public writer "to reconnect its oldest tenants to the exchanges of daily life." "We have seen a lot of misunderstandings that can result in unpaid electricity or gas bills. These difficulties are not directly related to our regulatory missions, but we want to accompany our tenants in order to preserve the social link",explains the general manager of Vosgelis. This public writer is made available under civic contracts by the Fondation agir contre l'exclusion (Face).
  • Some communities rely on associations to implement the public writer service, such as Graphite in Bordeaux or Mots et Regards and Inter-Service Migrants in Saint Denis. In addition to its initial vocation, interpreting services, the Inter-Service Migrants association provides services in Saint Denis at various locations throughout the city to help people fill out forms, write administrative letters, understand and read letters.
  • In some media libraries (Cesson-Sévigné, Aubervilliers, La Courneuve, Pierrefitte, Saint Ouen, Saint Denis), or at the Maison des Jeunes (as in Torcy), the offices are staffed by volunteers.

Associative public writers

A certain number of associations, moreover, offer a "public writer" service, such as Antanak or la Plume bénévole in Paris, the Secours Catholique, the Centre d'Action Sociale Protestant in the Paris region, or Contact-Promotion in Strasbourg.

For the reception of foreigners, Contact-Promotion has even elaborated a Charter of the public writer. " The public writer offers a free service of assistance and support in understanding and writing official or private texts. The public writer writes with the beneficiary of his service with the aim of empowering and giving responsibility to this person".

Several of these associations recruit volunteer "public writers" through the " tous-benevoles " website (which connects associations and volunteer candidates) or through the Civic Service.

The digital transformation of the public writing profession

Several hundred people in France practice the profession of "public writer". Some of them practice their profession mainly in the social field. Grouped together within the EPSO network (Réseau des Écrivains Publics à Vocation Sociale), they have in common "a generalist competence in the fields of writing and administrative assistance, a unique experience with people who have difficulties with the written word, an approach and public service values that guarantee everyone equal access to rights".

If some public writers manage to position themselves as "consulting writers", a large number of them are dedicated to assisting individuals in writing all types of letters.

According to a survey conducted by the French Academy of Public Writers (AEPF), digital technology has profoundly transformed this profession, with remote work, the commonplace use of e-mail, corrections by attached files, the production of books in digital self-publishing, the writing of texts for the web, the use of desktop publishing software (DTP), spelling correction or voice recognition.

According to this survey

  • 94% of public writers surveyed say they " can't live without digital".
  • 52% of them are " solicited to assist their clients in the use of digital technology". This is the case for the creation of an Internet site or the use of software, but also for administrative requests (contacts with landlords, disputes, etc.), for online procedures, for the creation of personal spaces (CNAV, Pôle Emploi, etc.), to consult a CAF account, to send a document in PDF, to use a USB key....
Faced with new expectations from the public, linked to the dematerialization of public services, the Academy of Public Writers of France (AEPF) devoted its 2017 conference to the Public Writer in a digital world.

According to Pascal Martineau, president of AEPF, " As public writers, we address people who need immediate digital help. We don't teach them, we do it instead. For example, to contact an administration or to fill out a file. We will then help them to connect to their CAF account, to complete their income tax return, to go to the Pôle Emploi website, etc. We intervene, as we traditionally do in writing, to replace them in the framework of a rather complicated administrative process. We are a mediator between these people and the Internet.

Public Writer: A New Social Work Profession

In 2018, the interdepartmental delegation for the prevention and fight against child and youth poverty proposed, as part of the Strategy for the Prevention and Fight against Child and Youth Poverty, to " Valorize the profession of public writer and launch a broad recruitment policy in public or subsidized organizations (CCAS, social centers...)."

As part of the " renovation of social work ", this strategy identified "public writers" as one of the new social work professions:

"This new approach implies transforming training and certain social work professions in order to develop "outreach" practices, to adapt to real needs and to intervene in the event of events and breakdowns that can lead to exclusion. This is reflected in the creation of new university degrees and new professions(public writers, social mediators, social developers).

Références :

Sources

Digital Public Writer: a service, a function and a profession that is still in search of itself

A growing number of communities are offering citizens the services of a "digital public writer" to help them with their administrative procedures. Depending on the case, this service is offered by the social welfare center, the library, a digital public space or even by associations. As for the people in charge of this service, there is a wide disparity in situations: some communities call on a professional "public writer" who provides this service during office hours, a few hours a week. Other local authorities entrust this mission to one of their agents or create a position explicitly dedicated to this mission.

There is also a wide variety of situations in terms of the audiences for the "digital public writer" service: depending on the local authorities or associations, this service is primarily intended for the most "impeded" audiences, those who are illiterate or have no or poor command of the French language, or more generally for people who have difficulty with digital technology, particularly the elderly.

There is also a wide variety of configurations in terms of the spectrum of services: the "digital public writer" service generally refers to the completion of online administrative procedures or the drafting of e-mails "on behalf of the person": it can extend to the drafting of CVs or include an initiation component to digital tools. In some libraries, the service is provided by librarians, and by volunteers in several associations.

Finally, there is great diversity in the profiles that provide this service: specially recruited agents, young volunteers in the framework of the Civic Service, librarians in certain media libraries, professional "public writers", and even volunteers.

This "digital public writer" function largely covers the functions of mediation or digital support. If these communities put forward the terminology "digital public writer" rather than "digital mediator", which is generally used, it is probably because it gives a more concrete and immediately understandable content to the proposed service.

This terminology of "digital public writer" can also be a source of confusion for the profession of "public writer" which has also started its digital transformation.

One of the recommendations of the Strategy for the Prevention and Fight against Child and Youth Poverty (developed by the Interministerial Delegation for the Prevention and Fight against Child and Youth Poverty) was to "promote the profession of public writer and launch a vast recruitment policy in public or subsidized organizations (CCAS, social centers, etc.)".

Grenoble: public writers with a social vocation

The city of Grenoble has set up a "social writer" service in several Maisons des Habitants (MDH), which combines a local service with socio-linguistic activities (ASL).

"Public writers provide a local service to help people understand and file administrative documents, and to help them write letters, forms and other documents. They offer consultations with or without an appointment at the Maisons des Habitants. They develop collective information for the public and organize meetings with the organizations and institutions that provide rights, in order to promote access to rights. The public writers with a social vocation can also assist users in carrying out their electronic administrative procedures. The public writers provide the first reception and orient people according to their needs and requests. They follow up on the social and professional path of the people enrolled in the socio-linguistic actions, always within the framework of a mid-term and final assessment". The objective of the socio-linguistic actions is to allow the beneficiaries to appropriate the social, cultural and professional environment by improving their mastery of the French language and by developing their personal and civic autonomy.

In the Maison des Habitants Teissere, the city has decided to create a pair of public writers and digital facilitators to lead co-constructed workshops.

Boulazac: a public writer by appointment

The town of Boulazac, in the Dordogne, has created adigital public writer position "to fight against illiteracy and to accompany the inhabitants". According to the holder of this position (a librarian by training), "this job combines digital technology and human relations. I help people who come to see me to do their administrative procedures online or to write emails, letters, CVs. I receive people by appointment. The first contact is usually made by phone, it is necessary to target the request of the person in order to ask him to come with the necessary papers. If a document is missing, the procedure cannot be successful. For me, the appointment is not only an administrative step, it is also a time for exchange. The people I accompany have a diverse profile. They are from 20 to 80 years old. Some people are not at ease with digital technology, others do not have access to the Internet and still others have difficulties with a particular procedure. There are no specific skills required, it's mainly a question of knowing how to behave: being at ease with the users. I have in fact trained myself on the various sites and I learn from case to case, according to the problems of the people who come to meet me ".

A wide variety of statuses and systems

  • The city of Berck has brought together in the same place the CCAS, the social services (pensions, health insurance, CAF), a point of access to the law as well as a Digital Point. The Digital Point, in addition to an introductory computer workshop, offers support for online administrative procedures. To this end, it has created a position of digital public writer.
  • The city of Lisieux, for its part, has recruited a public digital writer. The analysis of social needs (ABS) of the territory carried out by the CCAS had highlighted important needs, especially among people over 50 in precariousness, who are rarely equipped with computer tools. Beyond simple administrative assistance, the city intends to fight against illiteracy by providing the persons accompanied with keys to use new technologies. The digital public writer's activity takes the form of walk-in sessions in several strategic points of the city (CCAS premises, Sociocultural Center, CAF in a priority district), completed by home visits for residents unable to travel.
  • In the Vosges, it is a social landlord, Vosgelis (the department's public housing office), which in 2018 recruited an online public writer "to reconnect its oldest tenants to the exchanges of daily life." "We have seen a lot of misunderstandings that can result in unpaid electricity or gas bills. These difficulties are not directly related to our regulatory missions, but we want to accompany our tenants in order to preserve the social link",explains the general manager of Vosgelis. This public writer is made available under civic contracts by the Fondation agir contre l'exclusion (Face).
  • Some communities rely on associations to implement the public writer service, such as Graphite in Bordeaux or Mots et Regards and Inter-Service Migrants in Saint Denis. In addition to its initial vocation, interpreting services, the Inter-Service Migrants association provides services in Saint Denis at various locations throughout the city to help people fill out forms, write administrative letters, understand and read letters.
  • In some media libraries (Cesson-Sévigné, Aubervilliers, La Courneuve, Pierrefitte, Saint Ouen, Saint Denis), or at the Maison des Jeunes (as in Torcy), the offices are staffed by volunteers.

Associative public writers

A certain number of associations, moreover, offer a "public writer" service, such as Antanak or la Plume bénévole in Paris, the Secours Catholique, the Centre d'Action Sociale Protestant in the Paris region, or Contact-Promotion in Strasbourg.

For the reception of foreigners, Contact-Promotion has even elaborated a Charter of the public writer. " The public writer offers a free service of assistance and support in understanding and writing official or private texts. The public writer writes with the beneficiary of his service with the aim of empowering and giving responsibility to this person".

Several of these associations recruit volunteer "public writers" through the " tous-benevoles " website (which connects associations and volunteer candidates) or through the Civic Service.

The digital transformation of the public writing profession

Several hundred people in France practice the profession of "public writer". Some of them practice their profession mainly in the social field. Grouped together within the EPSO network (Réseau des Écrivains Publics à Vocation Sociale), they have in common "a generalist competence in the fields of writing and administrative assistance, a unique experience with people who have difficulties with the written word, an approach and public service values that guarantee everyone equal access to rights".

If some public writers manage to position themselves as "consulting writers", a large number of them are dedicated to assisting individuals in writing all types of letters.

According to a survey conducted by the French Academy of Public Writers (AEPF), digital technology has profoundly transformed this profession, with remote work, the commonplace use of e-mail, corrections by attached files, the production of books in digital self-publishing, the writing of texts for the web, the use of desktop publishing software (DTP), spelling correction or voice recognition.

According to this survey

  • 94% of public writers surveyed say they " can't live without digital".
  • 52% of them are " solicited to assist their clients in the use of digital technology". This is the case for the creation of an Internet site or the use of software, but also for administrative requests (contacts with landlords, disputes, etc.), for online procedures, for the creation of personal spaces (CNAV, Pôle Emploi, etc.), to consult a CAF account, to send a document in PDF, to use a USB key....
Faced with new expectations from the public, linked to the dematerialization of public services, the Academy of Public Writers of France (AEPF) devoted its 2017 conference to the Public Writer in a digital world.

According to Pascal Martineau, president of AEPF, " As public writers, we address people who need immediate digital help. We don't teach them, we do it instead. For example, to contact an administration or to fill out a file. We will then help them to connect to their CAF account, to complete their income tax return, to go to the Pôle Emploi website, etc. We intervene, as we traditionally do in writing, to replace them in the framework of a rather complicated administrative process. We are a mediator between these people and the Internet.

Public Writer: A New Social Work Profession

In 2018, the interdepartmental delegation for the prevention and fight against child and youth poverty proposed, as part of the Strategy for the Prevention and Fight against Child and Youth Poverty, to " Valorize the profession of public writer and launch a broad recruitment policy in public or subsidized organizations (CCAS, social centers...)."

As part of the " renovation of social work ", this strategy identified "public writers" as one of the new social work professions:

"This new approach implies transforming training and certain social work professions in order to develop "outreach" practices, to adapt to real needs and to intervene in the event of events and breakdowns that can lead to exclusion. This is reflected in the creation of new university degrees and new professions(public writers, social mediators, social developers).

Références :

Sources

Labo Société Numérique

Labo République Française Agence nationale de cohésion des territoires
Digital Public Writer: a service, a function and a profession that is still in search of itself