Digital sector: where do we stand? Breakfast at the French National Assembly

Rich exchanges with Mireille Clapot, MP for Drôme, Claude de Ganay, MP for Loiret, Olga Givernet, MP for Ain, Laure de La Raudière, MP for Eure et Loir, Mustapha Laabid, MP for Ille et Vilaine, Nicole Le Peih, MP for Morbihan, Marion Lenne, MP for Haute Savoie, Mickael Nogal, MP for Haute Garonne, and Hélène Zannier, MP for Moselle.

What you need to know:

The sector is growing fast, as the entire French economy embarks on its digital transformation:

• With +4.2% growth in 2019 and a growth outlook of 4% in 2020, the digital sector continues its positive momentum and is driving the French economy (+1.3% in 2019).
• Digital transformation means investing in digital technologies (mobility, multi-channel, Cloud, data analysis/Big Data, security…).
• These technologies are profoundly changing companies (business processes, customer relations, user experience, innovation and new products/services, new business models).

The sector is an investment generator:

• It’s attractive because, in 2018, France hosted 15% of foreign direct investment in the software and IT services sector (a level comparable to Germany): €5.03 billion was raised for 736 operations in 2019.
• It invests in Research & Development, with domestic research and development expenditure (DIRD) of 2.2 billion euros in the digital sector, making it the 4th largest sector after the automotive, pharmaceutical and aerospace industries.

Digital companies are creating jobs, but are still struggling to recruit:

• 2018 was an exceptional year, with over 34,000 net jobs created, i.e. 1/3 of all jobs created in France; this sustained growth in the sector has created 150,800 net jobs in France over the past 9 years.
• In France, nearly 200,000 positions will need to be filled by 2022. The requirements cover a wide range of professions (social networks, development, mobility and cloud solutions, data analysis, cybersecurity, etc.).

The challenges of initial, continuing or retraining training concern digital professions in other sectors:

• Governments, local authorities and businesses in all sectors will have to integrate digital skills into their teams, in addition to the business skills already present.
• Syntec Numérique is heavily involved in the work on the “Productive Pact for Full Employment in 2025”, and is proposing to create a proactive, agile retraining system tailored to the needs of each region, by gradually rolling out a system at national level based on the Numéric’Emploi Grand Est experiment.

And there are many other challenges facing the digital companies that are driving innovation in cities and regions, transforming the healthcare system, industry, VSEs and SMEs in all sectors, the environment, etc.!

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