Philippine Dolbeau, Expert(e) interview

FemmesDuNumérique:As a young womanpromoter in the digital field, can you tell us about your educational background? What is NewSchool?

PhilippineDolbeau: Let’s start with some brief introductions…

My name is Philippine, I’m 17 and I live near Paris. Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been captivated by new technologies and inventions. I think I was born at the right time: the first modern cell phones were coming onto the market, and computers were taking off. As a bigfan of the Apple brand, I knew when the very first iPhone came out, and it made me dream. I remember when people said to me “what would you like to be when you grow up?”, my friends and family would answer for me:“Steve Jobs”. Today, we laugh about it…

At the age of 11, I designed a remote-controlled car in my technology class. But something was missing, it was too dictated and superficial. A year later, I decided to embark on a super glamorous invention: LeVentiloFourchette. Yes, I said glamorous! A motor, a few batteries, some electrical wires and a fork – in short, a mini-fan mounted on a fork to answer my sister’s complaints that her food was too hot…

New Schoolwas born 2 years later: a digital school life management system, in other words, a tool based primarily on the in-class call system.

FDN:How did your desire to create an application come about, and how do you see this invention changing (modernizing) the way the French education system works?

PhilippineDolbeau:It all clicked for me on October 6, 2014. On that day, 9-year-old Charles was taking the bus to school near Bordeaux. Charles fell asleep on the way, and never arrived at his destination. He was found safe and sound 8 hours later in the school bus company’s hangar, locked in the vehicle, and no one had noticed that he hadn’t been in class, because none of his teachers had called the roll.

At the same time, I was in the tenth grade, aged 15. In my school, I was lucky enough to have economics classes in which the students applied the famous “flipped classroom” to a certain extent. My economics classes were to enable me to set up a mini-business.

The idea is there, in this news item but also in this observation: today, the vast majority of schools in France benefit from aid for the creation of a digital pedagogy. The“Plan Numerique” launched by the French Ministry of Education is undeniably a good idea. But education in France is an old, old machine that needs to be gently reawakened and repaired.

This desire to modernize teaching and communication methods in schools is the result of unbelievable and unacceptable observations made by a teacher’s daughter, but above all by a student who is not ready to give up.

The question is: “How canNew Schoolgoing to modernize the world of education? I’ve decided to start this idea with thedigital callbook, whichis far too archaic a tool in schools at the moment, not to mention the major security concerns (Charles’s story is a good example).

Of course, the idea is not to stop at the modernization of this single tool, but to become the manager of all school life, and to expand into new sectors. My priority is education. There’s a mountain to lift, and I hope I can at least move it forward a little…

FDN:In concrete terms, how do you plan to develop your concept (creation, pricing, marketing)?

PhilippineDolbeau: The application was put under experimentation for 5 months in early 2016, with 120 students and 4 teachers equipped with the system. The results confirmed our decision to develop the solution on a larger scale. As a result, we’re adding a few more features to our “Profs” app.Currently, we’re creating our own connected key ring with a colorful, sturdy design for our students.

We are fortunate to already have around fifteen interested establishments, including several universities for testingNewSchooldèsin September 2016. Our first customers are the most important ones, and I have to work as hard as I can not to disappoint them. After all, the customer is king!

I’m entering a phase that is both exciting and stressfulatboth extremes. Exciting because we’re finally getting down to the nitty-gritty: our first customers, our production, our marketing, our first contacts. But this also means that we need to be particularly careful and rigorous to ensure that the company grows and runs smoothly.

FDN:What could be your next innovation?

PhilippineDolbeau: That’s an excellent question. Every entrepreneur has the modest ambition of changing the world,“Making the world a better place to live”.I don’t have the idea of the century, and that’s not what I’m looking for at all! I’d love to revolutionize people’s daily lives, and in particular solve the problems of poverty, hunger and access to drinking water around the world. See you in 10 years?

FDN:What does digital technology mean for your future? Will it influence your professional career?

PhilippineDolbeau:Of course it’s going to influence my career, I’m sure. We live in an increasingly connected, digital world, where cheques are now outdated and the credit card is going to becomeHasBeen.Jobs are changing at lightning speed, it’s crazy. As for my future, which is far from clear-cut despite appearances, I know there’s bound to be a link with the digital world. I don’t know what it is yet, butdigital isa tool that we can no longer set aside…

FDN:If you had to use three adjectives to describe your current state of mind, what would they be?

PhilippineDolbeau: Determined, confident andrelax, it’s vacation time for a few more days!

NOTE :

I’m delighted that more and more women are being highlighted for their work, ideas and innovations, particularly in the digital sector. I’ve long been aware of the persistent inequalities between men and women, such as pay inequality, which I felt was the most glaring. With the development and the incredible media coverage I’ve had since January, I’ve come to realize that views on the female gender are still far from correct.

I’ve often been told that it’s impossible to set up a project of this scale as a girl. I can’t even begin to tell you how people reacted when they learned that YES, you can set up your own business if you’re a woman, in a literary stream and aged 15. “The world is dominated by men and the world is going badly. Laissez la place aux femmes” saidClaraGaymard, one of my many role models, just a few days ago…Thank you!