Digital Use: Why is it important to organize a showcase around the French-speaking world in technology this year?
Didier Boulogne: This is the first time that an economic event has been organized on the sidelines of a summit Francophone (Held in Aisne on October 4-5, editor’s note). It has been the desire of the President of the Republic to give a commercial makeover to this alliance that has been in place for a very long time, but has never been promoted in economic terms. This is a matter at the highest level in the French state. Commercial France Then we were assigned to organize this event, because we have experience in organizing pavilions.
What was the program for these two days?
The event consists of four main elements, firstly a presentation of the companies, expertise and technologies of the delegates from the French-speaking region. We then organized B2B sessions, setting up 400 meetings. We also have round tables and conferences artificial intelligence Education, for example. The program is completed by a pitch competition, giving all companies in the French-speaking region the opportunity to compete on different topics, with an awards ceremony. In the future, the Francophonie summit will be held elsewhere, but I hope that Francophonie will embed itself in business logic.
Why did you choose to organize this event at Station F?
Indeed, it is a symbolic place. But the idea is also to encourage startups. We have had a lot of startups in the business space run by Business France. We were keen to enhance startAnd also openness to large companies such as orange Or Veolia. But more often than not, they choose to showcase spin-offs.
Is the idea behind this event to change the current pattern, where English dominates in exchanges and in the technological tools used by French companies?
Yes, that’s the whole point of the show. The idea is that alongside language and culture, which are very important, we need to think about “business in French”. This privilege was reserved for our Anglo-Saxon friends. We were talking this morning about AI: We’ve seen the delay in AI. All engines are developed in Anglo-Saxon and all learning mechanisms within the AI framework operate with English logic. If we want to rectify the situation and make French a language that allows us to work on artificial intelligence in the future, this is the case now.
Have you planned in the future other actions or events to highlight the French-speaking world in the field of technology?
At the moment, there is nothing concrete, but projects are in preparation. Our Chairman of the Board, Pascal Cané, mentioned the fact that we try to work in major international trade fairs with French-speaking spaces. Obviously there will always be a French pavilion, but let’s try as much as possible to come together in French-speaking spaces to create a bloc.
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