IT landscape
in France
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Government policies
The role of the
French State has always been important in promoting new technologies and
in regulating the economy in general. As of 1979, this role of diffusion
of IT within French society was assumed by a specific entity, the "Agency
for the promotion of IT". Through a variety of agencies and programs, France
is pursuing a typical "mission-oriented" policy to promote IT diffusion.
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Since 1997, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Culture
and Communication and the Department of Industry have taken general action
to promote the "Information Society". Indeed, in 1997, France was behind
its European counterparts on many new technologies, especially the Internet.
The action of the French government, through the PAGSI (Programme
d'Action Gouvernemental pour la Societe de l'Information) has helped France
to reach a stronger position on the IT market.
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Public expenses in Information Technology have quadrupled in 1998
and tripled in 1999. In July 2000, a budget of 1 Million Francs was voted
for R&D in IT development. Modernization of information systems was
boosted by the Y2K issue, and has lead to create new portals and 2 600
public Web sites. In the private sector, financial incitements and venture
capitalism have helped numerous start-ups to emerge.
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General action is also taken to adapt French law, to support innovation
and economic players in the digital economy, to develop e-administration,
and to provide security in electronic exchange. In March 2000, a new law
was voted for the use of digital signature. Another issue is to solve the
digital divide by giving Internet access to all high schools, by creating
7000 public places for Internet access by 2003, and by using IT in professional
training and unemployment programs.
More recently, a
new law was voted on June 13, 2001 to boost the development of the Information
Society. The principal points of this legislation are:
- Access to digital information (the administration has to give public
digital information for free)
- Freedom of online communication
- Clarification of legal system applied to e-commerce: electronic contracts,
opt-out technology
- Development of networks via satellites and wireless technology, share
of infrastructure between operators
- Fight against cybercrime, use of cryptology.
Compared to other countries, the French government is an average user of
information technologies. Some progress has been undertaken recently with
the launch of a single portal for all central administration (service-public.fr),
which is hosting 1100 administrative forms. New developments are on their
way such as a customized access point for each user.
The health care system is being entirely digitized, with the
distribution of the smart card "Sesame Vitale" to all insured citizens
and the launch of the network "Reseau Sante Social" that had 34 000 health
professional subscribers in March 2001. In April 2001, more than 5 millions
of health care forms a week were electronically transmitted by more than
75 000 health care professionnals in the private sector.
Sources
www.internet.gouv.fr
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