Translations

ORANGE uses the Digital Society Forum to discuss digital technologies with the general public

7. Community involvement

Skills and technology transfer

Sector Telecommunication, Medias, ITC

Year 2014

Country France

Transmitter

Context

The impact of Information and Communication Technologies (or ICTs) on all aspects of our lives is tremendous. Whether in the personal or professional realm, for individuals and groups alike, digital technologies have upset the previously established order and exposed new societal models. To help the general public navigate through society's current transition, Orange founded the "Digital Society Forum", a collaborative inclusive platform, whose mission consists of clearly identifying the societal changes being induced by digital technologies.

Objectives

Understand both why and how digital technologies are transforming society by adopting a flexible and collaborative approach open to the widest audience possible;
Determine the principal expectations held by stakeholders and help generate suitable proposals.

APPROACH

Initiated by Orange, the Digital Society Forum is intended to clearly expose the major societal trends resulting from new digital technologies and offer the keys to a better understanding of various topics (the connected family, relations 2.0, new forms of learning, working in the digital era, the connected migrant, consumption in the co-mode, etc.). Sociologists, researchers and digital experts join ranks to study the impact of these technologies on day-to-day life and share results with the general public. As part of its strategy, Orange has partnered with entities that play a pivotal role in these digital transformations: Psychologies Magazine, FING (New Generation Internet Foundation).

The Digital Society Forum relies on a collaborative and participatory approach and hosts a number of events: roundtable sessions assembling digital experts and industry leaders, exchanges-workshops open to all, and online discussion spaces (e.g. forum, chat).

The issues addressed during these events have been defined in conjunction with sociologists from Orange's SENSE (Sociology and Economics of Networks and Services) Laboratory as well as Digital Society Forum partners. These issues overlap with the headline topics affecting modern society (private life, professional careers, education, leisure, good citizenship, consumption patterns, health, etc.) and are assessed from the standpoint of the digital impact on behavior.

CONTRIBUTION TO COMPANY PERFORMANCE

Recognition of Orange as the leading operator dealing with the issue of societal changes induced by digital technologies;
Proof of the Group's commitment to clarifying the uses of new technologies;
Contributions to in-house performance as well (e.g. HR, marketing, procurement, research, the "Techno-center").

Benefits

In just 1 year, the Digital Society Forum has reached nearly: 1,800 members, 1,200 followers on Twitter, 60,400 unique users for 266,000 total page views.