Actualités de SOGA Archives - Page 3 of 4

Open letter: the necessary digital transition of the social economy

by sogaccelerator | 10 Mar 2022 | Actualités de SOGA, Communs & plaidoyer, Editorial

Open letter: Anchoring the social and solidarity economy in its digital future

In February 2022, the Social Good Accelerator and its 70 members maintained its vision in its open letter. A better world can only be made with the full support of social economy, which also has to be digitalised. This is how the association defines the key role of the digital transition of social economy in solving social problems with full potential.

In 2018, Jeanne Bretécher and Steven Bertal founded the Social Good Accelerator to gather the digital sector and social economy

Source: Social Good Accelerator

Our vision: to encourage technological innovation actors to develop and collaborate with social innovation actors in Europe

Four years ago, the Social Good Accelerator (SOGA EU) association was born in France from a double observation: on the one hand, the digital transition of social economy organisations in Europe is left to one side by public policies and funders, and on the other hand, the digital models of social economy encounter too many obstacles to their development.

Its 70 members wish to defend together the vision of a digital social economy (Social Tech) and European, centred on “digital commons”, sustainable and available to all, and to have social economy organisations recognised as actors of the technological transition.

SOGA EU’s work aims to inform social economy actors and decision-makers of the innovative responses proposed to mitigate the digital divide, Uberisation, platform abuses and to promote equity for people who are far from employment, discriminated against in training and retraining.

The challenges: towards a collaborative and responsible digital model for tomorrow’s economy

In the framework of the European Social Economy Action Plan, which SOGA has been working on, and especially the need for new ideas to emerge to build resilience for all, social economy necessarily has a role to play.

However, as our study – ‘Cooperation between social utility and tech actors in Europe’ – has shown, most social economy organisations – whatever their status – encounter obstacles in their development similar to those of very small enterprises, with additional difficulties linked to their lack of profit, the financing of projects to the detriment of the structures, and the lack of sectoral organisation on these issues.

To meet the challenges of today and tomorrow, SOGA believes that the digital transition can be an opportunity to finally scale up the European SSE, provided that it creates real alternatives and new economic, social and environmental opportunities. To activate this lever, SOGA is promoting and developing digital mediation, UX design and open data.

Our actions: the urgent need to accelerate the digital transition of social economy for a new European horizon

To address the status quo in this area, the Social Good Accelerator managed to :

publish a European study on cooperation between social economy and Tech actors.
conducting advocacy at national and European level.
launch the first mapping of Social Tech in Europe and soon present the first European information and guidance platform with associated professions (with support from the European Erasmus+ fund).

The Social Good Accelerator’s team presented its research work to the DG Grow, in Brussels, in January 2020

Source: Social Good Accelerator

Since 2018, the media, public policy and funders’ views have shifted towards :

an awareness in the social economy sector of its backwardness and difficulties in terms of digital transition – particularly highlighted by the health crisis.
a consideration of territorial needs in terms of digital mediation to preserve territorial equality and access to fundamental rights.
a need to correlate ecological and digital transition to decarbonise the economy.
the observation that some digital citizen responses were effective during the health crisis, as they remain.

The Social Economy Action Plan and its presentation were a watershed moment for the sector

Source: European Commission

Our proposals: give the social economy the tools for a successful digital transition

Ensuring effective equal opportunities and rights to digital transformation

There is a latent lack of training for digital talent, including in the SSE. This is why the public authorities need to provide an impetus to promote support for the digital transformation of organisations that are both economic players and intermediaries for the most vulnerable populations. In this respect, the European action plan for the social economy includes a digital component. The recommendations contained therein give levers of action to the decision-making bodies to act in the direction of these two sectors. Both France and the European Union must set an example and promote ambitious policies to support this change in the general interest.

Developing digital skills: digital citizenship and new jobs.

While almost 85% of the jobs that will be practised in 2030 probably do not yet exist, it seems essential to gradually train the active population for the transformations of the economy, which is becoming increasingly digital and social.

Together with three European partners, SOGA has devised a step-by-step training programme through the Social Tech Academy project. The idea here is to develop digital skills by pooling resources on existing training in these areas. The focus on a resource platform aims to enable the digital transformation of the EU, which has the ambition to train 80% of the Union’s population in basic digital skills by 2030.

Unlocking funding for digital innovation in social economy organisations and the development of new models

Through European actions and forward thinking, SOGA works to build bridges between local actions and European policies through a common collaboration framework.

Nevertheless, they require fiscal, normative and financial support and continuous mobilisation to promote alternative models.

In the meantime, SOGA wishes to further explore the potential for cooperation between social economy and digital actors in Europe. There are many possibilities to achieve cross innovation, i.e. social and sustainable digital innovation: setting up a European model of “social tech” clusters, promoting project collaborations between social economy and innovative SMEs, or an ambitious European development programme for open and free technologies and databases. We ask to facilitate access to funding for new models combining digital transition and social economy.

In 2018, the pioneers of the Social Good Accelerator organised the Social Innovation Village in the Web Summit in Lisbon

Source: Social Good Accelerator

Cooperation and digital commons: continuation and upcoming events
In the framework of the European Social Economy Action Plan, which SOGA has been working on, and especially the need for new ideas to emerge to build resilience for all, social economy necessarily has a role to play.

Under the impulse of France, the Social Good Accelerator community, and more globally the social economy structures from all over Europe have the hope to see the issues of :

- - - - inclusive and equitable digital transformation in the territories
        
        promotion of alternative cooperative models
        
        digital skills development

The importance of the sector in France favours its promotion. The benefits of this sustainable economic and social model must be developed by the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union in line with the Social Economy Action Plan, presented on 16 December 2021 by the European Commission. The time has come to anchor social economy in its 2.0 version for greater resilience and full inclusion of all publics.

The Social Good Accelerator is counting on this momentum to continue to assert that the open data and the social and digital nature of the economy carry within them a European model in the making. As further evidence of the importance of a healthy public debate and the central role of epistemic communities like ours, see you in 2022 in Strasbourg on the occasion of the Conference on Social Economy, and for the European Social Good Week which will promote the digital social economy ecosystem between Paris, Lisbon and Brussels.

About the author

The Social Good Accelerator and its members

jeanne(at)socialgoodaccelerator.eu

The Social Good Accelerator joins the Pact for Skills!

by sogaccelerator | 31 Jan 2022 | Actualités de SOGA

The Social Good Accelerator joins the Pact for Skills!

At the end of 2020, European Commissioners Breton and Schmit made public the core of the EU’s skills strategy, the Pact for Skills. They called on all European organisations involved in the upskilling of individuals to meet the EU’s skills needs. But what does this ambition entail? And more importantly, what does it mean that the Social Good Accelerator is part of it?

Commissionner Nicolas Schmit presents the Pact for Skills during an event organised by SOGA’s partner, AllDigital

Source: AllDigital

The Berlaymont building of the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium

Source: Creative commons

Between strong ambitions and a new approach
The pact for skills is first and foremost part of the context of economic recovery after the pandemic crisis, as well as the European ambitions in terms of ecological and digital transitions. In this way, the European Union underlines the crucial role of skills in the challenges facing its economy. This strong ambition is reflected in the desire to bring all the continent’s organisations together under a single banner. The aim is for them to work “together to make a clear commitment to invest in the training of all people of working age throughout the Union”.

Employment and Social Rights Commissioner Schmit said that “skills must be a key element of the strategy” of employers in the EU. Internal Market Commissioner Breton went on to stress the importance of “European talent, which is at the heart of our industrial resilience and will drive the economic recovery” of tomorrow.

A pact to anchor the European economy of tomorrow
Any organisation wishing to join the skills pact must also sign a charter, which sets out a common vision on quality training and the objectives of the pact. By joining the pact, stakeholders will have access to resources and networking platforms. In addition, the EU will provide information on the short-term direction of European programmes, with resilience remaining at its heart.

By introducing broad partnerships within the same ecosystems, the Skills Pact is part of the European authorities’ quest for sustainable competitiveness, social equity and resilience. These objectives are reflected in the European Commission’s willingness to mobilise resources and to encourage the parties involved in the pact to take measures to promote retraining, skills upgrading and continuing education. However, this must not be allowed to hinder the ecological and digital transitions, nor local and regional development strategies.

Through the new European industrial strategy, the importance of skills has been recognised in European economies in transition. The Social Good Accelerator projects, the Social Tech Atlas and the Social Tech Academy, are part of this desire to offer the citizens of the Union the common ground and the skills necessary for the social, solidarity (and digital) economy of tomorrow. The Skills Pact remains open to any organisation driven by this philosophy of building the future together.

Sources and useful links:

– Press release, The Pact for Skills: mobilising all partners to invest in skills, European Commission, Brussels, 2020

– The Pact for Skills Charter

– Form to join the Pact for Skills

Social Good Week: back to the first round table

by sogaccelerator | 28 Jan 2022 | Actualités de SOGA

Social Good Week: back to the first round table

On 25 January, the Social Good Accelerator, in partnership with Social Economy Europe, co-organised the first event of the European version of Social Good Week. Four years after its last edition launched by HelloAsso, the Social Good Accelerator took up the torch at the beginning of the year for a first teaser.
A first round table, centered around the scaling up of the social economy, was broadcast live from Brussels to a hundred or so connected people. It was an opportunity to recall the favourable context towards a European approach for a digital society. Between the Data Service Act, the Digital Decade of Europe, the Pact for Skills and of course the Action Plan for the Social Economy, there are many public policies in favour of the sector. Let’s take a look at what the speakers at this inaugural event had to say on this subject.

The poster of the first pre-launch event of the Social Good Week, co-organised by the Social Good Accelerator and Social Economy Europe

Source: Social Good Accelerator

Barbara Trachte intevenes at the Brussels regional Parliament

Source: Belga

The findings and ambitions of the decision-makers
The first speaker was Barbara Trachte, who began by recalling her commitment to innovation and the social economy, to digital technology and to Europe. The Secretary of State for the Brussels region praised the actions carried out by a number of social entrepreneurs based in the Belgian capital. Ms Trachte took the opportunity to detail the regional innovation plan, which will run until 2027.

It aims, for example, to act on support for innovative initiatives involved in “emerging or unsatisfied societal needs”. Barbara Trachte took the opportunity to congratulate the association’s approach to putting the digital transition of the social economy more on the European agenda. The moderators of the round table, Jeanne Bretécher and Víctor Meseguer, took the opportunity to ask Barbara Trachte to detail the actions taken at regional level during her mandate.

Rowan Barnett (Director of the Google Foundation for Europe, the Middle East and Africa) was then asked by the moderators to better understand the American firm’s code of conduct. Jeanne Bretécher underlined the reticence of social economy actors with regard to GAFAM tools. Rowan Barnett emphasised Google’s approach, which is not at all dirigiste, but on the contrary, allows social innovation projects to develop in more serene financial conditions. In particular, he had the opportunity to present Google’s ambition to help the European social economy through a 20 million euro fund.

Then, Isidro Laso, advisor to the European Commissioner for Innovation and Youth Mariya Gabriel, spoke about the role of the Commission in helping the emergence of new forms of cooperation and collaboration. He took the opportunity to detail the links that exist between the European Innovation and Research Agenda and the action plan for the social economy. There are many bridges, and the ambitions of the public authorities to see this kind of innovative relationship emerge are strong.

Rowan Barnett presents the approach of Google Foundation to support European Social Economy at the Social Good Week

Source: Social Good Accelerator

Julie Foulon maintened that gender equality in the digital sector is both a necessity and an objective to reach in the next years

Source: Girleek

Concrete actions carried out by Brussels’ changemakers
The second part of the round table was devoted to a focus on the actors of Social Tech in Brussels. Julie Foulon, founder of Girleek and co-founder of Molengeek, was able to detail her wish to see parity in the digital world. This is why she founded this association in 2017, which aims to train women in the tools of the sector. Julie Foulon was able to return to the role of the social economy as an essential breeding ground for innovation in the digital sector.

Then, Chanel Genova, digital strategist at SocialWARE, detailed the ambitions of the association for which she is invested with regard to the action plan of the social economy. The woman from Liège emphasised the essential support of the European authorities, before presenting solutions to develop the solutions that SocialWARE is already implementing, but on a larger level this time. On many points, the vision of Girleek, SocialWARE and the Social Good Accelerator come together and complement each other.

Lastly, Carl Mörch, director of FARI, was able to explain his favourite subjects, namely open data and artificial intelligence. Indeed, FARI is an artificial intelligence institute for the common good launched by the Free University of Brussels, the Vrije Universiteit van Brussel and the regional government. Carl Mörch was able to present the actors most likely to invest in research to initiate systemic changes in the social economy and innovation sector. For example, the Bettancourt Schueller Foundation is one of those actors who would like to see the development of innovation and solidarity incubators in the form of clusters.

He was then able to return to the role of local entities in the actions they carry out for the common good and innovation, whether in Belgium or elsewhere. Of course, national entities also have a key role. This is the case of the King Baudouin Foundation, for example, which finances data tanks.

Carl Mörch presented the works of FARI, an artificial intelligence institute for the common good based in Brussels, Belgium

Source: Social Good Week

The diversity of this panel of speakers made it possible to put on the table the concerns common to each of the participants. There is no shortage of solutions for improving the European digital social economy, and the same is true for the initiatives launched by the Brussels and Belgian players who were present. The inspirations are numerous, the ambitions are strong, and the policies are encouraging. In short, the social economy has probably never been as popular as it is at the moment. One question remains unanswered: how the action plan will be translated into action by these local actors. Only time will tell. In the meantime, the Social Good Accelerator, its team and a host of social tech actors look forward to seeing you in Lisbon in spring for the second event!

Donations: the new ways to give

by sogaccelerator | 25 Oct 2021 | Actualités de SOGA

Donations: the new ways to give

New technologies are changing the way people give. Although cheques and charitable collections are far from having bowed out of giving, the France Générosités union has identified new ways of giving that are full of promise. While until recently donations were mainly made by older, qualified people and believers in religion, this no longer seems to be the case. Half of all donations are now made by people under the age of 35. For most of these donors, donations are made on the Internet via crowdfunding sites or online kitchens to finance various projects or social structures.

Focus on six of these (re)inventions.