La MedNum, “a singular structure” for digital inclusion

by sogaccelerator | 25 Mar 2022 | Communs & plaidoyer, Editorial, Interviews / Témoignages

La MedNum, “a singular structure” for digital inclusion

On March 15, 2022, Guilhem Pradalié, Managing Director of the MedNum, member of the Social Good Accelerator, granted us an interview during which he comes back on what the MedNum is, what are its projects, challenges and his role within the SOGA.

Guilhem Pradalié

(General Director of La MedNum)

Can you tell us about your professional background?

I have a background in economics and a master’s degree from Sciences Po Paris. I worked for ten years in the mutual insurance sector, at the Mutuelle générale de l’Éducation nationale (MGEN). I worked on various digital and innovation programmes, then in the group’s strategy department.

I was then advisor to the President, in charge of economic and financial issues, strategy and digital commitments until September 2021. I joined La MedNum as Managing Director in October 2021. Attached to the issues of digital inclusion and mediation, I mobilise the teams of the cooperative to facilitate and amplify the virtuous action of MedNum’s members on all territories.

What is MedNum?

MedNum is a singular structure. Indeed, it is a cooperative (NDLR Société coopérative d’intérêt collectif, i.e. a SCIC) which gathers very diverse members, all actors of digital inclusion. It fulfills missions of representation and structuring of a sector while carrying out “project” and “consulting” activities around the industrialisation of digital inclusion solutions. We work with our members to create national projects. The objective is to help the sector to develop while carrying the voice of its actors.

Who composes MedNum?

The team is composed of about 15 people. We have recently reorganised our activities around 3 departments: a research and advocacy department, a project department which is transversal and a finance and member services department which should be created at the end of the first semester. Finally, the general management is responsible for the communication and cooperative life departments, which are essential for the good animation of our networks and the promotion of our members’ actions.

But MedNum is composed of very diverse actors: more than 100 members, local authorities, the State, economic actors and other types of actors such as private individuals, actors of digital mediation who carry together, beyond the social issue, the values of the free, the common… In short, digital technology in the service of the general interest.

Speaking of values, what are those of MedNum?

First and foremost, we are attached to the common good and the general interest. This is reflected in the very form of our cooperative and in the way it operates. We intervene more broadly on all subjects by developing the idea of a responsible digital technology accessible to all (health, territories, education, reception of refugees, culture…). We are obviously very attached to the culture of the free internet and the commons, like many of our members.

You implement these values in particular through the projects that you carry out. Which of these projects makes you the most proud?

It’s hard to choose, because the projects are all important! But I would say, because of the current context of the war in Ukraine, that “refugiés.info” is the one that makes me most proud. The teams are personally committed to it, putting all their skills at its service. There is a big human investment in this project, which is currently the government’s official platform for connecting French people who want to help with accommodation with associations and people who express the need.

What does the Réfugiés.info project consist of?

In “normal” times, it is an information portal, contributory and open-source, co-developed with the Interministerial Delegation for the Reception and Integration of Refugees, which provides simple and translated information to refugees and their carers.

This project helps refugees to find an initiative, a training adapted to their situation, to understand the administrative procedures or to consult the directory to find an association.

This platform works like Wikipedia: everyone can contribute by writing or translating practical information.

If you had to summarise the main challenges of MedNum today, what would they be?

First of all, it would be to succeed in making the voice of our members heard during the various upcoming elections, presidential and legislative. We have big objectives around data projects this year, but also around the launch of a version 2 of the telephone platforms for help and support in everyday digital uses.

The presidential elections are coming soon in France. You have published your proposals for the 2022 presidential election. What problem do you address and what solutions do you advocate?

In France, more than 14 million people are said to be in a situation of digital fragility, i.e. remote, unequipped and/or in great difficulty with the various uses of digital technology. This is the social justice issue to which we are responding.

We recommend actions on 4 important themes for our members: education, employment and purchasing power, health and the environment.

We especially insist on the need to create a real professional sector of digital mediation, by working for example on the stability of the financing of digital inclusion structures, to offer digital services accessible to all and everywhere and to promote a digital society of general interest, free, open, universal and collective.

In terms of education, we propose to make digital education a priority in education, from primary to higher education, in order to train the enlightened citizens of tomorrow, and to equip, raise awareness and train professionals in education and social support. But also to affirm the complementarities between mediation and digital education while paying specific attention to particularly remote audiences.

On the issues of employment and purchasing power, we are working to intensify efforts to train and support young people and jobseekers in digital technology; to make businesses a real place for learning about digital technology; to support small organisations in their digital transformation; and to make digital technology an accelerator of citizens’ purchasing power. We defend, for example, the implementation of a real “social internet tariff” for low-income households.

Finally, in terms of health, La MedNum proposes to act as close as possible to people in fragile situations to guarantee them access to information and care, to reinforce the acculturation dynamic between digital mediation and the world of health and to create the conditions for user confidence in the use of digital health.

Finally, what are your links and your expectations of the Social Good Accelerator?

La MedNum has been a member of the Social Good Accelerator for two years. We are partners in the Social Tech Academy project, which explores the digital skills of the SSE to create an information portal, and members of the European Public Affairs working group.

For many people, European issues still seem far away, but we are convinced that running projects of this scale is effective, both in terms of sharing good practice with our neighbours, and in stimulating interesting policy developments for the Social Economy sector and digital inclusion in particular.

Being part of the Social Good Accelerator allows us to have a common environment to express our expectations and to pool the means to achieve them. This is a direct extension of the way we work with our members and is particularly in line with our values.

About the author

Justine Coopman

justine(at)socialgoodaccelerator.eu

Public Affairs and Communication

Lille, France

Social Tech Atlas: why a single map for a thousand social organisations?

by sogaccelerator | 30 Nov 2021 | Communs & plaidoyer, Editorial

Social Tech Atlas: why a single map for a thousand social organisations?

Until now, there was no European database gathering both organisations supporting social economy stakeholders in their digital transition and those offering alternative digital tools and services. This is now done with the Social Tech Atlas, which does not claim to have succeeded in bringing them together, but it does have the ambition to do so.

Here are the ambitions of this free, open and accessible tool.

A brief overview of the Social Tech Atlas: each dot corresponds to an organisation, each colour represents one kind of sector.

Source: Social Tech Atlas

Bringing together social tech stakeholders
While many other instances of mapping already existed, SOGA recently found that a mapping of the stakeholders involved in social tech from near and far was missing. For example, organisations such as the Impact Database have provided an interactive map of the impact investor landscape in Europe. In the case of the SOGA, the aim is to bring together social tech stakeholders. This concept describes the use of digital technologies to act for the general interest and society. In other words, this is the model that SOGA has been advocating since its creation, i.e. that of reducing inequalities, reinforcing existing solidarity and innovating socially through the use of open and free digital tools.

Made up of technology models based on social economy stakeholders and infrastructures, Social Tech offers systems with a high social and environmental impact. Moreover, it is necessary for social economy to succeed in its digital transition, in particular so that it preserves its intangible social heritage, at the heart of the European model.

An interactive map to pool forces for the specificities of the European Tech model
To achieve this, like many stakeholders in the sector, the Social Good Accelerator also wants to offer open tools coupled with practical applications. This database idea that the association has had in mind for some time will allow social tech organisations in Europe and policy makers to quickly identify several stakeholders. The databases that will provide the Social Tech Atlas will be open databases of our partners, which already list a certain number of structures that SOGA would like to reference. This data must be aggregated, validated and made compliant with the GDPR so that it can then be integrated into the Atlas. The project team had to keep in mind the objective of this open mapping, and therefore to filter out the organisations that should be included from the others.

Firstly, the Atlas will allow them to find European organisations that support in particular social economy stakeholders in their digital transition through methods focused for example on change management or adapted UX design. Secondly, any organisation will be able to find European structures with different statutes (cooperatives, mutuals, associations, foundations) offering alternative and open digital tools and services.

The objective of the Social Tech Atlas is to pool forces in order to contribute to the specificities of the European Tech model, while improving the recognition of the added value it entails. Pooling forces for the greater good will allow the structures concerned to limit their financial and time costs. Indeed, with the Social Tech Atlas, a considerable time saving is potentially possible for social economy structures. The creation of such pools is in line with SOGA’s approach to strengthening the sector’s missions. The aim is to enable European social economy stakeholders to find partners in tune with the digital transformation of their structure.

The logo of the Social Tech Atlas

Source: Social Good Accelerator

In addition to offering skills and services useful to the common good, the organisations listed here are also specialised in social economy issues (sometimes even being part of them).

SOGA’s ambition in creating such a digital commons is indeed to see the multiplication of European cooperation in Social Tech. This ambition could not have been achieved without the incredible commitment of the partners and volunteers of the Aésio Mutuelle association, which was the main funder of this project. A huge thank you to our volunteers from >Contournement>, Latitudes, Fantastique Bazar and Vizity for the huge amount of work they have done. Have a look at their website, what they do is great!

Join the Social Tech Atlas

Data & Philanthropy : how to accelerate impact through partnerships for the Common Good ?

by sogaccelerator | 3 Jul 2019 | Communs & plaidoyer, Editorial

Last Thursday, May 23rd, we were at the Annual Forum of the European Foundation Center in Paris, an edition that promoted French values under the banner of “Liberty, Equality, Philanthropy…”. The opportunity for the 800 participants representing foundations from all over Europe to discover the specificities and philanthropic commitments of France with the Fondation de France, Fondation La France s’engage , Schneider Electric and Accenture.
At the end of the day, a central theme for the patronage sector was brilliantly debated. Report and perspectives of this late afternoon on “Data and Philanthropy”, whose central issue was: “How can philanthropy have a systemic, rather than an occasional, impact through data? »
We, along with Generation2 – Connection Philanthropy collaboration, offer here a sum up of the discussion and concrete illustration from our ecosystem.

This paper has initially been published in French on Carenews.

The different uses of data in philanthropy

Stefaan Verhulst, co-founder and director of research and development at GovLab, introduced the debate with a very precise taxonomy, highlighting how data collection and analysis can help develop philanthropy.

1. Datas as an asset for philanthropy: Datas can become a useful tool for the continuous improvement of philanthropy, which will allow for better analysis of needs, and adaptation of responses and solutions, as well as improved impact assessment. Wenabi, the first platform to simplify companies’ social commitment, mobilize their employees and effectively measure the impact of the solidarity actions carried out, illustrates this well. This platform also proposes to measure and evaluate the impact of companies, in particular through an integrated reporting tool, in order to monitor all the actions carried out and to measure their impact on employees and beneficiary associations.

2. Datas as a financing compass: they allow funds to be better directed. For example, philanthropy can invest in the digital transition of the non-profit sector (data ventures). On the condition, of course, that you equip yourself with tools that facilitate the management, analysis and selection of incoming projects. The Optimy tool (Belgium) has made it possible to transform the cumbersome process of calls for foundation projects, which has thus gained in transparency and efficiency. But data sharing between foundations, provided that the GDPR is respected, could go further. In addition, digital technology can lead a prospective action, like chatbots philanthropy advisors, as is the case for the association 30 Million d’Amis, which offers a chatbot providing advice to pet owners in the summer period, in order to limit the risk of abandonment. Another example is Alexa, the Amazon compound, which, for the American Red Nose Day, encouraged people to give, which is a real novelty.

3. Data as a tool for advocacy and activism: the analysis of global and shared data can also help to develop arguments and lead collective movements. Major online petition platforms such as Change.org and Avaaz have launched the movement, but the media are also beginning to associate storytelling with call to actions, such as Konbini and her latest collaboration with the media France inter around the day “Plastic, no thank you”. According to Stefaan Verhulst, many foundations are investing in this transition, and more and more are using data to guide their strategy.

4. Data as a political vision: Philanthropy is expected to play an increasing role in the development of public policies regarding data. This is the case of Bayes Impact, which is now campaigning for the establishment of a Citizen Public Service. This initiative has led to the establishment of public/private collaboration in the provision of data that are useful for social innovation projects of citizens who so wish.

A call for the creation of new institutional forms

Lucy Bernholz of the Digital Civil Society Lab did not fail to point out the dangers of using data on the four fields mentioned. It is necessary to ask who governs this data and how. One of the solutions mentioned to deal with these dangers involves the creation of new institutional forms that are external to companies but also to governments. “Philanthropy must invest and create these institutions, otherwise they will be invented without us,” warned Lucy Bernholz. Rhodri Davies, Head of Policy and Program Director of the British think tank Giving Thought, predicts that the impact of technology on fundraising will be global, and will change the “where”, the “how” but also the “what” we give. In particular, it highlights a disintermediation of the historical actors, and a move towards “platformisation”, i.e. the growing role of platforms such as Facebook or Instagram in this field. Richard Benjamins, Chief Data Officer of Telefonica, provided an external perspective to the sector. According to him, “to have a real impact on our societies through data, we need sustainable business models.

Philanthropy is not enough.

” It is therefore necessary to question the very foundations of data exploitation. Philanthropy alone will not solve a structural problem, but it must play a role as a catalyst for social innovation, as a venture capitalist with monitoring tools to scale up. The importance of awareness and education on these issues Anne Bouverot, founder of the Abeona Foundation (under the aegis of the Fondation de France) and holder of a doctorate in artificial intelligence, stressed the importance of raising individuals’ awareness of the needs of the nonprofit sector. She sees this as a new role for foundations. The key to development lies in multi-stakeholder collaboration. “If you really want to make a difference, you need to reach a significant number of people. …] It will be difficult for a company to do this on a large scale without it being perceived as a personal interest. » But how can we accelerate this movement?

One of the ideas developed is to make the talents of companies and students available in probono for companies. The role of education in this process was also highlighted by Anne Bouverot: “We must ensure that we reach the people who will become the future engineers and data coders. » New collaborative tools for managing philanthropy in companies such as the Platform for Solidarity Commitment of microDon, Wenabi or MyCrowdcompany which offers platform-based engagement devices within companies, to allow better management of the efforts of. It is an innovative solution to bring together all the monetary and time donation mechanisms, a single location to understand the solidarity offer proposed by the company and its meaning. This simple and attractive tool makes philanthropy much more accessible in companies, thanks to data. Activism and the proposal of alternative models will also be fundamental to truly include civil society in this area.

For Lucy Bernholz, the non-profit sector and philanthropy must stand as ramparts protecting the common good, and become essential interlocutors. A question of responsibility To meet today’s major challenges, it is necessary to reinvent current models, explained Lucy Bernholz. In particular, she suggested that the next step should be the establishment of a digital policy agenda. “The British Parliament, American representatives and large companies must commit to sharing their data, it is part of their responsibility. “Democracies are at risk if we do not learn to collaborate and cross-reference the visions of the different actors.

Thinking about new ways of collaborating with civil society, which are more user-centred, is therefore necessary. A real challenge of democratization and accessibility of data is revealed. For Alberto Alemanno, founder and director of The Good Lobby, the establishment of legal frameworks is essential. He explained that “To permanently unlock privately held data, the private and public sectors must understand each other, harmonize their expectations and ensure that the respective benefits are understood and accessible to all. It is a shared responsibility[…] to share it with as many people as possible, not a minority. » This is one of the objectives of the SDG philanthropy platform, an inter-foundation collaborative model that provides data sharing on philanthropic efforts and data visualization related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and its 169 “targets”, implemented in 2015 after a major multi-stakeholder consultation to collectively focus efforts on social and climate emergencies.

Despite the many challenges and obstacles ahead, the session ended on a note of hope. Speakers highlighted a growing sense of responsibility for data and its use: “Increasingly, we are asking about the impact, regardless of algorithms. There is a whole movement to be responsible,” said Richard Benjamin. “There are now leaders in this movement. It is up to European foundations to seize the superpowers of technology to build a virtuous model of collective intelligence around Big Data and artificial intelligence and strengthen the impact and growth of philanthropy in the old continent.

Interview with Matt Stokes, Senior Researcher, Foundation Nesta

by sogaccelerator | 11 Jul 2018 | Communs & plaidoyer, Interviews / Témoignages

The Social Good Accelerator had the pleasure of interviewing Matt Stokes, a senior researcher in Collaborative Economy at Innovation Foundation Nesta and lead of the Horizon 2020-funded DSI4EU project, on his opinions on #SocialGoodTech. In addition, Matt has become a collaborator on our European Study as a part of the expert committee as well as an interviewee, with the first results to be presented in November 2018. Can you present DSI4EU and Nesta? Nesta is a global innovation foundation with a mission to back new ideas to tackle the big challenges of our time. Using our knowledge, networks, funding and skills, we work hard for new opportunities and challenges, to spark creative answers, to shape ideas into practical solutions and to shift systems in a new direction. We have been working in the field of digital social innovation (DSI) since 2013, exploring and supporting the people, projects and organisations across Europe who are using open and collaborative technologies to tackle social challenges. We’ve published landmark reports including Growing a digital social innovation ecosystem for Europe and What next for digital social innovation?, and developed an online hub for the community at digitalsocial.eu, where people can find information, stories, case studies, funding opportunities, events and Europe’s largest database of DSI organisations and projects. This program is supported by the European Commission and works within a network of actors. Can you explain the partnerships? One of Nesta’s core values is to never work alone, and since entering the field of DSI we’ve collaborated with several organisations. Currently, we’re working with six organisations – Waag (Netherlands), WeMake (Italy), betterplace lab (Germany), Barcelona Activa and Fab Lab Barcelona (Spain) and the ePaństwo Foundation (Poland). We bring together our complementary skills, networks and knowledge to maximise impact. Since the very beginning, our work in DSI has been made possible thanks to the generous funding of the European Commission, specifically the Directorate‑General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG-CONNECT). The Commission was one of the first big organisations to recognise the potential of technology for tackling social challenges and has funded over 50 projects within Horizon 2020’s CAPS (Collective Awareness Platforms for Sustainability) programme. We believe that one of our key roles is to help shape a shared agenda for DSI in Europe, to influence policy and to build new connections to speed up growth and maximise impact. What have been the key achievements and results of DSI4EU? What are the prospects for the coming months? The heart of the project is the digitalsocial.eu website, which is a valuable resource for all types of stakeholders. At the moment, we’re investing heavily in further development to make it even more useful, including growing the library of case studies. In our current project, we’re really excited to be increasing our policy engagement, through the development of a DSI Index which will measure how different countries and cities are supporting DSI and create a bank of ideas for policymakers. We’re also developing six “DSI clusters”, programmes of activity focused on specific social areas, which are helping practitioners on the ground maximise their impact. On the research side, we’re kicking off some exciting future-focused work, looking at how emerging tech trends will affect the development of DSI and building positive future scenarios for how technology can help us to address social challenges a decade down the line.

“A lot of the social sector, including charities in particular, lack digital skills and don’t know how to make the most of the opportunities. At the same time, huge amounts of money have gone into research and innovation for digital products, but a tiny fraction has been devoted to socially-oriented digital innovation.”

In relation to your work, why is the pledge of the Social Good Accelerator for “More tech in social good, more social good in tech” important in Europe? Why is this commitment relevant, in your opinion? This pledge is important because it goes to the heart of what DSI aims to achieve. Over the past few years, social innovation has attracted more and more attention, but relatively little has been devoted to how technology can be used as a tool. A lot of actors in the social sector, including charities, lack digital skills and are struggling to make the most of the opportunities. At the same time, huge amounts of money have gone into research and innovation for digital technologies, but a tiny fraction has been devoted to socially-oriented digital innovation. Alongside this, over the past years pressing issues have come to the forefront of the very foundations of technology: concentration of power and money in the hands of a small number of tech giants, threats to net neutrality (particularly in the US), censorship, surveillance, big data and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and the nebulous spectre of “fake news.” We think DSI also has a role in influencing the development of technology in a more responsible, ethical and inclusive direction. What could we do together to accelerate digital social innovation? There are loads of opportunities for collaboration, from events and research contributions to joint efforts in influencing policy and network-building. We believe that one of the reasons DSI hasn’t reached its full potential is that there isn’t always a shared agenda and a sense of community. Indeed, we still can’t decide what to call the field – social tech, digital social innovation, tech for good, civic tech, good tech… the list goes on. By building a movement together we’re more likely to be able to grow the impact of DSI, and so we’re always keen to work with organisations across and beyond Europe. From the Social Good Accelerator Team: If you want more information on the Horizon 2020 program, how you can apply (applications close in the coming weeks), or the new program, Horizon Europe 2027, sign up for our newsletter and/or contact us for more information.

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