Bruno SALGUES

The authors of these texts have organized a journey through France to collect impressions of various Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) users. Users have deliberately been targeted rather than solution builders. Through this project, identified as "Tour de France des Territoires" (TFT), 165 testimonies were collected and analyzed. The different contributions can be articulated around several axes : awaited but not discussed topics, subjects judged, a priori, as less important but repeated at each major step of this "Tour de France". In addition, three important subjects have been emphasized in each visited region : the concept of public property (free or paying services on Internet), of territory (area's numerical versus administrative definition), of illiteracy (generated by Internet).

Awaited but not discussed topics :

As teacher and researcher at the Institut National of Telecommunications, we do not only profit from an engineering culture but also from a managerial competency. In this environment, when we hear the word "network", it often refers to "security". However, the security concept was almost never mentioned in the different conferences. Nobody, apart from some random engineers, is really concerned by the network's security and that notion does not interest anyone, neither the community as a whole, nor companies or basic users.

The second subject - surprisingly not developed during the TFT though it had a very significant place in the WSIS negotiations - was the Internet governance. Although the significant United States weight in the ICANN organization had previously been strongly argued, this topic has not emerged at all during the TFT. This lack of debate leads us to think that there is a great need for a clearer communication, by European governments, on the Internet governance and the consequences of the system currently in place.

Another very tedious point : the WSIS was completely ignored by the average citizen and, on a greater scale, by local authorities and institutions. Although most of the French territory was covered, an important lack of information on the WSIS was observed. This ignorance probably results from an insufficient communication.

Subjects judged as less important but repeated at each major step of this "Tour de France"

If the security topic is not of primary importance, the problem of trust is frequently tackled. The e-administration illustrates perfectly this statement. Many net-citizens wonder about this new tool and often ask themselves "Which trust can one have in.?". This concern is also observed in e-business and electronic trade fields. In the latter, questions generally focus more around the delivery of the desired object. Thus, security remains a stake ; but net-citizen's security worries do not take the same meaning as for engineers.

The second highly expressed point is technology, screen, or antennas fears. Technology fear is absolutely everywhere; it simply sometimes consists on the fear to lose a document. How can I obtain the proof that my income tax return was indeed sent? How can I print it? The need for a printed document is often associated to this fear of technology.

An astonishing third point : working relationships were of every debate. Nowadays, networks generate new relations in the broad sense, and more specifically new working relationships. Thinking about these new working relationships appears as essential. However, it seems important to not considerate the Internet era on a financial but rather on a social aspect.

The three major points

What does public property mean ? The public domain, as such, belongs to everyone. Does that mean it is definitely free? When do you have to start paying for geographical data ? Is it when individuals start improving these data ? This question has generated strong debates during the TFT, and has become a great concern when speaking about public libraries. When do you have to start paying for a supposedly free service ? How does one develop the royalty systems ? True questions to which, unfortunately, no precise answer has been found.

The Internet apparition has completely modified the concept of territories. Indeed, thanks to the Internet, a corsican expatriate, who lives in the USA for example, considers himself more than ever corsican thanks to the Internet. A Corsican virtual territory has grown slowly via the Internet, extending itself to the entire French territory, and then to the whole world. In the same way, the audience of a local newspaper displayed on the Internet does not correspond any more to that of the local newspaper distributed in the area. Local newspapers can nowadays reach every reader in the world ! The concept of territory, today through the prism of the Internet, still remains, for most people, a notion to build and understand. These issues are also found when designing administrative portals. Which level of information does one have to give? Is it necessary to produce 50000 times the same web-site (e.g. : the request for an identity card) It seems essential to combine efforts, to reduce costs by organizing an intelligent territory management. These observations lead towards a thorough reflection on the concept of territory (ies).

The illiteracy point shows an amazing duality. Behind data processing, there is a language. One observation has been made quite often "Information processing systems (software, hardware and environment) should not be created for executives nor only used by executives. Everyone should have equal access to these technologies."

In fact, computers help to read and write. One can use the computer without knowing how to read or how to write. Nevertheless, it is easier to know how to read and write to optimize its use. On the other hand, other people can read and write but are unable to use computers. Indeed, the mode of writing (and organization of the sites) is usually so conceived by, and for people who can go and seek information easily, that it is not adapted to this population. An essential question appears : is it necessary to have people who help those who have difficulties in reaching this kind of information or is it necessary to immediately train the weak users to these new data carriers?

Conclusion

Information collected let us think that one should not conclude too quickly among specialists, company representatives or civil society and control negotiations. It is mandatory to listen and analyze citizen's opinions to generate new rules founded on the new information society concepts. The Summit of Geneva offered the first opportunity to discuss before the second phase that will take place in Tunis in two years.

Bruno SALGUES
Professor,
Laboratoire CRITIC,
bruno.salgues@int-evry.fr
Mélanie BLANCHARD
Director of Communication,
melanie.blanchard@int-evry.fr
Institut National des Télécommunications,
9 rue Charles Fourrier,
91000 EVRY
FRANCE