Digital Wallonia. Digital Strategy for Wallonia

Wallonia’s digital strategy, platform and brand, Digital Wallonia sets the framework for all of the Walloon Government’s actions in terms of Wallonia’s digital transformation. Over 500 million euros have been harnessed over four years for its implementation.

Digital Wallonia is rolled out in three complementary and inseparable dimensions:

• Strategy. Adopted collectively by the Walloon Government, it sets the priorities and objectives for public policies and the support framework for private initiatives to promote digital technology.
• Platform. Governed collaboratively by the Walloon digital ecosystem, it provides services and support to public and private players engaged in implementing the digital strategy.
• Brand. Championed by all those involved in Wallonia’s digital transformation, it guarantees their visibility and unites the initiatives implemented within the framework of the digital strategy.

This strategy marks the Walloon Government’s ambition to implement whatever is needed to make Wallonia a connected and intelligent region, where technology businesses are recognised as global leaders and are the drivers of a successful industrial transformation, where digital innovation serves high-quality education, access to public services and the well-being of citizens.

This ambition is developed through five major themes. Each theme is organised into strategic objectives and prospects for development. By their interaction and their complementarity, the themes, objectives and prospects make up a genuine comprehensive platform which should make the digital transformation in Wallonia begin and permanently take root.

The 5 themes, 9 strategic objectives and 23 priority lines of development comprise the framework within which all the lawmakers’ actions in terms of digital technology must lie. They also form a grid for political analysis in order to guarantee the consistency, effectiveness and relevance of all of the proposed and future measures in the digital sphere, for the Walloon Government’s entire scope of action.

Developing digital uses in Wallonia implies a strong technological sector and a state-of-the-art research, likely to capture and maintain the value of digital technology across the region. In this context, the digital strategy pursues a twofold objective for the sector: to undertake a growth programme and give it a strong international dimension.

The Walloon economy will be restructured through a strong and rapid increase in companies’ digital intensity, crucial for the emergence of a 4.0 industry and the development of connected commerce.

The region should be seen as a genuine competitiveness factor. Connected to very high-speed and intelligent broadband, the region offers unlimited access to digital practices and acts as a catalyst for industrial and economic development.

Digital technology enables a new generation of accessible and transparent public services to be envisaged, which are both examples and conveyors of the digital transformation for citizens and other sectors of society.

Its citizens are a region’s main wealth. The Walloons must become the players in Wallonia’s digital transition by developing technology-based skills and adopting the entrepreneurial behaviour vital to economic and social development.

Wallonia intends to fully play its role of catalyst and facilitator of the digital transformation for all Walloons and for all sectors of activity. This is an absolute priority in order to create value and jobs, and to ensure the well-being of all citizens.

The digital strategy approved by the Walloon Government falls within the cross-sector dynamic of the Marshall Plan 4.0, whose fifth dimension looks to support digital innovation.** More specifically, it gives concrete form to measure 5.1 of the Plan, which looks to establish Wallonia’s digital strategy to “boost” the Walloon digital economy, both by developing a digital industry that produces digital goods and services and by promoting the integration of digital technology to encourage business competitiveness and growth. The goal is also to develop a “digital culture” among citizens and, most especially, young Walloons in training.

Digital Wallonia. Wallonia’s digital strategy from Agence du Numérique (AdN)

To draw up this strategy, the Minister for Digital Affairs has chosen to break with traditional methods of public action by incorporating the new digital economy codes: collaboration, co-creation and a bottom-up approach.

More than 200 persons representing 140 organisations, associations, private and public companies, were mobilised in 13 theme working groups at the Assises du Numérique (digital conference). Walloon citizens made concrete proposals and recommendations via the collaborative platform, printempsdunumérique.be. All this work was guided by the Conseil du Numérique (Digital Council), presided over by Pierre Rion.

The Digital Plan Proposal was submitted on 18 September 2015 to the Minister for Digital Affairs by Pierre Rion, Chair of the Digital Council. It sets out the major issues at stake with regard to digital technology, identifies the most relevant international practices and pinpoints the virtuous mechanisms to be implemented to boost digital technology in Wallonia.

Consequently, the Walloon Government decided to determine and to implement its digital strategy by abiding by the spirit and the letter of this proposal. This strategy sets the framework within which all its actions on digital will lie. These actions undertaken will be constantly assessed, particularly so that resources are allocated to the measures which will have the greatest impact for Wallonia.

Wallonia’s digital strategy meets the following characteristics:

• Wallonia’s digital policy framework on which different policies must rely.
• Integration of new measures or the adjustment of existing measures in terms of strategic objectives and priorities. Relevance regarding digital developments.
• With other digital projects across Wallonia, the French community, the Federal Government and Europe, but also with initiatives in the digital ecosystem.
• Wide distribution to make people aware of the principles and to enable Walloon stakeholders to take ownership of it. Regular performance indicators