The Observatory of the Digital Territories fosters long term and local development policies for all the French territories within the Information Society. Involved in European projects and networks, the Observatory is a unique place for informing and exchanging on digital technologies and practices related to them. OTeN’s network involves regions, counties and cities. Its board includes the main French associations of elected representatives.

OTeN manages the French IRIS project since 2003. It consists in a database of innovative digital projects, with more than 250 detailed and regularly updated monographs, along with regional and thematic studies. IRIS is a stock of duplicable good practices and a tool for building territorial digital policies. This collective project is led by OTeN and carried by 11 regions with the support of the Caisse des Depôts et Consignations and the French network of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

OTeN is a tool to understand the Information Society and to act in this changing context. It provides elements giving its partners the possibility to know better their own territory and the projects implemented in those regions. The monitoring work is very useful to benchmark their territories – the 1,600 projects available in IRIS database enable to assess the possible fields of action regarding public initiatives.

The IRIS partner regions base their territorial strategies upon the IRIS database and the studies implemented.

The thematic studies focus on all the fields of public action as long as they are concerned by ICT. The last studies published by OTeN are the following :

▪ “To enhance cultural heritage – the digital added-value” (2007)

▪ “Digital cartography and territorial development” (2007)

▪ “Transport, mobility and continuity of public services” (2006)

▪ “Digital services platforms, vehicles for networking and sharing” (2006)

▪ “Territories, social care and ICT” (2005)

▪ “ICT and economic development” (2005)

▪ “Networking of the territories for the public access to Internet” (2005)

OTeN relies also on a dynamic network and a constant information monitoring offering time-saving for its partners. The steering committee, in charge of the project management, gathers all the partner regions. It is a unique meeting place that regions really appreciate.

OTeN is used to organizing regular events, such as the OTeN days, in December in Paris, so as to disseminate the monitoring work and to strengthen the networking.

Eventually, OTeN benefits from the support of a scientific committee composed of academic persons, skilled people, in charge of the Digital Territories Journal, published every year by OTeN.

The IRIS-Europe project is a European extension of the IRIS project. OTeN has shared its experience of the French IRIS project by giving support to the project overall management. OTeN has been in charge of the coordination of IRIS-Europe project, side by side with ARTESI Ile-de-France.

OTeN’s experience in the French IRIS project has been very useful too for the coordination of the regional and sectorial analysis component. The all project long, OTeN has shared its methodologies regarding case studies and analysis with the other partners in order to transfer those good practices. This exchange of experience gave OTeN a precious feedback on its tools and methodologies.

“To participate in IRIS-Europe gave OTeN the opportunity to develop its contacts with other European organisations working in the field of the Information Society. IRIS-Europe also enabled us to improve our production and our methodology. Indeed, it gave us the opportunity to compare IRIS-Europe project with IRIS France project and to improve it. Generally speaking, it broadened our horizon and paved the way to future European cooperation on new projects”

E.Vandamme, Managing Drector

For more information please see: www.oten.fr

Observatoire des Territoires Numériques
57 rue Brillat-Savarin
75013 Paris
Phone : +33 6 73 39 26 83
Fax : + 33 1 42 73 39 95
E-mail : contact@oten.fr

Contact
Emmanuel Vandamme
E-mail :evandamme@oten.fr
Mobile phone : +33 6 73 39 26 83