FRANCE: Cluster survey on the impact of COVID-19 crisis on businesses

Submitted by Tedora Aibu on 18 May 2020

The French cluster Digital 113 in the Occitanie Region has published a survey in order to measure the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on businesses in the digital sector in Occitania. Digital 113 has 207 members in the digital industry sector. The cluster's mission is to support companies to seize all the growth levers and breakthroughs in terms of turnover and access to new markets. It provides approximately 11,000 jobs in the region and addresses digital professions such as publishers, hosts, outsourcers, technology consulting companies, service companies, IoT players, web entrepreneurs, telecom operators, etc. Its priority axes are innovation, international, funding, and shared services. Actions of Digital 113 depend on what the member entrepreneurs mobilise and collectively define as solutions. These are then implemented by the cluster in response to market needs.

Their latest survey was conducted with a representative panel of companies of all sizes and from all activities in the sector, in order to raise a real image of the digital sector in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. Digital 113 and DIRECCTE Occitanie intend to regularly question this panel in order to follow the evolution of the sector in real-time. The survey shows the great difficulties currently encountered by these businesses which declare having seen their activity disrupted or even highly disrupted by the crisis.

The cluster also organises daily "Visio-coffee times" with an expert to share and exchange on the subjects and issues that concern their members during this exceptional period. It also has a dedicated page on its website to present its members who are committed by offering their services, solutions, or tools free of charge and temporarily to deal with the COVID19 crisis. Finally, the cluster supports its members in preparing for the post-COVID-19 through grouping orders of hygiene and protection products to equip all their employees to come back to work safely. 

To express your interest and discuss this topic in the COVID-19 Forum, please click here

Share this Article