Available funding in France
Background information
Funding opportunities for upskilling and reskilling to support the digital competences of individuals and organizations are available in form of loans, grants and financial instruments. For the period 2021 – 2026 most of the activities in digital transformation are financed through Recovery and Resilience facility but also as activities in Horizon, Erasmus+, ESIF and EEA grant schemes. You may find more on the page of French Recovery and Resilience plan.
Recovery and Resilience Plan
The Recovery and Resilience plan (RRP) of France allocates 8.4 billion euros, or 21.3%, to the digital transition. With an estimated budget of €1.8 billion, France will support the development and deployment of critical digital technologies, such as quantum and cloud-based cybersecurity. The digitalisation of primary and secondary schools through digital equipment (estimated to cost EUR 131 million) and the continued digitalisation of public services. By 2025, France intends to provide access to extremely high-speed networks for all households (100 percent fiber-to-the-home). Other reforms and investments planned to reach their milestones and targets in 2022 include: measures for boosting digital identity and the production and circulation of new identity cards; measures for upskilling and reskilling the workforce, in particular a top-up of funding for training in digital skills available for individual learning accounts; the digital inclusion measure, in particular the training of digital advisers to help the most vulnerable people acquire basic digital skills; support for the digitalisation of businesses and the facilitation of digital investments.
The Recovery and Resilience Facility is financing 46% of the hiring subsidies to apprenticeships (i.e. EUR 2,347 million). Employers hiring an apprentice receive EUR 8,000 for those aged 18 or more, and EUR 5,000 for those below 18. In the context of the French Recovery and Resilience Plan, 587 634 apprentices were hired by mid- 2022. The support of apprenticeships is one of the cornerstones of the youth plan “1 jeune, 1 solution” launched in the summer of 2020 to provide each young person in the country with an adequate solution addressing his or her needs, be it education, training or employment, coaching or financial support. Overall, the Recovery and Resilience Facility supports 75% of “1 jeune, 1 solution”.
One of RRP reform is intended to enhance the services provided by Pôle Emploi, the principal public employment service. The objective is to facilitate the rapid return to work of job seekers and to increase support for the most vulnerable employees who face multiple employment barriers. In order to resolve labour and skill shortages, it is also intended to improve the training offer and the service to businesses. France has implemented its Recovery and Resilience Plan commitment to integrate a compensation counsellor and a Cap'Emploi service catering to the requirements of people with disabilities in at least 700 agencies by the end of 2022.
National Funding
As part of the Plan d’investissement dans les compétences (Skills Investment Plan) and with the assistance of the RRP, France is anticipated to invest 465 million euros in enhancing the distance learning offer of public employment services, equipping training organisations with an interconnected digital platform, and supporting the development of hybrid courses. A specific RRP adult learning measure, which provides a top-up to the individual learning account for training in digital skills, has been successful in training 25,000 individuals by the start of 2022. Investment continues in 2023 with various actions or programs at the national and regional level.
Compétences et Métiers d’Avenir (CMA) (Skills and Jobs of the Future) is part of the objectives and levers of France 2030. It aims to meet the needs of companies and public institutions in terms of training , training engineering, initial and continuous, and attractiveness of training, to enable the acquisition of the skills necessary for the professions of the future of France 2030. The program aims to help train 400,000 people per year by 2030 and 1 million new graduates by 2030 at the levels of operators, technicians, assistant engineers, engineers, masters, doctorates, and mainly in the field of STEM (Science, technology, engineering, mathematics).
Diverse Calls for applications are available on the France 2030 platform to startups, SMEs, large industrial groups, higher education institutions, research organizations and schools to contribute to innovations in France.
As a part of the second phase of the national strategy for artificial intelligence calls for participation in projects are published gearing towards the dissemination of artificial intelligence technologies within the economy while aiming to support development and innovation in areas of embedded AI, trusted AI and AI at the service of ecological transition.
Different funding options are also available on the Digital Skills and Jobs platform, you may find a listing for France on this link.
