Young entrepreneurs from priority neighbourhoods supported in their digital challenges by students from Digital Campus Lyon.
The Entrepreneurs dans la Ville programme has been detecting, selecting and supporting ambitious young entrepreneurs from or living in priority neighbourhoods since 2007. This acceleration programme aims to launch entrepreneurial projects and uncover true business leaders. Digital Campus Lyon, a member school of the number 1 digital school network in France, has partnered with Entrepreneurs dans la Ville to give project holders the opportunity to be supported each month by 60 students in addressing their digital challenges related to developing their concept.
Each month, until April 2020, 60 second-year Master's students from Digital Campus — known as the "Digibuddies" — work alongside 10 entrepreneurs from priority neighbourhoods in the Lyon metropolitan area. Their objective is to operationally implement the digital tools needed to develop and increase the visibility of these projects.
"Our students have genuine digital expertise that enables them to design comprehensive strategies aligned with the entrepreneurs' needs, the nature of their projects and their development. We want students to be able to learn how to pass on their skills to an audience less familiar with digital practices and tools", says Agathe Forzy from Digital Campus Lyon.
Marketing of bilingual educational books and games, launching a clothing brand, an app to generate personalised workout sessions — the projects students work on are hugely varied.
For Digital Campus, it is extremely rewarding to support entrepreneurs from priority neighbourhoods. Their ideas and determination are very inspiring, and we play our part in implementing and showcasing their initiatives to help break down barriers between communities.
Thank you to Le Journal de l'Éco and Radio Salam for shining a spotlight on this partnership.
Digital Campus has chosen to build a school on strong values that create connections and meaning: eco-responsibility, digital empowerment, social inclusion and solidarity run through all the actions of the schools in the network.
The Digital Responsable (Responsible Digital) label, created in 2018, serves as an intelligent and mindful common thread around major societal issues on which the digital world has a real impact. It is a commitment from the entire Digital Campus network that brings students, lecturers and partner companies together in shared projects.