FabLabs are already boosting digital professions - the professions of tomorrow - because they train young people on integration programs in digital manufacturing by “doing,” by integrating environmental challenges. In 2022 our Solidarity FabLabs will be able to train young people in several of these new professions. We have decided to fund a selection of training courses which will be implemented in the Solidarity FabLabs already present in the Orange Digital Centers in Europe and Africa.
€250,000 to finance training for the professions of the future
Support for these projects was determined at the end of our “jobs of tomorrow” call for projects and the selection committee on December 3, 2021.
The projects selected will provide training in new professions that are both “digital” and “responsible” in the fields of agriculture, robotics, eco-design & manufacturing based on reused materials.
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The training focuses on jobs at the crossroads between digital technology and traditional activities which are determined both by digital potential, major societal issues, and demand. The list includes:
Lowtech energy technician promoting construction and maintenance with reused materials (wood and metal) and with digital machines in assemblies or the production of small series (training offered by a French FabLab),
Urban micro gardener optimizing agricultural land and the use of phytosanitary products thanks to vertical agriculture (training offered by an NGO in Romania),
Plastic ecodesign technician, biomass energy recycling technician, permaculture, Eco-Mechanic, Ecoconstruction of livestock buildings for sustainable production in terms of quantity and quality, by managing limited resources (training offered by an NGO from Côte d’Ivoire and French non-profits),
Mobile robotics and drones which are already in demand and will be more easily accessible to young people with this training (training offered by a French FabLab),
Digital tailor focusing on textile-based digital manufacturing by once again addressing societal challenges (training offered by a Polish FabLab),
And finally the job of fab manager whose skills are increasingly in demand in FabLabs (training offered by a French FabLab).
Training in FabLabs in Europe and Africa
The associations that benefit from our support will train the fab managers of our Solidarity FabLabs and the technicians of the Orange Digital Centers, who in turn will train young people in these professions.
The first training sessions will start in the second half of 2022 with six sessions, two of which are in English per job.
More broadly, all the FabLabs around the world can access these training courses, which will be freely accessible on the Foundation’s Educational Library in 2022.
170 Solidarity FabLabs in 23 countries
Engaged on all fronts in digital inclusion, we are deploying our Solidarity FabLabs as well as several other digital training programs in 25 countries. In France, in 2021, more than 40,000 people in difficulty were trained in digital technology and more than 500,000 worldwide.
