State start-ups: a flexible transformation of the French Administration

Pierre Pezziardi is the ‘entrepreneur-in-residence’ at the general secretariat for the modernisation of the administration (SGMAP). He found a strong ally in Henri Verdier‚ the former president of Cap Digital who was recently promoted to inter-ministerial director for the digital sector and the State information and communications systems (DINSIC). They do not believe any more in an extremely centralised society, and refuse to resign themselves to it.  By creating government start-ups, they put innovation at the heart of the system to try and solve as many problems as possible. Their accomplishments include setting up the national portal website data.gouv.fr which gives free access to public data, and launching the ‘La Bonne Boîte’ website which can be used by job seekers to pinpoint companies which are recruiting in their area. Each of these web services was designed in six months by small teams with limited budgets using a highly digital method, based on the trust and power given to civil servants.