Friday, Michaëlle Jean, Secretary General of the International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF), on official visit to Gabon, in the presence of President of the Republic Ali Bongo Ondimba, has launched the Francophone Fund for Digital Innovation, during a large rally with the Gabonese youth.

This fund will enable the OIF, to put digital creativity at the service of socio-economic innovation in response to the needs of developing countries "Digital is essential, not only as tool for social change, but also by its mobilizing force for young people and women . With the new fund, the OIF will be able to contribute to strengthening the entrepreneurial capacity of young professionals while supporting the public policies of states and governments," Ms. Jean said.

As part of this initiative, the OIF will organize in the coming months a series of competitions of IT development "innovathons" in five countries of the Francophonie: Morocco, Benin, Senegal, Haiti and Gabon.

On the theme "Sustainable Cities francophones" young professional of the digital of these five countries will be asked to create innovative applications in the field of sustainable development at competitions as the form of a creative marathon lasting 55 hours. The winners will benefit thereafter of a accompaniment in an incubator to develop and market their applications.

This Francophone Fund for Digital Innovation represents the culmination of over a decade of commitment of the OIF in supporting various digital projects. It is part of Digital Francophonie Strategy adopted in 2012 by the Heads of State and Government at Summit of Kinshasa.

HL/ HaitiLibre