Orange Digital Center

Orange Digital Center (ODC) is a concept that allows, in the same place, to support, train and supervise young people and the bearers of innovative ideas, to support their employability and prepare them for the jobs of tomorrow (AI, Cyber -security, etc.) or to encourage them to undertake digitally.

It brings together a coding school, a “FabLab Solidaire” - and a startup accelerator “Orange Fab”. It is deployed in every capital city where Orange is present and have affiliates in regions, the “Orange Digital Center Clubs” inside universities.

The coding schools are equipped with computers and software in which Orange experts will offer to young graduates or non-graduates as well as people in professional retraining internships, workshops and free training on, among others, web, mobile (Android, iOS), design UX/UI, unity, cyber security, IOT, Big Data, IA, Python, and also soft skills.

The “FabLab Solidaire” meanwhile is part of a worldwide network of spaces where objects and digital hardware can be created and prototyped with digital equipment (3D printers, laser cutters, etc.).

The Orange Fab accelerators are building blocks that are part of an international network of accelerators that helps incubated start-ups grow by building commercial partnerships with Orange Business Units and Orange group partners, at national and international level.
Orange Ventures Africa, the Orange Group investment fund that finances innovative start-ups from countries in the MEA region, also holds a prominent place.

We therefore go from training young people to digital technology, through support for project leaders, to creation and support for startups and investment in them, at the seed stage.

The idea is to build synergies among all these programmes, and among each country’s capital and regions, by offering trainings, working on real projects with social impacts and hosting events and challenges such as hackathons and talks.

Currently, we are deploying an ODC in all Orange footprint in Africa and Middle East and in Ethiopia. For this purpose, Orange has signed a 3-year partnership agreement with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), a German federal enterprise that implements sustainable development projects worldwide on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), to jointly support the employability of young people through the deployment and strengthening of the Orange Digital Centers network.

This strategic alliance and its €30 million support fund will help develop the digital skills of at least 20,000 young people and create 8,000 jobs in 14 countries in the MEA region: Tunisia, Senegal, Morocco, Jordan, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Mali, Madagascar, Sierra Leone, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Liberia.