La bande numérique: Helping French‑Canadian art and culture go digital
Photo Credit: Marianne Duval
To celebrate its fifth anniversary, The Storyteller presents a series of client and partner profiles, highlighting their vision and commitment to a cause that is close to their hearts.
This month, we spoke with Marie-Renée Duguay, manager of La bande numérique, an initiative of the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française (FCCF), an association representing the minority Francophone cultural sector of Canada.
Marie-Renée Duguay has been working in the field of community service and culture for 20 years. In 2022, she became the manager of La bande numérique, an FCCF project that helps French-Canadian minority non-profit arts and culture organizations go digital.
A support that is personalized to different realities
In less than two years, La bande numérique has helped more than 40 of Canada’s Francophone minority arts and culture organizations acquire digital skills and know-how.
However, given that the reality of Francophone communities differs significantly from one end of the country to the other, these organizations can’t all rely on the same level of support. For example, an organization in a province like Newfoundland and Labrador, where only 2% of the population is Francophone, will not necessarily have access to the same financial, human and digital resources as an organization in the Acadian Peninsula, where over 90% of the population is Francophone. That is why La bande numérique provides organizations with support tailored to their needs, wherever they stand in their digital journey.
Tooling up for the long-term
La bande numérique’s flexible, scalable formula is its key strength. The advisory team looks at the resources available to organizations, then proposes concrete, sustainable and achievable actions. This helps organizations become familiar with digital opportunities and better understand how to adopt new processes to improve their internal and external performance.
Recommended actions can include updating the organization’s website, creating a newsletter, reorganizing the digital filing system, developing security protocols, or implementing artistic projects with a digital component. Organizations also have access to training on concepts such as digital sobriety or discoverability, so they can improve their knowledge and skills on various topics and tools.
Putting people at the centre of digital transformation
According to Marie-Renée Duguay, digital transformation is a state of mind. It’s not just about learning how digital tools work, it’s about being able to adapt to change. As the name suggests, a digital transformation involves constant adaptation, which is a given for any organization worth its salt.
“The key to digital transformation is to be innovative, open to learning new things and able to manage change.“
As a result, it’s important to ask the right questions and adopt digital tools that align with the organization’s mission and mandate. Technology is not the end goal, but simply a way to make organizations more efficient and versatile.
Photo Credit: Annie France Noël
Working with The Storyteller
What types of projects have you worked on with The Storyteller over the years?
The Storyteller provides individualized support to La bande numérique’s participating organizations, offering advising services and developing action plans. The advisory team also provides training on various digital communication topics.
What features or qualities do you most appreciate about The Storyteller?
We appreciate their thoroughness and generosity! The Storyteller’s professionalism really shines through in the substantive, detailed action plans offered to organizations.
What are the positive impacts of working with The Storyteller?
Digital transformation is sometimes intimidating and unsettling for organizations. But The Storytellers’ work is well structured and their action plans are accessible and easy to understand. Organizations really appreciate this and it makes the process more efficient!
Many thanks to Marie-Renée Duguay for her time, her passion and her commitment to Francophone minority arts and culture. To learn more about the La bande numérique project, visit its website.
