Activity report 2024

2024 Activities Highlights

During the General Assembly on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, Renaissance Numérique presented its 2024 Activity Report. This was a chance to revisit the think tank’s key initiatives over the past year, detailed in the full report:

• Dialog through the think tank’s diverse regular activities (ASDN Series, OFF-the-Record Meetings, Interviews, etc.).
• Decrypt with a series of 3 study days bringing together European and international experts on AI governance: the AI Dialogues.
• Alert, as Renaissance Numérique repeatedly took a stand to warn against threats undermining fundamental freedoms, rights, and the rule of law.
• Explore, by examining critical questions such as the absence of super-apps in Europe.

The Activity Report Editorial

Since 2005, Renaissance Numerique’s core mission has been to elevate the public and democratic debate on digital issues. This means shedding light on the questions and challenges transforming our society and opening them up for discussion with all stakeholders. A monumental task, one that remains as relevant as ever, if not more so, in 2025.

While some early challenges, such as argument quality and decision-maker training, have seen modest improvement, significant work remains in unpacking the complexity of the “digital world” as the recent debate on communication encryption starkly demonstrated. Wisdom ultimately prevailed, though not without difficulty.

Other, more concerning issues have emerged: information disorders and manipulation, major innovations rapidly adopted without due reflection, and rushed regulations that often create as many problems as they solve.

At a time when public discourse is deteriorating and divisions are deepening, spaces for constructive dialogue are increasingly vital. Renaissance Numérique’s ambition to serve as an open forum where all stakeholders can be heard remains fully relevant. For 20 years, we have championed public freedoms, advocating for digital users’ perspectives too often overlooked.

Our 2024 activities continued this trajectory, offering clear-eyed analysis on advancements in artificial intelligence, Europe’s chosen path for digital regulation, and the future development of applications likely to become the primary gateway to the internet in coming years. We pursued this in our distinctive manner: through substantive exchanges where we take the time sometimes a full day, or even several to pause, discuss, listen, analyze, and synthesize knowledge for broad dissemination. In 2024, the AI Dialogues enabled us to develop a vision of the place of civil society in the governance of AI, which fed into three events organised as part of the AI summit in February 2025. Our briefing on the European Commission’s digital policy record, and the unfinished agenda, provides a clear perspective on issues the EU is poised to revisit hastily through so-called “omnibus” texts undoing political compromises carefully crafted during the previous mandate.

In the years ahead, we aim to intensify this approach convening diverse perspectives from academic experts and practitioners for deep, often informal exchanges on the future political debates surrounding digital technology. With technological change accelerating relentlessly, anticipating key issues is crucial.

Renaissance Numérique continues to evolve. 2024 saw a smooth presidential transition, despite its unexpected swiftness. New members are joining us, and we hope to involve more experts from public organizations in our work. Their insights are valuable additions to the debate.

2025 will see this transition continue towards stronger member engagement and deeper participation in the debates and joint actions of organized civil society. Renaissance Numérique also continues to strengthen its role as a hub for exchange, analysis, and dialogue illuminating pathways towards a responsible digital society for all decision-makers. Our goal remains unchanged: building a digital society that is more just, inclusive, democratic, and sustainable.

Samuel Le Goff
President of Renaissance Numérique

Download the activity report 2024