Gilles Babinet

Gilles Babinet
Born	1967
Birthplace	Paris, France
Nationality	French
Occupation	Entrepreneur, digital policy advisor
Known for	France's Digital Champion to the European Commission, co-president of the Conseil National du Numérique

Gilles Babinet (born 1967 in Paris) is a French entrepreneur and digital policy advisor who has played a central role in shaping France's and Europe's approach to digital transformation. Over a career spanning several decades, Babinet has founded or co-founded multiple technology companies and has served in prominent advisory positions at the intersection of technology and public policy. He is France's representative in the European Commission's Digital Champions group and has served as co-president of the Conseil National du Numérique (National Digital Council), a body advising the French government on digital matters. In addition to his entrepreneurial activities, Babinet has become a prominent voice on issues including artificial intelligence, digital sovereignty, the future of nation-states in the digital era, and the reform of higher education and innovation ecosystems in Europe. He serves as an advisor on digital issues to the Institut Montaigne, one of France's leading independent think tanks, where he has authored and contributed to numerous reports and analyses on digital policy.

Early Life

Gilles Babinet was born in 1967 in Paris, France. Limited publicly available information exists regarding his childhood and family background. He grew up during a period of significant technological change in France, as the country was developing its early digital infrastructure, including the pioneering Minitel system. The broader context of France's evolving relationship with technology during the 1970s and 1980s would later inform much of Babinet's professional trajectory as an advocate for digital modernization and innovation policy.

Career

Entrepreneurial Ventures

Babinet has been described as a "multi-entrepreneur," having founded or co-founded several companies in the technology and digital sectors over the course of his career. Among the ventures associated with him are eYeka, a co-creation platform that connected brands with creative consumers worldwide, and Captain Dash, a data analytics and business intelligence company. His entrepreneurial work has spanned areas including digital marketing, data science, and innovation management.

Babinet has also been associated with La Paillasse, a community biolab and open innovation space in Paris that fosters citizen science and collaborative research. His involvement with such organizations reflects a broader interest in open innovation models and the democratization of technology beyond traditional corporate and academic settings.

Conseil National du Numérique

In 2011, the French government established the Conseil National du Numérique (CNNum), a body tasked with advising the government on digital policy and the societal implications of digital technologies. The council was formally installed with a mandate to provide recommendations on matters ranging from digital rights and net neutrality to the digital economy and innovation.

Babinet served as co-president of the Conseil National du Numérique, a role that placed him at the center of French digital policy discussions. In this capacity, he contributed to shaping the French government's approach to digital transformation across various sectors of public life. The council's mandate was renewed in subsequent years; a new mandature was announced for the 2021–2023 period, reflecting the ongoing importance of digital advisory bodies in French governance.

France's Digital Champion to the European Commission

Babinet represents France in the European Commission's Digital Champions group, a network of national representatives appointed by EU member states to promote the benefits of an inclusive digital society. In this role, he has served as a liaison between the French government and the European Commission on matters related to digital policy, the digital single market, and the broader digital transformation of European economies and societies.

In a 2017 interview with Politico Europe, Babinet discussed his role as France's digital champion in Brussels, addressing topics including France's digital strategy, the European digital agenda, and the challenges facing the continent in keeping pace with technological innovation from the United States and Asia. His position has afforded him a platform to advocate for European-level coordination on digital infrastructure, regulation, and competitiveness.

Institut Montaigne

Babinet has served as an advisor on digital issues to the Institut Montaigne, a Paris-based independent think tank focused on public policy. In this role, he has authored or contributed to a significant body of analytical work covering a wide range of digital policy topics.

Higher Education and Digital Technologies

Babinet has been a vocal commentator on the state of higher education and innovation in Europe, particularly as it relates to digital technology. In a report published by the Institut Montaigne titled "Enseignement supérieur et numérique : connectez-vous!" (Higher Education and Digital: Connect!), the think tank examined the challenges and opportunities facing the French higher education system in the digital age.

In January 2023, Babinet published an analysis through the Institut Montaigne addressing the inadequacy of the European higher education and innovation ecosystem in the context of digital technologies. He argued that Europe's growing weakness in the technology sector could not be reduced to a single factor, and that eliminating the costs of failure was a necessary step toward fostering innovation. He called for systemic reforms to enable European entrepreneurs and researchers to compete more effectively on the global stage.

French Digital Policy Assessment

In January 2022, Babinet and Théophile Lenoir, a researcher and former head of the Institut Montaigne's Digital Program, published an assessment of the state of French digital technologies. The analysis drew up a balance sheet of France's digital progress, examining the country's strengths and weaknesses in areas including startup ecosystems, digital infrastructure, and government digital services.

In March 2020, Babinet provided a mid-term evaluation of the French government's digital policies, assessing the progress made on digital transformation initiatives and identifying areas where further action was needed.

Sovereignty, Nation-States, and the Digital Era

One of Babinet's most substantial bodies of intellectual work at the Institut Montaigne has concerned the impact of digital technologies on sovereignty and the traditional model of the nation-state. In a multi-part series titled "The End of Nation States?", he explored how technology-induced sovereignty transfers are reshaping the relationship between governments, citizens, and digital platforms.

In the first part of the series, published in November 2018, Babinet analyzed the phenomenon of technology-induced sovereignty transfers, examining how digital platforms and technologies have begun to assume functions traditionally associated with nation-states, such as currency issuance, identity verification, and the provision of public services.

In April 2023, Babinet continued this line of inquiry with the fourth part of the series, which addressed the question of what a "post-Westphalian world" might look like in the age of platforms. The analysis explored the implications of the growing power of technology platforms for the international order that has been organized around sovereign nation-states since the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.

5G, Social Protection, and Youth Online Safety

Babinet's work at the Institut Montaigne has also encompassed a range of other digital policy topics. He has been involved in work on Europe's 5G strategy, contributing to a report examining European approaches to fifth-generation mobile network deployment and the policy implications of 5G infrastructure decisions.

He has also contributed to analysis on the modernization of social protection systems in the digital age, exploring how digital technologies can be leveraged to update and improve social safety nets.

Additionally, the Institut Montaigne has published analysis on the risks posed by the internet to young people, a topic with which Babinet has been associated through his broader digital advisory role.

Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Society

In more recent years, Babinet has increasingly focused on the societal implications of artificial intelligence. In October 2025, he participated in an interview with the investment firm Lombard Odier, alongside Pascale Seivy, in which they discussed how AI is reshaping various sectors of society, from healthcare to finance. The conversation addressed the question of whether Europe can chart an ethical and sustainable course in the face of the dominance of AI development by large technology companies primarily based in the United States and China.

Babinet's engagement with AI policy reflects a continuation of his longstanding interest in the relationship between technological change and societal organization, themes that have been present throughout his career as both an entrepreneur and a policy advisor.

Personal Life

Limited publicly available information exists regarding Babinet's personal life. He is based in France and has maintained a public profile primarily through his professional activities in entrepreneurship and digital policy advisory work.

Legacy

Gilles Babinet's career represents a distinctive intersection of entrepreneurship and public policy in the French and European digital landscape. Through his roles as France's Digital Champion to the European Commission, co-president of the Conseil National du Numérique, and advisor to the Institut Montaigne, he has contributed to the development of French and European digital policy across multiple domains, including digital sovereignty, artificial intelligence, 5G deployment, higher education reform, and social protection modernization.

His multi-part analysis on the impact of digital platforms on the traditional nation-state model, published through the Institut Montaigne, represents a notable contribution to the broader intellectual discourse on digital governance and the evolving nature of sovereignty in the twenty-first century. His persistent emphasis on the need for European competitiveness in the global technology sector and his advocacy for reform of innovation ecosystems have informed policy discussions at both the national and European levels.

As an entrepreneur, Babinet's involvement in ventures spanning co-creation platforms, data analytics, and open innovation labs reflects a career oriented toward practical applications of digital technology and new models of innovation. His trajectory from founding technology companies to advising governments illustrates a pathway that has become increasingly common among digital-era entrepreneurs who seek to influence the regulatory and policy frameworks governing the technologies they have helped develop.