While the coronavirus crisis is accentuating the digital divide in France, Emmaüs Connect's mission is to fight against digital exclusion by allowing less fortunate people to equip themselves.

Some 8 million French people have neither a computer nor a smartphone. 

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Computers donated or resold between 80 euros and 100 euros.

In Lille, Emmaüs Connect fights against digital exclusion, allowing less fortunate people to acquire IT equipment.

Because with the coronavirus crisis, the digital divide has worsened: 8 million French people have neither a computer nor a smartphone.

A challenge, especially when the government encourages teleworking.

"The lack of equipment is a real obstacle to digital integration", affirms at the microphone of Europe 1 Camille Bardoux, project manager at Emmaüs Connect.

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Equipment donated by companies

"We generally receive people who earn around 650 euros per month", including students based in Lille, Roubaix or Béthune, she explains.

"So it was essential to offer them material that they could afford to buy." 

But before arriving at Emmaüs Connect, this second-hand computer equipment is refurbished by a specialized company.

Company which itself receives them from another entity, such as Adeo.

A federation of several companies, including the sign Leroy Merlin which gives "laptops that are between 4 and 5 years old, but also screens and keyboards", specifies Olivia Bertou in charge of digital at Adeo.

"The idea is really to give a second life to equipment that we no longer use, either because it does not meet our digital ambition, or because we have uses that are no longer possible. "

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And this material is proving all the more useful as parents are once again facing the closure of schools, forcing them for some to telework.