SOCIETE INFORMATIQUE

What SOCIETE INFORMATIQUE does

Société Informatique de France (SIF) is a French non-profit learned society (association loi 1901 reconnue d'utilité publique since September 2018), founded in 2012 and headquartered in Créteil. Its mandate is to represent computer science as a scientific discipline in France and to convene the community of researchers, educators, and industry practitioners advancing the field. It does not develop or sell proprietary technology products; its 'core technology' is institutional — its recognized status, its convening power, and its program portfolio. Revenue is not publicly disclosed and is sourced from membership fees, donations (eligible for tax deduction given its public-utility status), and institutional partner support.

SIF's deliverables are programmatic rather than commercial. It publishes the bi-annual Bulletin 1024 and the Binaire blog (hosted by La Recherche since October 2025, previously by Le Monde), and has co-produced educational content such as the graphic novel 'Les décodeuses du numérique' with CNRS Éditions. It manages three annual awards — the Prix Lovelace-Babbage (with the Académie des Sciences), the Prix de thèse Gilles Kahn (under Académie des Sciences patronage), and, from 2026, the Prix Gilles Dowek for mediation (with Inria and CNRS) — and runs the Trophées NSI competition for secondary-school students and an annual congress. Its go-to-market is membership- and partnership-driven: individuals join via the website, and partnerships with Inria, CNRS, the Académie des Sciences, the Collectif Maths&Sciences, AEIF, and the Eclipse Foundation anchor its institutional reach.

Its served audiences are citizens needing computer-science literacy, secondary and higher-education students and teachers, and the academic and socio-economic research community. Its primary activities are organized around three pillars — Enseignement (education), Médiation (public outreach), and Recherche (research) — and it actively engages in national policy advocacy on issues such as the NSI specialty and AI instruction in schools. As an association d'utilité publique with no parent company, funding rounds, M&A activity, or proprietary technology products, SIF is structurally a stable institutional actor rather than a growth-stage commercial enterprise.

Name

SOCIETE INFORMATIQUE

Legal name

Société Informatique de France

Website

https://societe-informatique-de-france.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Société Informatique de France (SIF) is France's official non-profit learned society for computer science, founded in 2012 and recognized as being of public utility. It convenes researchers, educators, and practitioners through awards, publications (Bulletin 1024, Binaire blog), an annual congress, and education-policy advocacy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Association Services

NAICS

Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Services-Services, Nec (8900)

akta.pro primary industry

Education, Research & Academic Congresses (THAHAJAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Technical Committees, Working Groups & Expert Panels (BPADANAB), Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI)

Keywords

• Learned society
• Computer science advocacy
• Scientific mediation
• Academic publishing
• Research awards

Headquarters

HQ city

CRETEIL

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Société Informatique de France (SIF) is a French non-profit learned society for computer science, founded in 2012 and recognized as being of public utility since September 2018. It functions as the institutional voice for computer science in France, promoting the discipline through publications (Bulletin 1024, Binaire blog), scientific awards (Prix Lovelace-Babbage, Prix de thèse Gilles Kahn, Prix Gilles Dowek), educational advocacy, an annual congress, and scientific mediation aimed at the general public.

Product overview

The Société Informatique de France (SIF) is a learned society for computer science in France, founded in 2012 and recognized as being of public utility since September 2018. Rather than offering a unified technology product, SIF provides a portfolio of programs and publications: the semi-annual Bulletin 1024, the Binaire blog on computer science topics, and Les décodeuses du numérique graphic novel. It manages prestigious awards including the Prix Lovelace-Babbage (in partnership with the Académie des Sciences), the Prix de thèse Gilles Kahn (under Académie des Sciences patronage since 1998), the Prix Gilles Dowek (for science mediation, with Inria and CNRS), and organizes the Trophées NSI competition for high school students. SIF also holds an annual congress and publishes newsletters and press reviews. Its activities span research promotion, education advocacy, scientific mediation, and science-society dialogue.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Binaire (blog): Blog on computer science created in 2014 at the initiative of Serge Abiteboul and SIF colleagues, hosted by La Recherche (formerly Le Monde), covering definitions, progress, dangers, questions, successes and impacts of computer science.
• Bulletin 1024
• Prix Gilles Dowek
• Prix de thèse Gilles Kahn
• Prix Lovelace-Babbage

Products and services

• Bulletin 1024 Semi-annual publication accompanying the French computer science community with articles and research updates.
• Les décodeuses du numérique (BD) Graphic novel featuring portraits of female researchers in digital sciences, with an accompanying pedagogical booklet for educators.
• Congrès annuel de la SIF Annual congress bringing together the French computer science research and practitioner community to discuss specific scientific themes.
• Trophées NSI National competition celebrating collective projects by high school students in the Numérique et Sciences Informatiques (NSI) specialty.
• Prix Lovelace-Babbage Annual prize of the Académie des Sciences awarded in partnership with SIF, recognizing two researchers under 40 for outstanding contributions across all computer science domains.
• Prix de thèse Gilles Kahn Annual thesis prize under the patronage of the Académie des Sciences, highlighting young scientists whose thesis work represents a remarkable advance in computer science.
• Prix Gilles Dowek Prize for scientific mediation in computer science, co-organized with Inria and CNRS, recognizing individuals or collectives for actions promoting computer science to the public.

Quantifiable outcome

• The blog 'Binaire' has been communicating about computer science since January 2014

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• InriacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 June 2026Inria is a strategic partner for the Prix Gilles Dowek de médiation en informatique, co-awarding this prize for computer science mediation with the SIF and CNRS. Inria also partners on various initiatives including the 'Chiche' project for bringing scientists into classrooms.
• CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 June 2026CNRS is a co-organizer of the Prix Gilles Dowek alongside the SIF and Inria. CNRS also collaborates on educational resources such as the pedagogical booklet for 'Les décodeuses du numérique' comic book. The INS2I institute (CNRS) leads various computer science outreach initiatives partnered with SIF.
• Eclipse FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 March 2023The Eclipse Foundation joined the SIF as a member to collaborate on gathering all those for whom advancing computer science is a profession or passion. The foundation is convinced that this approach must go through a good understanding of open source and its practices. Philippe Krief, Director of Research Relations at Eclipse Foundation, stated that their work involves explaining and reassuring academic and industrial partners about open source best practices.
• Femmes@NumériqueminorOthers · 16 February 2023
• Femmes et mathématiques and Femmes & SciencesminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 January 2023These associations collaborated with SIF to create the pedagogical booklet accompanying the comic book 'Les décodeuses du numérique', providing keys for educators to support student orientation and explore aspects of the SNT curriculum.
• Académie des SciencescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022The Académie des Sciences partners with the SIF on the annual Prix Lovelace-Babbage (in partnership with the Academy of Sciences) and the Prix de thèse Gilles Kahn (placed under the patronage of the Académie des Sciences). The Academy also awards various computer science prizes during its annual ceremonies.
• Collectif Maths& SciencescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSIF is a member of the Collectif Maths& Sciences, a collective of learned societies and associations in mathematics and science that publishes joint analyses and tribunes on education reform, including reform of the high school baccalauréat and the place of mathematics and science in education.
• AEIF (Association des Enseignants d'Informatique)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAEIF works jointly with SIF to analyze the impact of the creation of the NSI (Numérique et Sciences Informatiques) specialty and to assess its implementation in terms of human resources.
• Terra NumericaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTerra Numerica is a consortium for scientific mediation dedicated to the dissemination of digital sciences, carried by CNRS, Inria, and Université Côte d'Azur. It was awarded the second Prix Gilles Dowek in 2026 for developing devices, resources, and events for sensitizing different audiences to digital issues.

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• IEEE Computer Society: Global computing society within IEEE with conferences, publications, awards, and educational programs. Directly comparable to SIF as a multi-stakeholder learned society for computer science practitioners and researchers.
• Gesellschaft für Informatik (GI): Germany's national learned society for computer science, with similar activities in education, mediation, awards, and policy advocacy. The closest national analogue to SIF in continental Europe.
• AFIA (Association Française pour l'Intelligence Artificielle): France's learned society specifically for AI research. Comparable nonprofit model and overlapping mission on AI literacy and education, positioning it as a sister society that SIF collaborates with rather than competes against.
• Association for Computing Machinery (ACM): The world's largest learned society for computing, with publications, awards, and policy advocacy. ACM is the international counterpart to SIF — both act as umbrella professional bodies for the discipline.
• BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT: UK's chartered professional body for IT, combining learned-society functions with professional certification. Directly comparable to SIF as a national umbrella organization advocating for the discipline and the profession.
• Informatics Europe: European association of computer science departments and learned societies. Directly comparable as a higher-level umbrella organization, with SIF among its member societies.
• AAAI (Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence): International nonprofit scientific society dedicated to AI research. Comparable to SIF in its role as a discipline-advancing society running awards, conferences, and policy engagement.

Emerging players

• Société de Mathématiques Appliquées et Industrielles (SMAI): French learned society for applied and industrial mathematics. Comparable structure (nonprofit association, awards, publications, education advocacy) and a natural coalition partner through Collectif Maths&Sciences.
• Société Mathématique de France (SMF): France's national learned society for mathematics. Adjacent peer under the same association loi 1901 model, partnered with SIF via the Collectif Maths&Sciences for joint education-reform advocacy.

Others

• Eclipse Foundation: Not-for-profit foundation supporting open-source software communities, a member of SIF since March 2023. Comparable as a member-supported nonprofit in the computing ecosystem, though its focus is open-source tooling rather than academic advocacy.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/societe-informatique

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SOCIETE INFORMATIQUE