Interview with Division General Marc Boget
Could you introduce us to your roles and missions within The French national gendarmerie?
I am the director of the digital and technological strategy of the national gendarmerie placed directly under the orders of its general manager, the army general Hubert Bonneau. Today, digital on the equipment side is around 300 central information systems, 4,000 servers, 80,000 computers and 100,000 mobile phones.
What are the challenges that the national gendarmerie faces?
There are mainly four: security, interoperability, modularity, resilience. The digital tools that we use must therefore fill several roles. The first, from an internal perspective, consists in helping the gendarme in its daily missions, to be more efficient, faster or by offering it capacities exceeding those of humans. The supporting role aims for better welcome and better protection of our fellow citizens. This concerns public reception and information tools in the broad sense and also tools to make prevention, especially in the CYBER field. Our entire digital approach must serve our lines of operations with well ordered and well -trained gendarmes, a more effective action, with gendarmes that have the good ways to work, and proud of their living and working conditions. Digital is irrigating these 4 dynamics.
Credits: Brice Lapointe
Credits: Kirill Kudryavtsev / AFP
How the Neo program, of which Crosscall won the second call for tenders in 2021 with the supply of Core-X4 NEO smartphones and Core-T4 NEO tablets, meets these requirements?
The NEO terminal has a strategic place within our information system. We consider that, tomorrow, it should also become our desktop computer. It is therefore a cornerstone of our strategy. You will understand that the right to make mistakes is not an option with the essential question of the breakdown rate. Our equipment must be available at all times and in all places and of course resistant. With now several years of decline and the return of experience of tens of thousands of equipment in service, Crosscall perfectly meets these requirements. This availability guaranteed in sometimes extreme conditions of use is the DNA of the French brand. I don't hear about products Crosscall On the part of the teams, which is an excellent sign!
“The Neo terminal has a strategic place within our information ecosystem. Our equipment must be available at all times, in all places, and of course resistant!”
This availability issue was particularly crucial during the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris 2024. Can you describe the deployed human resources to us?
They were the size of this planetary event with between 15,000 and 35,000 gendarmes mobilized per day throughout the duration of the two Olympiads. We were able to count on the support of foreign forces that patrolled our teams on the ground.
What is your analysis of the evolution of threats linked to this type of major events and how to better manage strategic communications in this context?
The news underlines it a little more every day. The ability to quickly communicate information safely is more decisive than ever. Currently, nearly 40,000 gendarmes and 60,000 police officers use the new Storm information system. We are in the process of deploying a new system, the radio network of the future (RRF). With Storm, the phone is used as a radio by relying on the operator's network, Orange. The strength of the system is to allow what we call “pre -emption priority”. That is to say, the data of the police forces go priority compared to others on a digital network with the ability to also go to an overloaded relay on December 31 for example. Faced with an exceptional situation, the system will thus automatically favor strategic communications to allow communications to the defense of populations and the territory. Tomorrow, that is to say from 2025, RRF will go further by relying on two operators, Orange and Bouygues. The latest settings are underway to validate the absence of functional losses and perfect system resilience.
The privileged relationships between Orange, Bouygues and Crosscall Do they represent an asset as part of the deployment of Storm and RRF?
Storm has admirably successfully completed its baptism of fire during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. But we all know that the subject is complex and we will have to take up new challenges. Therefore, the fact that all actors are as in connection as possible represents a guarantee of success and deployment facilitated. The national gendarmerie is very attentive to the operational commitment of the partners and their collective mobilization to ensure that the projects are advancing. This is very important for us to know that in the face of a difficulty, we will all roll up our sleeves to find solutions together.
Credits: Alex Pantling / Getty Images via AFP
Precisely, what relations maintain the teams of the national gendarmerie with those of Crosscall ?
They are very good, especially with the teams of the Digital Interior Security Agency (ANFSI). The exchanges are regular and fruitful. This is not surprising because, as I explained to you, the Neo tool is an essential brick in mobility. We must therefore work hand in hand with the supplier of the brick used in mobility. This is the case since 2021 with good quality of relationships and good responsiveness of the teams. I formulate the wish that it continues like that, which I am convinced!
“Crosscall is a French brand, offering products that meet our demanding specifications, with a high -performance TCO. Many boxes are therefore checked. »
What is your look at Crosscall ?
We are strictly subject to the public procurement code as you can understand. The sovereign angle, on so strategic mobility equipment, undeniably represents an important criterion. Crosscall is a French brand, has been able to offer products that meet our specifications, with a high -performance TCO. This is what allowed him to win the market!
Crosscall recently launched the STELLAR-M6 which incorporates a security element against cyberrencies. What is your analysis of the evolution of cybermalvence?
We note a very strong increase in cyberculusia. Each year, the number of vulnerabilities discovered on information systems is beaten. The cost for the company is an adult. Globally, it is more than $ 10,000 billion in 2024, for revenues ranging from $ 1,500 to $ 2,000 billion for cybercriminals. The national gendarmerie is one of the privileged targets of these offenders. This is why the security of our information systems is imposed as strategic. This is one of the reasons that we develop our own operating systems for our phones.
Crosscall Bases on an offer to aggregate uses, with a phone that can replace up to 5 equipment. For you, is this the meaning of history?
I am convinced. Today, Core-X4 NEO smartphones used by our gendarmes already replace the old radio terminals as part of the deployment of Storm with the module X-COMM of Crosscall. Tomorrow, as I told you, I am convinced that they will replace all our computers for reinforced operationality but also a reduced cost of possession. These two performance levers are perfectly complementary.