No worries, I won’t ask you to write a 1500 words essay about it (but please do it if you feel like it). It’s just that what we saw at the last Consumer Electronics Show, CES if you prefer, a couple of weeks ago in Las Vegas kind of makes me ask myself these questions. There were several pavilions organized by country including, of course, the French one. It was called French Tech at CES and more than 150 startups were united under its banner. If you want to know more about that, I invite you to watch the last episode of Rendez-Vous d’Amerique, it’s a special about CES and you’ll get everything you need to know about French Tech at CES there.

Should scientific and technological progress be a patriotic thing? I don’t know. But should a country help the development of scientific and technological progress? Definitely yes… And France wasn’t the only one doing it publicly at CES. In our show, we also see the Swiss and were a lot of other national pavilions at the CES.

But what struck me was this attempt of a Francophone Village. A place where all French-speaking countries unite to help small startups and independent inventors find investors, give awards to young entrepreneurs… and for a moment, French language becomes a tool for the development of scientific and technologic progress, a tool to make the world a better place.

And why not? What if we were united by something bigger than borders? What if our common language, our common culture could become a hope for a better future?

OK, I do exaggerate a little, but I like the idea. So, “Can a common language make technology evolve faster?” I wish it’d be true. And if it’s French, even better…

Or there is another option: make progress our common language. That’d be nice wouldn’t it? But, in the times we live in, with the government we have here in the US, I don’t really see that coming soon.

Even if, during a few days, in the Las Vegas Convention Center, during CES, it did feel like a very nice idea…

To learn more about the French Tech at CES and French culture in America, tune-in to Rendez-vous d’Amérique on TV5MONDE USA. Click here for more information.

Exploring cultural diversity entwined with Manhattan’s insatiable energy, Hollywood’s bright lights, Louisiana’s inspirational beauty, and beyond - Rendez-vous d'Amérique invites you on a journey to discover Francophone culture in America. Your host on this cultural experience is Didier Allouch - reporter, cinephile, and a familiar face at movie premieres. Click here to learn how you can get TV5MONDE USA and never miss an episode!