Guillaume Rozier, here in the premises of “20 Minutes”, May 11, 2021. – Olivier Juszczak / 20 Minutes
To the “data scientist”, the grateful homeland. Guillaume Rozier, the 25-year-old engineer who became famous for having created free anti-Covid 19 services on the Internet, was knighted in the National Order of Merit “exceptionally”. Creator among others of the site Vitemadose, which makes it possible to find vaccination appointments, Guillaume Rozier is the youngest of the 1,088 promoted whose list was published on Saturday in the Official Journal.
He is “knighted on an exceptional basis (without waiting for the required duration of service) as permitted by the code of the National Order of Merit for” exceptional services clearly characterized “”, said in a press release the Grand Chancellery of the Legion of Honor, which oversees the two decorations.
“A huge honor”
“It is an immense pleasure, an immense honor to receive it”, reacted on BFMTV the young engineer, dedicating this reward to “all the volunteers” who work alongside him. “I think that it materializes weeks of work, many hours sacrificed but which I sacrificed with pleasure in order to help the French to better understand the epidemic thanks to Covidtracker, and which also allowed many French to find a vaccine dose more quickly thanks to Vitemadose, ”he added.
Created in 1963 by General de Gaulle, the National Order of Merit is the second national order after the Legion of Honor. It has three ranks (knight, officer, commander) and two dignities (grand officer and grandcross). With some exceptions (and Guillaume Rozier is one), ten years of “merits acquired either in a public, civil or military function, or in the exercise of a private activity” are necessary to be awarded the National Order of Merit. , on the proposal of the government.
Macron’s greetings
Guillaume Rozier started working on the pandemic in March 2020, when he was finishing his engineering studies at Telecom Nancy, with a specialty in artificial intelligence and big data processing. Based on public data, it produces graphs on the evolution of the pandemic, easy for the general public to understand. He broadcasts them in particular via his Twitter account, @GuillaumeRozier. Shared by Internet users, constantly improved, the site soon to be called Covidtracker becomes a reference for information on the progression of the pandemic in France.
Guillaume Rozier then created Vaccintracker, which followed the progress of vaccinations, then Vitemadose. Launched in early April, this website (and application) provides a single glance at the time slots available on the various appointment platforms, Doctolib, Keldoc, Maiia, Ordoclic or MaPharma. By announcing the expansion of the vaccine campaign a few weeks ago, Emmanuel Macron himself greeted Vitemadose.
State bankruptcy
However, the success of Guillaume Rozier’s private creations has led many observers to draw a cruel observation for public authorities: that of the State’s inability to produce such efficient and simple services for the general public. . On BFMTV, the engineer however praised the State for having opened to all data on the epidemic, which allowed him to develop its services. He encouraged administrations to continue in this direction.
LREM deputy François Jolivet asked the Minister of Health Olivier Véran in early May to propose the young man’s name for the Legion of Honor or the National Order of Merit. On May 17, Olivier Véran had wrongly asserted that the person concerned was too young for the Legion of Honor and that he had to apply for the National Order of Merit to have it. “After verifications”, the minister’s entourage finally told AFP on May 18 that it was “quite possible that Guillaume Rozier would be decorated”.