The French offer of remote training in higher education rests still mainly on the use of the postal mail even if it is gradually associated with other supports (telephone, audio-visual, video and Internet). In 1996, an investigation of the IREDU showed that the most significant request for remote training was focused on the training of professionals.
In the French educational system, remote training was traditionally devoted to a unique operator, the CNED (Centre National d'Enseignement à Distance), founded in 1939. In 2001, this center had 355 000 training units, from which 80% were adult training in a wide level range.
In order to modernize this offer, and implicate the whole higher education system, government has undertaken a policy of "call for projects" [2]. The 2000 campaign gathered 86 projects. Among them, 11 were selected for execution (2111 ME) and 16 for prospection (632 ME). The 2001 campaign gathered 117 projects. Among them, 39 were selected for execution and 27 for prospection. The 2002 campaign is not closed yet.
The birth of the French numerical campuses transforms the landscape of the remote training radically and should diversify, in the short run, the offer of training. The fast emergence of these new forms of teaching was made possible only thanks to the mobilization of several hundreds of professionals in the higher educational establishments. These last years, the CNED developed an ambitious plan around its electronic campus.
According to those ideas, the CNED contacted the ENSAIT in order to develop a numerical campus particularly targeted to textile. This numerical campus has as an ambition to form the executives and high-level technicians of small and medium-sized companies, at every stage of the textile supply chain.