We Love Brussels
  • Urban Life
    • Urban Jungle
    • Photo Stories
    • But Why?
    • Smart City
    • City Branding
    • Seniors
    • Real Estate
  • Culture & Creativity
    • New Economy
    • Local Makers & Shakers
    • Illustrations
    • Fashion City
  • Discover & Meet
    • Travel & Tourism news
    • Foodie guide
  • Event Diary
  • Europolitan Trends
Social Links
Instagram 50K Followers
Facebook 48K Likes
Twitter 8K Followers
  • Our Story
  • Partnerships & Collaborations
  • Contact
50K
48K
8K
We Love Brussels
We Love Brussels
  • Urban Life
    • Urban Jungle
    • Photo Stories
    • But Why?
    • Smart City
    • City Branding
    • Seniors
    • Real Estate
  • Culture & Creativity
    • New Economy
    • Local Makers & Shakers
    • Illustrations
    • Fashion City
  • Discover & Meet
    • Travel & Tourism news
    • Foodie guide
  • Event Diary
  • Europolitan Trends
  • Community news
  • The team
  • Building the platform
  • Community of city admirers
  • Partnerships & Collaborations
  • Get in Touch
Become our contributor. Join the team!

Sign up for our newsletter

Get our periodical updates. Zero spam.

  • New Economy
  • smart city

Future of lobbying: Robots are marching on the Brussels Bubble

  • Editorial Team
  • March 14, 2018
  • 2 minute read

A new question is rising in our Brussels Bubble: How long before lobbyists are replaced by algorithms? 

In his 2015 book, Humans Need Not Apply, Jerry Kaplan of Stanford University wrote: “Automation is blind to the colour of your collar.” Despite Kaplan’s warning, many keep believing that their job is safe. This is certainly true in Brussels, where most public affairs consultants have been left unscathed by automation so far. But this is about to change.

Last January in Davos, Tim Hwang, the 25-year-old CEO of US tech firm FiscalNote, announced the acquisition of Brussels-based Shungham, marking the first time ever a Silicon Valley start-up takes over an EU public affairs consultancy, and showing just how Moore’s law has reached a new peak.

Are lobbyists on the verge of going extinct?

FiscalNote – much like its competitor Quorum, which is also gaining ground in the EU quarter – uses algorithms to automate some of the most repetitive and labour-intensive parts of the work of public affairs professionals. Within a few clicks, its software gathers data from the Internet and extracts information to monitor policy issues and map decision-makers. It also allows automated machine-customised emails and can determine the chances for an amendment to be adopted.

These “digital disruptors” were successful in recent lobbying campaigns in the US and are just getting started. But does this mean that lobbyists are on the verge of going extinct? Not really.

Secret and offline EU law-making has taken over

While most companies should jump on the bandwagon of digitalisation to aim for resource efficiency, and while more digital savviness will be requested from public affairs professionals – especially younger ones –, the situation in the Bubble remains very different than on K Street.

Indeed, in recent years in Brussels we have seen the generalisation of the notoriously secretive trilogues and the growing importance of complex and opaque procedures such as comitology. Secret and offline EU law-making has taken over, making the human insight and oversight more necessary than ever.

This article was published by Noam El Mrabet, on his LinkedIn page. It was originally written as part of the 2018 John Houston EPACA Essay Contest and was awarded third place. The competition is open to young public affairs professional and the topic this year was “The impact of digitalisation on public affairs”. You can also follow Noam on Twitter: @Noam_EU

Total
4
Shares
Like 4
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Like 0
Share 0
Editorial Team

WeLoveBrussels is a digital platform focusing on the city life, culture, creativity, events, amazing places, lifestyle, urban development trends and simple beauty around us.

You May Also Like
View Post
  • local makers & shakers
  • New Economy

Interview: Julien & Matt, founders of Buddy Buddy

  • Boro Milovic
  • November 29, 2020
View Post
  • New Economy
  • real estate

City of Brussels supports the temporary occupation for vacant buildings

  • Editorial Team
  • October 26, 2020
View Post
  • smart city

DataBuzz from VUB receives KVAB Annual Prize for Science Communication

  • Editorial Team
  • October 23, 2020
Brussels Inspiration Bureau

Exploring the best of Brussels since 2014.

Discover more!
Our columnists & bloggers:
Aleksandra Rowicka
Addicted to cultural life of Brussels, fashion photography and dark…
Aris Setya
Indonesian living in Brussels. Passionate about photography. Love…
Boro Milovic
Boro is the founder and editor-in-chief of WeLoveBrussels. His interests…
Dorka Demeter
Dorka is a Hungarian expat living in Brussels for 10 years. Admirer of…
Emilia Valbum
Expat from Copenhagen living in Brussels. EU + global politics nerd on…
Fadi Dalati
A urologist by profession, and a photographer by passion. I try to…
Julia Zelle
Half-Italian, half-German girl who has just moved to Bruxelles.…
Karolina
Karolina is a blogger sharing stories on European cities, local…
kateinbrussels
I am Kate. I've lived in Brussels for 16 years and am still discovering…
Meredith @ellesbxl
Meredith Geldof is a Flemish girl who moved to Brussels and enjoys…
Tireless_Traveler
Nath is born and raised in Brussels but with a serious case of…
Download our free guide!
Incentives & events in Brussels:
Incentives & events in Brussels:
Missed our printed edition?
Press Club Brussels Europe
As seen in
25 most popular instagram accounts in Belgium

Get our periodical updates. Zero spam.

Instagram 50K Followers
Facebook 48K Likes
Twitter 8K Followers
welovebrussels
  • Our story & more
  • Get in Touch
  • Privacy Policy
  • Legal notice
Brussels Inspiration Bureau. Your guide to city life, travel tips, Brussels events agenda & news.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

SAVE & ACCEPT