Dan Sobovitz

Technology moves faster than the institutions trying to explain it. Public bodies, regulators, and corporates end up with digital channels that look active but say very little, while the audiences they need to reach lose patience. The gap between what an organisation does on emerging tech and what it manages to communicate has become its own strategic risk.

Dan Sobovitz is a digital communications strategist and conference host who helps institutions, corporates, and innovation programmes make complex technology, policy, and mobility stories land with the audiences that matter.

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Why organisations work with Dan Sobovitz

Five years inside the cabinet of a European Commission Vice-President, writing speeches and running digital for the institution that regulates much of Europe’s technology agenda. That is a view of how policy communication actually works that external consultants rarely have.
Runs spreadable.io, the agency behind interactive programmes for the European Commission, European Parliament, UNESCO, Michelin, Groupe RATP, and Viva Tech. Clients hire him when a standard panel format will not hold the room.
Chief communications role at the European Startup Prize for Mobility, Europe’s largest acceleration programme for clean mobility startups, gives him a working feed of what is actually happening in European mobility and climate tech rather than a reading of it.
Hosts and moderates in English and French across tech, mobility, and sustainability events including Viva Tech, ChangeNow, and Michelin’s Movin’On Challenge, with a hosting style built around live audience interaction rather than scripted Q and A.
Civil society work through DemoCrisis and Fondation Ceci n’est pas une crise gives him a serious, non-promotional voice on how digital platforms are changing democratic participation.

Biography highlights

Founder and CEO, spreadable.io, Brussels
Chief Communications Officer, European Startup Prize for Mobility
Senior Adviser, Digital Communications, BCW
Former speechwriter and digital communications strategist, cabinet of European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic
TEDx speaker, “Can technology make democracy great again?” (TEDxAUEB)
MA, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs; MPP, Hertie School of Governance

Biography

Inside the European Commission, the problem was not a shortage of policy. It was that the policy was not reaching anyone outside Brussels. Dan Sobovitz spent five years in the cabinet of Vice-President Maros Sefcovic working on exactly that, writing speeches and running digital channels that tried to turn technical EU work into something recognisable to citizens, journalists, and founders.

The methods were unusual for an institution. Live interactive interviews from a self-driving car. VR footage of EU satellites going into orbit. Crowdsourcing policy input from youth and climate activists through digital platforms. Live audience voting at EU startup pitches. Most of it came out of a single idea: the Commission had interesting things to say and was burying them under procedural language.

He now runs spreadable.io, the interactive-events agency he founded after leaving the Commission, with clients including the European Parliament, UNESCO, Michelin, Groupe RATP, and Viva Tech. Alongside this he is Chief Communications Officer at the European Startup Prize for Mobility, the EU’s largest acceleration programme for clean mobility startups, and a Senior Adviser on Digital Communications at BCW.

His civic work through DemoCrisis and Fondation Ceci n’est pas une crise addresses a narrower question that runs under everything else he does: what happens to democratic participation when the public conversation moves onto platforms none of the participants control. He writes and speaks on that question in English and French, and has given a TEDx talk, “Can technology make democracy great again?”

Key speaking topics

Digital communications and institutional storytelling
Technology, democracy, and civic participation
Sustainable mobility and clean transport innovation
European startup ecosystems and innovation policy
Interactive conference formats and audience engagement
Public policy communication in the age of platforms

Ideal for

Corporate and institutional communications leaders rethinking how they talk about technology and regulation
Innovation, mobility, and sustainability programmes looking for a bilingual host who can run a serious technical room
Public affairs and policy teams operating at the EU level
CEO and C-suite audiences planning flagship innovation or transformation events

Audience outcomes

A sharper read on how European institutions and corporates are actually communicating technology and policy, and where that is breaking down
Concrete examples of formats that move an audience out of passive listening, drawn from live EU and corporate programmes
A working understanding of how the European clean mobility and startup landscape fits together across Commission, Parliament, and industry
A more honest view of what digital platforms are doing to public debate and what institutions can do about it

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Testimonials

Thanks to his outstanding communication skills, political reasoning, and creativity across digital technologies, Dan is a real asset for my cabinet.

Maroš Šefčovič

European Commission Vice-President, Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight

It is a great pleasure to work with Dan. He is always ready to try new innovation, he is a "real geek" and has very high knowledges of community management and social networking. He also brings a lot of creativity as well as being results oriented.

Sandrine Chauvin

Director and Senior Managing Editor in EMEA and LATAM, Greater Paris Metropolitan Region

Dan is creative, pragmatic and focused on results. Ahead of the curve in social media. A colleague who inspires and motivates others.

Jakub Hera Adamowicz

EU Media and Communication, Huawei Technologies

Dan understands communication three-dimensionally. He stands out, because he accepts nothing as given. Established styles are questioned and every message is a new challenge and requires a new angle. He is in the process of reforming and refreshing the voice of the European Commission from within and he is doing this with verve and passion. He is part of our avant gard with a vision and a plan. The VP can be thankful for this prodigy.

Adam Thomas Mouchtar

Special Advisor to a group of MEPs from the main political parties in the EP & Co-Founder and Managing Director, EU40

Dan is a very organized and reliable professional. He was a good team player that earned respect from his colleagues by the quality of his work. He is very smart and understood well marketing and technology which allowed him to write interesting content for Emakina various online publications with an elegant style. It was a pleasure working with him and I miss his talent.

Brice Le Blévennec

CEO, Emakina Group

Dan did an exceptional job on the recent project. Eager, honest and great content manager. Proactive, efficient and detail oriented perfectionist. Always maintains very good relation with co-workers and clients.

Manuel Diaz

President, EMAKINA.FR

He is a very talented colleague, an excellent communicator, quick to grasp complex concepts and skilled at translating them into simple, straightforward, punchy and understandable language and messages. He has a great eye for detail which enables him to make that "just one extra step" in providing great product. And on a personal note, he has a great sense of humour which makes him a pleasure to work with.

Mihela Zupanic

Head of Inter-institutional and International Relations, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, European Commission

I have worked with Dan for about a year. I know Dan as a strong communicator, who thrives in a dynamic, ever-changing environment. Dan has been an important driver of EU Humanitarian id's digital presence as one the main architects behind a fully rewamped website. His dedicated implementation of the Commission's communication activities in relation to the World Humanitarian Summit demonstrates that he is also a hands-on guy, who makes concrete things happen. Dan is a good networker, who builds and maintains relevant professional relationships. An appetite for new challenges makes him constantly challenge his own comfort zone.

Emil Bech Andersen

Deputy Head of Interinstitutional Relations and Communications, European Commission

As part of our preparation of the i24news tri-lingual news portal, Dan did a remarkable job developing an editorial strategy and training the newly-established web-team. His insight on linguistic and cultural sensitivities, SEO, journalistic standards and style, online user experience, and web operations - was highly useful and greatly appreciated!

Adar Primor

Head of the English Channel, i24 News

Efficiency, professionalism and creativity is I what kept from my collaboration with Dan. We had the chance to collaborate on an action at the European Commission for VP Maroš Šefčovič to exchange with the "Youth for Climate" group, in a great innovative way inside our vehicle while driving autonomously. This was broadcasted live on-line on Facebook EU and followed by more than 1M follower. It was done in a so short time that only high efficient coordinators can handle, with all the tech, papers, coordination and operational work that you can imagine. Dan orchestrated this with a smile. Happy to collaborate to new challenges with Dan.

Pierre Chewan

VP, Strategic Alliance & Institutional relations