Special Edition: Political Tech

What it is, and why it matters.

We are very excited to announce Europe's first Political Tech Summit on 25 January 2025 in Berlin. More than a hundred people have already pre-registered since we launched this week, and so can you: here .

In this special edition of Political Intrapreneurship, I want to share a few thoughts on Political Tech, and how Political Intrapreneurs can make the most of it.

Pol…What?

Political Tech sits between Civic Tech, which covers digital tools for civil society, and GovTech, which does the same for government. Naturally, much of Political Tech is about political communication and campaigning, but more and more tools are also focusing on the (still underestimated) political management of performance, talent, collaboration and decision making.?

Tech is the answer, but what was the question?

Political Tech is a set of digital tools. Tools are a means to an end, not an end in themselves. So it is not necessarily the latest technology that will do the trick, but the technology that fits the ambition, strategy and ultimately the culture of the organisation.

Not so exceptional anymore

In Political Tech, the eternal question is make or buy. Politics is a niche market - many tools were originally developed for businesses and do not fully meet the needs of political organisations when bought off the shelf. Building tools, on the other hand, carries the risk of developing them once and then not being able to maintain them. Fortunately, a growing number of political tech start-ups are offering bespoke tools that they continue to develop.

Do not underestimate the power of the old tech

Long-suffering political operatives know what I mean. Legacy technology can be a huge challenge. It is difficult to build new systems on top of an existing architecture that has often grown organically over decades. Therefore it is not enough to just buy or build technology - it has to be embedded in the existing infrastructure. (And yes, that is a Star Wars reference).

Upskill Funk

But even embedding new tech into the infrastructure is not enough either - it needs to get worked into the muscle of the organisation. Thousands of ruins of political tech infrastructure projects across Europe stand to bear witness. With expertise getting more and more specialised, its half-life decreasing every year, it makes perfect sense to work with consultants and agencies. Still, there are some things you cannot, and should not, outsource. Recruiting and training staff is critical to successfully deploying Political Tech. (Don′t believe me, just watch, as Mark Ronson might say.)?

I hope to see you on 3 July at the launch of the Political Tech Summit - either digitally at 2pm CEST, or in person in Berlin 7-9pm CEST! Register here.