At first it seemed the government never even noticed the mandate ending of the previous Digital Champion. In May this year Aleš Špetič ended his four year mandate for advocating digital technology. He summed up his four years in a blog and returned from where he never actually left: the world of start-up companies. What followed was a short period in which Slovenia had no one at hand to provide explanations to Brussels on the subject. And four months later, almost unnoticeably, a press release issued after a government session from the 15th of September, said the government named Marko Grobelnik to serve a four year mandate as the country's new Digital Champion.
As was the case with Špetič, Grobelnik will also not find himself in uncharted waters by assuming the new function. He is a part of a circle of people who have been spreading the digital, information society, and science "gospel". By assuming the function, which is neither paid nor has any budget, Grobelnik can only look forward to upgrading his already active involvement in the digital and start-up "ecosystem", as it is referred to in science circles.

Marko Grobelnik is actually an exceptional individual. His main work is at the Jožef Stefan Research Institute in Ljubljana at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. The technology solutions developed at the institute are used by a number of renowned global names like Microsoft and British Telecom. Especially interesting is the tool for conducting an automated content analysis, which surpasses language barriers and enables the more simple identification of global events in real time (eg. Event Registry). The tool is used by names like Stratfor and Bloomberg, to name a few. Grobelnik is also the co-founder of two companies Cycorp Europe and Quintelligence, both connected to the development of artificial intelligence. Such companies present a basis for the existence of his research group at the Jožef Stefan Institute, lamented Grobelnik. Through the companies researchers from the institute partly cover the pay differences compared with their colleagues abroad.
It was quite difficult to arrange the interview with Mr. Grobelnik, as he was constantly on the move abroad. In the interview we touched on current topics. We asked him what he plans to do as a moneyless Digital Champion, why he welcomes the potential arrival of Uber in Slovenia, and when is the right time to give a child its first smart phone.