My Life, My City: Aude Robert, Brussels

As part of the My Life, My City series, Cities Today talks to Aude Robert, Smart City Coordinator for the City of Brussels, Belgium.

What was your first job?

I worked as a management consultant in the energy sector for more than six years. It was a very enriching experience, ideal to kickstart my career. I conducted many socioeconomic studies on topics related to energy efficiency, energy and water poverty, and alternative mobility solutions. This experience also taught me a lot in terms of project management through working, for instance, on complex assignments related to the application of European regulations in energy markets.

Alongside the client assignments, I also had responsibilities in developing business, recruiting new colleagues, and coaching and training more junior consultants.

What attracted you to your current role?

While working on assignments for clients in the public sector, I realised that it was the type of work that motivated me the most and was the most gratifying to me. I also thought that working on solving social and environmental challenges was particularly rewarding. Therefore, when I found this opportunity to work for the smart city unit of the City of Brussels, I jumped at the chance.

The technology and innovation aspects were obviously also very appealing to me. I like the idea of thinking outside the box to find new solutions to societal issues. At that time, the smart city unit was starting to work on new wide-scale projects and on a new strategy, bringing a new dynamic and more visibility to the team.

Additionally, I have the chance to work with very dynamic colleagues, which makes the day-to-day work even better. And finally, I have always loved Brussels, so I especially enjoy working on further improving it.

What is your favourite part of the job?

My main driver is being able to develop concrete projects that have a positive impact on the city and its citizens.

Next to that, I enjoy being able to bring together several colleagues who usually don’t collaborate, in order to work on transversal projects with a lot of added value for the city and its citizens. Breaking silos in the administration is a very important part of this function.

What has been your biggest success in this role?

Bringing our new smart city strategy to life. We have worked for two years on defining a new smart city vision and a roadmap of projects to be implemented by 2030. It has been a very long road, involving a lot of consultation of internal and external parties, but we will very soon be able to publish it. This will give us clearer direction in leading our projects in the coming years.

What has been your biggest setback?

Realising how long it takes to implement some projects (finding budget, getting all approvals on the administrative and political levels…). Working for the public sector is very rewarding but it has its drawbacks.

What are you working on right now that you’re excited about?

Our digital twin project, which is a digital representation of the city allowing us to model and simulate some events within the city to support decision-making. We are starting a scoping exercise to define the use case to start building our digital twin and how we will do it. This project will allow Brussels to enter a new era, where decision-making is powered by data, but not exclusively of course. This project will allow us to better structure our data management and to showcase the importance of it.

If you could wave a magic wand, what one thing would you fix in your city?

Brussels unfortunately suffers from a high level of poverty and social exclusion, so I would love to be able to alleviate it. We are currently working hard on defining a policy on digital rights and digital inclusion because we are convinced that a city can’t be smart without taking on board its whole population and taking their needs into account in our projects.

What are you reading right now?

I have just started reading Futur.es by Lauren Bastide. It is about how feminism can save the world – a very ambitious programme. I found her previous book, Présentes, very interesting to get a good documented overview of women’s position in society and all related issues, so I am very curious about the solutions she now proposes in this new book.

Who has most inspired you in the work that you do?

I find it difficult to identify one specific mentor: I usually get inspired by certain characteristics of several different people that I work with. For instance, in my previous job, I worked a lot with another consultant who was impressively thorough and structured in his analyses, so I tried to apply some of his work principles for myself. A client also helped me identify my professional interests by giving me several opportunities to work on social issues. And in my current job, I very much appreciate the management style of my director: focused on achieving good results in an efficient way, while staying human, trusting colleagues and giving importance to work-life balance.

If you weren’t doing this job, what do you think you might be doing?

Another position in the public sector, with a positive societal impact.

What’s your favourite place in your city and why?

Mont des Arts in the centre of Brussels, with a wonderful view on the city centre and its old and beautiful buildings. And it is the place where my husband proposed.

Time in role: Two years

• Brief career history:
  • 2014 – January 2021: management consultant in the energy sector at Sia Partners.
  • 2021 – now: in the smart city team of Brussels, first as a project coordinator, then as coordinator of the team.
  • 2021 – now: part-time teaching assistant for the Sustainability, Business and Policy course at the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management.

• Career tip: Focus on what truly interests you – that is where you will be the most efficient and where you will get the most satisfaction.