50 _ F E D N OT _ N E W D I R EC TO R-G EN ER A L JA N S A P O N D I G I TA L P L AT FO R M S FO R N OTA R I E S
THE NOTARY’S PROFESSION IN FIGURES • 1,150 firms, with 1,550 notaries and 8,000 staff altogether • Upwards of 2.5 million people go to their notary every year • 900,000 deeds per year
“ W E D O N ’ T S E E TECHNOLOGY AS A TH R E AT, B U T A S AN OPPORTUNITY TO FURTHER STRENGTHEN THE ROLE OF THE NOTARY A S AN A DV I SER.” Jan Sap, Director General of Fednot
Biddit and MyBox, among others.” The online platform Biddit is the digital counterpart of the traditional public auction. Members of the public can use this platform to buy property under the guidance of the notary, without having to actually go to a public session. MyBox is a tool that provides information about marriage and cohabitation contracts. Confidential information The initiatives clearly show that at Fednot, too, the importance of digital services is high on the agenda. “Notaries are responding to developments in society,” Jan notes. “The digital channel offers a great many possibilities to serve members of the public faster and more efficiently. That is definitely progress. At the same time, security remains an important focus of attention.” Notaries administer a lot of sensitive, confidential information. So they are an attractive target for cybercriminals. Fednot anticipated this with the Secure Notarial Network (SNN), developed in cooperation with Proximus (see p. 48). This network provides the necessary connectivity between the firms and the federation, in total security. Technology offers opportunity Does the notary see the digital evolution as a possible threat to his or her office? A technology like blockchain, for example, could perfectly well serve as a new means of drawing up a mortgage, a contract or some other deed. “We don’t look at things like that,” says Jan. “These days, people do virtually everything with their smartphones. It’s important for notaries to keep up with that and offer new, digital services, as well. For instance, we make it possible to conclude a deed via a videoconference.” Aren’t notaries undermining their own business by doing this? “Not at all. We see it as an opportunity. The same goes for blockchain. The technology is there. Why would we want to obstruct it? On the contrary, we do well to embrace the technology, as always, and strengthen our role
by providing extra advice on the matter.” For that matter, Fednot has set up a lab that closely follows developments in blockchain technology. “We also contributed to a book on blockchain and socalled smart contracts, intended for both notaries and the general public.” Jan is referring to 21 lessons for the 21st century by Yuval Noah Harari. “A very interesting book,” he says, “certainly from the notary’s point of view.” Harari describes how land ownership was once the measure of everything, before it changed to the possession of production resources. According to Harari, the wars of the future will be about data. “Notaries have a treasure trove of data: about how families function, about real estate, wills and companies, to name but a few. Among other things, we look at how, with new technology – artificial intelligence, for instance we can use these data to create new insights to unlock information and make forecasts.” Discretion This is an example of the way in which technology helps notaries move forward. “But the core remains the wisdom and experience of the notary,” Jan goes on. “You can’t resolve a dossier with a chatbot or an algorithm. The technology can provide the information, but ultimately, it is the empathy of the notary and the trust of the client that produce the end result.” That is still