Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash [https://unsplash.com/pt-br/fotografias/foto-de-foco-seletivo-de-bicas-d…]
The APC community begins 2026 with good news in the areas of policy advocacy and multistakeholder dialogue, gaining important recognition and embarking on a new opportunity to advance our goals to ensure that the internet and digital technologies enable social, gender and environmental justice for all people.
Our member TEDIC's executive director Maricarmen Sequera Buzarquis and Valeria Betancourt, APC’s programmes manager and internet governance lead, are among the world’s most influential leaders advancing responsible tech policy, digital governance and international cooperation, according to the Tech Diplomacy Global 50.
From ministers and ambassadors to civil society pioneers and UN officials, the Tech Diplomacy Global 50 recognises the world’s most influential people bringing diverse perspectives to the most pressing tech policy challenges of our time, in the age of AI, cybersecurity and digital transformation.
This recognition comes on the heels of years of intense work by civil society organisations to strengthen multistakeholder dialogue and mobilise policy advocacy as a means to weave a future where all people, particularly the marginalised, can use and shape the internet and digital technologies to create a just and sustainable world. The visibility it brings to the impact of our work and our priorities from a Global South perspective comes at an important moment in light of the growing challenges to guaranteeing digital justice.
In another positive development, the Digital for Development (D4D) Hub just welcomed APC as the new chair of the D4D Hub civil society and academia advisory group (CSAG). The D4D Hub is a strategic platform established by the European Union and its member states with the aim of fostering multistakeholder partnerships and boosting investments to advance a human-centric digital transformation worldwide. Represented by Carlos Rey-Moreno, APC’s Local Access Programme co-manager, APC will serve as a focal point for coordination between CSAG members and the D4D Hub Secretariat, supporting information sharing, strategic input and engagement with Team Europe to ensure a human-centric approach to digital transformation.
The D4D Hub is also a key instrument for the European Union and its member states to achieve the goals of the Global Gateway. Launched in 2021, the European Union’s Global Gateway strategy aims to strengthen smart, clean and secure connections worldwide, including in the digital sector. Backed by up to €300 billion in planned investments, the initiative seeks to deliver sustainable, high-quality projects that respond to the needs of partner countries and local communities.