Developers Alliance co-founder and former CEO Jake Ward is returning to serve as the Chair of the organization’s Board. Jake stepped away from the Alliance in 2017 to found Data Protocol, a platform and company that would give developers the tools they need to meet data privacy laws and platform requirements—at scale. With a sharpened perspective and renewed inspiration, Jake is back to continue the organization’s commitment to developers and its investment in advocacy.
Jake’s leadership could not come at a more important time for developers. The conflict between government regulation and technological innovation is not new, but we are at a crossroads. Policymakers have so many issues to tackle that they cannot be experts on everything. They have to rely on their constituents to share their experiences and concerns to inform their decision-making. Together, we can help them understand how the app ecosystem works and prioritize what’s most important to developers.
State, federal, and international policymakers are making daily decisions that impact developers and the companies that employ and support them, often without input from the vast majority of these individuals and companies.
Click Here to sign up for critical policy updates and get involved.
The Application Developers Alliance began with high hopes in 2012 in an environment very much like today’s. This was a first-of-its-kind advocacy organization for developers, the companies they lead, and the industries that depend upon them. Our goal was to bring everyone to the table by fostering understanding and respect. Over the last decade, we have advocated for developers across the globe, helping educate policymakers and influencing policy outcomes. But there is always more work to be done.
Which brings us to today, and the issues we will focus on in 2025:
Privacy, Data Use, and Digital Marketing
At the state and federal levels, privacy and data use regulations remain a priority for legislators. With more and more states passing their own data privacy laws, it has never been more important for Congress to pass a single national privacy law. The costs alone of complying with 50 different privacy laws will crush innovation.
We aim to find a common ground that protects consumers’ digital privacy and data without inhibiting innovation, overregulating data collection and use, or creating new legal risks for app publishers.
Artificial Intelligence
Encouraging AI’s role in business, our systems, and society should remain at the top of this Congress and the Trump administration’s priority lists. Overregulating the growing technology will make it unobtainable for the smaller companies and developers driving the innovation at this exciting time.
The stakes are high, and it’s vital that lawmakers understand the potential effects of stifling AI innovation and leaving it ungoverned, ultimately finding a balance between progress and safety.
Digital Markets
Today’s app ecosystem is possible because of digital platforms’ tremendous work and innovation. We live in a world where everyone carries a supercomputer in their pocket. Designing, creating, distributing, and building a successful app-based business has never been easier.
But legal and regulatory actions are threatening to change how the digital economy and app platforms operate. Proposed bills aim to limit app store’s abilties to make improvements to their platforms if they disadvantage a competitor, while federal lawsuits could fundamentally change the mobile app marketplace and make it harder, and more expensive to develop apps and grow.
We must ensure that the app ecosystem remains an encouraging space where small developers can leverage large platforms to easily create apps and succeed.
How Developers Can Get Involved
These are just some of the issues facing developers in 2025 and beyond. When the organization was created, our board represented small developer companies and global platforms. Our subscribers numbered more than one hundred thousand developers. We briefed members of Congress and state policymakers, held educational summits for tens of thousands of developers, and advocated for responsible innovation at a time when both were in balance.
But we need your help to continue to influence policymakers’ decisions. Policymakers care deeply about what their constituents think but can’t read their minds.
Click Here to sign up with the only organization in Washington that represents you and your interests and to get a seat at the table.
