The Developers Alliance heads to Canberra.
If you’ve followed the Developers Alliance, you’ll know that we’ve been around nearly a decade advocating for developers primarily in the US and EU. Recently, however, we’ve become increasingly engaged with Australian policy discussion.
Australia has always been unique in spirit. Living in a huge country surrounded by oceans, half a world away from many of the world’s biggest economies, Australia is also unique in its self-reliance and willingness to experiment a bit to get things done. This attitude hasn’t gone unnoticed in the world of tech regulation, where “first to regulate” can sometimes set the benchmark for what happens elsewhere. And so we had to ask – could Australian developers add an insightful new voice to the discourse regarding data and tech responsibility?
The Alliance has always represented developer voices with a purpose. Our goal is to make it easier for developers to thrive by clearing away laws and regulations that inhibit creative work, by championing programs that bring resources to our members, and by looking far down the road to identify problems or opportunities ahead. Our job is to pay attention to governments and regulators so you don’t have to (though we sometimes ask for a little help). A move into Australia seemed a timely shift to meet today’s need.
Australia is increasingly seen as an influential testbed for technology regulation. By and large, their bias is toward fact-driven analysis that helps balance societal goals and those of the digital economy. Add to that the influential voices like those at Atlassian or Canva or a vibrant VC community, and it just made sense for us to add our voice to a discussion that is likely to impact regulations already being debated elsewhere. We have some unique insights gained from our discussions with our developer members, so why not share them with the people whose minds seemed most open to a variety of views?
In the weeks and months ahead you’ll hear more about what’s happening in Australia and how the Alliance is contributing to the ongoing discussion. You can read a little about our work so far in The Australian (paywall), or through our social media channels below. For now, we’re eagerly awaiting the release of research on app stores by the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission), and anticipating conversations on competition in search and web browsers.
