AppCon 2021 has officially arrived! As you can probably expect, things might look a little different this year. Instead of doing things all at once, AppCon’21 will be spread throughout the year, broken up into what we are fondly referring to as mini AppCons or “MACs.” Each quarter we will focus on a different policy issue area, but everything else will follow the same typical AppCon schedule with our policy briefing at the beginning of the week, roundtable discussions with congressional and agency staff from Tuesday to Thursday, and a celebratory happy hour at the end of the week. Here, you can find all the digital collateral you’ll need for AppCon’21 including one-pagers with facts and figures about each issue we will discuss this year, custom Zoom backgrounds, and social media graphics. H-APP-y clicking!
PRIVACY
The fourth and final week of AppCon’21 will be November 29 – December 3, with a focus on privacy.
Over the last year, conversations around privacy heated up in various states, here in DC, and at the platform level. With all these conversations happening in different venues, and an outsized emphasis on the impact for large corporations, it is critical that Congress hears from small businesses about how we approach privacy, compliance, and what we need from them in a single federal privacy standard. Any privacy regulations must meet our high standards for privacy while providing a scalable compliance method for businesses of any size, so these conversations are important as Congress is once again looking at privacy.
During M.A.C. 4 | Privacy Week, we will be meeting with key committee staff, congressional offices, and agency officials to talk about what we’re seeing in privacy legislation in the states, in current federal legislation and regulation, and what Congress can do to help small businesses meet consumer and federal privacy expectations across sectors and industries.
Check below for more info on our M.A.C. 4 issues.
INFRASTRUCTURE
The third week of AppCon’21 will be September 20-24, with a focus on issues related to broadband infrastructure.
At the beginning of August, the Senate passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684) which includes $65 billion specifically for broadband infrastructure and deployment. During week three, we will be discussing how we can help advance the broadband and workforce development provisions of the bill across the finish line and into law. We will be meeting with key congressional committee staff and Federal Communications Commission officials to talk about the critical role broadband and equitable access to broadband plays in the overall success of the app economy, growth of our workforce, and success of small businesses, and to underscore the immediate need for Congress to pass H.R. 3684.
Check below for more info on our M.A.C.3 issues.
COMPETITION
The second week of AppCon’21 will be June 14-18, with a focus on issues related to competition.
Both on and off the hill, we’ve seen a steady increase in discussions and debates around online platforms, antitrust, and standard-essential patents (SEPs) and what these things mean for the future of the app ecosystem. We’ll be taking week two to focus on discussions related to competition, including the regulation of platforms and standards such as those found in Wi-Fi, internet of things (IoT) device chips, Bluetooth, and more. We will meet with key committee and agency staff who have oversight and are working on these issues.
Check below for more info on our M.A.C.2 issues.
Connected Health and Pandemic Response
The first week of AppCon’21 will be April 5-9, with a focus on issues related to health policy and pandemic response.
We will meet with key committee staff who oversee issues like reimbursement policy, telehealth restrictions, and coverage waivers as well as offices and committees looking to hear more about how small businesses have adjusted and adapted to address the unique needs created by COVID-19. Check below for more info on our MAC1 issues and the Connected Health Initiative.