Coding a Career: Real Talk from Detroit’s Apple Developer Academy
In a year of AI hype cycles, tech layoffs, and “learn to code” headlines, learners at the Apple Developer Academy in Detroit wanted to know one thing: what does a real career in coding actually look like? Our speakers addressed that and much more during our “Coding as a Career” panel, moderated by senior director of global membership Alex Cooke and featuring Amazon engineer Abhay Fernandes , serial founder David Wasilewski, and Albion Professor Dr. Caroline Adamczyk. While learners heard [...]
A Scroll Down Membership Lane: December’s 2025 Membership Mondays
ACT | The App Association’s members drive the innovation that powers our digital world. Each month, through our Member Monday series, we spotlight these trailblazing small businesses and their cutting-edge achievements. This month, we’re looking at what’s top of mind for small and medium-sized tech companies as we enter 2026. Across the U.S., UK, and EU, our members are navigating rising policy uncertainty around AI, patent clarity, and access to online marketplaces. We are proud to spotlight the founders [...]
Colorado’s Updated Privacy Rules Show How to Balance Online Safety with Innovation
In October 2025, the Colorado Department of Law finalized amendments to the Colorado Privacy Act rules, adopting new provisions to strengthen children’s privacy and safety. As part of the rulemaking process, ACT | The App Association submitted feedback explaining how the proposed rules would affect small businesses and recommending changes to improve online safety without creating undue regulatory burdens. After we raised these concerns, the Department made several key revisions, setting a strong example for how policymakers can work [...]
A Hearing That Put Global Digital Regulation on Trial
Earlier in the month, the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee addressed the spreading epidemic of foreign competition laws and their impact on U.S. technology markets. The hearing underscored how digital regulation models developed abroad are spreading globally and imposing real costs on innovation, security, and small businesses. The hearing, “Anti-American Antitrust: How Foreign Governments Target U.S. Businesses,” focused heavily on the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), but made clear that the DMA is no longer confined to Europe. [...]
Small Tech Founders Call for Fair H-1B Policy
ACTivists for Change: Members join forces in a letter to the White House, urging balanced, startup-friendly reforms While national conversations about the H-1B program often focus on large companies, our members live a different reality. These teams are lean, product-driven, and often hire for highly specialized roles where the right expertise determines whether a product ships, a system scales, or a security posture holds. This month, our members came together in a letter to the White House to [...]
Behind What’s Shaping the Future of EU Digital Regulation
Innovation, Simplification, and Competitiveness As the European Commission’s new Digital Omnibus proposals land in Brussels, promising to ‘simplify’ AI, data, and digital rules, critics warn of a potential rollback. In parallel, work on the 28th regime and the European Innovation Act is framed as a way to reduce red tape and facilitate cross-border growth for startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Caught in the crosshairs, founders are trying to work out what this means for day-to-day compliance and [...]