Our own co-Founder and CPO Christian is a member of the Association of Competitive Technology (ACT). He attended the 2026 ACT Global App Economy Conference in Brussels from February 22-25. Let’s break this down.
Why is ACT Important?
ACT (Christian is an EU member) is the overall global trade association for small and medium-sized technology companies, including start-ups. Accordingly, the work focuses on policy that affects these innovative businesses. It consequently opens up dialogue with regulators and policy makers to ensure fairness for SMEs.
What is the point of the ACT Global App Conferences?
Held globally, these conferences bring together those representing the SMEs and start-ups with the relevant regulators. Upcoming policy issues can be discussed and seen from the point of view of the affected businesses. Topics like the Digital Omnibus for example are being developed by the European Commission, which is intended to streamline and harmonize the regulatory environment in the EU. Getting regulators face-to-face with these businesses is an important and valuable approach.
Here Were Some Key Issues on the Table at the Conference?
Clearly issues like Artificial Intelligence (AI) are of increasing visibility. Tech businesses will use these tools to innovate further. But as regulations step up they may unintentionally prevent growth or discourage investment in these smaller firms.
Market access and capital are always an issue when talking about small businesses across the EU. Borders do exist and thought must always be put into helping to reduce or eliminate cross-border roadblocks in order to make working in the EU rewarding to all.
On the other side of things, it is important to not sacrifice online safety and encryption for a poor approach. The tech innovators may understand this more deeply than regulators – collaboration is key. Other conference topics are reviewed here and outlined in depth in the 2026 ACT Global App Economy Conference booklet.
What Was Christian’s Take on the Conference?
As always, Christian updated us during his time in Brussels – he is very active on LinkedIn and a very knowledgeable tech leader to follow. We wanted to find out what Christian was most surprised to learn from the conference. It’s hard to surprise him but he did have something to say on the topic of Standards-Essential Patents (SEPs) and their licensing.
Christian opined, “It gets tricky for the compliance of the EU SMEs and start-ups when we are obligated to license the use of a required patent. In theory, all SEP owners agree to make the patents available on FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) terms. But this is not always the case, some SEP holders abuse the privilege and healthy competition is harmed. In this circumstance where we are all working together to meet a regulatory requirement, ethical measures such as SEP licensing according to FRAND are essential.”
Why Does uQualio Consider Conferences Like This
Time spent as an ACT member aligns with uQualio’s mission of making quality education accessible to all. The United Nations explains more in depth in the UN’s Sustainability Development Goal (SDG) #4. Our co-Founders believe as a video eLearning platform, uQualio has an obligation to position themselves at the forefront of technology, policy, and understanding how that accessibility is affected. Keeping prices low (especially for NGOs and start-ups) is essential to allow future innovators to help make the world better.
It’s Not Risky to Try uQualio for Free for 14 Days
We will continue to support important topics on regulations and compliance requirements such as these to protect SME businesses like uQualio. Our straightforward video LMS can be tried free for 14 days and help your business educate employees, customers, partners and more.
