Lisbon, March 29, 2026 (Lusa) - António Gameiro Marques, the president of the 35th APDC Congress, the most influential gathering for communications, technology, and media, has said in an interview with Lusa that security could serve as a driver for innovation, increasingly becoming a vital asset for society.
The APDC Congress will take place at the Lisbon Technological Forum (LISPOLIS)on 6 and 7 May, under the theme "Europe in the Digital Age – Balancing Sovereignty, Security, and Innovation”.
When asked how to balance sovereignty, security and innovation in a polarising world, Gameiro Marques identified security as a transversal element, highlighting its consistent integration from the outset of any project, including innovative ventures.
The former Director-General of the National Security Office said that innovation might occur without security measures; that designing a product with security in mind increased effectiveness and resource efficiency; and that security functioned as a motor for innovation, and that society could innovate specifically for security purposes.
The event would give people the opportunity to raise awareness of issues related to Europe in the digital age, and it was important to confront reality with solutions, he said.
The event would feature experts who contributed to a significant European Union report on digital sovereignty, identifying seven key areas for European investment, he added.
Gameiro Marques expressed particular interest in how younger generations perceive these concepts, questioning whether teenagers valued digital sovereignty or if they simply sought social media access, regardless of where their data and metadata resided, and that if young people expressed total indifference toward such matters, there was a failure in current societal efforts.
Citing the freedomhouse.org, he highlighted that the number of democratic countries has been in continuous decline for 20 years.
He attributed this partly to the way society consumes news, saying that people were increasingly consuming news via social media, which only delivered content users like, rather than reliable sources like Lusa.
He said that people were losing the habit of engaging with opposing viewpoints, which he described as harmful for democracy.
The expert highlighted that the situation would only worsen unless individuals committed to learning the correct use of technological tools, recognising the difficulty of keeping pace with rapid technological evolution, saying that investment in training remained essential to mitigate risk.
In his conclusion, he said that while many online and in-person training resources existed, people often preferred spending time on social media, arguing against waiting for those same entities to always promote such training.
ALU/MYAL // ADB.
Lusa
