The Digital Summit Latam 2025, held in Madrid, brought together key digital regulators, policymakers, industry leaders, and academics from across Latin America and Europe to address the regulatory, economic, and social challenges of digital transformation. As attendees representing SPIDER, we had the opportunity to engage in critical discussions that will shape the future of EU-LAC digital cooperation.
A Tale of Two Digital Realities
One of the most striking themes throughout the summit was the stark contrast in digital development across regions. The opening presentations illustrated how technological leadership remains concentrated in the United States and China, while countries like South Korea, Japan, India, Germany, and the United Kingdom follow at a moderate distance. Meanwhile, Latin American nations like Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, and Costa Rica are just beginning their technological journey, each with distinctive strengths—Brazil in agrotechnology and fintech, Costa Rica in IT service exports, and Chile in renewable technologies adoption.
As highlighted in one powerful presentation slide: “The reality is that today our region is not a single digital market. Profound differences exist between countries and within them. Connectivity, device access, infrastructure quality, and affordability remain pending challenges.”
Spain’s Digital Transformation: A Case Study
Spain’s Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Service, Óscar López, presented a compelling case study on national digital strategy. Spain is the third most connected country globally (after Japan and South Korea), with 95% fiber optic coverage. Their approach combines infrastructure investment with pioneering governance frameworks.
What made López’s presentation particularly noteworthy was Spain’s leadership in digital rights and ethical frameworks. Spain was the first country to establish an AI Supervision Agency, create a Digital Rights Charter (later adapted by the EU), establish a Digital Rights Observatory, and develop a public AI model trained significantly in Spanish. This last point addresses a critical cultural sovereignty issue—ensuring AI systems learn from Spanish-language literature and culture rather than primarily English-language sources.
This balanced approach to digital transformation—combining world-class infrastructure with ethical guardrails—offers valuable lessons for Latin American countries seeking their development paths.
The infrastructure imperative
Alejandro Kowalski’s keynote on digital infrastructure provided a sobering reminder: only 65% of rural Latin America has mobile broadband access. Despite recent progress, the region needs approximately 300,000 additional towers by 2032 to meet growing demands.
This infrastructure gap was further contextualized by Chile’s representative who highlighted how submarine cable geography reflects global power imbalances. While the North Pacific is saturated with submarine cables connecting the US and Asia, the South Pacific remains virtually empty. Chile’s efforts to establish the first South Pacific submarine cable connecting with Australia represent an important step toward a more balanced global connectivity landscape.
These discussions underscored how initiatives like the BELLA network—connecting Europe and Latin America via submarine cables—are not merely technical projects but strategic assets for digital sovereignty and balanced development.
Regulatory approaches and market structures
The summit featured extensive debate on regulatory philosophies, particularly during Panel 5 on the European digital space. Other discussions centered around the influential Draghi Report, which has been positioned as a potential political program for the new European Commission.
Some panelists challenged the report’s recommendations on market consolidation and “fair share” network fee mechanisms. They argued that studies show no clear correlation between operator size/scale and investment levels, and warned that reduced competition would likely lead to higher consumer prices without guaranteed quality improvements.
Others defended the report for “opening Pandora’s box” on the appropriate level of regulation and bringing attention to the “elephant in the room”—the connection between investment and competition policy. They highlighted that this is the first time an EU report explicitly states that “facilitating consolidation in the telecom sector [enables] higher rates of investment.”
This tension between competition, consolidation, and investment will likely shape telecom regulatory approaches across both regions in the coming years.
From Technology Consumers to Creators
A unifying theme across presentations was Latin America’s aspiration to transition from being merely consumers of technology to creators of innovative solutions. As one presentation powerfully stated: “Latin America cannot remain solely a consumer of technology, but must become a creator of innovative solutions.”
This transition requires:
1. Breaking divides in connectivity, gender, age, affordability, digital skills, and urban-rural disparities
2. Investing in infrastructure and human capital through high-speed telecommunications, data centers, emerging technologies, and education in STEM fields
3. Promoting innovation and adoption to transform citizens from consumers to creators
Implications for SPIDER and EU-LAC Cooperation
The discussions at Digital Summit Latam 2025 reinforce the importance of SPIDER’s mission to enhance EU-LAC cooperation on research and innovation while maximizing the potential of the BELLA network. Several key implications emerged:
1. Human-centered approach: Digital transformation strategies must prioritize inclusivity, rights protection, and meaningful opportunities for communities
2. Implementation gaps: Practical mechanisms like SPIDER’s Digital Dialogues Implementation Forum (DIF) are essential to bridge the divide between policy commitments and implementation
3. Cross-regional learning: The EU and Latin America have complementary strengths and challenges, creating opportunities for mutual learning and collaboration
4. Digital sovereignty: Both regions seek balanced approaches that enable innovation while preserving cultural values and addressing unique regional needs
Looking Forward
As we reflect on the rich discussions at Digital Summit Latam 2025, it’s clear that EU-LAC digital cooperation stands at a critical juncture. The vision of “one digital market, one vision” for Latin America requires addressing fundamental infrastructure gaps while simultaneously building the frameworks for ethical, inclusive digital societies.
For initiatives like SPIDER, the challenge lies in turning these high-level dialogues into practical cooperation that creates tangible benefits for citizens across both regions. By focusing on human-centered digital transformation and closing the gap between dialogue and implementation, we can help ensure that the digital future serves the many, not just the few.
The path forward requires not just technological innovation but also social innovation—reimagining how digital tools can strengthen democracies, preserve cultural diversity, and create more equitable societies. This is the true promise of EU-LAC digital cooperation, and the vision that will continue to guide SPIDER’s work in the months and years ahead.
