The new era of digital leadership will be defined by trust and collaboration

For more than two decades in public service, I have believed that leadership is ultimately measured by one question: Did we expand opportunity for people who had limited access to it before? Whether building essential infrastructure, advancing institutional reforms, promoting social inclusion or broadening digital connectivity across Senegal, my work has been shaped by a simple conviction: that progress must be inclusive, and that societies flourish when participation is not the privilege of a few but the possibility of many.

Today, as digital platforms evolve into the world’s most powerful public squares, that conviction takes on new urgency. The digital ecosystem has become the place where young people learn, entrepreneurs build, communities mobilise, and nations define their global presence. It is also where misinformation spreads, where trust is often fragile, and where private systems sometimes wield public influence. This new reality requires leadership that is deliberate, principled, and open to collaboration across borders and sectors.

This is why I believe BRIDGE Summit 2025 arrives at an important moment — not only for the UAE, but for all countries and stakeholders seeking to build resilient digital futures. BRIDGE Summit will convene more than 60,000 participants, 400 speakers, and global organisations across seven tracks from media and gaming to technology, picture, creator economy, marketing, and music. But numbers alone are not its achievement. Its true value is in the clarity of its mission: to build a global community committed to openness, ethical innovation, and a media ecosystem that serves people rather than divides them.

As Chair of the Board of the Global Centre on Adaptation, I have seen how collaboration accelerates progress. Climate resilience, economic transformation, and digital access all demand long-term, coordinated solutions. The same is true here. BRIDGE Alliance has created a nonprofit platform dedicated to advancing ethical media and responsible AI, attracting voices from across industries who recognise that the digital future cannot be shaped by technology alone. It must be fashioned by the values of transparency and responsibility, and the belief that access to information strengthens societies.

In Senegal, expanding digital infrastructure was not simply a technical goal; it was an expression of democratic commitment. Connecting rural communities, strengthening press freedom, and enhancing access to education and services were essential to our nation’s development. These experiences taught me that digital transformation must go hand in hand with institutional trust, accessibility and inclusion. Without these three pillars, technology becomes a source of fragmentation rather than progress.

The conversation we will have at BRIDGE Summit — on leadership for an open digital future — turns on three essentials: ensuring broad access so every young person can participate in the digital world; protecting openness so diverse voices and ideas can flourish; and rebuilding trust so technological progress reinforces, rather than erodes, confidence in information and institutions.

BRIDGE Summit provides an essential global venue to explore these priorities. By bringing together creators, policymakers, technologists, journalists, investors, and educators, it creates the kind of synergistic environment that allows good ideas to mature into lasting partnerships. It also reflects the UAE’s commitment to building a digital landscape recognised for its openness, innovation, and long-term vision.

Leadership today is no longer defined only by national boundaries; it is defined by how effectively we navigate shared global challenges and common values. As we meet in Abu Dhabi this December, my hope is that we anchor our discussions in a collective responsibility: to ensure that the digital era becomes an era of openness, trust, and opportunity for all.

Macky Sall is Former President of the Republic of Senegal (2012-2024) and Chair of the Board of the Global Centre on Adaptation, Board Member of the BRIDGE Alliance