Next Steps
The AI Middle Way Coalition will advance through three stages within the critical 2026–2027 window — before AI infrastructure lock-in becomes irreversible.
The Foundation
The Digital Divide Institute has already conducted detailed assessments of each nation's fragmented policy landscape. We have identified the specific national agencies that must be involved, the key individuals within those agencies who hold decision-making authority, and the pathways through which these leaders can be convened to evaluate the AI Middle Way as a coalition framework.
This groundwork is essential — we are not proposing to start from zero, but to build on relationships and analysis already in place.
Stage One — Founding Nations
Stage One encompasses the four founding nations. Each stage begins with a focused policy seminar that convenes key government officials, selected academics, corporate executives, NGO leaders, and philanthropic grantmakers in a structured discussion. Each seminar culminates in an invitation for participants to signal their support for a national declaration on Meaningful AI — creating binding momentum for coalition membership.
Policy Seminar in Bangkok. We have identified nine key government officials whose participation is essential. The cross-sector composition — government, academia, corporate, NGO, philanthropic — ensures the declaration reflects practical realities of implementation. The Bangkok Declaration will serve as the template for all subsequent national declarations.
Replicating the Bangkok model in Jakarta. Indonesia's long-standing engagement with the Digital Divide Institute — dating to our Meaningful Broadband collaboration in 2019–2020 — provides a strong foundation for rapid progress. Established relationships with key figures in Indonesia's ICT leadership ensure the seminar builds on years of trust.
Mexico represents a critical bridge between the coalition's Asian founding members and the broader Latin American context. Its inclusion ensures the AI Middle Way framework is tested and refined across diverse governance traditions and economic realities.
An online seminar convened in collaboration with the Vatican. This declaration positions the AI Middle Way as an implementation mechanism for operationalizing a Papal Encyclical on artificial intelligence. Pope Leo XIV's dual U.S.-Peruvian citizenship and 20+ years of pastoral experience in Peru make this collaboration especially significant.
The Path Forward
The AI Middle Way Coalition is designed for speed, coherence, and leverage. By beginning with four carefully selected nations whose combined populations exceed 400 million people, we create immediate scale. By using each national declaration as a template for the next, we create momentum. And by convening the right people — government officials, academics, corporate leaders, NGO representatives, and philanthropic partners — in structured policy seminars, we create the conditions for durable, cross-sector commitment.
The urgency is real. The criteria are rigorous. The groundwork is done. What remains is execution — and the 2026–2027 window will not remain open indefinitely.
After 2027, AI infrastructure lock-in makes change prohibitively expensive. The time to act is now.