Without transparency, there is no trust—and without trust, technology cannot serve people.
On the eve of Shenzhen's hosting of the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, APEC Secretariat executive director Eduardo Pedrosa has offered a quiet but pointed reminder: technology earns its place in human life not by dazzling, but by solving. Standing in one of the world's most concentrated innovation ecosystems, Pedrosa called on economies across the Asia-Pacific to measure progress not by the speed of invention, but by whether a farmer can access credit, a supply chain can be trusted, and a grandmother can find her glasses. His message frames the November summit as a civilizational question as much as an economic one — who does innovation actually serve?
- Digital divides have not disappeared with faster technology cycles; hundreds of millions still lack basic internet access, making inclusion an urgent unfinished project.
- Supply chains remain dangerously opaque — the pandemic revealed that many companies cannot trace their own materials, leaving entire economies exposed to invisible fragility.
- Interoperability between different legal, cultural, and digital systems is the central friction point blocking technology from flowing freely across APEC's 21 member economies.
- APEC is advancing concrete work in AI governance and paperless trade, but Pedrosa warns that innovation moves faster than policy, demanding constant dialogue between the private sector and governments.
- Shenzhen's summit in November is being positioned as a symbolic turning point — from trade-and-connectivity agendas toward a vision where technology is explicitly designed to belong to people.
Eduardo Pedrosa, executive director of the APEC Secretariat, was midway through a week-long tour of Shenzhen when a drone descended and settled gently into his open palm. The small moment of wonder seemed to crystallize everything he had come to say. With the city less than two hundred days from hosting the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, Pedrosa was making the case that innovation must be measured not by its sophistication, but by its usefulness.
At a "Tech for People" event in Nanshan District, he held up his glasses and asked the audience whether their elderly parents had ever lost theirs. Built-in tracking, he suggested, would solve a real problem — quietly, without fanfare. That was his definition of meaningful innovation. He pointed to mobile digital finance, which bypassed the need for physical bank branches and opened financial services to remote farmers and small business owners who had simply been excluded before. Ride-hailing platforms succeeded, he argued, not because they were technically impressive, but because they addressed a daily frustration for millions of people.
Yet even as technology diffuses faster than ever, the digital divide persists. Pedrosa also raised the vulnerability exposed by the pandemic: most companies cannot see their full supply chains, leaving them blind to risk. Artificial intelligence, he said, could provide the penetrative transparency needed to build trust across those networks — but only if the technology is designed to serve people rather than to perform.
The word Pedrosa returned to most often was interoperability. APEC's role, he explained, is not to homogenize its member economies but to ensure their systems can communicate — that a digital service functioning in Shenzhen works just as smoothly in Singapore, Manila, or Seoul. The organization is advancing practical projects in AI and paperless trade, but Pedrosa stressed that policymakers must stay in constant conversation with the private sector, because innovation will not wait for government to catch up.
This was Pedrosa's third visit to Shenzhen in twenty years, and he said the city was unrecognizable. What impressed him most was not the infrastructure but the density of collaboration — engineers, designers, and entrepreneurs in constant exchange, turning ideas into products almost overnight. When APEC last met in China, in 2001, the agenda centered on trade. In 2014, it was connectivity. In 2026, the keywords are innovation and the future. As November approaches, Pedrosa's message is simple: the world will come to Shenzhen and see not just a fast city, but a new compact — one where technology genuinely belongs to the people it touches.
Eduardo Pedrosa stood in the innovation hub at Shenzhen Bay Cultural Plaza with his palm open, watching a drone camera descend and settle gently into his hand. The moment caught him off guard—a small gasp of wonder escaped him as he felt the weight of the technology, responsive and precise. Pedrosa is the executive director of the APEC Secretariat, and he was in the middle of a week-long tour of Shenzhen, less than two hundred days away from November's 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, which the city will host.
The drone was not a random demonstration. It was, in Pedrosa's view, an example of what innovation should actually be: technology that solves a problem, that touches a life, that makes something easier. The next day, at the APEC China 2026 "Tech for People" event in Nanshan District, he made his point even more plainly. He removed his glasses and held them up to the audience. "Do your elderly parents ever ask, 'Where are my glasses?'" he asked. "If glasses had built-in tracking, the elderly would never have to struggle to find them again." It was a small thing, but it was the opposite of innovation for its own sake.
When Pedrosa talks about meaningful innovation, he does not reach for abstractions. He points to the concrete barriers that real people face. He mentioned information asymmetry—the way that banking once required a physical branch, which meant that farmers and small business owners in remote areas simply could not access financial services. Digital finance on mobile phones changed that. Ride-hailing platforms like Didi and Uber succeeded not because they were technologically flashy, but because they solved a problem that millions of people had every day. Yet even as technology spreads faster than ever before—the cycle of diffusion now measured in weeks—hundreds of millions of people globally still lack basic internet access. The digital divide has not closed; it has merely become more visible.
Pedrosa spoke about another vulnerability that the pandemic exposed: supply chain fragility. Many companies, he explained, do not actually see their full supply chain. They do not know where their materials come from, or where they go. Artificial intelligence could provide what he called "penetrative power"—the ability to see through the entire network, to create transparency. But transparency is not just a technical problem. Without it, there is no trust. And without trust, technology cannot serve people; it only serves itself.
Throughout the conversation, Pedrosa returned again and again to a single word: interoperability. Every economy has its own culture, its own legal system, its own way of doing things. The goal is not to make everyone identical, he said. The goal is to ensure that systems can work together. A digital service that works in Shenzhen should function seamlessly in Singapore, in Japan, in the Philippines, in South Korea. That is APEC's role—not to issue declarations from on high, but to implement thousands of practical projects that make this possible. The organization is currently advancing concrete work in artificial intelligence and paperless trade. The private sector and policymakers must talk constantly, Pedrosa stressed, because innovation moves faster than government can follow.
This was Pedrosa's third visit to Shenzhen in two decades, and he said the city was unrecognizable from his first trip. The high-speed rail network connecting the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the cross-border ferries, the density of physical and institutional connectivity—all of it pointed to something he had come to see as the city's greatest asset. It was not the buildings or the infrastructure, though those were impressive. It was the innovation community itself. Engineers, designers, and entrepreneurs communicate constantly. Ideas become products overnight. That collaborative efficiency is why Shenzhen functions as China's Silicon Valley.
When APEC met in China in 2001, the focus was trade. In 2014, it was connectivity. In 2026, in Shenzhen, the keywords will be innovation and the future. This shift mirrors China's own path toward high-quality development and reflects the APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040. As the city prepares to host the summit, Pedrosa had a message for the volunteers who will staff the event: every volunteer is an ambassador, representing the city's openness and vitality. In November, he said, the world will see more than just the speed of a city. They will see a new relationship where technology belongs to people, serves people, and is embraced by people. The drone landing softly in his hand was the perfect symbol of that vision.
Citas Notables
Every economy has its own culture and legal system. We aren't trying to make everyone identical. We are ensuring systems can work together.— Eduardo Pedrosa, APEC Secretariat executive director
In November, the world will see more than just the speed of a city. They will see a new relationship where technology belongs to, serves, and is embraced by the people.— Eduardo Pedrosa
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
When you talk about innovation serving people, what do you mean by that exactly? Isn't all innovation supposed to help people?
Not necessarily. A lot of innovation is driven by growth metrics—how much money can we make, how fast can we scale. But that's not the same as solving a real problem. A tracking chip in glasses solves a real problem. A drone that lands in your hand solves a real problem. Those came from asking: what does someone actually need?
But doesn't that require knowing what people need? How do you figure that out at scale?
You listen. You watch where the friction is. Banking couldn't reach farmers in remote areas because there were no branches. Mobile digital finance removed that barrier. Ride-hailing platforms succeeded because they solved something people did every day. The innovation followed the pain.
You mentioned supply chain transparency as crucial. Why is that so urgent right now?
The pandemic showed us that most companies don't actually see their own supply chains. They don't know what's happening three or four steps down the line. That creates fragility and risk. AI can provide transparency, but transparency only matters if it builds trust. Without trust, technology is just a tool in the dark.
Interoperability keeps coming up in what you're saying. Why is that so hard to achieve?
Because every economy has its own legal system, its own culture, its own way of protecting its interests. We're not trying to erase those differences. We're trying to make systems talk to each other despite them. That requires constant dialogue between governments and the private sector, because innovation moves faster than policy can follow.
What surprised you most about Shenzhen on this visit?
The innovation community itself. Not the buildings or the infrastructure, though those are remarkable. It's the way engineers and designers and entrepreneurs communicate constantly. Ideas become products overnight. That collaborative efficiency—that's what makes a city a true innovation hub.