On 14 May 2026, the Internet Society Singapore Chapter hosted an insightful virtual seminar featuring Tommaso Giardini, Associate Director of the Digital Policy Alert (DPA). Moderated by ISOC SG President Lim May-Ann, the session delved into the rapidly evolving landscape of global digital regulation and provided a live demonstration of advanced tools designed to help organizations navigate the growing fragmentation of AI policy.
The Reality of Regulatory Fragmentation
Since the mainstream explosion of generative AI, governments worldwide have rushed to establish guardrails. However, a distinct lack of coordination has led to massive regulatory diversity, making it incredibly difficult for smaller companies to cope with compliance costs.
Giardini highlighted that AI policy is merely the tip of an iceberg. Beneath the surface lies a complex web of cross-cutting, non-AI-specific regulations—such as data protection frameworks, intellectual property rights, and content moderation rules—that fundamentally dictate how AI systems can be trained and deployed.
Demystifying Policy with Data-Driven Tools
To help compliance teams and policymakers make sense of this complexity, Giardini demonstrated two powerful resources developed by his team:
- The Digital Policy Alert Tracker: A free, public database tracking over 23,000 regulatory steps across 60 major markets. The platform utilizes official government sources to map out the entire lifecycle of a policy, from its initial announcement through public consultation to final implementation.
- Clerk (Premium Analytics): An early-stage, full-text comparative tool that allows users to place complex legal texts side-by-side. Giardini demonstrated how Clerk automatically matches corresponding provisions—such as comparing the EU AI Act’s evolution from its original proposal to its final official journal text—highlighting exactly what language changed during negotiations.
The Next Frontier: AI to Track AI
The session concluded with an exciting look at how the DPA is integrating artificial intelligence to enhance policy analysis. This includes a custom Claude integration that allows users to query the DPA database conversationally, generating localized regulatory infographics on the fly.
As countries enter a protracted period of trial and error regarding tech governance, tools that offer transparent timelines and cross-border clause mapping will be essential for keeping the global tech community agile and resilient.
Want to streamline your digital policy research? You can access the public tracker at Digital Policy Alert, or contact Tommaso Giardini to trial the Clairk comparative analysis platform.
