Synergia Foundation's roundtable conference discusses future of digital security, sovereignty

Bengaluru: A roundtable focusing on digital security and national sovereignty brought together national security leaders, industry experts, and global policymakers on Friday.

Organised by the Synergia Foundation, the roundtable underscored how conflicts, critical infrastructure disruptions, and the growing dependency on digitally powered systems have created an urgent need for a unified national framework to secure India’s digital ecosystem.

Opening the discussion, Tobby Simon, founder and President of Synergia Foundation, said the increasingly transactional nature of global relationships and spiralling conflicts are reshaping geopolitical realities.

Need for digital sovereignty, investment in cryptology, encryption-decryption dilemmas, the blurring of civil-military boundaries, and supply chain vulnerabilities were some of the topics discussed at the roundtable.

Lt Gen M U Nair highlighted global incidents from MV Dalli to disruptions across Portugal, India, and the US, illustrating how digital ecosystems underpin modern life.

Warning of an emerging “Digital Cold War” between the US and China, he urged clarity on the boundaries between digital security and sovereignty, protection of public information, and the creation of cooperative global frameworks.

The event saw four main sessions — 'Setting the Context: Digital Security 2030', 'Challenges of Digital Domain', 'Tech-induced Challenges and National Security Implications', and 'Digital Security - Future Scenario'.

Rear Admiral T Ajit emphasised that data has become “the new crude oil,” noting the transformative impact of generative AI and the importance of developing national data and robust export mechanisms through iDEX.

Anne Neuberger, Former Deputy NSA, Cyber Security and Emerging Tech, USA, highlighted the asymmetric nature of digital threats, citing ransomware attacks on hospitals worldwide and the weaponisation of telecom infrastructure by state adversaries.