Shri Sushil Pal, Joint Secretary, MeitY, a Leader in Digital Governance and Policy Innovation, presented virtually. Shri Pal shared his valuable insight on how AIORI Project is a “milestone for India’s role in internet governance” and the importance for more focus on internet measurement, security, and standards. He further stressed on India’s participation in Global forums and platforms and contributing to global bodies such as IETF, ICANN and APNIC and how it remains a top priority for the Government

Prof. Devendra Jalihal, Director, IIT Guwahati shared his perspective on India’s transition to a predominantly wireless access country and importance of standardization. He shared how India’s idea of low mobility large cell was adopted by the world. He mentioned the overall requirement of even lower latencies across our nation

Prof. Sukumar Nandi of IIT Guwahati highlighted the challenges of transitioning from IPv4 to IPv6 in India, emphasizing the need
for seamless coexistence, user feedback, and ISP data to enhance service quality. He stressed the role of robust internet governance in addressing security concerns and advocated for active participation in hackathons to advance internet standards and foster a secure digital future.

Shri Devesh Tyagi, CEO, NIXI, Leading Internet Governance and Digital Innovation in India, shared his thoughts on the growth of
the digital world and increasing accessibility of Internet even in rural areas. He explained AIORI’s infrastructural aspect and how
it is contributing with monitoring and benchmarking and data that drives the government towards making informed decisions regarding internet governance, infrastructure and digital incubation initiatives.

Mr. Samiran Gupta, Vice President, Stakeholder Engagement, and Managing Director, Asia Pacific for ICANN, highlighted ICANN’s role in improving the security, stability, and resilience of the internet, with specific projects on domain metrics and analysing maliciously registered domains.

Dr. Sundeep Oberoi, IIT Bombay shared three key insights from the Internet’s evolution. Firstly, he stressed the need for adaptive methodologies to manage large-scale internet demands. Secondly, he highlighted the importance of robust global standards, noting that the success of the Internet is rooted in these standards, and the lack of interoperability represents a missed opportunity. Lastly, he advised India to actively participate in global forums to effectively influence policy decisions

Professor Taj Partap, Sri Sri University highlighted the growing role of the Internet, even in rural areas, where terms like “network” have become part of everyday vocabulary. He emphasized the need to incorporate modern technological skills, such as IoT and AI, into skill training programs, in line with India’s educational policy. Additionally, he stressed the importance of building robust internet infrastructure across the country and the pivotal role universities play in preparing the workforce for an evolving tech landscape.

Keynote 1 : Internet Measurements
Mr. Geoff Huston, Chief Scientist APNIC

The key points discussed by Mr. Geoff Huston were focused on increased IPv6 adoption and enhanced DNS security in India. He also mentioned how routing security is crucial in preventing malicious routing and India saw a huge push towards secure BGP routing with cryptographic signatures. Despite such measures, it is a concern to ensure active usage of these adoptions. He emphasized on the role of ads as it provides a way to measure internet usage on massive scale as virtually every internet user encounters these online advertisements. The massive reach enables us for large scale internet measurement research.

Keynote 2 : Internet Security
Dr. Goutam Paul, Associate Professor CSRU, ISI

Dr. Goutam Paul’s speech pointed towards impact of quantum computing and cryptographic standards and migration to new standards involving PQC Migration that involves the process of transitioning from traditional cryptographic algorithms (e.g., RSA) to post-quantum algorithms. He also spoke on adapting systems and networks to accommodate new, quantum-resistant algorithms and how India and globally PQC systems are  becoming critical in their infrastructure with ongoing efforts to integrate these systems into real world networks.