Cyberspace saw the holding of the mammoth International Conference on Cyberlaw, Cybercrime & Cybersecurity, organized by Cyberlaws.Net and Pavan Duggal Associates, Advocates from 24th to 26th November, 2021.
The Conference 2021 was supported by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India; Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law & Justice, Government of India; Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India; and also by the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India alongwith various international and national organizations and institutions.
The Conference 2021 had 44 different sessions with more than 165 speakers over three-day deliberations from different parts of the world. The conference discussed and deliberated upon some of the important aspects, issues and challenges concerning cyberspace.
In the past years, the International Conference on Cyberlaw, Cybercrime & Cybersecurity has been supported by 125+ international and national organizations. These include UNESCO, ITU, and UNU-EGOV in the UN Family, as also by Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications, Europol Cybercrime Centre, Interpol, Internet Society, World Federation of Scientists, International Association of Prosecutors, Global Prosecutors E-Crime Network and Asia Cloud Computing Association.
The world’s famous International Conference on Cyberlaw, Cybercrime & Cybersecurity, saw a glittering inaugural ceremony on 24th November, 2021. This annual Conference, which has become the only authoritative Conference in the world looking at the intersection of Cyberlaw, Cybercrime & Cybersecurity, got off to a flying start. The conference was virtually inaugurated by Hon’ble Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Judge, Supreme Court of India.
Inaugurating the Conference, Hon’ble Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, highlighted the significance of Internet for societies and the massive misuse of Internet that is emerging across the world. He also highlighted the need to have greater knowledge about Cyberlaw and various cyberspace related aspects concerning the law enforcement agencies, prosecuting agencies and the courts of law. He particularly also highlighted how the Internet is being used to target the sovereignty of countries, which is emerging as a big trend which need to be appropriately addressed. He flagged the tremendous increase in cyber terror and cybercrime cases and advocated the need for judiciary to adopt more proactive approach towards cyberspace related issues and challenges. While talking about the access to justice and virtualization of courts, he emphasized on the need of ensuring access to justice to the last man.
The inauguration of the conference was further addressed by various national and international dignitaries including Vint Cerf, Chief Evangelist, Google and the Father of the Internet; Dr. Hamadoun Toure, Former Secretary General of International Telecommunications Union & Former Minister of Communication and Digital Economy Government of Mali; Ms. Renu Pall, Additional Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs; Alfredo M. Ronchi, General Secretary of the European Commission-MEDICI Framework; R. Adm. Mohit Gupta, VSM, Director General, Defence Cyber Agency, Government of India; Prof. Sarah Jane Fox, Associate Professor in the School of Justice, Security and Sustainability at Staffordshire University; Ms. Rosa Delgado, Chair/ International Consultant of Internet of Things (IoT), New Internet (IPv6) and Internet Top Level Domain Names; and Hon’ble Justice Rajesh Bindal, Chief Justice, High Court of Judicature at Allahabad.
The conference was addressed by Hon’ble Justice Madan B. Lokur, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India and presently Judge at Supreme Court of Fiji, who highlighted various pressing challenges of cyberspace which need to be addressed internationally and also in India.
In his sterling Cyberlaw session, the Conference Director Dr. Pavan Duggal specifically spoke about the evolving legal landscape, as far as Cyberlaw across the world is concerned. He highlighted the distinctive new trends in Cyberspace due to COVID-19 and how there is a need for addressing the same. He specifically addressed the need for expeditious evolving of norms of behavior in cyberspace. He emphasized on how distinctive national approaches on cyber security can become a predominant approach for regulating security and why there is a distinctive need for coming up with international common denominators to deal with cyber security regulation at global level. He also highlighted various cyber legal challenges that emerging technologies like artificial intelligence have brought forward to the world at large.
The three-day of the conference marked massive discussions, deliberations and debates amongst various stakeholders.
The conference had different sessions relating to Covid-19 and its impact on cyberlaw, cybercrime & cyber security, darknet, regulating artificial intelligence, freedom of speech online, digital transformation etc. on the second day.
The remarkable capacity of the conference was its unique multi-stakeholder approach where attendees saw different stakeholders from different verticals coming in, deliberating, discussing and analyzing not just the present trends but also the future trends that are emerging on the horizon concerning cyberspace issues and how appropriate proactive approaches need to be adopted in this regard.
The conference specifically talked about darknet, personal privacy in cyberspace. The conference also talked about artificial intelligence, cybercrime and cyber security.
Other sessions of the conference include norms of behaviour in cyberspace, Cybercrimes, Trolling, Cyber Bullying, Cyber Harassment & Cyber Nuisance, Critical Information Infrastructure Protection, Free Speech Online, Cryptocurrencies, Blockchain etc.
The Conference was addressed by distinguished global experts and thought leaders as also Indian digital thought leaders and important towering personalities in the digital world including Lt. Gen. Rajesh Pant, National Cyber Security Coordinator, Government of India; Hon’ble Ms. Justice Gita Mittal, Former Chief Justice, Jammu & Kashmir High Court; Alfredo M. Ronchi, Secretary General, EC MEDICI; Alan Brill, Managing Director, Kroll; Dr. Triveni Singh, Superintendent of Police, Cybercrimes, Uttar Pradesh Police; Harshdeep Marwah, Chief Growth Officer, iValue Info Solutions Pvt. Ltd.; Kenneth Adu-Amanfoh, Member (Security & Intelligence) Africa Cybersecurity and Digital Rights Organisation (ACDRO); Ajit Balakrishnan, Founder and CEO, Rediff.Com; and Prof. Dr. Christoph Stueckelberger, Founder and President, Globethics. Net amongst others.
The conference had a unique format where interactivity amongst the panelists and the audience was highlighted. There were immense discussions and debates amongst the participants of the conference on coming up with new approaches on how to deal with newly emerging cyberspace issues.
The valedictory session of the Conference was addressed by Hon’ble Justice Anup Bhambani, Judge, Delhi High Court. Speaking at the conference, Hon’ble Justice highlighted the significance of the conferences like the present one and further highlighted the need for coming up with proactive approaches so that the judiciary can appropriately address nuances pertaining to cyber disputes.
The conference came up with Outcome Document with various recommendations from various sessions of the conference that were discussed and debated by various stakeholders. The said Outcome Document has come up with various recommendations for stakeholders at a global, regional and national level.
Addressing the valedictory session, the Conference Director Dr. Pavan Duggal thanked all stakeholders and hoped that the International Conference on Cyberlaw, Cybercrime & Cybersecurity will continue to contribute to evolving jurisprudence on Cyberlaw, Cybercrime & Cybersecurity.
The conclusion of the conference marked yet another important chapter in the direction of India contributing its thought leadership on cyberspace issues. Till the next conference comes in November, 2022, the deliberations of this year’s conference and its Outcome Document would inform the discussions and deliberations of various stakeholders at international, regional and national levels on various cyberspace issues.
