Keynote address by DoT Secretary on cybersecurity, trustworthy ICTs and child online protection; highlights Aadhaar, UPI, IT Act and DPDP Act

What happened: DoT Secretary’s keynote on cybersecurity, trustworthy ICTs and child online protection

The Ministry of Communications (Department of Telecommunications) Secretary used a BRICS Information and Communication Technology Track context to argue that digital connectivity and digital safety should be treated together, not as separate goals. The keynote presented three pillars for “safe and trustworthy digital enablement”: (1) safe-by-design digital public infrastructure, (2) legal obligations for those delivering digital content or collecting digital personal data, and (3) empowerment of individuals through born-digital rights and grievance redress.

Background and earlier position: BRICS digital expansion raised safety and trust needs

The address traced digital progress since the BRICS Information and Communication Technology Track began in 2016. The Secretary highlighted large-scale improvements in internet use and mobile broadband reach across the five founding BRICS member countries, and argued that the scale of digital delivery at population governance and services has made safety and trust central to the ICT agenda—especially as frontier technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) increase both capability and risk.

The keynote framed the policy lesson as simultaneous action. The address explicitly rejected a sequential approach where safety measures come only after harms occur, and instead promoted safety and trust “by design” so safeguards are built into systems from the start.

What changed now: India’s examples used to show a “three-pillar” operating model