From March 23 to 25, 2026, National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU) will host the 11th meeting of the INTERPOL Digital Forensic Expert Group (DFEG) alongside the inaugural International Investigators’ Summit on AI-Enabled Digital Forensic Investigations at its Gandhinagar campus in Gujarat. Organised in collaboration with INTERPOL, the gathering will bring together law-enforcement officials, forensic specialists, policymakers and academics from across the world at a moment when digital evidence has become central to nearly every major criminal investigation.
The DFEG meeting, a closed-door forum for practitioners and managers, has emerged over the past decade as one of the most influential global platforms for discussing advances in digital forensics. Its arrival in India for the second time signals the country’s growing role in international cybercrime investigations and forensic capacity-building, as criminal networks increasingly operate across borders and digital jurisdictions.
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From Singapore to a Global Network of Experts
The Digital Forensic Expert Group traces its origins to 2015, when INTERPOL outlined the framework for deeper international cooperation at its Global Complex for Innovation in Singapore. Since then, the annual meetings have rotated through Spain, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Brazil, the United States, Norway, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Edinburgh, reflecting both the global nature of cybercrime and the uneven distribution of investigative capabilities.
At each meeting, participants exchange operational experiences rather than abstract theory: how to preserve volatile digital evidence, extract intelligence from encrypted devices, or handle data obtained from cloud environments spanning multiple legal regimes. Held under the aegis of the INTERPOL Innovation Centre, the forum is designed less as a conference and more as a working laboratory, where emerging techniques and tools are debated, stress-tested and, in some cases, quietly adopted by agencies facing similar threats.
For NFSU, which was established as India’s first university dedicated exclusively to forensic science and allied disciplines, hosting the DFEG is both a symbolic and strategic milestone. University officials see it as validation of India’s expanding forensic infrastructure at a time when courts, investigators and regulators are grappling with increasingly complex digital evidence.
AI, Crime and the New Investigative Frontier
Following the two-day DFEG meeting, the focus will shift on March 25 to the first International Investigators’ Summit on AI-Enabled Digital Forensic Investigations. Unlike the expert-only DFEG sessions, the summit is structured as a hybrid of conference and competition, designed to simulate real-world investigative challenges faced by law-enforcement agencies.
Participants will engage with scenarios involving artificial-intelligence-driven mobile forensics, dark-web investigations, cryptocurrency tracing, online human-trafficking networks, cyber fraud and terror-financing cases. The emphasis, organisers say, is on practical problem-solving—how AI tools can accelerate evidence analysis without compromising legal admissibility, and how investigators can adapt as criminals themselves deploy automation, deepfakes and anonymisation technologies.
The summit reflects a broader shift in policing worldwide. Digital forensics is no longer confined to specialist units; it underpins investigations into financial crime, organised crime and national security threats. As AI systems generate, alter and obscure digital trails, investigators face mounting pressure to keep pace, often with limited training and uneven access to advanced tools.
India’s Expanding Role in Global Cyber Policing
That this convergence is taking place in Gandhinagar is not incidental. India has emerged as both a major target of cybercrime and a key partner in international enforcement efforts, particularly in cases involving online fraud, cryptocurrency laundering and transnational criminal syndicates. Indian agencies have increasingly collaborated with INTERPOL and foreign counterparts on digital investigations, sharing intelligence and forensic expertise.
By hosting both the DFEG meeting and the investigators’ summit, NFSU and INTERPOL appear to be signalling a long-term investment in building investigative capacity in the Global South, where digital adoption has outpaced institutional preparedness. The challenge, participants acknowledge, lies not only in technology but in trust—harmonising standards, sharing sensitive data and ensuring that digital evidence collected in one jurisdiction stands up in another.
Registration and programme details for the event are available on the official website, but the larger significance of the gathering may lie beyond formal sessions. In an era when crimes increasingly leave digital footprints rather than physical ones, the conversations in Gandhinagar are expected to shape how those footprints are traced, interpreted and presented in courtrooms around the world.
About the author — Suvedita Nath is a science student with a growing interest in cybercrime and digital safety. She writes on online activity, cyber threats, and technology-driven risks. Her work focuses on clarity, accuracy, and public awareness.
