The 40th edition of Technology Sabha, hosted by Express Computer, the IT publication of The Indian Express Group, brought together senior government officials, policymakers and leaders in Jaipur on August 21–22, 2026. Anchored on the theme “India Ascending: From Digital Infrastructure to Intelligent Governance,” the two-day summit examined how India can move beyond digitisation towards intelligent, secure, resilient and citizen-centric governance.
An insightful inaugural session exploring the role of technology in shaping the future of governance
The inaugural session set the tone, bringing together perspectives from governance, public administration and national security. Ravi Gupta, Executive Vice Chairman and Director General, Centre for Good Governance (CGG), Government of Telangana, Dr Saumya Mishra, DG Prisons, Government of Telangana and Archana Shivhare, Inspector General, Central Reserve Police Force, shared perspectives on the evolving role of technology in transforming public institutions and strengthening governance.
Artificial intelligence emerged as a defining theme across the two days. Rather than focusing only on experimentation, discussions centred on moving from AI pilots to public value. Sessions explored sovereign agentic AI, AI-enabled citizen services and the operationalisation of AI across government at scale, along with applications in agriculture, energy and public administration.
A powerful leadership dialogue on leveraging technology to make governance smarter, simpler, and more responsive
A key highlight of Day One was the Leadership Dialogue: “From Digital Transformation to Smarter Governance,” moderated by Srikanth RP, Editor, Express Computer, The Indian Express Group. The conversation featured Saurabh Kumar Tiwari, Additional Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India; Naresh Kumar Goyal, Commissioner, Agriculture, Government of Rajasthan; and Moona Yasmin, Deputy Secretary, Department of Rural Development, Government of India. The dialogue examined how digital technologies can move governance from fragmented processes towards more integrated, responsive and outcome-oriented systems.
Sessions also covered hybrid and sovereign technology environments, AI-ready data centres, power infrastructure and trusted digital documents. As AI workloads create new demands on computing, energy and data, the discussions underlined the need for resilient digital foundations.
The Technology Sabha also brought together a strong ecosystem of technology players. Meta, Efficient IP, IBM, NxtGen, Qlik, Iron Mountain, Red Hat, Delta Electronics, OpenText, BMC Helix, VuNet, SAS, Netskope, Esri, Varonis, SecNinjaz Technologies LLP, Veeam, Provakil, Adobe and Forcepoint participated in the summit, contributing expertise across AI, data, cloud, cybersecurity, digital infrastructure and enterprise transformation.
A thought-provoking panel exploring India’s journey towards smarter, simpler, and citizen-centric governance
Day Two expanded the conversation to implementation and scale. A panel on “Best Practices in Digital Governance: Lessons from India’s Transformation Journey” brought together government and technology leaders from Maharashtra, Haryana and Government of India. The panel brought together state and national perspectives on how digital technologies are being translated into more efficient public administration, stronger service delivery and citizen-centric governance.
Cybersecurity remained another critical pillar. With government systems becoming increasingly interconnected and AI introducing new opportunities as well as risks, sessions addressed cybercrime, Zero Trust security and protection of government digital infrastructure. The discussions reinforced the need to embed security into digital transformation.
Exploring how Digital Public Infrastructure is shaping smarter, more inclusive governance
A dedicated panel on “India’s Digital Public Infrastructure: The Blueprint for Population-Scale Governance” brought together leaders from health, technology, UIDAI and public-sector organisations. The discussion focused on how DPI can enable interoperable, scalable and citizen-centric public services, building on India’s experience with population-scale platforms.
A focused discussion on strengthening governance and making social benefits more accessible, efficient, and impactful
The citizen-centric focus continued with “Improving Social Benefit Delivery through Better Governance and Technology.” Officials from Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Goa, NIC and the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation discussed how technology can improve the accessibility, efficiency and effectiveness of welfare delivery.
Some insightful keynote addresses on Odisha’s digital roadmap and building a secure, self-reliant, innovation-driven Digital India
The summit also brought state-level perspectives into the national digital governance conversation. Vishal Kumar Dev, Additional Chief Secretary, Electronics & Information Technology Department, Government of Odisha, spoke on Odisha’s technology roadmap, while Dr Rajkumar Upadhyay, CEO and Chairman of the Board, C-DOT, addressed building a secure and self-reliant digital India through technology, telecom and innovation.
An inspiring conversation with Saina Nehwal, celebrating excellence, resilience, and the journey of a true champion
Adding a dimension, the celebrity sessions connected technology and governance with wider ideas of leadership, culture and human potential. Olympic badminton champion Saina Nehwal featured in “Beyond the Court,” an in-conversation session with Express Computer’s Nivedan Prakash, offering reflections from her journey in elite sport. On Day Two, author and mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik presented “Ancient Wisdom for a Digital Age,” bringing insights from traditional wisdom into a contemporary context.
An inspiring session with mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik, exploring stories, mythology, and timeless wisdom
The two-day summit reflected a defining shift in India’s digital governance journey from digital adoption to intelligent transformation. The conversations in Jaipur underscored that the next chapter of governance and technology will not be measured simply by how much governments digitise, but by how effectively they harness AI, digital infrastructure and emerging technologies to build systems that are smarter, more secure, resilient and firmly centred on citizen outcomes.
