India to Host INTERPOL Digital Forensic Experts Meeting at NFSU

GANDHINAGAR, Gujarat — From March 23 to 25, 2026, the 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. The event will take place at NFSU’s Gandhinagar campus and will bring together law enforcement officials, forensic specialists, policymakers, and academics from around the world at a time when digital evidence is increasingly central to criminal investigations.

The DFEG meeting, a closed-door forum for practitioners and managers, has grown over the past decade into one of the most influential global platforms for advancing digital forensic techniques. This marks the second time India is hosting the meeting, highlighting the country’s expanding role in global cybercrime investigations and capacity-building.

From Singapore to a Global Network of Experts
Established in 2015 under INTERPOL’s Global Complex for Innovation in Singapore, the Digital Forensic Expert Group has since convened in Spain, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Brazil, the United States, Norway, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Edinburgh. The meetings focus on practical operational challenges, such as preserving volatile digital evidence, extracting intelligence from encrypted devices, and managing data across multiple jurisdictions.

Hosted under the INTERPOL Innovation Centre, the forum functions as a working laboratory where emerging forensic tools and methodologies are tested and adopted. For NFSU, India’s first university dedicated exclusively to forensic sciences, hosting the DFEG meeting is both a symbolic and strategic milestone, reflecting the country’s growing forensic infrastructure.

AI, Crime, and the New Investigative Frontier
Following the two-day DFEG meeting, the International Investigators’ Summit on AI-Enabled Digital Forensic Investigations will take place on March 25. Unlike the closed DFEG sessions, the summit is a hybrid of conference and competition designed to simulate real-world investigative scenarios.

Participants will tackle challenges involving AI-driven mobile forensics, cryptocurrency tracing, dark web investigations, cyber fraud, human-trafficking networks, and terror-financing cases. Organizers emphasize practical problem-solving—how AI can accelerate evidence analysis while ensuring legal admissibility, and how investigators can adapt as criminals employ automation, deepfakes, and anonymization technologies.

India’s Expanding Role in Global Cyber Policing
Hosting these events in Gandhinagar underscores India’s dual role as both a major target of cybercrime and a key partner in international enforcement. Indian agencies have increasingly collaborated with INTERPOL and other countries on digital investigations, sharing intelligence and forensic expertise.

By bringing together the DFEG and the AI Investigators’ Summit, NFSU and INTERPOL signal a long-term commitment to building investigative capacity in the Global South, where rapid digital adoption has often outpaced institutional preparedness. The forums aim to harmonize standards, foster trust, and ensure that digital evidence collected across jurisdictions can withstand legal scrutiny globally.