6th & 7thOctober 2026
Crowne PlazaKochi, Kerala
Organised and sponsored by Kindred Tech.
Held withc0c0n 2026
Leadership Programme
Strategic Leadership Against Technology-Facilitated CSEA
Combating Technology-Facilitated Child Sexual Exploitation And Abuse (CSEA)
A focused two-day strategic workshop for senior Indian Police Service officers with policy, supervisory or command responsibility.
Designed for decision-makers, the programme translates global evidence and operational experience into practical leadership action across policy, victim-centred investigation, international cooperation, technology, workforce wellbeing and sustainable state-level response.
View Programme Schedule →
PROGRAMME RATIONALE
Technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) is a global crisis. The Into the Light Index estimates that more than 300 million children are affected every year, with South Asia including India identified as a region of particularly high prevalence and CSAM-hosting activity. Kerala Police, through its Cyberdome and Countering Child Sexual Exploitation (CCSE) team, has been at the forefront of the national response running Operation P-Hunt and hosting specialist Victim Identification Task Force (VIDTF) training for investigators at the Kerala Police Academy (KEPA), Thrissur, alongside the annual c0c0n conference.
Specialist training of this kind is built for investigators working hands-on with cybertips, OSINT tradecraft and CSAM analysis. Senior IPS officers who set policy, allocate resources, represent their state or organisation internationally, and answer for outcomes need a different kind of preparation. Kindred Tech, whose team have worked these investigations, prosecutions and technology builds first-hand, has designed this programme for exactly that audience: it distils the threat picture, the legal and international-cooperation architecture, and the leadership and welfare responsibilities that command carries, and reframes them for decision-makers over two intensive days.
The programme runs as the senior-leadership track of the c0c0n 2026 week. Participants arrive on the evening of 5 October 2026, the programme runs across 6–7 October, and delegates depart on the evening of 7 October positioned to continue into the main c0c0n CSEA conference track and side events that follow.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
What Participants Will Take Away
TARGET PARTICIPANTS
Who Should Attend
Participants should be serving IPS officers of the rank of Superintendent of Police (SP) and above - or equivalent - with a supervisory, policy or command responsibility that touches cybercrime, women & child protection, or crime branch functions. As with the VIDTF prerequisites used at KEPA, all participants should be proficient in English given the sensitive subject matter and the international faculty; suitable translation support should be arranged only if unavoidable, since CSAM-adjacent content is difficult to translate responsibly.
Participants are asked to review, in advance, a short pre-read pack:
- A Kindred Tech briefing on the current CSEA threat picture and priority areas for leadership
- Relevant provisions of the POCSO Act.
- Relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act.
Unlike the Victim Identification Task Force (VIDTF) programme, this workshop does not involve exposure to actual CSAM or hands-on OSINT casework - the content is strategic and policy-facing, illustrated with anonymised/aggregated case data only, in line with participants’ command rather than investigative role.
FACULTY AND SPEAKER APPROACH
International Faculty & Expert Speakers
Delivered by Kindred Tech with leading Indian and international law enforcement experts.
The programme is delivered by Kindred Tech alongside a deliberately balanced faculty of international and Indian experts, many drawn from the c0c0n 2026 CSEA-track line-up.
International contributors include Karolina Mason (INTERPOL), Martin James (UK Home Office – CAID), Paul Griffiths (Professor of Practice at the University of New South Wales) and Dr Salla Huikuri (ECPAT), with further specialists in AI research and data systems to be announced.
These are balanced with leading Indian and Kerala-based voices: Guest speakers to be confirmed.
WORKSHOP APPROACH
Programme Methodology
A leadership-focused, discussion-led learning model designed specifically for senior decision-makers.
Strategic learning instead of technical investigation labs
This workshop deliberately avoids replicating the hands-on technical format of investigator training (OSINT labs, live CSAM case analysis), which is designed for frontline investigators and is best delivered through dedicated multi-day programmes such as VIDTF at KEPA. Instead, Kindred Tech uses keynote input, facilitated panel discussion and small-group syndicate work - an interactive, discussion-led format that keeps senior officers engaged as decision-makers rather than passive recipients of technical training.
Keynote Input
Expert-led presentations establish a common evidence base and introduce the strategic issues requiring leadership attention.
Facilitated Discussion
Panels and guided discussions allow participants to examine policy, command and institutional challenges from multiple perspectives.
Syndicate Work
Small groups translate learning into practical priorities, resourcing decisions and actionable state or command-level plans.
No live or identifiable CSAM material
No live CSAM or identifiable victim imagery will be shown at any point; all illustrative material will be anonymised, aggregated or represented through case summaries.
PROGRAMME ARRANGEMENTS
Logistics Notes
Key arrangements for the venue, participant travel, room configuration, programme materials and post-event feedback.
Programme logistics aligned with c0c0n 2026
Participants are expected to arrive on the evening of 5 October 2026 and depart on the evening of 7 October 2026, following the closing ceremony and dinner.
International speaker travel arrangements require the list of foreign trainers and delegates to be finalised well in advance. The application for Ministry of External Affairs clearance should also be submitted early, considering the usual processing timelines.
Arrival & Departure
Participants arrive on 5 October in the evening and depart on 7 October after the closing ceremony and dinner.
International Travel Clearance
Finalise the foreign trainers and delegates list and submit the MEA clearance application well ahead of October.
KINDRED TECH EXPERTISE
The Expertise Behind the Programme
Designed and delivered by people who have worked the job
Kindred Tech is the organiser and sponsor of this programme. Our team is made up of people who have worked the very roles it supports — intelligence analysts, forensic analysts, undercover operatives, senior inspectors, child protection experts, prosecutors, victim identification specialists, and technologists who build law enforcement tools fit for purpose.
That lived experience means we understand what the job demands, where existing toolkits fall short, and what practitioners actually need to protect children and bring offenders to justice. We turn that understanding into practical support at every level of the response — from director general and heads of unit setting strategy, to the frontline investigators doing the work.
Practitioner-led faculty
A team drawn from the real disciplines of the response: investigation, forensics, prosecution, child protection and victim identification.
Purpose-built technology
Tools designed and built specifically for law enforcement, informed by a continuous review of what is missing from the operational toolkit.
Training and consultation
Best-practice consultation, customised training courses, and ongoing online support for investigators.
International collaboration
Facilitating connections between agencies across borders, for a crime that crosses borders.
Equity of access
Free tools and low-cost solutions for agencies and countries with fewer resources, democratising access to state-of-the-art capability so the global response is united, not limited to the best-funded countries.
Evidence for global understanding
We contribute operational data for analysis by research partners, including Childlight’s Into the Light Index, so that global trends in the online exploitation of children can be tracked and acted on.
One goal: more children removed from harm, more offenders brought to justice
Our mission is to democratise access to the best tools and techniques so the global response to a global crime is united. This programme equips senior officers to lead that response translating real-world expertise into command-level decisions, institutional commitments and practical follow-through at state and national level.
A moment for India to lead
India is already a forward-looking country in this fight. Kerala Police, through Cyberdome and its Countering Child Sexual Exploitation team, has built one of the region’s most capable responses to online child exploitation. This programme is designed to build on that momentum — equipping senior officers with the strategic tools to lead a national response that can set the standard for the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. With the scale, talent and will that India brings, the opportunity is not only to keep pace with the threat, but to help lead the global response to it.
PROGRAMME LOCATION
Venue Details
The CSEA Senior Officers Leadership Programme will be held at Crowne Plaza Kochi during the c0c0n 2026 conference week.
Crowne Plaza Kochi
XI/641A, Kundanoor Junction,
NH-47 Bypass, Maradu,
Kochi, Kerala – 682304,
India
Arrival and departure arrangements
Participants are expected to arrive on the evening of 5 October 2026 and depart on the evening of 7 October 2026, after the closing ceremony and dinner.
Designed for IPS officers of SP rank and above with policy, supervisory or command responsibility.
PARTNERS AND SPONSORS
Our Partners
We gratefully acknowledge the organisations delivering and hosting the CSEA Senior Leadership Programme.
