6th & 7thOctober 2026
Crowne PlazaKochi, Kerala
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
Childlight’s Into the Light Index estimates that over 300 million children are affected every year by technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA), with the 2025 country-level analysis identifying South Asia - including India - 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 the specialist 10–14 day Victim Identification Task Force (VIDTF) training for investigators at the Kerala Police Academy (KEPA), Thrissur, alongside the annual c0c0n conference
That VIDTF programme, and the earlier Chevening Fellowship workshop delivered by Childlight’s Prof. Elena Martellozzo and Kelvin Lay, were both built for investigators and practitioners 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. This workshop distills the threat picture, the legal and international-cooperation architecture, and the leadership and welfare responsibilities that those VIDTF and Chevening sessions surfaced, and reframes them for a command-level audience over two intensive days.
The workshop is designed to run as the leadership track of the c0c0n 2026 week: participants arrive on 5 October 2026, the programme runs across 6–7 October, and delegates depart on the evening of 7 October, positioning them to continue into the main c0c0n CSEA conference track and side events (VIDTF, Hackathon, Childlight roundtables) 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:
- Childlight Into the Light Index 2026 executive summary and data update.
- 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 jointly by Childlight and leading Indian law enforcement experts.
In line with the precedent set by the VIDTF training at Kerala Police Academy (KEPA) and the Chevening Fellowship workshop - both delivered jointly by Childlight’s international team and Indian law-enforcement/subject experts - this workshop uses a deliberately balanced faculty of international and domestic speakers, drawn substantially from the confirmed and semi-confirmed c0c0n 2026 CSEA-track speaker list already being coordinated by Kerala Police and Childlight
Yes - a significant share of the faculty is international. Confirmed/semi-confirmed overseas contributors include
Kelvin Lay, Zoe Lambourne and Lydia Davenport (Childlight, UK), Prof. Elena Martellozzo (Middlesex University/Childlight, UK),
Karolina Mason (INTERPOL),Martin James (UK Home Office – CAID),Ryan Pert (Lantern Rescue, US), Dr. Salla Huikuri (ECPAT),
and potentially Steve Grocki (former FBI) and Julie Inman Grant (Australia’s eSafety Commissioner) if the first-phase invitations are confirmed. These are balanced with Indian and Kerala-based speakers:
Dr Prerna Deep (legislative position in India), Ram Ganesh (Cyber Eye), representatives of Railway Children India, the Ministry of Women and Child Development, and Kerala Police’s own CCSE/Cyberdome, Kid Glove and Hackathon teams, plus domestic policy voices such as Meghna Bal (Esya Centre) and Nidhi Sudhan/Chitra Iyer (Citizen Digital Foundation).
Because several speakers are travelling from abroad, the existing programme timeline already flags the two logistics steps this implies - finalising the foreign trainers/delegates list and submitting the MEA clearance application - and these should be actioned early, since MEA clearance and visa processing typically require several weeks’ lead time. Where a confirmed international speaker falls through, Childlight’s in-country data fellows or the Kerala Police faculty already used in VIDTF/c0c0n can cover the same content.
TWO-DAY LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME
Programme Schedule
Select a session to view its objective, programme details and faculty approach.
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Breakfast
Arrival & Registration
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Lunch
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Welcome Dinner & Faculty Networking
Leadership Response, Victim-Centred Systems and Action Planning
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Closing Ceremony & Certificate Distribution
Closing Dinner & Departure
WORKSHOP APPROACH
Programme Methodology
A leadership-focused, discussion-led learning model designed specifically for senior decision-makers.
Strategic learning instead of technical investigation labs
The workshop deliberately avoids replicating the VIDTF programme’s hands-on technical format (OSINT labs, live CSAM case analysis), which is designed for investigators and remains best delivered through the existing 10–14 day KEPA programme. Instead, sessions use keynote input, facilitated panel discussion, and small-group syndicate work - the same interactive, discussion-led style used in the Chevening Fellowship workshop - to keep 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 toexamine policy, command and institutional challengesfrom 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
The programme will be held at Crowne Plaza, Kochi, during the c0c0n 2026 conference week scheduled from strong>5–9 October 2026.
Participants are expected to arrive on the evening of strong>5 October 2026 and depart on the evening of strong>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.
Venue
Crowne Plaza, Kochi, aligned with the c0c0n 2026 conference week from 5–9 October 2026.
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.
Room Configuration
Use a classroom or boardroom-style arrangement for keynote presentations and panel discussions.
Syndicate Breakout Space
Provide separate breakout space or round-table seating for the Day 2 senior officers’ roundtable and syndicate work.
Programme Materials
Prepare printed pre-read packs, action-plan templates, feedback forms and participant certificates.
Participant packs and workshop documents
Each participant should receive a printed pre-read pack containing a summary of the strong>Into the Light Index and relevant extracts from the POCSO Act and the Information Technology Act.
The programme team should also prepare the syndicate action-plan template, participant feedback forms and certificates before the workshop begins.
All printed materials should use consistent programme branding and be organised into clearly labelled participant folders.
Day 2 feedback survey
A short participant feedback survey should be circulated at the close of Day 2, before participants depart. The findings should be reviewed to improve the content, delivery and logistics of future editions of the programme.
PROGRAMME REFERENCES
Sources Drawn Upon
The programme design consolidates relevant training models, research evidence, conference precedents and existing implementation requirements.
Evidence-led and informed by established programme models
This leadership programme brings together material, operational experience and delivery precedents from established CSEA training initiatives, international research, previous c0c0n programmes and the current leadership programme planning framework.
The source material has been reframed for a senior-officer audience, with emphasis on strategic leadership, policy, institutional coordination, officer welfare and practical action planning.
Technical investigator-level content has been adapted into executive-level discussions, case summaries and facilitated decision-making exercises.
VIDTF Training Programme
The Victim Identification Task Force Training Programme held at KEPA, Thrissur, during September–October 2025 informed the programme structure, officer-welfare focus and participant prerequisites.
Chevening Fellowship Workshop
The workshop delivered by Prof. Elena Martellozzo and Kelvin Lay of Childlight informed the definitions, grooming typology, comparative legal structure and interactive session design.
c0c0n Conference Programmes
The c0c0n 2026 CSEA-track speaker line-up, draft agenda and the c0c0n 2025 Full Agenda informed the speaker pool, keynote and panel formats, and the precedent for senior-officer-focused sessions.
Into the Light Index 2026
Childlight’s Into the Light Index 2026 data update provides current evidence on the scale, patterns and reporting of technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Thematic Analysis Report
Childlight’s 2025 Supplemental Thematic Analysis Report supports the programme’s understanding of emerging risks, institutional gaps and priority areas for leadership intervention.
Leadership Programme Requirements
The c0c0n 2026 Leadership Programme requirements sheet provides the operational basis for the venue, budget, programme timeline and Crowne Plaza dates already under implementation.
Consolidated for senior leadership engagement
The final programme does not reproduce any one source in full. Instead, it combines proven components from each reference and adapts them into a coherent two-day leadership format.
Investigator-focused material has been translated into strategic questions relating to command responsibility, legal and policy architecture, inter-agency coordination, industry partnerships, victim-centred systems and officer wellbeing.
The result is a programme designed to support informed decisions, institutional commitments and practical follow-through at state and national levels.
Adapted and reframed for the programme context
The referenced materials serve as design inputs and programme precedents. Their content has been consolidated, contextualised and reframed to meet the objectives, audience and delivery requirements of the c0c0n 2026 CSEA Senior Officers Leadership Programme.
PROGRAMME LOCATION
Venue Details
The KIDGLOVE Summit will be held at Bolgatty Palace, 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 supporting the CSEA Track at c0c0n 2026.
