On 27 Feb, KAS' Political Dialogue Asia Program hosted a roundtable discussion “Digitalization and Cybersecurity in Asia” for the delegation from the Federal Academy of Security Policy (BAKS) from Germany. The delegation, which consists of participants from private and public sectors in Germany, is currently having a two-weeks fieldtrip in Asia (Singapore and Seoul) as part of the expert course on digitalization and security policy.

The group was joined by Dr. Natalie Pang and Dr. Karthik Nachiappan from the National University of Singapore (NUS) to shed lights on the topic from Singapore and India’s perspective.

Dr. Pang's focused in her remarks on cybercrime issues in Singapore such as scamming, the challenge of online abusive content targeting youngsters, disinformation and how Singapore’s government attempt to respond by regulations such as POFMA (Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act). Dr. Nachiappan gave a broader geopolitical perspective about cybersecurity and how India is responding to the cyberattack coming from China and Pakistan, and how interstate rivalry and cooperation shape the cybersecurity landscape in the region.

Apart from cybersecurity, the discussion highlighted as well Singapore’s unique strategic position and what important role can it play amid the increasing geopolitical tension in the region (e.g. the rise of China, US-China rivalry) and in Europe (Ukraine war).