AJCCA Prepares for Third Annual Conference, Strengthens Cybersecurity Readiness for ASEAN Digital Economy
SAPPORO, Japan, August 5, 2026 — The ASEAN Japan Cybersecurity Community Alliance (AJCCA) is stepping up preparations for its 3rd Annual Conference while strengthening regional cybersecurity collaboration in anticipation of the emergence of a more integrated ASEAN digital economy.
The initiatives were among the key topics discussed during the 27th AJCCA Board Meeting held in Sapporo, Japan, as the alliance continues to expand cooperation among cybersecurity communities across ASEAN and Japan.
The 3rd AJCCA Annual Conference will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, on October 29, 2026, hosted by one of AJCCA’s founding communities, the Thailand Information Security Association (TISA), and co-hosted by Chula Business School, Chulalongkorn University.
“We are going to celebrate the third year of AJCCA by holding our third regional conference, and we commend TISA for its diligence in organizing the event,” said Dr. Rudi Lumanto, Chairman of AJCCA.
“We encourage cyber leaders and cybersecurity professionals from ASEAN and Japan to attend the conference, exchange their experiences, strengthen regional networks, and experience the warm hospitality of the AJCCA community,” he added.
Advancing Trusted Cybersecurity in the Agentic AI Era
Under the theme “Advancing Trusted Cybersecurity through the Agentic AI Era and Regional Collaboration,” the conference will serve as a strategic platform for strengthening trusted cybersecurity, reinforcing public-private-academic collaboration, and promoting sustainable cyber resilience across the region.
According to Dr. Prinya Hom-anek, AJCCA Board Member, Senior Advisor to TISA, and Chair of the 3rd AJCCA Regional Conference, the increasingly borderless nature of cyber threats makes regional collaboration more important than ever.
“As cyber threats increasingly transcend national borders, trusted regional collaboration has become essential to strengthen cyber resilience across Japan and ASEAN,” Dr. Prinya said.
“The 3rd AJCCA Conference 2026 in Thailand will bring together cybersecurity associations, government representatives, academia, and industry leaders to exchange insights on emerging threats, Agentic AI, incident response, and cross-border cooperation.”
The conference is expected to provide an important forum for cybersecurity leaders and practitioners to examine how rapid developments in artificial intelligence—particularly increasingly autonomous AI agents—are reshaping both cyber threats and cyber defense.
Preparing for the ASEAN Digital Economy
Alongside preparations for the Bangkok conference, AJCCA is working closely with cybersecurity communities and partners across ASEAN in anticipation of the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA).
DEFA is expected to play an important role in deepening regional digital economic integration by facilitating digital trade, cross-border data flows, digital services, investment, and innovation.
“AJCCA recognizes DEFA as a transformative initiative that can accelerate digital trade, innovation, investment, and economic growth across Southeast Asia,” said Sam Jacoba, AJCCA Strategic Communications Lead.
“As ASEAN advances toward becoming one of the world’s leading digital economies, AJCCA emphasizes that cybersecurity, data protection, digital trust, and artificial intelligence governance must serve as foundational pillars of the region’s digital future,” he added.
For AJCCA, ASEAN’s growing digital integration represents a historic opportunity to build a more seamless, trusted, and secure digital marketplace benefiting governments, businesses, and citizens throughout the region.
However, the alliance stresses that deeper digital economic integration will also increase interdependence among ASEAN countries. Cross-border payment systems, cloud infrastructure, digital identities, data exchanges, supply chains, and AI-powered services will increasingly depend on digital infrastructure operating across national boundaries.
As a result, a major cyber incident affecting one country or critical service could potentially have consequences far beyond national borders.
Digital Prosperity Depends on Digital Trust
AJCCA therefore believes that cybersecurity must become an integral part of ASEAN’s digital economic development rather than being treated merely as a technical or defensive function.
“Digital prosperity depends on digital trust,” said Lito Averia, AJCCA Board Member and President of the Philippine Computer Emergency Response Team (PH-CERT).
“The ASEAN DEFA has the potential to unlock unprecedented economic opportunities for our region, but its success will ultimately depend on our collective ability to secure digital ecosystems, protect data, and ensure the responsible use of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.”
As digital transactions, cross-border data flows, cloud services, digital identities, Internet of Things deployments, and AI-powered applications continue to expand throughout Southeast Asia, cybersecurity risks are also becoming increasingly interconnected.
AJCCA sees this transformation as requiring stronger cooperation not only among governments but also among national cybersecurity communities, industry, academia, CSIRTs and CERTs, technology providers, and other stakeholders responsible for maintaining trust in the digital ecosystem.
Cybersecurity as an Economic Enabler
AJCCA believes cybersecurity should no longer be viewed solely as a mechanism for preventing cyberattacks. Instead, it should be recognized as a strategic enabler of economic development, digital innovation, investment, and regional competitiveness.
A trusted digital economy requires resilient infrastructure, secure cross-border digital services, effective incident-response mechanisms, strong data protection, responsible AI governance, and closer cooperation among ASEAN countries and their regional partners.
Through its regional conferences, cybersecurity capacity-building programs, cyber threat intelligence initiatives, community collaboration, and partnerships across ASEAN and Japan, AJCCA is preparing its communities of practice to contribute to this emerging regional digital ecosystem.
The discussions at the 27th AJCCA Board Meeting in Sapporo therefore highlighted two closely connected priorities for the alliance: preparing cybersecurity leaders for the Agentic AI era and strengthening regional cyber resilience to support ASEAN’s rapidly expanding digital economy.
With its third annual conference approaching, AJCCA aims to bring these priorities together in Bangkok—strengthening the bridge between ASEAN and Japan and ensuring that trust, security, and regional collaboration remain at the heart of ASEAN’s digital future.
