Tech-à-Tête

Secretariat of the EU-India Digital Policy Dialogue

Tech-à-Tête is a podcast by the Secretariat of the EU–India Digital Policy Dialogue that takes listeners through the conversations shaping Europe and India’s shared digital future. Anchored in the EU–India Trade and Technology Council, Working Group 1, the podcast brings together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners from industry to unpack the technologies driving the partnership. Through these conversations we explore digital cooperation in the two economies and the factors shaping the cooperation: laws and regulation, standards, geopolitics, market and investment incentives, and how digital systems are built and scaled. Whether you work in digital policy or are simply living through digital change, Tech-à-Tête is your space to pause and reflect. Join us each month as we explore how digital cooperation between the EU and India can move from dialogue to action, and from ideas to impact. The EU-India Digital Policy Dialogue is co-financed by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government Modernisation.

Episodes

  1. 15 Jun

    Unlocking the EU-India Digital Partnership through the Global Gateway

    In this episode of Tech-à-Tête, host Akriti Bopanna explores a question central to the next phase of EU-India digital cooperation: how can big political commitments become real investments on the ground? Joined by Stefania Benaglia, Foreign Policy Expert and rapporteur of the 2025 CEPS Task Force Report on the Global Gateway, the conversation unpacks the EU’s Global Gateway strategy and what it means for India’s digital future. From the Blue-Raman subsea cable and high-performance computing to semiconductors, 6G, digital public infrastructure and AI, this episode looks at where EU-India digital cooperation is already taking shape — and where ambition still needs to translate into delivery. The discussion also examines the relationship between the EU-India Trade and Technology Council and the Global Gateway: one provides the political direction, the other can help mobilise the capital, partnerships and projects needed to make it real. A key theme running through the episode is the role of the private sector. If the EU and India want to build resilient digital infrastructure, diversify technology partnerships and move beyond dialogue, businesses, SMEs, startups and civil society actors cannot remain on the sidelines. As the EU and India look towards 2030, this conversation asks what it will take to turn digital cooperation from a policy promise into a strategic partnership with tangible outcomes. If you would like to learn more about the EU-India Digital Policy Dialogue and our work on digital cooperation, we warmly invite you to contact us via the email address provided below. Get in Touch! Website | LinkedIn

    22 min

  2. 29 Apr

    Trusting Across Borders: Digital Identity Interoperability Between the EU and India

    In this episode of Tech-à-Tête, host Tanea Bandyopadhyay explores one of the most important questions in the future of digital public infrastructure: can digital identity systems work across borders? Joined by Tanusree Deb Barma, Deputy Director General, Technology Division, at the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), and Steve Pannifer, Senior Vice President at FIME, the conversation takes a closer look at the possibilities and challenges of interoperability between India’s Aadhaar ecosystem and the European Digital Identity Wallet. From verifiable credentials and trust frameworks to data protection, levels of assurance, and real-world use cases in education, tourism, financial services, and business, this episode unpacks what it will take to make digital identity portable, secure, and useful across jurisdictions. As the EU and India deepen their digital cooperation, the discussion highlights how interoperable identity systems could support smoother mobility, stronger trust, and more efficient cross-border exchange for individuals, institutions, and businesses alike. The EU–India Digital Policy Dialogue’s digital identity interoperability study is currently ongoing. If you would like to learn more or engage with this work, we warmly invite you to contact us via the email address provided below. Get in Touch! Email | LinkedIn | Website

    30 min

  3. 8 Apr

    The Infrastructure Behind Trustworthy AI: What the EU and India Are Building

    In Episode 2 of Tech-à-Tête, hosted by Tanea Bandyopadhyay, we move beyond policy frameworks to ask a more fundamental question: what does it actually take to build AI that is safe, sovereign, and scalable? Titled “The Infrastructure Behind Trustworthy AI: What the EU and India Are Building,” this episode features Aalekh Sharan, Head Agentic AI and Head Public Sector at Sarvam AI and a key contributor to India’s National AI Strategy. Drawing on his experience across both policymaking and real-world deployment, Aalekh unpacks what “trustworthy AI infrastructure” truly means in practice.   The conversation takes listeners inside India’s evolving AI ecosystem; from building full-stack, multilingual models trained on domestic infrastructure to the realities of working with limited compute, talent constraints, and rapidly scaling demand.   Along the way, we tackle some of the biggest questions shaping global AI today: What separates having infrastructure from actually using it well?Can open, sovereign AI models create a more trusted and equitable ecosystem?And where do India and the EU’s approaches to AI infrastructure complement each other, particularly in areas like multilingual and inclusive AI? From DPI-inspired thinking to the economics of compute and the geopolitics of AI, this episode offers a grounded, practitioner-led perspective on what it really takes to build trustworthy AI.

    26 min

  4. 29/12/2025

    Talking Tech Diplomacy: Europe, India, and the Shared Digital Future

    In this inaugural episode of Tech-à-Tête, we sit down with Amaia Sánchez, Non-Resident Senior Fellow for the Asia Programme at Institut Montaigne, and Shyam Krishnakumar, Co-Founder of The Pranava Institute, to unpack what tech diplomacy really means for the EU–India partnership at a pivotal moment. With the EU–India Summit scheduled for January 2026, join us as we reflect on where cooperation stands today and what needs to happen next. The discussion dives into key questions: Where do the EU’s values-driven approach and India’s interests-led strategy collide — and where do they align?How can standards-setting and scale come together to shape global rules?And what pathways exist for moving from dialogue to real-world collaboration, in both the short term and beyond?  If you would like to be part of the conversation beyond the airwaves, follow us on LinkedIn. Please also subscribe to our monthly newsletter, for fresh insights to be delivered straight to your inbox.

    25 min
  • 4 Episodes

About

Tech-à-Tête is a podcast by the Secretariat of the EU–India Digital Policy Dialogue that takes listeners through the conversations shaping Europe and India’s shared digital future. Anchored in the EU–India Trade and Technology Council, Working Group 1, the podcast brings together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners from industry to unpack the technologies driving the partnership. Through these conversations we explore digital cooperation in the two economies and the factors shaping the cooperation: laws and regulation, standards, geopolitics, market and investment incentives, and how digital systems are built and scaled. Whether you work in digital policy or are simply living through digital change, Tech-à-Tête is your space to pause and reflect. Join us each month as we explore how digital cooperation between the EU and India can move from dialogue to action, and from ideas to impact. The EU-India Digital Policy Dialogue is co-financed by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government Modernisation.

Information

  • Creator
    Secretariat of the EU-India Digital Policy Dialogue
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    4
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Secretariat of the EU-India Digital Policy Dialogue
  • Show Website
    Tech-à-Tête