The Joint Cyber Command is taking part in the 33rd edition of the Aslan Congress & Expo 2026

• Vice-Admiral Javier Roca spoke at the panel discussion entitled “Data sovereignty and availability: proximity, control and operational continuity”

The commander of the Joint Cyber Command (MCCE), Vice-Admiral Javier Roca, took part in the panel discussion “Cyberdefence and Cyberspace in the New Strategic Environment” at the 33rd edition of the Aslan 2026 Congress & Expo.

In his speech, Vice-Admiral Roca sought to offer a disruptive perspective on digital transformation, focusing not on machines, but on the strategic value of data and the human factor: “the foundation of cybersecurity lies in data”.

The four points the Vice Admiral explored in depth were, in the first place, data security. There has been a paradigm shift in a fully connected world where traditional networks are becoming irrelevant or fading into the background; it does not matter whether data travels via Google’s, Amazon’s or a potential enemy’s networks; security must be embedded within the data itself through encryption and protected using quantum keys.

Secondly, “data culture versus strategy”. Thanks to tools such as AI, creating a strategic plan is now a matter of hours, which reduces its unique value. Translated into military terms, this means moving away from viewing warships or fighter jets as mere physical platforms, and instead understanding them as data nodes (sensors and actuators). What is valuable is the silicon and the code, not the steel.

Thirdly, he highlighted that cyberspace is fundamentally defined as a medium for storing, managing and transporting data. “Almost half of internet traffic (43% and rising) already takes place between machines. In the future, AI agents will communicate with one another in their own languages to exchange this data.”

The CMCCE concluded his remarks by emphasising that, “although hardware and software can be purchased, true sovereignty and competitive advantage lie in the quality of the data and in human talent”.

The Vice-Admiral shared the panel with Mar Fernández, CIO of the Spanish National Research Council; Antonio Alcolea, Deputy Director-General for Programmes, Governance and Promotion at the Directorate-General for Data within the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Civil Service; and Javier López Orcajo, Deputy Director-General for ICT at the Nuclear Safety Council. The panel was introduced and moderated by Javier Ochando, Head of Sales for Defence and FFCCSSE at NetApp.

The Aslan Association brings together 212 manufacturers and suppliers specialising in digital innovation and cybersecurity, and is organising this conference with the aim of exploring how cybersecurity, the digital workplace, automation and data management are evolving thanks to AI, and how to tackle the new challenges facing networks, multi-cloud environments, smart infrastructure and data centres.

Over three days at the IFEMA Conference Centre, the event brought together more than 200 speakers, 150 exhibitors and leading figures from the private and public sectors, attracting over 7,500 attendees to a forum for knowledge and initiatives that aim to set the standard in the cyber domain.