BlackBerry sets the bar for sovereign secure communications at ASEAN Summit

The ASEAN Main Logistics Secretariat (SILA) will be using BlackBerry Secure Communications to protect command operations both within the Summit's operations center and communications with those on the move.

As Malaysia hosts world leaders including US President Donald Trump for the 47^th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, BlackBerry is playing a key role in providing sovereign secure communications at the summit. Specifically, the ASEAN Main Logistics Secretariat (SILA) will be using BlackBerry Secure Communications to protect command operations both within the Summit's operations center and communications with those on the move.

This follows the successful deployment of BlackBerry AtHoc and BlackBerry SecuSUITE for the 46^th ASEAN Summits in May. The solutions, which will be used at the 47^th Summit, demonstrate the capabilities of BlackBerry to provide sovereign secure communications to protect sensitive operations while enabling real-time collaboration at scale.

The 47th ASEAN Summit will see the deployment of BlackBerry AtHoc to 150 liaison officers and added BlackBerry SecuSUITE for iOS and standard Android devices, enabling liaison officers to securely communicate with visiting delegations and foreign teams, reducing the number of devices needed to maintain end-to-end encrypted voice and secure messaging from anywhere.

In a conversation with CRN Asia, Jonathan Jackson, Senior Director, Strategic Technical Sales APAC at BlackBerry said the 150 liaison officers are all connected to the BlackBerry’s Secure Communications platform to deal with the management and the logistics and coordination of the summit over the next three days.

“Malaysia takes a very serious responsibility of ensuring the delegates' safety. When they arrive in the country, from the time they land at KLIA, the responsibility of that individual rests on the Malaysian government. And they take that responsibility very seriously. We've been working with the ASEAN Secretariat over the course of 2025 to effectively plan for this. We did the 46th summit back in May. And then we used that as lessons learned to expand the use case for what we're going to be delivering for the 47^th Summit,” said Jackson.

Prior to the summit, Jackson pointed out that consumer-grade messaging apps were used for communication. However, the intensity of such summits requires comms that can provide actionable decisions fast.

“You can't run governments today using that type of technology. And that's what BlackBerry addresses. That's the gap it fills, is a coordinated command and control centre to be able to have a system which can give you full visibility in real time of everything that's going on so that you can make informed decisions regarding people's safety. So that's what BlackBerry does. It's not just about encryption and all that stuff. That's technology. But the outcome is saving people's lives effectively. It's people safety conversation,” added Jackson.

Jackson also highlighted that BlackBerry has invested significantly in the region, apart from moving its headquarters to Malaysia. This includes investing in a significant amount in manpower in the region to not just support Malaysia but the whole of ASEAN.

“We run a 24 by 7 call center in Malaysia, which picks up as part of our global follow the sun process. And that's also in local language support as well. So, at any given time, we have a support function, which is following the sun around anything related to BlackBerry technology,” said Jackson.

The 47^th ASEAN Summit takes place in Kuala Lumpur and is expected to be attended by leaders from the ASEAN region as well as leaders from the US, China, Japan and other supporting countries.