Houston to Host Landmark Gathering on ‘Dharma in the Digital Age’

HOUSTON, long celebrated as one of America’s most diverse and culturally vibrant cities, is set to take center stage in a conversation of profound global significance this June. The Dharma Civilization Foundation (DCF USA) will convene its highly anticipated DDA — Dharma in the Digital Age — conference from June 5 through 7, 2026, on the campus of the University of Houston, welcoming an exceptional gathering of scholars, technologists, community leaders, and spiritual thinkers from across the United States and beyond.

For the first time, the Bayou City serves as host of this prestigious multi-day convening, which has drawn significant scholarly and public attention for its bold ambition: to examine whether the ancient principles embedded in the Dharmic tradition — encompassing Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh frameworks — can and should inform how humanity navigates the unprecedented challenges of the digital era.

A Conference at the Crossroads of Civilization

The central question animating DDA 2026 is at once timely and timeless: Is technology culture-specific, or does it transcend cultural boundaries seamlessly? The conference seeks to foster rigorous dialogue on integrating technology with Dharmic principles, focusing on ontological, epistemological, and axiological dimensions — asking what we know, how we know it, and what we value in an age increasingly governed by algorithms, artificial intelligence, and digital interconnection.

DDA 2026 is organized around six thematic pillars, each addressing a dimension of modern life where Dharmic thought has urgent relevance. Sustainability: From Exploitation to Equilibrium examines ecological crises through a lens of restraint, reciprocity, and intergenerational responsibility. Aligning Technology with Dharma explores how artificial intelligence, algorithmic governance, and biotechnology can be developed with accountability and human dignity at their core. Health Beyond Medicine reimagines well-being as a multidimensional condition shaped by physical, mental, and social factors — not merely the absence of disease. Education: Learning Beyond Data challenges standardized, data-driven models of schooling and argues for the cultivation of wisdom, agency, and civic virtue. Spirituality in the Age of Algorithms asks how individuals can maintain inner stillness and moral agency in an attention economy engineered for conformity, and conversations Across Generations invite deep dialogue between parents and children, elders and youth, about the values and practices most worth preserving and transmitting.

The conference will feature presentations from researchers and practitioners, panel discussions, and community dialogues. The DDA conference is no newcomer to the national stage. Last year’s edition — held June 13–15, 2025 at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta — drew hundreds of participants from across the country and established itself as one of the most intellectually serious gatherings at the intersection of Indic civilization and contemporary technology. The 2025 conference assembled a distinguished lineup of over two dozen speakers, including professors from IIM & IIT, economists affiliated with NITI Aayog, Padma Bhushan Dr. Jagdish Sheth, Amish Tripathi, Rajiv Malhotra,Ami Ganatra, and many prominent authors, AI researchers, and spiritual leaders — all converging on Georgia Tech’s campus for three days of keynotes, panel discussions, paper presentations, and cultural events.

Full details are available at dcfusa.org/dda. Registration is open at dcfusa.org/dda26. Request to the community to seize this rare opportunity to engage with some of the finest minds thinking about the future of Dharmic civilization — right here, in our own backyard. General registration is $101; student registration is available at $75.