National Centre of Excellence for Cyber Security Technology Development and Product Entrepreneurship, a joint initiative of Data Security Council of India (DSCI) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), today hosted a Cybersecurity R&D roadshow to provide a platform to academia, research institutes and PSUs to exhibit their cybersecurity research, prototype and products.
The virtual roadshow brought together key government stakeholders such as MeitY, NCSC; leading academic institutions like IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Jammu, IIT Delhi; user organisations like CDAC, BARC, CSIR and multinational firms such as Crowstrike, IvyCap Ventures on the same platform.
An exhibition was hosted comprising of 20 leading research projects in the area of Cybersecurity by institutions like CDAC, BARC, IIT Jammu, IIT Roorkee, IIT Dhanbad, BITS Pilani, IIT Kharagpur, among many others, to explore the Country’s R&D Capabilities and current research projects. The various plenary and other sessions highlighted the multiplying efforts in the area of cybersecurity research to make India a Global Hub for Security R&D and Product Entrepreneurship.
Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary, MeitY, said, “R&D has always been a very important part of MeitY’s programs and schemes. New technologies like blockchain, 5G are flowing in and represent new areas that cybersecurity researchers must look at. We encourage some of the R&D outcomes to get tried out within our system.”
In a special address, Lt Gen (Dr) Rajesh Pant, National Cyber Security Coordinator, Govt of India, said, “As a nation, we are spending 1% of our GDP for Cybersecurity R&D out of which the private sector is spending only 0.3%. The largest R&D centers of global companies are in India, yet the research spending remains low. Collaborative and Public-Private Partnerships are needed, and there is a lot of scope for it. We need to lay focus on the R&D efforts for creating results.”
Rama Vedashree, CEO, DSCI, said, “A multi stakeholder collaboration between governments, industry sectors, research institutions, and innovative startups is needed for developing the country’s cybersecurity capabilities. This is the inspiration behind the National CoE setup by MeitY and DSCI. The Cyber Security R&D Roadshow is an attempt to accelerate Cyber Security Research from Lab to Market, by bringing Academia, Public Sector Research Labs and Industry on a common platform.”
