Cyber security must become an essential part of technology culture: Vice President

Hyderabad: Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu has called for out-of-box ideas and innovations to protect data as new advancements in science and technology would pose a big challenge to cyber security.

Inaugurating a two-day Seminar on "New Paradigms in Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Security" organized by C.R.Rao Advanced Institute of Mathematics Statistics and Computer Science, in Hyderabad today, the Vice President expressed concern over the rise in cybercrimes and said that cyber security must be an essential part of our technology culture.

With around 8.4 billion connected devices currently in use across the globe, Naidu observed that traditional cyber security systems were becoming obsolete and stressed the need to constantly update technology, improve software and computing prowess to meet myriad challenges confronting the world.

Observing that the 21st century has witnessed the creation of disruptive technologies that have caused paradigm shifts in our way of life, the Vice President said that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) were the most exciting of these technologies with potentially endless applications. "These technologies are capable of solving many complex problems of our times", he added.

Referring to the use of AI and ML in large enterprises, Naidu said "We also, have to explore the possibility of using these technologies in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), small-scale businesses, and seasonal businesses to make the business processes more robust", he added.

The Vice President also called for making India a global leader in modern, cutting-edge technology with significant investments in research and development. India must also boost exports and soon become a net exporter of technology.

Stating that India embarked on a path of rapid growth and aspiring to raise the economy's size to nearly USD 4 trillion by 2022-23, Naidu said technology and innovation were crucial to translate India's growth to make tangible and positive impact on the lives of our people by addressing key development challenges like poverty, hunger, illiteracy and disease.

Pointing out that about 600 million young Indians were below 25 years of age, the Vice President said that these technology-savvy youngsters present a demographic dividend and their youthful zeal and acumen must be channelized for national development.

The Vice President visited the Wireless Communication Lab and High Performance Computing Facility at the Institute and interacted with the Researchers and others. He also visited the Gallery on Dr. C.R. Rao at the Institute and said that he is a great son of this great country and let us all get inspiration from his life. Naidu also visited the e-Learning Centre at the Institute and interacted with the Researchers there and said that these e-learning centres are the powerful medium to achieve the dream of prosperous and peaceful India.

The Chairman of the Governing Council of C.R. Rao Institute and Member NITI Aayog, Dr. V.K. Saraswat, the Vice Chancellor, University of Hyderabad, Prof. Appa Rao Podile, the Director, C.R. Rao Institute, Prof. D.N. Reddy, the Project Director of ARCC, Cmdr. A. Anand, Faculty members, Scientists and Research Fellows were present at the event.