Upgrading cyber security: AICTE, Central PSEs to jointly establish 10 Centres of Excellence

Hyderabad: In a bid to fill the gap of acute shortage of professionals, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has decided to rope in the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) to train more number of young people in the field of cyber security.

The National Project Implementation Unit (NPIU) under the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development (UMoHRD) and the Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) have joined hands to rope in CPSE to establish 10 Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in cyber security, in 10 AICTE identified educational institutions.

It costs Rs 2 crore to establish each of the COEs, out of which, 50 per cent will be provided by the AICTE, NPIU and the HRD ministry. The remaining 50 per cent will be raised by the CPSE from the individual partner or sponsor.

The CoEs should be established within 12 months from the date of receiving funds from the AICTE and the CPSE should enter into an agreement for a minimum of three years with the academic institutions for establishing the CoE.

In turn, the CoE must incorporate physical and virtual technologies that industry can use for cyber warfare training, simulation and Research and Development.

The CoEs are expected to have advanced IT environments that allow companies to practice handling specific real-world scenarios, train employees and customers on the latest threats, and they are essential for combating modern cybercrime.

Besides, such environments will also be useful to the military and government agencies, private corporations and entities with a focus on cyber security.

This World Bank-funded project is focussing on cyber security as the rapid emergence of smart cities is causing massive digital transformation.

However, the apex technical education regulator said, "There is an urgency to improve protection profile, posture, robustness and resilience of Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) assets against the cyber-attacks and incidents by both state and non-state actors."

Against this backdrop, a need is felt for persons both in quality and in substantial numbers with appropriate skill sets.

The scarcity of cyber security professionals exposes businesses and smart cities to cyber-attacks and reduces their ability to quickly respond to complex threats.

In the long run, cyber risks may discourage companies from implementing new technologies or making new investments in vulnerable smart cities.

Despite having a large information technology talent pool it was found that it is unlikely to produce an adequate number of professors to close the cyber security skills gap.

The COEs in cyber security are meant to expedite skills building, capacity building, testing and resilience building for cyber security.