Explained: Enhancing India-Cyber Security Architecture, How TechSagar Platform Will Be A Gamechanger

In a major boost to cyber-security architecture in the country, a new platform called TechSagar has been launched on Monday (21 October) by the National Cyber Security Coordinator’s office in partnership with Data Security Council (DSCI) of India, reports Livemint.

The platform is conceptualised by the Government of India as cyber technology capabilities is increasingly becoming indispensable for its national strategic outlook.

National Cyber Security Centre is the apex agency for cyber security in India. It screens communication metadata and co-ordinates the intelligence gathering activities of other agencies.

Data Security Council, on the other hand, is a not-for-profit industry body setup by NASSCOM to establish best practices and standards in the cyber domain.

Why TechSagar

India ranks 3rd in terms of the highest number of internet users in the world after USA and China, the number has grown 6-fold between 2012-2017 with a compound annual growth rate of 44 per cent.

Also, in a report published by ‘Symantec Corporation’, India was ranked among the top three countries to be affected by cyber-crime. NITI Aayog also reported that over 50 per cent of Indian firms were affected by cyber-crimes in 2017, with Wannacry and Petya ransomware attacks among notable instances.

Additionally, firms worldwide have reported an average loss of around 2.5 per cent of GDP due to cyber attacks. As India moves towards its goal of $5 trillion economy along with digitisation, even of essential public services like food distribution to poor population, cyber security becomes a major concern.

Also, with its growing, young, and aspiring population, India is sitting on a goldmine of data. Large amount of data about Indian population will be harnessed, stored, processes and stored online. It is important to shield this resource from being used by malevolent elements.

Thus, it becomes impertinent to put a concerted effort in developing critical technology capabilities in the country for combating the growing threats from cyber-crime and also utilise it for India’s geopolitical advantage.

Start-ups, enterprises, academia, researchers, and research institutes in the country need to develop synergies in their efforts and work in tandem to realise this national goal.

With the launch of TechSagar, government aims to boost start-ups in cyber technology. This also set a good precedence of government facilitating industry growth in a strategic domain.

How will TechSagar help

TechSagar is an online portal which will include database of business and research entities from the IT industry, startups, academia, and individual researchers. Therefore, the portal will be a concrete showcase of India’s technological capability in the cyber security domain.

It would provide insights and targeted search about India’s cyber capabilities in 25 key areas including internet of things, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cyber security, among others.

The portal will allow targeted search, granular navigation and drilldown methods using more than 3000 niche capabilities. As of now, the repository features 4000+ entities from industry, academia and research institutes including large enterprises and start-ups providing a country level view of India’s cyber competencies.

In addition to entities, the repository also provides information about over 5,000 products and solutions and 3,500+ services from start-ups and large enterprises.

TechSagar is envisaged as a dynamic platform which would be frequently updated on the lines of changing technologies and emerging start-ups and tech-companies in the field.

On one hand, TechSagar will facilitate new opportunities for businesses and academia to collaborate, connect and innovate in future, while on the other, it also endeavours to provide direction for a strategic cyber roadmap of the country in research and development, industry development, and strengthening the national security.