The NITI Aayog has come up with a policy on artificial intelligence and cyber security and it would be taken up by the Union Cabinet soon, disclosed V.K. Saraswat, member of NITI Aagyog.
Speaking at the seminar, he said the policy announcement was delayed owing to the recent elections.
At a time when the government promoted the digitisation programme and India emerged the second country with most Internet access, the protection of data becomes crucial — be at home, workspace or institutions.
Dr. Saraswat also emphasised the need for giving access to National Knowledge Network for setting up centres of excellence for research on AI for which funding would be provided by the Union Government.
“Digitisation has brought in enormous data and like oil, it will impact the economies of the world. Thus, data protection becomes crucial. A global data protection and regulation Act is coming up and in this context, thus cyber security becomes important too,” he said. Communication is digitised in every sector and the C.R. Rao Advanced Institute has been focusing on cyber security, which is undergoing paradigm changes due to induction of AI and ML, he explained.
“This disruptive technology is used by various sectors, including agencies for crime control. The market to provide cyber security cover runs into billions of dollars,” he said.
He said those itching to cause harm are also becoming smarter with AI necessitating 24x7 protection of the entire command and control of data network. But the main challenge to use AI is to get highly trained manpower. “We have to skill our people in AI, machine learning, augmented reality and others. The C.R. Rao Institute, by collaborating with University of Hyderabad, is striving to bring skilled manpower into the area,” he said.
