Six prominent IT companies and 60 trained volunteers have come forward to support the proposed Cyberdome project of the police at the Government IT Park in the city. They will offer voluntary service covering 24 specific areas including Internet monitoring, virtual policing, and automated threat intelligence.
The registration process for enrolment as Cyberdome officials is on, and those with the required technical skills in the specified areas can register their names on the official website of the Kozhikode City Police. The companies selected for the project will have to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) ahead of the project launch.
For northern districts
According to the police, the Cyberdome project, being considered for northern districts, is envisaged as a collaboration centre based on public-private partnership to share information and resources for better control and monitoring of activities in cyberspace. Technical hurdles that delayed the opening of the proposed Cyberdome at Sahya, the first IT building at the IT Park, have almost been cleared, and the police may soon be allotted a 400-sq ft space for commencement of operations, they said. An officer in charge of the project confirmed that more IT companies were ready to cooperate with the project after its formal launch. “There are around 100 companies at UL Cyberpark alone, and a majority of them are willing to cooperate with the Cyberdome initiative. Though they have not formally registered on the official website, they will be joining the initiative after a while,” he said.
The police plan to launch the project soon after getting a formal order from the Cyberpark Chief Executive Officer, allotting space. The project coordinators have already received verbal assurance, and they are in the process of acquiring office equipment. They hope to start formal operations by November end.
Though there will be public-private partnership in the operation of the Cyberdome, it will be brought under the control of the State-level hi-tech cell of the police, which is at present monitoring similar units in Thiruvanathapuram and Kochi. Tie-ups with prominent national and international agencies specialised in cyber forensics are expected to make the project a force to reckon with in the cyber security arena.
