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IIT-B to set up internal security centre to help state police

The tech institute has set up a research center to help maximize the use of technology by police forces. Sanchayan Bhattacharjee reports

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To counter the increasing and omnipresent threat of terrorism, police forces across the country must remain a step ahead in terms of both gathering information and acting on it. Technology plays a crucial role in this endeavor of intelligence gathering, crime detection and law enforcement. Several independent studies concur that Indian police forces lag behind as compared to forces from other developed countries in terms of having cutting edge technological support and know how. In order to assist this cause, the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) will soon start the National Center of Excellence in Technology for Internal Security (NCETIS) which will look to help state and paramilitary forces in technology matters. 

“While the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) works primarily with the armed forces, there is no particular group looking at the state and central police forces,” says a faculty member from IIT-B who is the proposed head of the centre. NCETIS will collaboratively work on different projects keeping in the mind the needs of the end user (security professionals) and innovation gaps of the sector. “Projects may involve different areas such a developing a state of the art communications system, ground penetrating radar, video analytics, robotics, forensics, cyber and geo spatial security etc.,” said the faculty member. Other objectives include engaging in industry for strategic needs as well to undertake research related to regulatory issues.

Another objective of the center will be to ‘undertake training activities for technology appreciation’ wherein structured programmes will be conducted to acquaint and familiarize the forces with different kinds of technology. “The aim is to ensure that NCETIS becomes a complete resource centre for police forces to discuss how modern technology can be used more effectively to aid crime solving and prevention,” said the faculty member. Since there are so many organisations involved in this collaborative process, the structure of the Centre accommodates a member from each of them, including one from the DRDO for inputs as well as to ensure that there is no overlapping of work,” said the proposed head of the center

As far as the funding of the institution goes, NCETIS will soon receive Rs.100crore from Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India. Although faculty members will majorly handle these projects that involve creation of prototypes as and when required, students (especiallyPhD) students will also assist in their execution. Ultimately, NCETIS must leverage the research at other institutions, provide consultancy and advisory service to state police forces as well as customize technology as per their needs. 

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