21-Sep-2022: 3rd Regional Workshop on Cloud Computing for Digital Transformation Leaders conducted by NeGD, MeitY

The National e-Governance Division (NeGD), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) organized the 3rd batch of capacity building programme in Cloud Computing for government officers of Central Line Ministries, State/UT Departments, Mission Mode Project officers, e-Governance Project heads and State e-Mission teams. These workshops are in continuation of the series of trainings on Cloud Computing - a major emerging technology in the digital world. The workshops were held from September 15-16, 2022 at the Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management, Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Twenty-two officers from eight States / UTs, across the Central Line Ministries and Governments of Delhi, Gujarat, Manipur, Kerala, Maharashtra, Goa, West Bengal and Bihar participated in the 2-day residential programme. Setting the tone of the programme, Ms. Shobha Ramesh, Course Director, NISG, asserted that the need to ensure security of data, management of environment for scaling of data, technology, reach and the standardizations to be followed thereof could not be ignored anymore in a world that is increasingly getting digitized. Shri Sanjay Gaden, Head SeMT, Gujarat, highlighted the interoperability of the system and cloud computing’s role in scaling up e-governance. He also highlighted other advantages of this emerging technology, in the disaster management plans, data protection and during pandemics etc.

The workshop brought together an array of subject matter experts from the industry, academia and the government to speak on key subject matters - cloud architecture, basic building blocks of cloud computing, data explosion, potential risks and challenges pertaining to cloud deployment, cloud’s role in digitally transforming e-governance and how it can provide scalable and elastic infrastructure, assess data requirements, and help manage bid data through distributed computing. The workshop duly highlighted the challenges in service delivery and various factors which affect the delivery of service like infrastructure, capability, scalability, etc. Live demonstration on auto scaling of cloud usage and benefits of auto scaling were given as well.

Day 2 of the workshop focused on common issues and challenges encountered while coordinating with government departments and strategies to overcome them by the executioners, introducing the participants to MeghRaj – GI Cloud, empanelment of cloud service offerings of CSPs and cloud provider selection, MeitY’s guidelines for cloud and key questions while procuring cloud services and cloud services procurement through GeM. Through use of case studies on CoWIN, Poshan Tracker and Digilocker, presentations on components of the projects, how the platforms were scaled, precautions taken and how business continuity was planned for all the applications was discussed.

The workshop was the third in the series of Cloud Computing trainings conducted for government officers. Under its Capacity Building scheme, NeGD is executing thematic trainings in order to build capacities of government officers, at both the Central and State levels, to ensure the availability of adequate knowledge, appropriate competencies and skill-set to optimally utilise the huge benefits of cloud computing in e-Governance practices.

5-Sep-2022: NeGD Organises 2nd Cloud Computing Training for Digital Transformation Leaders

In continuation of the series of trainings on Cloud Computing, which is a major emerging technology in the digital world, the National e-Governance Division (NeGD) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) organized the second batch of capacity building programme in Cloud Computing for government officers of Central Line Ministries, State/UT Departments, Mission Mode Project officers, e-Governance Project heads and State e-Mission teams. The programme was held on August 25-26, 2022.

The two day residential training was held at the Administrative Training Institute (ATI), Mysuru. On the inauguration day, all 24 participants were welcomed by Mr. Chetan, Professor eGovernance, ATI Mysuru. Setting the tone of the programme, Mr. Shilohu Rao, GM, NeGD and Mr. Satyajit Rao Vagvala, SGM, NISG, explained the significance of being adept at Cloud Computing and its various aspects for the purpose of effective governance; whether one experiences a natural disaster, power failure or other crisis, having the data stored in the cloud ensures it is backed up and protected in a secure and safe location. Being able to access that data again quickly allows one to conduct business as usual, minimizing any downtime and loss of productivity.

The workshop brought together an array of subject matter experts from the industry, academia and the government to speak on key areas of the theme - cloud architecture, basic building blocks of cloud computing, regulatory and policy framework that support cloud computing, cloud provider selection and empanelment, MeitY’s guidelines for cloud, key concerns while implementing cloud computing projects including concerns of security and loss of control, policy and compliance, creative destruction, feature changes, forensics and migration, and future of cloud, among others. Live demonstration of how cloud computing requirements could be calculated by government departments was made for participants. Popular case-studies namely, CoWIN, Poshan Tracker and DigiLocker, which described how technology has been put to most effective use for citizens of India, was discussed.

This workshop was second in the series of Cloud Computing trainings for government officers. It had participation from officers of the State Governments of Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur, Kerala, Maharashtra, Telangana and Central Line Ministries of GOI. The third workshop on the same thematic domain would be held on September 15-16, 2022 at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

3-Sep-2022: NeGD, MeitY organises 30th Batch of Chief Information Security Officers’ (CISOs) Deep Dive Training Programme under Cyber Surakshit Bharat Initiative

Cyber Surakshit Bharat initiative was conceptualised with the mission to spread awareness about cyber-crime and build capacities of Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and frontline IT officials, across all government departments, for ensuring adequate safety measures to combat the growing menace, and for organizations to defend their digital infrastructures and become future-ready in tackling cyber-attacks.

Operating on the principles of awareness, education and enablement, the National e-Governance Division (NeGD), under its Capacity Building scheme, organised the 30th CISO Deep-Dive training programme from August 22-26, 2022. Held at the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi, the intensive 5-day training programme was designed for designated CISOs from Central and State/UT Governments, subordinate agencies/PSUs, including public sector banks and insurance companies, technical wings of police and security forces, CTOs and members of technical/PMU teams; as well as officers responsible to observe security of IT systems in their respective organisations.

The deep-dive training specifically aimed at educating and enabling CISOs to understand cyber-attacks comprehensively and thoroughly, get necessary exposure in latest technologies of safeguard, and translate the benefits of a resilient e-infrastructure to individual organizations and citizens at large. The training also focussed on providing a holistic view of legal provisions, enabling CISOs to formulate policies in the domain of cyber security and build concrete cyber crisis management plans.

The inaugural session of the programme was attended by eminent dignitaries - Shri Abhishek Singh, P&CEO, NeGD, Shri S.N. Tripathi, DG, IIPA, graced the occasion. Stressing upon the importance of cyber security in the present scenario of growing cyber-attacks, Shri Tripathi encouraged CISO officers to think innovatively and futuristically while supporting cyber security endeavours of their organisations. In his address, Shri Abhishek Singh insisted on the need of robust cyber security conduct at an individual level, and requested all CISO participants for use of properly licensed software. He also reminded them of various GOI initiatives in the said domain, particularly highlighting the very responsive National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) to address potential cyber threats on critical infrastructure.

The training programme brought together an array of subject matter experts from the industry, the academia and the government to speak on key domain issues of cyber security, such as, Governance Risk and Compliance, Emerging Cyber Security Trends, Landscape of Cyber Security Products in India, Network Security, Cyber Crisis Workplace Plan, Application and Data Security, Cloud Security, Mobile Security, Cryptography, Cyber Security Testing and Audit, Cyber Security related Provisions of IT Act and ISMS Standards including ISO 27001. An interactive presentation session by towards the programme’s culmination by participants enabled learnings from one another.

Launched in 2018, the CISO training is the first-of-its-kind of partnership between the Government and industry consortium under Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. Since June 2018, these programmes have capacitated 1,224 senior officials to secure digital infrastructure and systems of their respective organizations.

12-Aug-2022: NeGD organises Capacity Building programme in Cloud Computing for central and state government officials

The future roadmap of the digital revolution in India includes Cloud Computing in a big way. Alongside, e-Governance is already at the vanguard of revolutionising governance in the country from ‘system and power-centered’ to ‘resident and service-centered’.

Fusing the two together, the National e-Governance Division (NeGD) of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) organized the first batch of Capacity Building programme in Cloud Computing for government officials of Central Line ministries, State/UT Departments, Mission Mode Project officers, e-Governance Project heads and State e-Mission teams. The two-day programme was held on August 4-5, 2022, at the Haryana Institute of Public Administration covering participants from Delhi-NCR.

The programme is designed to build capacities, within the Government at both the Central and State levels, by adapting a synchronized approach to ensure the availability of adequate knowledge, appropriate competencies and skill-set to optimally utilise the huge benefits of cloud computing in e-Governance practices. Projects with cloud computing offers integration management with automated problem resolution, manages security end-to-end, and helps budget based on actual usage of data. At a national level, cloud architectures can benefit Government to simultaneously utilize resources optimally and also accelerate delivery of e-services. Project 'Meghraj', for instance, is an initiative of the Government of India with the aim of GI Cloud (Meghraj) initiative to fast-track delivery of e-services in the country, while optimising information and communications technology (ICT) spending of the government.

Setting the context of the programme, Shri Satya Meena, Director - Capacity Building, NeGD, said, “Technology has been leapfrogging over the past two decades and one such technology rapidly scaling up is the Cloud-based systems driving businesses and touching every aspect of our daily lives. Anything that is available via the internet has the service being delivered out of a cloud-based application and IT Infrastructure.” The programme’s course director, Shri Satyajit Rao, Senior General Manager, NISG, asserted that “Within this decade, Cloud Computing would replace the traditional data centres and emerge as the prominent solution for data analytics and storage.”

The workshop brought together an array of subject matter experts from the industry, the academia and the government to speak on key domain issues, such as, Cloud fundamentals, India’s Cloud journey, Cloud building blocks, procurement of Cloud services, regulatory and policy framework for Cloud, challenges associated with Cloud implementation and future of Cloud on digital transformation, with engaging presentations on successful Cloud use cases. Session discussions also featured essential training on various components of Cloud computing, such as, custom bidding for Cloud services, establishment of Pay-per-use and billing frequency with Cloud service providers, negotiation instruments for dynamic services under Cloud, best practices in Cloud procurement, focus on the Computing requirements, TRAI and MeitY guidelines on Cloud Computing and ITU global standards on Cloud Computing.

Witnessing attendance from 31 participants - mostly officers from Central Line Ministries, New Delhi and State Governments of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Goa, Mizoram and Uttarakhand - capacity building programmes on the theme of cloud computing would move forward with physical programmes to be conducted in the East, West and South zones of India, this year.

11-Oct-2021: NeGD and UN Women India celebrate International Day of the Girl Child with a webinar on “Cyber Safety for Women and Girls”

Keeping in tandem with the global needs of cyber safety and acknowledging the importance of cyber hygiene, National e-Governance Division (NeGD) and UN Women India today jointly organised a webinar on “Cyber Safety for Women and Girls” on the occasion of International Day of the Girl Child coinciding with the National Cyber Security Awareness Month celebrations.

The webinar marked the beginning of jointly launched series of initiatives by NeGD & UN Women India under the broader theme of ‘India’s digital dreams and cyber safety’ to encourage safe and equal online spaces for women and girls. The webinar acknowledged the gravity of rising cybercrimes and violence, and the need to encourage safe and equal online spaces for women and girl celebrations

In his keynote address, Shri Abhishek Singh, P&CEO, NeGD, CEO, MyGov & CEO and MD, Digital India Corporation emphasized on the need for enhanced cyber security awareness and noted that it is critical for all citizens to be digitally smart so that they don’t fall prey to cyber frauds, bullying, exploitation, cyber and gender-based violence. He underlined various steps being planned and undertaken by the Government of India in this regard. “Through The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, brought out in February 2021, Government of India is bringing sanity to the social media platforms that are commonly used and ensuring that the rights of everyone, especially women and girls, are protected,” he said.

Ms. Susan Ferguson, UN Women’s Country Representative for India, expressed her optimism towards bringing about awareness and attitude change. She said, “UN Women has a long-standing partnership with MeitY to advance the rights of women through various initiatives like Shri Shakti Challenge 2021 edition and UN Women stands committed to work with NeGD in building back a better environment by creating safer and equal cyberspaces for women and girls”. 

During the webinar, the panelists stressed upon the grave impact of cybercrime incidents on women and girls, and explained how the victims can be assisted. Ms. Vrinda Bhandari, Consultant, UN Women India shared, "Online violence against women is a serious cause of concern due to five broad factors - Anonymity, Accessibility, Perpetuity, Action at a distance, & Automation. To assist a victim of cyber violence, four steps are needed viz. Support the victim, Record the incident, Block the offender and Report the offence & the offender.”  

Shri Rakesh Maheshwari, Senior Director and Group Co-ordinator, Cyber Law & eSecurity at Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, highlighted the legal and technical aspects of cyber security, especially for women and girls. Speaking about the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, he shared that November 25, 2021 onwards, the Government is going to publicize in a big way the safety, security, & accountability features as available in the IT Rules, 2021. “We are going to come up with a set of FAQs on this particular document to ensure that people are able to understand it in simple language,” he said.

Worldwide, the month of October is dedicated to Cyber Security and is observed as the “National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM)”.  The theme for NCSAM 2021 is "Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart". The theme envisages that individuals and organisations own their role in protecting their part of activities in cyberspace.