IT is the way to keep pace with changing threat landscape
Experts agree central database on crime and criminals, capacity building, change management and prevention of data leakage are a must for foolproof internal security
India is a country with one of the lowest police-to-people ratios. Managing internal security, therefore, is a challenge. Though there is nothing better than improving this ratio and strengthening the internal capacities of the security agencies, interventions through use of information technology (IT) in the internal security ecosystem will be of great help.
This precisely was the subject for our seventh Technology RoundTable, ‘TechShield: IT in Internal Security’, organised by Governance Now this fortnight. A general consensus which emerged among the participants was the need for collaboration among various security agencies facilitating exchange of information.
Brigadier (retd) Arun Sahgal, additional director, Institute of National Security Studies (INSS), highlighted importance of IT in intelligence gathering and stressed the need of creating a centralised database of crime and criminals. CA Technologies’ account director (e-governance) Deepak Singla suggested an integrated system which ensures inter-connectivity between various security agencies while CA Technologies’ principal consultant Vipul Kumar stressed that IT is the only tool to keep pace with the changing threat landscape.
Col (retd) Ajay Sharma, founder, TN Advisory Services Pvt Ltd, echoed the need for capacity building and change management (CBCM). Lt Col (retd) Vishal Sharma, general manager, National Institute for Smart Government (NISG), spoke about various applications of IT in internal security like e-filing of FIRs, the crime and criminal tracking network and systems (CCTNS) initiative and centralised database. Manav Khanna, senior consultant, Safenet, mentioned the need for prevention of data leakage and the dangers of data manipulation while it is getting transferred through the new IT systems.
