Speed, handiness and customised high end technology for law enforcing agencies vital to ensure homeland security

NEW DELHI, May 25, 2017: Mr.Alok Joshi, Chairman, National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), Government of India, today outlined the evolution of homeland security in India from the baton days to the present high-tech contemporary era. He was speaking at the session on ‘High-End Technologies’ on day two of Homeland Security conference organized by FICCI in association with Vivekananda International Foundation on the theme ‘Modernisation of India’s Internal Security Mechanism’.
Mr. Joshi deliberated upon the relevance of high end technologies and the challenges faced by the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and law enforcing agencies. He said that there was a need for clear articulation of problems to get a precise resolution. High end technology demands customised, speedy and handy technology which could be delivered as per the
customised requirement of agencies working in their respective domains. Besides, the emerging challenges posed due to possible dual use of technology needs to be studied and analysed in greater depth for the readiness of the law enforcing agencies.
In his special address, Mr.Satish Chandra Jha, Advisor, NTRO, pointed out that for a comprehensive development of the homeland security domain in India there was a need for awareness about security in society. He stated that technology which is speedy, handy and relevant to the present day and age and oriented towards ensuring a secure future was high end technology. Therefore, closer interaction between industry and agencies would facilitate the interoperability and in-depth understanding about the needs of the CAPFs and agencies.
This would strengthen the homeland security structure and arm it with capabilities to deal with the evolving complex threat matrix.
During the session the need for social media analysis was highlighted which can be carried out by significant analysis of Big Data in a time bound manner. Thus, while seeking the support from industry, the panelists highlighted that a credible industrial support which can provide greater techniques and facilitate speedy data analysis to scan, analyse, real time tracking, technology will comprehensively strengthen the homeland security of India.
Alluding to the importance of human resources in the police force, Mr. K. M. Singh, Former Member NDMA & Former DG, CISF, said that with high-end equipment and training, it was equally critical to know who is managing them. Quality human resources were needed to step up the internal security. With the cyber crimes racing ahead of conventional crime, it was highly essential to have up a credible cyber security framework. Besides, there was a need to develop a separate technical cadre to tackle specialized crimes.
Mr.Anurag Sharma, Director General of Police, Telangana State Police, said that the time had come for a strong collaboration between police, industry and experts. There was a need for experts to cater to specific needs of the police force and make the police officers tech-savvy. He emphasized the need for crowd sourcing where people could come up solutions. Besides, there
was a need to focus on R&D and resolve issues such as how to handle crowds without contact.
Mr. G.K. Pillai, Chairman, FICCI Committee on Homeland Security and Former Union Home Secretary, Government of India, said that the report released on procurement during the conference had several significant recommendations, which could be implemented after deliberations with the stakeholders. To this end, he suggested that a joint roundtable could be held with the enforcement agencies and industry. Also, he added that a draft regulation was needed for UAVs as they will play a critical role both in the internal security and civilian life.
Mr. Rajan Luthra, Co-Chair, FICCI Committee on Homeland Security and Chairman's Office, Head-Special Projects, Reliance Industries Ltd., said that space agencies, defence forces, law enforcement agencies, homeland security, Process/Telecom Industry and Financial/Rating Agencies need to real-time situational awareness and handle live situations, process vast
amounts of information from diverse sources, detect and respond promptly to abnormal behaviour or incidents and use advanced technology systems equivalent of C6ISR in military parlance.
Mr. Praveen Jaiswal, Co-Founder & Director, Vehere Interactive, said that encryption was the new challenge facing law enforcement not just in India but around the world, which makes it impossible to engage in legitimate monitoring of communications by terrorists and criminals.
He added that traditional methods of TECHINT need to be overhauled with a combination of Meta Data Analysis, decryption, active and passive monitoring.