CERT-In directives won't impact corporates' business viability: MoS IT

Rajeev Chandrasekhar's comes in the wake of cyber security directives issued by the MeitY's CERT-In that mandates reporting of cybersecurity incidents and misuse of virtual private networks

Assuaging the industry concerns on the April 28 directives by Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship & Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that there would be no impact on business viability.

The assurance comes in the wake of corporations being concerned with the impact of cyber security directives issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)'s CERT-In that mandates reporting of cybersecurity incidents and misuse of virtual private networks (VPNs).

Speaking on the sidelines of a NASSCOM event in Ahmedabad on Saturday, Chandrasekhar clarified that there would be no impact on business viability.

"The Internet is a very important platform since today 800 million Indians use it and in the next 2-3 years, this number will rise to 1.2 billion including women and children. Hence, it is the government's duty and unrelenting objective to ensure that the Internet should remain open, safe and accountable. There can be both good and bad work happening through the Internet. Safe and trusted platform we have come up with cyber security regulations. The only restriction is that VPN is misused for criminal activities, VPN operators will have to cooperate and produce the data of the person committing the criminal activity," said Chandrasekhar.

As such, the ministry's CERT-In recently issued clarifications that, among other things, corporate and enterprise VPNs will not be required to maintain logs of customers as laid down in the April 28 directives which rather applied to general Internet users who would misuse commercially available virtual private networks.

Chandrasekhar on Saturday inaugurated the world’s first ‘Smart Manufacturing Competency Centre’ (SMCC) in Ahmedabad. Launched by NASSCOM Centre of Excellence - IoT & AI, in collaboration with the MeitY and Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of Gujarat, the SMCC platform looks to accelerate the adoption of smart manufacturing solutions by India’s best innovators.

Talking about the centre, Chandrasekhar said that the platform was part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's goal to ensure that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the country would use digital technology to make the most of emerging global opportunities and changes in global supply chain. "Today, the launch of the SMCC platform will enable every MSME in Gujarat to connect with the startups in the ecosystem for digitization solutions. This way the MSMEs will benefit in terms of productivity, product innovation and market access, thereby making them more competitive."

Amid disruptions in the global semiconductor supply chain, the minister maintained that the government was doing its bit to ensure that India would become a global semiconductor hub soon, playing a key role in the global supply chain.

When asked about the impact of the US Federal Reserve rate hike on the Indian startup ecosystem, Chandrasekhar emphasised the need for reducing dependence on overseas funds.

"There have been several foreign direct investments (FDI) in the Indian startup ecosystem but we need to remember that the US economy has been growing through high inflation and facing problems due to stimulus packages there. So we should not solely depend on funds sourced from the US. The Indian government is also planning to announce sectoral funds and we have decided that the government's startup initiatives such as STPI will be focused on creating opportunities for startups in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. We know what is happening in the world but we will ensure to keep up India's momentum (in the startup ecosystem)," he said.

Meanwhile, commenting on the new SMCC platform in Ahmedabad, NASSCOM president Debjani Ghosh said that the platform will foster a collaborative ecosystem among digital startups and SMEs in the manufacturing sector.

"Today, India’s 90 per cent manufacturing companies are SMEs that account for 33 per cent of manufacturing GVA and 45-50 per cent of exports, but they lag in tech adoption due to scale, financing, and leadership challenges. Digitalisation is not really a choice today but rather a necessity for the sector to bring business performance stability and broaden its reach. The first of its kind globally, the Smart Manufacturing Competency Centre will foster the right collaborative ecosystem with the support from the government, academia and the industry that will aid the growth of the Indian manufacturing sector and make India a global hub for digital manufacturing," said Ghosh.