In November of last year, BITS Pilani signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Data Security Council of India (DSCI), which will be valid for four years. The DSCI, established by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) and funded by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), aims to make cyberspace safe, secure and trusted by establishing standards and initiatives in cybersecurity and privacy.

The DSCI approached BITS Pilani to perform cutting edge research on cybersecurity and data security. This is an initiative by the Government of India, and it has approached other top universities in the field of cybersecurity to establish a Centre of Excellence in Noida. BITS Pilani was approached not only for its expertise in the field but also for its expertise in artificial intelligence and machine learning, which it aims to integrate with cybersecurity. BITS Pilani will not receive direct funding from the DSCI, but the collaboration will help it propose funding from other departments of the government like MeitY.

As per the Memorandum of Agreement, BITS Pilani is expected to provide mentorship and funding to start-ups on campus relating to cybersecurity and data security.

Professor Navneet Goyal mentioned that students of BITS Pilani can expect workshops and hackathons to be conducted by the DSCI on campus. These events are planned to be free of cost and will be conducted by leaders in the industry. At least one workshop or hackathon is expected to occur this semester. Further information regarding these initiatives will be communicated to students through the Computer Science Association (CSA).