IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar felicitates winners of Cyber Security Grand Challenge

Newdelhi:18/11/21:Shri AshwiniVaishnaw, Union Minister for Electronics & IT, Communications and Railways, and Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Electronics & IT, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, today felicitated the winners of the Cyber Security Grand Challenge – a first-of-its-kind Cyber Security challenge to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the country. The winners of the Grand Challenge were awarded a trophy each and cash prize money of Rupees One Crore to the winner, rupees 60 lakhs to the first runner-up and rupees 40 lakhs to the second runner-up.

The winners along with the problem statements addressed by them are:

The Cyber Security Grand Challenge was launched jointly by the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) and Data Security Council of India(DSCI) on 15th January 2020 with total prize money of INR 3.2 crore and a goal to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship spirit by building key cybersecurity capabilities in the country and contribute to strengthening the cyber security posture of the nation. Under the aegis of this initiative, Cyber Security start-ups from India are being incentivized to innovate and build solutions that can be adopted in India and taken to global markets as well. The challenge focused on strengthening the cyber security capabilities of the country and developing solutions to benefit the people and society. Innovations in cyber security through such initiatives will help to mitigate cyber threats and secure cyberspace which will, in turn, safeguard the business landscape and citizens of India. A unique feature of this challenge is that the IPR of the product being developed as part of the challenge will be owned by the respective start-up.

The Challenge was opened with six (6) Problem Statements and was conducted in 3 stages namely Idea, Minimum Viable Product(MVP) and Final Stage. The submissions by the teams were evaluated by the jury panel consisting of Government, Academia, and Industry at each stage to shortlist the entries that could move to the next stage. An Idea (1st) Stage, based on the ‘concept’ and ‘approach’ proposed to build a product for one of the problem statement(s), the jury shortlisted the top 12 teams which moved to the MVP(2nd) Stage. Each of them was given a sum of Rs.5 lakh and mentorship support. In the MVP (2nd) stage, based on their ‘approach’, ‘USPs and value proposition’, ‘deployability’ and ‘product-market fit’, the jury shortlisted the top six (6) teams, each of whom was given a further sum of Rs.10 lakh. The jury evaluated the final products and selected the winner and runners-up in the final

In his keynote address on the occasion, Shri AshwiniVaishnaw, Union Minister for Electronics & IT, Communications and Railways, said, “We are living in a connected world today and there is a clear convergence of computing, communication, and sensors. These three technologies have not only reduced cost but increased capabilities and complexities. Most systems today, whether industrial, manufacturing, or banking, are controlled digitally where vulnerabilities have grown multifold. Entry points are no longer well defined and to secure our infrastructure, we have to be at least one step ahead of those who want to compromise the systems.

The Prime Minister’s vision is very clear on Cyber Security. We have to become thought leaders and market leaders in Cyber Security. I urge start-ups, industry, academia to look at this from a larger perspective. The Government stands by new ideas, new structures and is open to support them.”