GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
With more than half a billion internet subscribers, India is riding high on the digital front. All facets of the economy are leveraging technology for wider reach, convenience and effectiveness. Quick technology adoption by enterprises has made mobile-banking, on-line shopping, on-line trading and social networking possible. The base of these efforts lies in government's emphasis on developing infrastructure to enable affordable internet access for every Indian.
However, as this digital transformation unfolds, it has potential to create significant cyber security challenges. At the same time, India is well poised to be a cybersecurity industry hub, catering to both global and domestic Indian markets.
With an ecosystem of 175+ product companies, Indian cybersecurity product landscape has already begun to create a promising story. More than 70% of these companies have been incorporated in last decade with 60%+ Y-O-Y growth rate of several new age startups.
In light of these developments, Grand Challenge for Cyber Security has been announced by the Hon'ble Minister of Electronics & Information Technology. This initiative provides impetus to the growth of Indian cyber security industry and seeks to nurture start-ups that diversify the industry and boost the development of niche and advanced solutions.
The Grand Challenge for Cyber Security is designed to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship by building key cybersecurity capabilities in the country. Participants will compete in teams at 3 stages: Idea, Minimal Viable Product (MVP) and Final Product Building. In the first stage, teams will propose implementable ideas to solve identified Cyber Security Problem statement(s). During the course of the event, participating teams would be provided with award money and mentorship. Top 3 teams would be awarded with a total prize money of INR 2 Cr.
Budding entrepreneurs are invited to submit their ideas in a chance to fast track their growth, be mentored by the best and win remarkable prizes. Industry experts are invited to contribute to the national cybersecurity building initiative and explore an opportunity to mentor the best talent in the country.
Devices, things, and mobility options demanding access have been increasing significantly. Their surface to the external world is expanding, exposing their assets to a variety of attack possibilities. The IT system goes through millions of operating situations. One out of these situations may compromise security.
Exploitable flaws and vulnerabilities are often discussed in the context of software. Hardware carries similar risks, but its ramifications could be quite significant. The threat landscape is moving from software stack to lower levels. The rapid growth of accessible devices, fueled by the pervasive mobile technologies and an aggressive drive for digital innovation..
Biometric authentication in the current age mostly relies on fingerprint authentication, facial authentication, voice & video recognition, and behavioral contexts. The attack ecosystem has evolved to adopt capabilities to circumvent the authentication system using fake video, audio, and even by playing with behavioral attributes.
In a microservice architecture, an application is decomposed into multiple services. Many organizations are adopting microservices architecture to become agile, scalable, and resilient. However, microservices architecture is likely to expose a lot more of your system’s functionality directly to the network.
The convergence of devices, IoTs with evolving edge computing, opens up newer opportunities to devise an intelligent network environment. Deployment of IoTs/IIoTs sensors and various devices for various purposes like smart cities, and intelligent transportation, is gaining more momentum on the one hand.
Modern-day innovations are increasingly relying on data. The quantum of innovation with data generated by proliferating digital applications, products, and services gives rise to many new ideas of making use of data. Without providing access to the data and sharing, it would be challenging to realize the true potential of digitization.
A platform to innovate and demonstrate capabilities.
A high viewership platform provides you with an opportunity to showcase and promote your innovation to the ecosystem.
Win lucrative prize money at various stages of the program.
Opportunity to meet peers, domain experts and other stakeholders.
Opportunity to gain mentorship and guidance under the best Cyber Security Experts.
Team Leader will use this portal for:
Team Registration/ Idea Information/ Form Submission/ Company Registration/ Detail Submission
Team Leader will use this portal to upload
MVP/Simulation/Source code
This Portal will be used by the Jury to evaluate the submitted ideas/ prototypes and final products
| Activity | Date |
|---|---|
| Grand Challenge Launch | 15 January, 2020 |
| Last Date for Registration of Team | 30 April, 2020 23:59:59 hrs |
| Last Date for Submission of Idea Nomination form with Startup Details Only Incorporated/ registered startups can apply |
30 April , 2020 23:59:59 hrs |
| Last Date for Submission of Legal Entity Registration Details As private limited company (as defined in the Companies Act, 2013) or registered as a partnership firm (registered under section 59 of the Partnership Act, 1932) or a limited liability partnership (under the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008) in India (as per definition available in the latest notification of DIPP at http://startupindia.gov.in) |
15 May , 2020 23:59:59 hrs |
| Result for Idea Stage | 3 July , 2020 Click here to view the Selected Participants in Ideation Stage |
| Last date for Submission of Minimum Viable Product | 21 October, 2020 23:59:59 hrs |
| Result for Minimum Viable Product Stage | 9th December, 2020 |
| Last Date of Submission of Final Product | 5th April, 2021 23:59:59 hrs |
| Awards Ceremony | November 18, 2021,10:30 am – 11:30 am |
The intent of this stage is to invite participants to propose innovative solutions for the identified cyber security problem statements. Ideas should be implementable and have relevance in today's industry. Furthermore, ideas should also stand the test of time.
Submitted Ideas will undergo a first level of screening by Grand Challenge for Cyber Security organizing team to check for adequacy of data and eligibility.
Ideas will be evaluated by a distinguished jury panel comprising of government, industry and academia experts. Maximum 12 startups will be shortlisted and will get award money of INR 5 lakh each and move to the next leg of the challenge.
If you feel, your idea has what it takes to solve these cyber security challenges, please submit your nomination form to enter into the competition.
One startup can submit ideas for all the problem statements. Per problem statement, only one idea can be submitted by one startup. From a startup, only one Idea will be shortlisted at this stage of screening.
Maximum 12 startups which are shortlisted at the Idea Stage will proceed to build a minimum viable product around their proposed idea. To provide guidance and required mentorship, workshops will be conducted.
The startup members will have to build a minimum viable product of their idea which can be converted into a fully deployable product. The time allocated for building minimum viable product is 8 weeks.
After 8 weeks, startups have to submit, product code as well as documentation on the portal. MVP developed by these startups will be judged by a jury panel.
Based on the decision of the jury maximum 6 startups will be shortlisted and will advance to the next stage.
Shortlisted startups at this stage will be provided with INR 10 lakh as award money to further develop the product.
Startups shortlisted in the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Stage would move to the next stage and start building a deployable product based on their MVP. The teams will also be facilitated with the mentorship workshop for guidance on further development. The time allocated for building deployable product from the start of this stage is 12 weeks.
Startups have to submit product code as well as documentation on the grand challenge portal. Final product developed by these startups will be evaluated by the jury panel.
The winning team will be awarded a prize money of Rs 1 crore. Furthermore, first and second runner up will receive prize money of Rs 60 lakh and Rs 40 lakh respectively.
