The Hindu Business Line : Digital surveillance industry seen at $50 b by 2010

Dr N Seshagiri, Founder Director General of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and former special secretary to the Union Government, has proposed intensified digital surveillance to avert threats from terrorists and extremists.

He was speaking at a seminar on "Staying secure in Cyberspace" organised by the Cyber Society of India. For this, he said there was need to formulate a national policy. "There is a need to formulate a national policy on digital surveillance to effectively address the security concerns," he said.

Such a policy would also benefit the Indian electronics industry, he said. Quoting surveys, he said, turnover of the international surveillance industry was expected to reach $50 billion by 2010. The hardware devices included button cameras and nano technology devices. The policy, he said should therefore be taken by involving the domestic electronics industry as projection of the security industry. This he said would benefit the domestic industry, he added.

India, Mr Seshagiri said, had been subjected to terrorist attacks more frequently and longer than the US. "There are understandable anxieties and urgencies felt by the Indian government to deal with extremists and terrorists. We need to act quickly to limit the consequences or risk putting in motion forces that, over time, will erode our most fundamental freedoms."

Realising the existence of a high-tech terror industry, governments the world over are increasing investments in the digital surveillance and digital security technologies. Newer technologies like the Real Time Surveillance System, which provides a round-the-clock non-stop surveillance using motion detection technology, have been developed and are expected to hit the consumer market soon, he said.

NIC, he said, was already working towards electronic integration of three departments - passport, visa and immigration surveillance and control system. Each of the independent systems had already been operationalised. Movement of the data has also been tested, he added. Since the project was taken up on a template basis, integration could be taken up for data sharing for law enforcement purposes, he added.

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