The government plans to set up 25 Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) across the country over the next seven years.

They would be established under the Department of Science and Technology (DST) as centres of excellence for research, training and skilling in robotics, artificial intelligence, digital manufacturing, big data analysis and quantum communication.

CPS is an interdisciplinary field that deals with the deployment of computer-based systems in various areas such as smart grids, robotic systems and autonomous automobile systems. The CPS will be combination of small centres and research parks. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST, said, “Among the 25 centres, we will have a few research parks with an investment of ₹300 crore.”

The total outlay for the CPS programme will be in the range of ₹3,600 crore. Sharma spoke to BusinessLine on the sidelines of an industrial R&D and innovation event organised here on Wednesday.

“The details of the project, to be completed over a period of five to seven years, are currently being finalised,” Sharma added.

In addition to CPS, the government is collaborating with IIT-Kanpur on cyber security and cyber defence of critical infrastructure such as power grids, Sharma added.

The project will follow a multi-pronged and multi-layer approach involving different mechanisms such as crypto algorithms and protocols, vulnerability analysis of systems and application layer software, network and web security and use of machine learning for anomaly detection to fight persistent threats in the critical infrastructure.

comment COMMENT NOW