Virendra Singh Rawat / Lucknow
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has collaborated with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur for developing indigenous digital payment solutions based on cutting edge technologies like blockchain.
Further, the partnership seeks to augment cybersecurity controls for NPCI and its subsidiaries’ products and services.
The two premier organisations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to “precipitate an array of collaborative efforts” through sharing knowledge on innovative ideas.
In recent years, IIT Kanpur has developed and executed several cyber security projects based on blockchain and other cutting edge technologies.
Now, IIT Kanpur will conduct informative sessions for NPCI personnel on cybersecurity and new trends in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), security product roadmaps, and distributed ledger technologies (DLT).
On its part, NPCI will offer internships to IIT Kanpur students for working on live projects. The domain-centric knowledge of IIT Kanpur is expected to aid NPCI in expeditiously executing the ever-evolving requirements of consumer-oriented offerings.
“IIT Kanpur has been at the forefront of developing secure and innovative solutions for digital transaction and storage of data. The Institute houses the C3i Hub dedicated to developing cyber security solutions and cyber physical systems. The collaboration with NPCI will pave the way for multi-disciplinary research and opportunities,” IIT Kanpur director Prof Abhay Karandikar said on Wednesday.
“The association provides an opportunity to develop advanced technical solutions that will provide customers with best-in-class and safer payments experience. It will usher in the development of a refined digital payments ecosystem which will further ameliorate any potential bottlenecks in the system,” NPCI chief information security officer (CISE) Antony Prakash said.
“IIT Kanpur has been paving the way for critical research and development in the field of cyber security and digital data privacy,” IIT Kanpur faculty, Computer Science & Engineering Department, and joint project director, C3iHub, Prof Sandeep K Shukla said.
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NPCI was incorporated in 2008 as an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India. It has contributed to transforming the payments landscape in India through a bouquet of retail payment products such as RuPay card, Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), BHIM Aadhaar, National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC FasTag) and Bharat BillPay.