The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) and the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) have jointly announced a national hackathon to identify tools for the safe use of 5G technology by police during the sensitive dealings. A curtain-raiser to the exercise, name Vimarsh-2023, was conducted by BPRD and I4C.
The BPRD functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs as the central police think tank. The aim of the hackathon is to develop tools for addressing the challenges and issues being faced by law enforcement agencies (LEAs).
In this hackathon, nine problem statements have been formulated and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) with its subsidiary Telecom Centre of Excellence (TCoE) have collaborated with BPRD to conduct the exercise with students, startups, and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The hackathon will have three stages of idea screening: stage one and two will be virtual, while stage three will be held at nodal centres in physical mode, where 5G testbeds/private networks/labs will be available.
Furthermore, the winner of each problem statement will receive Rs 150,000 during the event’s valedictory ceremony in February, 2024. The government has earmarked Rs 250,000 for productisation of winning ideas/proof of concepts (POCs), which will lead to further funding to obtain workable tools/solutions for the usage of the LEAs.
