New Delhi: The government on Wednesday launched the ‘Cyber Security Grand Challenge 2.0’ (CSGC 2.0) with a total prize money of Rs 6.85 crore, more than doubling the amount from Rs 3.2 crore in the first edition.
The initiative will provide mentorship, capability-building and market access to innovators, startups and budding entrepreneurs, aligning with the goals of Digital India, Atmanirbhar Bharat and Viksit Bharat.
A unique feature, the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of the product being developed as part of the challenge, will be owned by the respective startup.
The whole process of ‘CSGC 2.0’ will run under various stages wherein mentorship will be provided at each stage, said MeitY.
“The Cyber Security Grand Challenge 2.0 is a major government-backed initiative with a significant amount of prize money of Rs 6.85 crore and a focus on recognising startups offering innovative cybersecurity solutions,” said S. Krishnan, Secretary, MeitY.
Under the Grand Challenge, participants need to create solutions around six defined problem statement areas.
Registration are now open till February 14, for innovative solutions in API Security, Data Protection, Wearable Privacy, Clone App Mitigation, AI Threat Detection, and Biometric Security.
“I hope the participants and winners will lead change and bring out home grown innovative security solutions to empower India’s digital journey,” he added.
The challenge features an additional stage, the ‘Go-to-Market’ stage, in addition to three stages namely Idea, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), and Final Product Stage.
It expands the scope of recognition by qualifying six startups for each problem statement at the Idea Stage, resulting in a total of 36 startups recognised in the early stage receiving Rs 5 lakh each, and 18 startups receiving Rs 10 lakh each at the Minimum Viable Product stage.
At the Final Stage, winners will be declared for each of the 6 problem statements receiving Rs 25 lakh each.
“After the Go-to-Market Stage, which is the final stage of the Grand Challenge, the Platinum Winner will receive a prize of Rs 1 crore, whereas Gold Winner and Silver Winner will receive Rs 50 lakh and Rs 25 lakh respectively,” said the ministry.
(IANS)
