IIT Kanpur, DBRAU Agra sign agreement for vocational cybersecurity programme across over 570 colleges

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur and C3iHub, has signed a tripartite agreement with Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University (DBRAU), Agra, formerly Agra University, and the Vivekanand Incubation Foundation (VIF) to launch a vocational cybersecurity programme for students across the university's affiliated institutions.

The programme is aimed at reaching more than 3 lakh students across over 570 colleges. It will be delivered entirely online and in Hindi, with the objective of making cybersecurity education more accessible to students, particularly those in semi-urban and rural areas who may face language barriers in accessing technical education in English.

The agreement was signed by Surendra Baswana, program director, C3iHub, and head, department of computer science and engineering, IIT Kanpur; Sanjay Chaudhary, director, IQAC and VIF, DBRAU; and Anil Gupta, director, UCC, DBRAU Agra.

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Cybersecurity programme to run online

Under the collaboration, C3iHub will develop and deliver the curriculum using IIT Kanpur's research and training expertise in cybersecurity. VIF will provide the administrative and technical infrastructure needed to deploy the courses at scale.

Alongside the vocational programme, DBRAU will establish a dedicated cybersecurity counselling cell (CCC) to help mitigate cybercrime incidents and provide prevention and support to students.

Anhu Rani congratulated the C3iHub and DBRAU Agra teams on the initiative and said, “Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University serves lakhs of students across 570+ colleges, and with that reach comes a responsibility to prepare them for the world they will actually work in."

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She further added, "Cybersecurity is no longer a specialised subject for engineers alone; it is a basic life skill. This partnership with C3iHub, IIT Kanpur, and the Vivekanand Incubation Foundation allows us to offer that skill to our students at scale, in their own language.”

Course to cover cyber safety topics

The course will cover areas including cybercrime and cyber hygiene, social media threats, identity theft, personal data leaks, women's and children's online safety, the dark web, cyber terrorism, and illegal activities.

Quizzes, workshops, and course feedback will form part of the programme. The course will also customise virtual labs to provide students with real-world, practical experience.

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The agreement signing ceremony was attended by IIT Kanpur director Manindra Agrawal and other guests Ashu Rani, vice chancellor, DBRAU, joined the event online. Vinay Kumar Pathak, vice chancellor, CSJMU and president of the association of Indian universities, was also present at the ceremony.