New Delhi, May 5 (AHN) The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU) on Tuesday joined hands to establish a structured, five-year collaboration in the domains of digital forensics, cybersecurity, and advanced technology research.

The collaboration will focus on six strategic pillars -- academic and professional development, information security and system integrity, forensic infrastructure and lab excellence, technical support for cyber security activities, technical advisory and research including join research in emerging areas like AI, blockchain, deepfake detection, and cryptographic technologies etc, and strategic placement and outreach including a pathway for placement and outreach opportunities for NFSU students.

“The memorandum of understanding provides an umbrella framework for collaboration and brings together two key national institutions to further strengthen cyber resilience across UIDAI’s digital infrastructure, which underpins India’s digital identity ecosystem,” IT Ministry said on Tuesday.

“This collaboration marks a significant step towards further strengthening the security, resilience, and forensic capabilities supporting India’s digital public infrastructure and ensuring further safeguards for India’s digital identity systems,” said Vivek Chandra Verma, CEO, UIDAI.

The MoU ceremony was attended by Abhishek Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General of UIDAI, and several senior officials from both the sides.

Last month, UIDAI partnered MapmyIndia to enable display of authorised Aadhaar centres on its Mappls App to enhance convenience for residents.

Users can identify and access authorised Aadhaar centres based on the nature of services offered, like adult enrolment, child enrolment or only address and mobile update, the statement added.

MapmyIndia will integrate UIDAI-provided Aadhaar Centre information into the Mappls platform and ensure accurate representation, digital mapping and distinct listing of Aadhaar centres.

Earlier, UIDAI and US tech giant Google entered a similar partnership for display of authorised Aadhaar centres on Google Maps. Information related to centre accessibility, including features such as divyang-friendly infrastructure and availability of parking facilities, operating hours, will also be displayed wherever applicable, further enhancing convenience for residents, an official statement said.

—AHN

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