Germans seek Indian IT cyber fighters

May 28, 2015

http://www.asianage.com/business/germans-seek-indian-it-cyber-fighters-353

German defence minister Ursula von der Leyen said the highlight of her discussions with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was cyber terrorism.

The minister who was speaking in Mumbai at a meeting organised by Gateway House, a think tank, said India’s talent pool in the IT sector has made the task of fighting cyber terrorism more realisable.

She also explained, on a suggestion of Satrupt Mishra, chief executive, Carbon Black and director, HR, Aditya Birla group that there should be cooperation between academia and small business, that in Germany in the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector , the workers go for vocational training during a week, so that they are skilled for the job they are doing. It is man-driven education, she said adding “this is what small and medium enterprises need for the future.

Elaborating on cyber terrorism, Dr von der Leyen, said that every business is prone to cyber attacks including the army IT infrastructure. The more highly developed a country is, the more vulnerable it is, she said.

The company’s prosperity and wealth is dependent on how capable it is of defending itself against cyber attacks.

She called for “closer collaboration on cyber terrorism.”

Mr Raghu Raman, president, risk,security and new ventures, Reliance Industries , was sceptical as to whether India could absorb the offset base that is required in manufacturing, specially in defence production.

He said what was needed was to bring in technical expertise.

“The main challenge is high-end talent in welding and chemical engineering. This is an opportunity for Germany to possibly collaborate in human resources. Training should be completed in eight months,” he said.

Master welders, he said, could fuel this offset policy. The minister was open to the idea.