By C-DEP Team
New Delhi, July 27: The Centre for Digital Economy Policy Research (C-DEP) hosted a workshop on ‘Public Safety in the Digital Age’ at IIT Delhi on Wednesday.
Held in partnership with IIT Delhi and Axon Inc – a company focused on public safety technology, training, and software – the workshop explored measures to bolster public safety in times of rapid digital transformation.
The keynote speech at the event was delivered by Mr. OP Singh, former Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh. Mr. Singh highlighted the challenges faced by law enforcement agencies, including terrorism, cybercrime, and natural disasters, and called for innovative measures to strengthen public safety in digital age.
He said: “Notable achievements in technology including the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for analysing large amounts of data, such as CCTV surveillance footage, social media posts, and crime records to identify patterns and predict criminal activity, have been made.”
He also stressed that augmented reality (AR) can provide real-time contextual information to first responders during emergency situations, while gunshot detection systems employing sensors can alert law enforcement agencies of incidents.
Other dignitaries who spoke at the event included Dr. Geetam Tewari, Chair Professor TRIPP, IIT Delhi. She delivered a lecture on “Traffic Safety in India”. Dr Tewari said, “By automating and recording government information, a better understanding of the vehicles and victims involved in road accidents, mainly motorcycle owners and pedestrians, can be achieved.” She added that GIS mapping can be utilised to address the issue at hand.
Dr. Naresh Bhatnagar, Dean, R&D, IIT Delhi, underscored significant developments in personal protection equipment, including body armour and bulletproof jackets, aimed at enhancing the safety of officials stationed at the border. He mentioned various techniques and materials that could advance the safety and protection of the personnel on duty.
Rear Admiral Ankur Sharma, Director-General, Weapons and Electronics Systems Engineering Establishment (WESEE), highlighted incubation opportunities for indigenous innovations in the Indian Navy. He said various divisions within the Navy were dealing with combat and system integration, communication technologies at sea, and cybersecurity solutions.
Dr. RK Mitra, principal advisor to C-DEP, also addressed the workshop. He shared some real-life experiences on how some innovative experiments at the field level brought perceptible improvement in public safety.
Dr. Mitra cited examples of simple innovative softwares used by police departments in Meerut and Jaipur, enabling more effective law enforcement that led to improving public safety greater public satisfaction. He concluded. “