Govt Cuts Construction Budget for Cyber Security Academy by Rs. 3.5 Billion

The federal government will establish the country’s first National Cyber Security Academy (NCSA) at the cost of Rs. 1.5 billion.

The cost of the project was originally over Rs. 5 billion. However, due to the current economic situation, it has been reduced to Rs. 1,500 million, according to the official documents seen by ProPakistani.

An amount of Rs. 240 million from the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) will be added to this project, according to the documents. The Foreign Exchange Component of the project is Rs. 180 million, while Rs. 1,320 million will be funded through PSDP.

The project is sponsored by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan and is being executed by Air University Islamabad. The project will be completed in 36 months.

On November 23, 2021, the President of Pakistan successfully inaugurated NCSA, recognizing its national relevance and the dedication of the Government of Pakistan and HEC to achieve the academic goals of the National Cyber Security Policy 2021. The approval for the establishment of the NCSA is a significant step toward gaining control of a domain critical to Pakistan’s national security. Aside from producing and nurturing a professional workforce, the NCSA will strengthen Pakistan’s cyber security capabilities and serve as a stepping stone to further progress in the sector.

The National Cyber Security Academy built at Air University (AU) is anticipated to have cutting-edge academic facilities, highly competent human resources, and in-house industrial accommodation in the form of a Cyber Security Incubation and Business Centre.

The proposed project has four major components for development:

• A state-of-the-art building
• Advanced academic facilities and labs,
• In-house space for the cyber security industry
• Competent human resource

The academy will engage national and international experts to join as academics and researchers on permanent and part-time bases. The salient features of the proposal are given below:

• Offers undergraduate, postgraduate, diploma, and special hi-tech programs/courses in different domains of cyber security.
• Merge the existing AU cyber security department and information security department and development labs into NCSA.
• Establish a national cyber range and multiple security labs for training and next-generation research labs for advanced level R&D in specific domains for indigenous cyber security tools and technologies development.
• Provide a national platform to interact, train and synergize the strengths of existing cyber setups in the country.
• Create a certification setup for indigenous cyber security software/hardware tools, moreover, screening foreign products received in the country for key organizations.
• Collaborate with global leaders in cyber security for academic and entrepreneurship partnerships

Cyber Security Business Park

NCSA will facilitate the local Cyber Security industry and stakeholders meeting Cyber Security self-reliance objectives by having a strong R&D base of its own. This would result in the training and retention of highly qualified HR, thus completing the Cyber Security Ecosystem. This will support future design and technological activities of the Cyber Security industry in Pakistan.

NCSA will also create a desperately required bridge between academia and industry to further enhance R&D capabilities by realizing a dream of product-related research, the continuation of design activity in an academic institution, and access to R&D and technical knowledge bank of Cyber technologies.