Gandhinagar: To strengthen digital security and data protection, Indian Highways Management Company Limited (IHMCL), a company promoted by NHAI, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU), a Government of India Institution of National Importance headquartered in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, to foster collaboration in the fields of research, training, and consultancy, particularly in cyber forensics, digital evidence integrity, and advanced technological applications relevant to national highway management.

The MoU aims to facilitate mutually beneficial academic and research-oriented cooperation between the two government bodies to enhance knowledge creation, technological resilience, and institutional capacity building. The collaboration will contribute towards strengthening cybersecurity frameworks and forensic reliability in critical national highway operations and digital platforms.

Under the MoU, NFSU will provide technical guidance and support to IHMCL for the development of laboratories equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, including CCTV, multimedia analysis, audio-video analysis, and digital as well as cyber forensics laboratories.

In addition, the University will support IHMCL in strengthening cyber resilience and evidence integrity by providing specialized training programmes in cyber and digital forensics, multimedia analysis, and related domains.

The MoU will focus on enhancing collaboration in areas such as Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF), Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS), Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), Traffic Management Systems (TMS), and Weigh-in-Motion (WIM). Identified areas also include secure camera-based imaging systems, encrypted data storage and retrieval, cybersecurity reviews of critical applications, evidence integrity and forensic reliability, scientific improvement of imaging accuracy, and the establishment of Security Operations Centre (SOC) services and forensic validation laboratories.

Both organizations will also undertake joint research, development, and consultancy projects in mutually agreed areas. A coordinator will be nominated by each organization to oversee implementation and periodically review progress. The MoU will remain valid for a period of three years. DeshGujarat