Industry leaders on Monday discussed ways to create a safe and positive online environment.

Abhishek Singh, CEO, MyGov and President & CEO (Additional Charge) National e-Governance Division (NeGD), Ministry of Electronics and IT, Govt of India, today during the inaugural address said that in order to be safe while using internet, we require a coordinated effort by all concerned stakeholders.

Speaking at FICCI's Safer Internet Initiative, Singh said, "Only laws will not be enough. This will require joint efforts by the industry, civil society and together it can be achieved. Awareness creation is necessary amongst stakeholders." The conference themed "Together for a Safer and Better Internet", was organised by FICCI, supported by UN Women and TikTok.

Singh highlighted that the government is taking a series of steps to ensure that government digital systems are safe and secure. "This would require building secure systems, ensuring right audits are done, and public data handling systems are made as secure as possible," he added.

He also laid special emphasis on cyber training of the government officials and said that government has already launched 'Cyber Surakshit Bharat Scheme' to impart trainings to officials.

"Under this program, almost 600 govt officials are already trained and there is plan of training another 600 officials to ensure all government departments wherever their services are being offered are handled in a much safer and better way. An online course for training 1000 police personnel in Cyber Law & Cyber Forensics is being launched in partnership with NLIU Bhopal," he added.

Subi Chaturvedi, Head - TikTok For Good India said, "TikTok For Good is our long-term commitment to contribute to the larger social betterment. As internet penetration continues to grow at a rapid pace across India, there is a need to sensitize and educate " people about responsible online behaviour for their own safety. As part of this we look to work continuously with all stakeholders, be it the Government, Industry, Academia and civil-society, to a common goal of moving together for a better Internet."

Nishtha Satyam, Deputy Country Representative, UN Women, said "Online safety involves a host of stakeholders to work together to build a safe and secure environment especially for women."

Virat Bhatia, Chairman, ICT and Digital Economy Committee said, "FICCI is committed and will be delighted to work with Government of India, Industry and other stakeholders for the development of safer internet ecosystem in India."

An engaging session on ?'Safer Internet - Understanding the Role, and Responsibility for Safer and Better Internet' was also organised. 

Swati Rangachari, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Sterlite Technologies, and Prof (Dr) Farhat Basir Khan, AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Milia Islamia University also shared their perspective on how creating a safe and positive online environment is a shared responsibility of internet companies as well as users.