To foster a new generation of professionals with interdisciplinary information competency and to lead innovation and development in liberal arts and social sciences, National Chengchi University (NCCU) officially established the College of Informatics in August 2021. In September 2022, the college received approval from the Ministry of Education to formally establish the Master's Program in Information Security for the 2023-2024 academic year. Subsequently, it officially established the Interdisciplinary Artificial Intelligence Center (IAIC) in January this year. In recent years, NCCU's rapid development in the field of information, together with the university's strong liberal arts and social sciences programs, has been actively cultivating future interdisciplinary talents to strengthen Taiwan's overall digital power.
NCCU has recently been awarded the 2023 Taiwan Academic Cybersecurity Center Grant by the National Science and Technology Council and became one of the few award-receiving universities that are not a member of the Taiwan Information Security Center (TWIST). The project’s principal investigator, Distinguished Professor Dr. Raylin Tso from the Computer Science Department, indicates that the IAIC will work on three main research areas: AI information security, zero trust architecture, and post-quantum cryptography. The center’s development will focus on fintech security. Thus, collaborations between the College of Informatics, College of Commerce, and College of Law will bring together each party’s research capacities and resources to develop the Information Security Center such that it is unique to NCCU and enhances the reputation of forward-looking research in cybersecurity technology in Taiwan.
“With the establishment of the College of Informatics, the Master's Program in Information Security, and the IAIC, NCCU has built up a substantial academic base and research capability in interdisciplinary information security research. There was no reason why NCCU should be absent from this project, which was what motivated me to apply for this grant at the time,” stated Dr. Tso. He also believes that while NCCU is not the strongest institution when compared with the seven TWISC members, including Academia Sinica, National Taiwan University, and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, “NCCU can leverage its strengths in liberal arts, law, and business and integrate them with applied information security in fintech to develop specialized and pivotal research that is distinct from that of other universities. This is our greatest advantage.” Dr. Tso also mentioned that he is currently engaged in post-quantum cryptography research along with Assistant Professor Yi-Fan Tseng in the Department of Computer Science; meanwhile, the Department of Management of Information Systems has several professors focusing on research in blockchain, AI cybersecurity, and zero trust. In addition to combining the cybersecurity expertise of professors from different NCCU departments, the project also involves collaboration with information security scholars from National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, National Taiwan Normal University, National Defense University, and Chung Yuan Christian University, to form an inter-university team to establish an international collaboration platform for information security research.
To meet the grant requirements, NCCU will establish the university-level “Information Security Center,” which is currently in the planning stage. Dr. Tso hopes that in the future, the center will collaborate with not only several closely related university departments but also NCCU’s FinTech Research Center, IAIC, and the Master’s Program in Information Security, to streamline the abundant academic resources within the university and to achieve interdisciplinary and diversified collaboration that focuses on fintech security. Dr. Tso also pointed out, “Information security in fintech is not limited to finance and technology; it is also related to law.” Therefore, the Information Security Center expects to collaborate with the College of Law faculty in the future. In addition to collaborations within the university, the center will also focus on inter-school and international collaborations in cybersecurity research through conferences, workshops, and forums. This will help strengthen international academic exchange, promote a global view of forward-looking cybersecurity issues, and increase Taiwan’s competitiveness and visibility at the international level.
“The future goal of the Information Security Center is to emphasize the integration of instructional resources and talent cultivation within the school, while actively seeking industry-academic collaboration externally,” said Dr. Tso. In addition to the three major areas of AI information security, zero-trust architecture, and post-quantum cryptography, he hopes that through participation in industry-academic collaboration, students will be provided with more internship opportunities, allowing them to better connect with the industry. This, in turn, will help realize the goals of talent development and sustainable research capacity, making Taiwan a global benchmark in cybersecurity technology and research.