Master Program in Information Security, National Chengchi University

"The Information Security Center at National Chengchi University (NCCU) officially inaugurated on February 20, 2024, with the Center's Director, Raylin Tso, hanging the center's nameplate and attended by Assistant Professors Yi-Fan Tseng and Shi-Sheng Sun from NCCU.   The NCCU Information Security Center, backed by the fields of humanities, law, and business, integrates financial technology applications in information security, focusing on issues related to information security under financial technology. To promote interdisciplinary connections in information security research within NCCU, understand the needs and trends of the industry and academia, the center acts as a platform for collaboration and exchange in cross-disciplinary applications of information security. It aims to enhance national information security capabilities through “research and development,” “international cooperation,” “industry-academia collaboration,” and “talent cultivation” as its four major goals."

Reported by Wenshin Tsai, University News 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.

College of Informatics News   Following the joint effort of hosting the “AI Machine Learning and Data Analysis Professional Training Program” with Chunghwa Telecom a few days ago, NCCU signed another memorandum of understanding with Chunghwa Telecom this morning (July 13) to form a collaborative relationship for industry-academia interdisciplinary talent cultivation. The goal of the collaboration is to cultivate outstanding interdisciplinary professionals and form a closer connection and more effective interaction between industry and academia through collaborative research projects, corporate internships, exchange of personnel, and other initiatives.   NCCU’s College of Informatics and the Interdisciplinary Artificial Intelligence Center (IAIC) have recently collaborated with Chunghwa Telecom to jointly plan and host the “AI Machine Learning and Data Analysis Professional Training Program.” The purpose was to assist Chunghwa Telecom in cultivating interdisciplinary talents specializing in AI data analysis technology and to introduce to the university the current status of AI development in the industry. The program hopes to decrease the gap between industry and academia and to strengthen the instructional and research connections between the two. The joint AI training program has been implemented smoothly, and its effectiveness has begun to show. NCCU has been actively connecting with industry resources. These bases, coupled with the trends of a substantial increase in the number of projects commissioned by Chunghwa Telecom, the expansion of 5G smart applications, and the surge in demand for big data analysis, prompted the two parties to quickly reach a consensus to deepen their industry-academia collaborative relationship.   At the signing ceremony, NCCU President Dr. Tsai-Yen Li spoke about the establishment of NCCU’s College of Informatics as a result of the rapid development of digital technology in recent years. He envisions NCCU becoming a laboratory for digital empowerment that not only strengthens the digital infrastructures and actively develops digital learning, but also leverages AI-based innovative techniques and methods to bring new momentum to the university’s instruction, research, and administration. The current collaboration between NCCU and Taiwan’s telecommunication industry leader—Chunghwa Telecom—is expected to bring tremendous benefits to the cultivation of talents in interdisciplinary fields across liberal arts, social sciences, and digital technology. This industry-academia collaboration focuses on five major areas: artificial intelligence, digital content, information security, network and information systems, and startup incubation. These will be promoted through coursework, summer internships, research projects, etc. This approach will allow students to understand the current state of the industry, explore future career aspirations, and greatly increase their chances of employment immediately after graduation. It will also enable companies to increase their internal technical capacities through exchanges of knowledge and forward-looking research with the university, creating a mutually beneficial, win-win relationship between the university and the industry.