Research
IIDS
Research
- Research Projects
- Ongoing Projects
- Capstone Project Reports
- Opinion Pieces
- IIDS – funded Research Projects
Research Projects
Post-Quantum Cyber Security Considerations for Financial and Banking Industry
Quantum computing poses a growing threat to current cryptographic systems, with urgent implications for India’s Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sector. This study, based on responses from 118 CISOs and CTOs, reveals low preparedness for quantum risks—despite widespread concern about their near-term impact. Key vulnerabilities include limited awareness of Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) and lack of migration planning.
To address this, the study proposes a quantum-resilient PQC migration framework designed for minimal disruption and long-term security. It also calls for immediate policy action, industry collaboration, and capacity building. The findings underscore the need for a quantum-ready cybersecurity strategy to protect India’s financial infrastructure.
Fact-Checking India: Identifying the Spread of Fake News and Policy Recommendations for Combating Misinformation
Prof. Manish Gangwar, Prof. Arani Roy, Dr. Shruti Mantri, Vineet Kumar
The study examines the alarming rise of fake news and deepfake technologies in India. It highlights social media as the primary vector for misinformation, offering a deep dive into user behavior and the broader societal impact of digital falsehoods. Beyond identifying the problem, the report provides actionable policy recommendations to curb the spread of misinformation, emphasizing the urgent need for stronger safeguards to protect information integrity in the digital age.
Telecom SIM Subscription Fraud: Global Trends, Risk Assessments, and Recommendations
Prof. Manish Gangwar, Dr. Shruti Mantri, Stephen Raveendra, IPS, Kalmeshwar Shingnevar, IPS
Subscription fraud remains a pressing challenge in the telecom sector, with identity theft and fraudulent SIM activations posing serious security and financial risks. A recent IIDS study, conducted in collaboration with the Telangana State Police Center of Excellence for Cyber Security, examines global fraud trends and assesses the effectiveness of risk mitigation strategies. The report advocates a multi-layered, risk-based approach to identity verification, leveraging intelligent analytics, predictive decision policies, and knowledge-based authentication for real-time fraud detection and regulatory compliance. The Key recommendations include strengthening online identification methods through phone authentication, address validation, and one-time password verification. These insights aim to help law enforcement and telecom providers enhance security frameworks and combat subscription fraud more effectively.
The Piracy-Malware Nexus in India: A Perceptions and Experience and Empirical Analysis
Dr. Paul A Watters, Dr. Shruti Mantri, Prof. Manish Gangwar
A recent IIDS study uncovers the strong link between digital piracy and cyber threats in India, revealing that consumers vastly underestimate the risks. Through surveys and empirical analysis using Google’s VirusTotal, the study found that while users perceive piracy sites as only twice as risky as mainstream websites, actual malware exposure is up to 15 times higher. Young adults (18-24) emerged as the most vulnerable group, engaging in risky online behavior with low awareness of cybersecurity threats. The findings highlight the urgent need for stricter enforcement against piracy syndicates and targeted awareness campaigns to educate consumers—particularly younger users—on the hidden dangers of piracy sites and how to adopt safer digital habits.
Un-Reported Crime Against Women: Data Based Insights and Recommendations
This research examines violence against women in India by comparing official NCRB data with crowdsourced reports from Safecity, highlighting the widespread issue of underreporting. Focusing on Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad, it explores gaps in reporting crimes such as ogling, stalking, and sexual assault while assessing the effectiveness of current safety measures. The study advocates for better reporting systems, stronger legal protections against digital crimes, the use of technology for real-time support, and greater community involvement to shift societal attitudes. It also calls for ongoing research and policy adaptations to address the evolving nature of gender-based violence.
The Role of Classed Wording in Perpetuating Class-Based Inequalities in the Workplace
Professor Pooja Mishra
Despite extensive research efforts to understand the origins of class-based inequalities in the workplace, there remains to be a greater understanding of the institutional-level mechanisms contributing to reinforcing these disparities. Previous studies have focused on individual-level factors such as self-selection into specific occupations, lack of proactive behaviour, and low self-efficacy. In this project, investigators researched the influence of a crucial institutional-level context, namely the hiring process, on the challenges individuals from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds face when attempting to enter high-status occupations. They proposed that using classed wording, characterized by terminology aligning with the independent norms of upper socio-economic strata, represents a new mechanism contributing to existing class-based inequalities in the workplace.
The Economics of Peer Credit in the Token Economy
Sharma V., Jindal P., & Kumar V. (2026)
Can credit itself drive a marketplace's growth? A study of financing on the NFT platform Blur finds that it can, primarily by deepening engagement among existing users rather than acquiring new ones.
Every day, millions of transactions flow across digital platforms, forming vibrant marketplaces where buyers and sellers meet. From e-commerce and ride-sharing to digital-asset exchanges, these platforms constantly experiment with ways to drive engagement, lift transaction volumes, grow their customer base and defend their competitive position. Discounts, rewards and loyalty programmes are the regular go-to levers of platform growth, but of late, finance itself is being explored to catalyse platform growth.
AI Summaries in Search and Their Impact on Publisher Traffic
Agarwal S., & Sen, A.
When Google answers the question for you, do you still click through to the websites that supplied the answer? A field experiment with more than 1,000 users finds that AI-generated summaries cut organic clicks by around 39.8% — without making search any more satisfying.
For most of the history of web, search has run on a basic caveat: search engines help users find information and the websites that carry it, and those websites receive traffic in return. Every click was a visitor, an opportunity to earn advertising revenue, attract subscribers and build an audience.
Ongoing Projects
TSRTC
The Dynamic Reallocation Project is designed to make bus services more efficient by redistributing underutilized buses from less crowded routes to those experiencing higher demand, all within the same timeframe. By analyzing real-world data on ridership patterns, operational costs, and route specifics, the project seeks to develop a strategic framework that eases congestion without compromising service reliability. With a focus on data-driven scheduling and demand forecasting, the initiative aims to improve passenger convenience, minimize inefficiencies, and offer practical solutions for better public transport management.
Mule Account Detection Using Machine Learning Models
This study analyzes the account opening process for savings and current accounts in Indian banks, as per RBI guidelines, to identify patterns that distinguish genuine users from cybercriminals. The goal is to enhance fraud detection and reduce false rejections.
Dr. Avik Sarkar has leveraged Data Science to analyze drug delivery trends across public health centers in Punjab, submitting a report to the Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC). Additionally, he conducted a study on Punjab's health insurance claims, presenting his findings to the Punjab Development Corporation (PDC).
Reimagining Road Infrastructure Monitoring with AI
This project demonstrates how AI, computer vision and geospatial intelligence can transform road infrastructure management by automating the detection, classification and prioritization of road damage for faster, evidence-based maintenance decisions. By integrating deep learning, depth estimation and geospatial analytics into a scalable monitoring platform, it provides a practical framework for enabling predictive maintenance, improving resource allocation and supporting safer, more transparent and data-driven public infrastructure governance.
The Economics of Peer Credit in the Token Economy
Can credit itself drive a marketplace's growth? A study of financing on the NFT platform Blur finds that it can, primarily by deepening engagement among existing users rather than acquiring new ones.
Every day, millions of transactions flow across digital platforms, forming vibrant marketplaces where buyers and sellers meet. From e-commerce and ride-sharing to digital-asset exchanges, these platforms constantly experiment with ways to drive engagement, lift transaction volumes, grow their customer base and defend their competitive position. Discounts, rewards and loyalty programmes are the regular go-to levers of platform growth, but of late, finance itself is being explored to catalyse platform growth.
AI Summaries in Search and Their Impact on Publisher Traffic
When Google answers the question for you, do you still click through to the websites that supplied the answer? A field experiment with more than 1,000 users finds that AI-generated summaries cut organic clicks by around 39.8% — without making search any more satisfying.
For most of the history of web, search has run on a basic caveat: search engines help users find information and the websites that carry it, and those websites receive traffic in return. Every click was a visitor, an opportunity to earn advertising revenue, attract subscribers and build an audience.
Data-Driven Lead Segmentation & Personalized Marketing Optimization
This project demonstrates how data science, customer intelligence and strategic marketing can work together to optimize customer acquisition, improve conversion performance and drive scalable growth in the digital learning ecosystem. By combining machine learning-driven B2C customer segmentation and lead scoring with a structured B2B market entry and positioning strategy, the project provides a practical blueprint for enhancing operational efficiency, strengthening market presence and enabling sustainable business expansion.
Kumar S., Ghai A., Sharda K., Shah M., Chauhan O.A. and Nitturkar S.
This project demonstrates how AI, computer vision and geospatial intelligence can transform road infrastructure management by automating the detection, classification and prioritization of road damage for faster, evidence-based maintenance decisions. By integrating deep learning, depth estimation and geospatial analytics into a scalable monitoring platform, it provides a practical framework for enabling predictive maintenance, improving resource allocation and supporting safer, more transparent and data-driven public infrastructure governance.
Agrawal S., Jayant K., Lalani D., Nagulapalli L., Ranjan R. and Sinha G.
This project demonstrates how data science, customer intelligence and strategic marketing can work together to optimize customer acquisition, improve conversion performance and drive scalable growth in the digital learning ecosystem. By combining machine learning-driven B2C customer segmentation and lead scoring with a structured B2B market entry and positioning strategy, the project provides a practical blueprint for enhancing operational efficiency, strengthening market presence and enabling sustainable business expansion.
This project aims to enhance patient care through a sophisticated conversational chatbot, leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs), voice recognition, multilingual support, and Knowledge Graphs.
As ESG practices gain momentum in corporate strategies, so do concerns about misleading claims. This project delves into Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reports (BRSR) from Indian companies, uncovering how to differentiate genuine sustainability efforts from deceptive practices.
Despite global agreements like the Paris Accord, many companies struggle to turn pledges into real environmental action. F.O.R.C.E. - Framework for Organizational Response to Climate Engagement introduces an AI-driven solution to ensure SEBI-mandated BRSR reports are compliant and truly reflective of sustainable impact.
IIDS – funded Research Projects
Financing Token Economy: Peer Credit and Platform Outcomes
Jindal, P., Sharma, V. and Kumar, V. (2026) Financing the Token Economy: Peer Credit and Platform Outcomes.
This research examines how platform financing can serve as a strategic growth lever in digital marketplaces. This it does by demonstrating that Buy-Now-Pay-later (BNPL) transactions can increase the volume and platform revenue by stimulating user demand rather than inflating prices. The study uses evidence from the NFT marketplace Blur to obtain insights into how financing deepens engagement among existing users, encourages higher-value transactions and provides a viable monetization strategy for multi-sided digital platforms.
Effects of Disabling Infinite Scrolling on Digital Behavior and Well-being in Social Media Use
Agarwal S. and Sen A., Effects of Disabling Infinite Scrolling on Digital Behavior and Well-being in Social Media Use
Through large-scale field experiment, this study examines how AI-generated search summaries are reshaping the economics of the web by reducing user’s reliance on external websites while leaving overall search satisfaction largely unchanged. The study highlights the growing shift from search engines as gateways to destinations, raising pertinent questions about sustainability of online content creation, publisher revenues and the balance between AI-driven convenience and a robust digital ecosystem, in future.