New Delhi, Aug 12 (IANS) The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) signed an umbrella agreement with the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) for joint research and development (R&D) to further enhance the robustness, security and reliability of Aadhaar operations through data-driven innovations, the Ministry of Electronics and IT said on Tuesday.

The agreement will remain effective for five years, and it will cover areas such as fraud and anomaly detection, development of biometric liveness detection tools, identification of high-risk enrolment/update categories, improvements in biometric matching algorithms, and other priority areas as mutually decided.

The agreement was signed by the UIDAI’s Deputy Director General, Technology Centre, Tanusree Deb Barma, and the Indian Statistical Institute’s Bengaluru Centre chief Prof B. S. Daya Sagar, in the presence of UIDAI CEO, Bhuvnesh Kumar and Additional Secretary, Ministry of Programme Implementation, Puja Singh Mandol.

“Our collaboration with the Indian Statistical Institute is a step towards building advanced, secure, and citizen-centric innovation,” the UIDAI CEO said.

“This partnership brings together deep expertise in the field of statistics, technology and data-driven innovation,” Mandol said.

The Indian Statistical Institute is a premier academic and research institution under the ministry. It is known for its expertise in the areas of statistics, mathematics, computer science, and data science, with a proven track record in high-impact research.

Earlier, the government announced that the Aadhaar-based face authentication has doubled from 100 crore to 200 crore transactions in just 6 months.

Aadhaar face authentication lets Aadhaar holders verify their identity instantly, securely, and contactless anytime, anywhere, with no documents needed. On August 10, the UIDAI celebrated a landmark 200 crore transactions of face authentication, showcasing India’s rapid move towards seamless, secure, and paperless authentication, according to the IT Ministry.

The pace of adoption has been exponential. 50 crore transactions were recorded by mid-2024. The number doubled to 100 crore transactions in January 2025 in just about five months. In less than six months, this figure has again doubled, reaching the 200 crore milestone, the ministry said.

–IANS

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