Kanad S.H.I.E.L.D. 2026: Ahmedabad City Police Opens a Cybersecurity Hackathon for Startups and Innovators
Ahmedabad City Police's Cyber Crime Branch has opened registration for Kanad S.H.I.E.L.D. 2026, a cybersecurity hackathon inviting startups, researchers and students to build real-world tools for policing and cybercrime investigation.
The Cyber Crime Branch of Ahmedabad City Police has opened registration for Kanad S.H.I.E.L.D. 2026, its flagship Cybersecurity Hackathon and Innovation Challenge. The event invites startups, individual innovators, researchers and students to build cutting-edge technology solutions for real-world cybersecurity and policing problems, under the theme "Cybersecurity for Public Safety." Registration is officially open now via the official Kanad S.H.I.E.L.D. website.
- Event: Kanad S.H.I.E.L.D. Cybersecurity Hackathon 2026 (Ahmedabad City Police Innovation Challenge)
- Organiser: Cyber Crime Branch, Ahmedabad City Police, Gujarat
- Theme: Cybersecurity for Public Safety — real-world solutions for challenges faced by law-enforcement agencies
- Who can apply: Registered startups, individual innovators and researchers, and doctoral / technical-course students
- How to enter: Register and submit a concise abstract (PPT / PDF / JPEG) of your approach, technical stack and prior cybersecurity work
- Selection: Expert jury shortlists the top 20 teams / participants (up to 100 individuals) for Phase 2
- Where: Cyber Crime Branch, Bungalow No. 15, Nr. IPS Mess, Dafanala Cross Road, Shahibaug, Ahmedabad 380004, Gujarat
- Register / details: kanadshield.com
What is Kanad S.H.I.E.L.D. 2026?
Kanad S.H.I.E.L.D. is a police-led innovation challenge that puts working cybercrime problems directly in front of the people who can build solutions for them. Rather than a generic hackathon, it is structured around concrete investigative and public-safety needs identified by the Ahmedabad City Police Cyber Crime Branch — from tracing cryptocurrency and detecting mule bank accounts to protecting children, women and senior citizens online. The stated goals are the identification and articulation of real-world cybercrime problems, and direct engagement between the cybersecurity industry and law-enforcement agencies.
The problem statements
Participants choose from a set of official problem statements published by the organisers. As listed on the challenge's problem-statements page, they include:
| Problem statement | Focus |
|---|---|
| CryptoTrack | Cryptocurrency investigation and forensics |
| Mule-account detection | Detection and analysis of mule bank accounts in cybercrime |
| IntelliBank | Smart bank-account analysis tool for financial investigation |
| Mobile Hygiene Guardian | Building a safer smartphone environment |
| SMIntelliTrack | Social-media monitoring tool for intelligence |
| VisionScan | Smart CCTV analysis system for investigation |
| Child safety platform | Cyber safety and protection platform for children |
| Senior-citizen safety platform | Cyber-aware safety and welfare platform for senior citizens |
| Women's safety platform | Cyber-integrated safety platform for women |
| Network & packet forensics | Forensics platform for cybercrime investigation |
| Open-ended smart policing | Open innovation platform for cybersecurity in policing |
Who can apply
The challenge is open to registered startups, individual innovators and researchers with technical expertise, and students in doctoral programmes or other technical courses. Teams and solo participants are both eligible. The organisers frame it as an opportunity to collaborate on national cyber-defence problems, validate tools in real-world scenarios, and connect with law-enforcement users and security professionals.
How to enter
- Register on the official site. Sign up through kanadshield.com and pick a problem statement that matches your expertise.
- Prepare your abstract. Upload a concise abstract (PPT, PDF or JPEG) outlining your problem-solving approach, your technical stack, and your previous work in the cybersecurity field.
- Jury evaluation. Submissions are assessed by an expert jury panel on the novelty of the idea, technical strength and feasibility.
- Phase 2 shortlist. The top 20 teams or participants — up to a maximum of 100 individuals — are shortlisted and officially notified to progress.
Why it matters
Direct collaboration between police and the cybersecurity industry is one of the more practical ways to close the gap between how fast cybercrime evolves and how quickly investigators can respond. The problem statements map closely to the fraud patterns dominating complaints today — cryptocurrency laundering, mule-account networks, and online harms to vulnerable groups — which makes this a rare chance for builders to put tools in front of the agencies that will actually use them. Government and police-run challenges of this kind also tend to be free to enter, lowering the barrier for students and early-stage startups.
Register and confirm the schedule
Registration is open now. Because the organisers had not published firm submission deadlines, event dates or award details on the site at the time of writing, intending participants should confirm the current timeline directly on the official Kanad S.H.I.E.L.D. website before applying. Updates are also posted on the Cyber Crime Branch's Instagram (@ahmedabadcybercrime).