CAG, IIT Madras Launch Four-Month Online Certification Course in Digital Systems Audit

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) have officially launched a joint four-month online program titled Certification on Audit of Digital Systems (CADS).

Unveiled on August 27, 2026, by CAG K. Sanjay Murthy and IIT Madras Director Prof. V. Kamakoti, the initiative aims to build advanced competencies for auditing modern digital public infrastructure and enterprise information systems.

IIT Madras Launches Four-Month Online Certification Course: Overview

Developed in collaboration with IITM Pravartak Technologies Foundation, the CADS program is hosted on the Union Ministry of Education's SWAYAM Plus platform. The curriculum is structured into three progressive tiers: Foundation, Proficient, and Expert. The newly launched Foundation level comprises 45 hours of learning per module across six core domains. These domains cover Public Audit, Information Technology, Cybersecurity, Information Systems, Digital Public Platforms & Privacy, and Artificial Intelligence.

The program is open to working professionals, as well as anyone nationwide who is holding or pursuing an undergraduate degree. While the training is completely free for CAG officers, external learners can access the program at a nominal fee of ?2,000 per domain. For general learners, clearing the Public Audit domain is mandatory to unlock the subsequent technical modules.

Aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Credit Framework (NCrF), the course offers transferable academic credits. While the learning delivery is fully online, final evaluations will be managed via in-person, proctored computer-based tests to ensure academic integrity.

Future phases of the program will introduce an interactive cloud sandbox to simulate real-world government databases for the Proficient tier, alongside a mandatory on-campus immersion experience at IIT Madras for the Expert tier.