The competence in software technology (CST) is a nation-wide examination conducted by C-DAC. (formerly known as National Centre for Software Technology (NCST)). 

C-DAC is a scientific society of the Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India. It has centres at Mumbai, Noida, Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mohali, Thiruvananthapuram with the headquarters at Pune.  C-DAC, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Electronics City, Bangalore centres function as Centres of excellence in the area of software technology and related computer science, providing high-level technical consultancy services to other organisations and offering high-quality continuing education programmes at their centres.

The examination is held once a year, normally around January-February. The CST examination tests a candidate for conceptual knowledge and practical skills. It is conducted in three different levels. i.e Level E, Level D and Level G.

The main objectives of CST are:

• To provide standardised scores to candidates which they can use while applying for employment in the IT industry
• To provide support to IT industry in identifying suitable candidates for recruitment
• To shortlist candidates for interviews, for employment at C-DAC, Mumbai, Electronics City Bangalore and other centres.
• To select students for C-DAC Mumbai and Electronics City, Bangalore’s post-graduate diploma courses i.e. PGDST (Post-Graduate Diploma in Software Technology) and FPGDST (Full-time Post-Graduate Diploma in Advanced Software Technology).
• To provide standardized scores to candidates seeking admission to post-graduate courses of other educational institutions