Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is going to launch DefConnect 2024 in New Delhi tomorrow to promote indigenous defence innovation. DefConnect 2024 represents a significant milestone in the country’s defense innovation landscape, bringing together key stakeholders including the Armed Forces, defense industry leaders, start-ups, academia, and policymakers.
The event aims to facilitate meaningful interactions, showcase cutting-edge technologies, and is poised to be a transformative platform for fostering collaboration, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the defense sector. A large number of innovators and investors from India’s leading industries in the defence sector will be attracted to the event.
The event is being organized by Innovations for Defence Excellence-Defence Innovation Organization (iDEX-DIO), under the aegis of the Department of Defence Production. The iDEX framework allows military personnel to work with innovators in a co-development model.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s iDEX launch in 2018 provides a unified platform for various stakeholders in the defence and aerospace sectors. It acts like an umbrella organisation to oversee technology development and potential collaborations in this specific field.
Taking the spirit of the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative forward, the Department of Military Affairs is conducting an intensive ”Brainstorming” on March 4-5 between the Service Headquarters and important stakeholders from the Department of Defence Production, Defence Industry representatives and other relevant partners.
The implementable way forward derived from consultative and participative processes through high-level deliberations to provide impetus to indigenisation and also devise ways and means to enhance participation of private industry in defence R&D and manufacturing ecosystem will be the key takeaways, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Sunday.
Gen Anil Chauhan, the Chief of Defence Staff, will be in charge of the sessions, and Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane will give the keynote speech. The event covers a wide canvas ranging from identification of challenges and evolving a way ahead to provide impetus to indigenisation efforts of armed forces, address sustenance-related issues, invigorate private sector participation in defence R&D and manufacturing ecosystem and most importantly create and enhance Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul facilities for the Armed Forces.
The event will see the participation of key representatives from the Ministry of Defence, Services, and Industry under one roof to further strengthen indigenization efforts. This will pave the way to formulate a time-bound action plan to give impetus to indigenization in the defense sector.
