Talk on Defence Innovation organised at IIM Ahmedabad

NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 21: A lecture on ‘iDex: Innovation for Defence Excellence’ was delivered by Dr Ajay Kumar, IAS, Secretary, Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, Government of India to address the participants of the Armed Forces Programme (AFP) 2018, faculty member and other students of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA).

The Armed Forces Programme is a six-months full-time Business Management course conducted by IIM Ahmedabad, specifically for selected officers of various branches of Army, Navy and Air Force who are transitioning into a second career after completion of their tenure in the services. These officers come with vast leadership experience and a variety of skills which are keenly sought after by the corporate sector.

He was accompanied by Mr Sanjay Jaju, Joint Secretary, Defence Production, Government of India and Shri Mudit of Atal Innovation Mission. In his talk, Dr Ajay Kumar stressed on the vital need for promoting indigenous capability in the defence sector. Outlining the scope of the Innovation for Defence Excellence (iDex) project initiated under the aegis of Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), he highlighted the establishment of Defence Innovation Fund (DIF) aimed at creation of an ecosystem to foster innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace by engaging the industry, MSMEs, start-ups, individual innovators, R&D institutions and the academia. He spoke about the provision of providing necessary assistance in terms of grants/funding and technical support would be provided to enable development of technologies with potential for adoption by Indian defence and aerospace sectors.

He spelt out the core objectives of the Defence Innovation Fund as facilitation of rapid development of new, indigenous, and innovative technologies and creation of a culture of engagement with innovative start-ups, to encourage co-innovation and co-creation for defence and aerospace sectors. iDex has invited interested participants of AFP to join them and to contribute to the to the success of this noble initiative taken up by the government.