Secretary of Dept of Defence Production, GoI, delivers lecture on Innovation for Defence Excellence at IIM-A

Ahmedabad: Secretary of Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, Government of India Dr Ajay Kumar today delivered a lecture – ‘iDex: Innovation for Defence Excellence’ and addressed the participants of the Armed Forces Programme (AFP) 2018, faculty members and other students of IIM Ahmedabad here today.

Dr Kumar, a senior IAS officer, 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 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.

He was accompanied by Mr Sanjay Jaju, Joint Secretary, Defence Production, Government of India and Shri Mudit of Atal Innovation Mission.

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.

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