WISHING YOU A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR
RMA to DMA – Technologies Involved
Disruption
in Military Affairs (DMA) is here to stay.
The transition from RMA to DMA has started. The technologies involved
are many as shown in the graphic below. They are beyond the scope of a formal
organization like DRDO due to sheer diversity. The technologies are being mastered by young people who
do not understand the defense scenario very well. However, these young people
are fired up with knowledge and confidence that they can make a difference. This
ecosphere needs to be harnessed and its knowledge channeled to make the difference
for the Armed Forces so that we can cope with the change in the way wars are
being fought. The startup world has this repository of young unbridled knowledge
cum enthusiasm.
Interaction on Startups
The Defense Forces Initiative. On 13 Aug 19. I participated at the national seminar on defense
startups. The COAS graced the event. His presence indicated that the Army was
serious about leveraging the power of startups to get cutting edge technologies
to work for defense. The sum of that
seminar was that there was a lot of enthusiasm about defense startups. However,
there was very little structure in place bar the IDEX platform of the MOD. That
is simply not enough. Something more must be done. Writing on the subject to
generate a wish list down as to how things should go forward would be theory
only. Some thing practical must happen.
Shaastra 2020
Initiative. The Defense Technology Summit of Shaastra 2020 was also
taking shape simultaneously. The students of IIT Madras were also very keen to
hold the Summit based on disruptive technologies. They were very enthusiastic
about holding a Seminar on Defense Startups which would help people get started
up. There was a sense that innovators who wanted to enter the field of defense were
inhibited by opacity. Around this time,
I realized that there is really no platform for all the startups to enter the
field of defense. That deficiency needed to be corrected,
To Register please visit – http://summit.shaastra.org/register |
Def- Connect 2109. On 11
November I9 during the Def- Connect 2019 I had an opportunity to interact with
quite a few startups. A young innovator was sitting next to me. He was from IIT
Delhi and was a winner of the earlier Defence Innovation Startup Challenge. I
bounced some ideas off him regarding the platform for defense startups. He
asked me a question – sir, where were these ideas three years back when I was
starting up? It convinced me that a platform for defense startups was needed.
IITM Research
Park. Interaction
with the IIT M Research Park, some startups already into the field of defense and the
Incubation Cell indicated that infrastructure and lot of promise for startups
already exists. There is world class infrastructure available there. Equally
there was lot of ground to cover if defense startups had to make a difference. Further
during the Army Technology Seminar, a question was put by a speaker to the largely
uniformed audience – ‘how many think that the Startups would be the ideal
vehicle to imbibe new technologies in the Army’. The answer was a near
unanimous ‘yes’ through a show of hands. It was time to start the startup
platform.
IITM Incubation Cell. The IITM
Incubation Cell coordinates and leverages the synergies in various strands of excellence
driving innovation and entrepreneurship at IIT Madras. It is host to cutting
edge research and has extensive industrial interactions. India’s first
university-driven Research Park has a stellar record of incubation
in rural, social and industrial technologies. It will now be the GO TO for
all defence startups which seek incubation. Already interactions have started
with the IDEX platform .
Shaastra 2020 – A Launch Platform
The
importance of Shaastra 2020 is that it has taken the Defence Startups outside Delhi
to plunge them into the real world where action can take place. That too by a
student organization outside the precincts of recognized the defence halo. To
kickstart the launch platform and to give startups an overview of the
technologies and requirements from experts in the field, the student organizers
of Shaastra 2020 have put together an interesting program which is given below.
As far as startups are concerned there is an interesting Panel Discussion slated on ‘Defence
Startup Ecosystem in India’ on 3rd
January 2020 between 11 am and 12:30 pm which will be followed by a networking
session.
The Panel. The panel
has a cross section of eminent personalities who can guide startups entering
the field of defence as under: -
· Lt. Gen. Raj Shukla, DG
Perspective Planning
· Shri Sanjay Jaju, Joint Secretary, DIP Wing,
MoD
· Mr. J. D. Patil, Wholetime
Director, L&T
· Gp Capt Sameer Joshi (retd),
Director, Newspace R&T
Issues to be Discussed. The various
issues which will be discussed are as under: -
- Startups in general and what are
the expectations are from a Defence Startup.
- Assistance
being provided to Defence Startups and the road map ahead.
- Opportunities,
schemes and facilities required/ provided.
- Technological
expectations from Defence Startups.
- Advice
to such startups and how to go about entering the field of Defence.
- Problems
and hurdles faced by a startup and measures to overcome them.
DefStart – the Web Platform for
Defence Startups (https://defstart.com/)
DefStart is a web-based platform based
out of IIT Madras for all startups which intend to enter the defence technology
ecosphere. The graphic explains as to how Defstart provides a platform for the
whole cycle from idea to a product. The platform will enable the transformation of an idea into an
indigenous defence product. It will aim to convert cutting edge
technologies into a weapon system or an ancillary which is part of another
project / program on a plug and play mode. It will enable people to ideate
better, assist in incubation through mentorship which has technical and
tactical acumen and help the startup to scale up. It will provide a two-way window for
the defence forces and the defence industry to project their problem statements
and for startups to get an idea about the requirements of defence forces. It will enable interaction with
field forces and visits to forward areas. It will enable Startups to show case
their products and ideas on the DefStart platform after registration. DefStart will also help Startups in
selecting a mentor of their choice from a panel. Defstart will also enable
interaction between Startups and Investors.
Mentors are central and critical to Defence
startups. They will have to nurture the idea into a product. Startups will by
and large find their technological mentors. However, the Defence Veterans are visualized
to be the backbone of mentorship for the startups. Mentors who want to get into
the Defence Start up scene are welcome to register. Any veteran from any
service can be a mentor from where he resides. Get on to the panel and operate
from your city of residence. As events unfold and requirements come up mentors will be assigned to Startups as per
needs.
This is only a beginning. DefStart
is also a startup and it will grow and evolve with all other startups. It will
be launched during the Shaastra 2020, on 03 Jan 20 in a skeletal form. Suggestions
are welcome for the services which are to be provided through this platform. We
would suggest that all defence oriented startups register on this platform. At
this point of time, it is a free to register platform. There will be costs in
the future as we evolve and the website and ecosystem stabilizes. However it will
not be a fully profit oriented platform.
Macro
Problem of Startups
Startups entering
the field of defence have two macro problems which need to be recognized and
attended to. The first is that they run on tight budgets and will need funding.
Unless some of their activities are funded and they are hand held for their activities the
conversion rate from idea to product will be near zero. The MOD and Defence
Industry will have to seriously think on this. Secondly, once a product is made
, the startups will not have the stamina to go through the DPP or DPM and its procedures.
If the startups must be made to go through the hoops of our myriad procedures
after product development, the MOD must be rest assured that all these products
and ideas will flow out of the country. Already foreign players are sniffing
around. In such a situation, we will end up paying N times more and N years
later for the same equipment.
Conclusion
In
conclusion all I can say is that the Defence Startup Ecosystem must be made
vibrant if we mean business as a nation. In the same breadth, we will welcome any suggestions and advise to make the ecosystem better. Please feel free to air your ideas.
Defence Tech Summit Itinerary
Day 1:
Defence Innovation through the years
|
||
Time
|
Event
|
Speakers
|
10:00
|
Inaugural
Keynote Lecture
|
Dr. V. K. Saraswat - NITI Aayog, Former Chief Scientific Advisor,
former DRDO Chairman
|
11:00
|
Panel
Discussion: Defence Startup
Ecosystem in India - The Way Forward
|
1.
Mr. Sanjay Jaju, Joint Secretary, DIP, MoD
2.
Gen Raj Shukla - DG PP - Indian Army
3.
Mr. JD Patil - Sr. Exec VP, L&T Defence
4.
Mr. Sameer Joshi - CEO NewSpace R&T
|
12:30
|
Networking Lunch
|
|
14:30
|
Lecture and Demonstration - BrahMos
|
Dr. Sudhir Mishra -
Distinguished Scientist and Director General (BrahMos), DRDO
|
15:45
|
UAV Exposition Lecture
|
Sqn Ldr V.S. Srinivasan
(Retd) - TASL
|
17:30
|
Defence Innovation Challenge Finals
|
Day 2:
Soldier-Tech and Counter-Terrorism
|
||
Time
|
Event
|
Speakers/Companies
|
09:00
|
Fireside Chat on Counter-Terrorism
|
Lt. Gen Sathish Dua
- Former Chairman of Integrated Defence Staff, CISC
|
10:15
|
Lecture: Systems Analysis and its
Applications in Indian Defence Systems
|
Dr. Chitra
Rajagopal - Distinguished Scientist & Director General (R&M), DRDO
|
11:30
|
Tech Demonstration
|
Data Patterns, Aadyah Aerospace
|
13:00
|
Lunch
|
|
14:30
|
Defence Expo Guided Tour
|
|
16:30
|
Lecture: Application of Modern
Technologies in Armoured Vehicles
|
Dr. V.
Balamurugan - Outstanding Scientist
and Director of CVRDE, DRDO
|
Day 3:
Disruptive Technologies in Defence
|
||
Time
|
Event
|
Speakers
|
09:00
|
Lecture: Information Warfare
|
Mr. Shrikant
Shitole - Sr. Director and Head, FireEye
|
10:30
|
Panel Discussion:
Disruption of AI in Defence Tech
|
1.
Lt. Col. Anant Bhatt - Faculty MCTE
2.
Dr. Upendra K Singh - Director, CAIR, DRDO
3.
Dr. Bala Bharadvaj, MD Boeing India Engineering &
Technology
|
12:30
|
Networking Lunch
|
|
13:45
|
Cyber Security Workshop
|
Payatu
Technologies
|
16:00
|
Cryptic Enigma Game
|
|
18:00
|
Prize Distribution for Enigma Competition
Closing Remarks - Dr. S Christopher - Former DRDO
Chairman
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Merci pour l'information utile. Votre article est bénéfique pour nous et pour ceux qui recherchent Journal Officiel pour Raison Sociale.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting. My thoughts:
ReplyDelete1. Startups work if they are solving real problems. I see you have an input as problems that the forces are facing. Please ensure these are fleshed out in detail as deeply as possible. Looks like you are open to new/disruptive ideas and that is good.
2. There are existing (startup) ecosystems. I suggest pitching to them. The biggest ecosystem is iSPIRT http://ispirt.in/ (I am an iSPIRT contributor and can help with connecting)
3. There is an initiative by MEITY to work with Startups. They are opening out the GEMS portal to startups. I suggest integrating with that.
The bottom line:
The Government / Defense can be a major enabler. Suggest watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFSPHfZQpIQ
What startups really need:
* A publicly stated list of problems that need to be solved. This will serve as a starting point.
* A sand box, support and funding to help them progress.
* A mechanism of capturing the knowledge of both successes and failures and disseminating them to future startups.
Essentially we need the Indian version of DARPA. We must learn from DARPA and get better.
* An ecosystem for deep-tech/def-tech startups and It looks like that is what Shastra seems to be doing. This is completely missing in India. Unfortunately, the startup ecosystem in India is hollow - it needs to be fixed, and urgently.
Best.