The event brought together leading defence experts, academic professionals, and industry leaders to address the challenges and opportunities in shaping India's defence technology landscape. With a focus on fostering collaboration between academia and industry, the event sought to bridge gaps and develop homegrown solutions tailored to India's unique defence challenges.
“This TECH TALK marks an important milestone in our mission to bridge the gap between innovation and application in the defence sector. The insights and strategies discussed today will contribute significantly to strengthening India’s defence infrastructure and technological self-reliance,” said Mr. Lalit Ambastha, Co-Founder, IP Bazzaar.
The highlight of the event was the panel discussions titled “Strategy Field” and “Battlefield”. These sessions focused on promoting R&D activities, addressing specific challenges within defence technologies, and encouraging industry-academia partnerships to drive innovation. The discussions emphasised the need for Indigenous solutions to advance the “Make in India” initiative and enhance India's global competitiveness in the defence sector.
Major General (Dr) Ashok Kumar (Retd), VSM, Director General, CENJOWS, underscored the urgency of staying ahead in defence technology. “We must catch up with the evolving def-tech by collaborative efforts of all stakeholders,” he noted.
Cmde (Dr) Arun Pratap Golaya (Retd), VSM, emphasized the need for a renewed approach to innovation. “Identifying actionable measures in a different manner from what India is doing till date is crucial to achieving excellence in def-tech innovations in-house,” he stated.
Air Vice Marshal Rajiva Ranjan VM (Retd), Ex-Asst. Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, highlighted the integration of emerging technologies into defence systems and the need to reform academic curricula to foster research. He also called attention to taxation policies affecting India’s defence technology development.
Prof. Prabhat Ranjan, Vice Chancellor, D Y Patil International University, stressed the role of academic institutions in building a robust defence R&D ecosystem, while other panellists highlighted the importance of strengthening India’s cybersecurity and AI domains to provide holistic defence mechanisms for citizens.
Mr. Naveen Coomar, President – RIPA, who moderated the discussions, stressed the transformative role of intellectual property in achieving India’s economic aspirations. “Building a robust IP ecosystem can be a transformative step toward achieving the goal of becoming the third-largest economy for Bharat,” he said.
The event explored avenues for technology transfer and collaborations with global companies to bolster India’s defence capabilities. By encouraging international partnerships, the initiative aimed to integrate global best practices with indigenous innovations, paving the way for India’s leadership in defence technology.
The event also witnessed participation from distinguished delegates from leading academic and industry institutions, including IIT-Delhi, IIT-Bhilai, IIT-BHU, NLU-Assam, Lifeline Security, Polaris Solutions, Hughes Systique, IOTA, Trackpack Innovation and others.
By uniting stakeholders across academia, industry, and defence, the event laid a strong foundation for advancing self-reliance in defence technologies, furthering India’s vision of a globally competitive and technologically advanced defence ecosystem.
