DefConnect 2024: Collaboration and Innovation in India’s Defence Landscape

• It serves as a pivotal moment in India’s defence innovation landscape, uniting key stakeholders such as the Armed Forces, defence industry leaders, start-ups, academia, and policymakers.
• Aim: To facilitate meaningful engagements, showcase cutting-edge technologies and is poised to be a transformative platform for fostering collaboration, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the defence sector. 
  • To forge partnerships and tackle emerging security challenges.
• The event will attract a large number of innovators and investors from India’s leading industries in the defence sector.

About iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence):

• About: Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) is the operational framework of the Defence Innovation Organization (DIO), to support innovation for Indian Defence, and create pathways for adoption of technologies in the Indian armed services, as well as seeding India’s future Defence enterprises.
• Launch: iDEX was launched by the Government of India in April 2018 as part of the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) initiative under the Defence Ministry’s Department of Defence Production.
• Aim: To foster innovation and technology development in the Indian defence sector by engaging with startups, MSMEs, and academia to address defence and aerospace challenges.
• Objective: To create an ecosystem that encourages innovation and facilitates the development of cutting-edge technologies and solutions for the Indian defence industry.
• Funding: iDEX receives funding from the Ministry of Defence to support various innovation challenges, prototype development, and technology demonstration projects.

About iDEX-Prime: Private Sector Innovation for Advanced Defence Technologies in India

• Launch: iDEX-Prime was launched by the Government of India in 2019 as a sub-initiative of iDEX to engage with the private sector and encourage participation from Indian corporates and industry giants in defence innovation.
• Aim: To leverage the capabilities and resources of the Indian private sector to drive innovation and develop advanced technologies and products for the defence and aerospace sectors.
• Objective: To establish collaborative partnerships between the government, private sector, and academia to co-create innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of the Indian armed forces.
• Funding: iDEX-Prime receives funding from the Ministry of Defence, and participating private sector companies contribute investments and resources towards collaborative research, development, and innovation projects.

About DIO (Defence Innovation Organisation): Fostering Collaboration for Technological Advancements

• About: Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) is a Section 8 company formed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), both Defence Public Sector Undertakings. DIO implements the iDEX framework, which acts as a bridge between the requirements of the Armed Forces and the solution providers.
• Launch: iDEX-DIO was launched as a collaborative platform under the Defence Ministry’s Department of Defence Production to promote innovation and technology development in the Indian defence ecosystem.
• Aim: The aim of iDEX-DIO is to facilitate collaboration between the government, industry, startups, and academia to address defence and aerospace challenges through innovation and technology-driven solutions.
• Objective: To establish an integrated innovation ecosystem that fosters entrepreneurship, accelerates technology development, and enhances the competitiveness of the Indian defence industry on a global scale.
• Funding: iDEX-DIO receives funding from the Ministry of Defence to support various initiatives, including innovation challenges, technology incubation programs, and capacity-building activities aimed at promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in the defence sector.

SPARK or Support for Prototype & Research Kickstart (in Defence): Igniting Innovation in Defence Startups

• It is the scheme for funding startups selected through the DISC challenges. 
• Applicants showing capability, intent, and promise to be able to produce functional prototypes or to productize existing technologies will be awarded up to Rs. 1.5 crores, strictly on a milestone basis in the form of grant/equity/debt/other relevant structures.