RECORDING OF IIRF AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY LECTURE SERIES (Lecture no – 4) 08TH DECEMBER 2023, “Innovations by Instinct- A Paradigm Shift in the Approach to Self Reliance” Speaker – Veteran Wg Cdr M Jeyakumar Founder & CMD “nRoot Technologies” & “Bridge Bharat Council”

INNOVATIONS BY INSTINCT
(A Paradigm Shift in the Approach of Warriors of Self Reliance)

In the rapidly transforming industrial sector in India, the outlook and approach of the stakeholders also have undergone a paradigm shift. The successful corporate houses besides the government have understood the need to groom and promote the MSMEs to create a robust economy as envisioned by our national leadership. While many attempts are being made to reduce the gap between the academia and industry, the need for bringing other stakeholders including the armed forces and DPSUs still exists.

Many of the Industrial Associations are supporting the Central and State Governments in policy revision and promotion of Atmanirbharta. Still there is a difference between proposed and perceived outcome which is primarily due to the gaps in the vision and mission ie Policy Formulation and Implementation at the grassroot level. This is where the role of action-oriented think-tanks like the BRIDGE Bharat Council managed by experts from military, academia and industry comes into play.

BRIDGE Bharat Council’s motto is Connect-Consolidate-Contribute which is achieved by Binding all the stakeholders which include Researchers, Industrial Associations, Institutions, Defence (Armed Forces including Veterans), Government (Central & State) and Entrepreneurs (MSMEs) which forms the acronym for its name BRIDGE.

There are a few success stories of collaboration amongst defence-industry-academia where Team nRoot, the associates of BRIDGE Bharat Council were involved. While the concept of Collaborative R&D and Coordinated Manufacturing provided the framework, the domain expertise and experience of the soldiers & veterans played a vital role in ensuring success of these indigenous and innovative projects.

Hence, this lecture deliberates on the successful attempts made by a few startups in collaboration with academia under the guidance of military veterans and soldiers. This in turn will underline the scope for effectively employing untapped and under-utilized potential of military veterans to support academia and manufacturing industries.