Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the first ever ‘Artificial Intelligence in Defence’ (AIDef) symposium and exhibition, organised by Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, in New Delhi on July 11, 2022. The event will feature an exhibition to showcase the cutting edge AI-enabled solutions developed by the Services, research organisations, Industry and start-ups & innovators and launch of AI products for the market.
Addressing a press conference on the event, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar said it is a big event where 75 newly-developed AI products/technologies, having applications in defence, will be launched, as part of the celebrations marking 75 years of Independence ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ and to promote ‘Aatmanirbharta’ initiative in Defence. The products are in the domains of automation/unmanned/robotics systems, cyber security, human behaviour analysis, intelligent monitoring system, logistics and supply chain management, speech/voice analysis and Command, Control, Communication, Computer & Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems and Operational Data Analytics. Besides the 75 products being launched, another 100 are in various stages of development.
In addition, two top defence exporters one each from public & private sector will be felicitated during the event. During the Press conference Additional Secretary Shri Sanjay Jaju, responding to a question said that defence exports have crossed the highest ever figure of Rs 13,000 crore in Financial Year 2021-22, with 70% contribution coming from the private sector and the remaining 30% from the public sector.
The event will also witness panel discussions on ‘Deploying AI in Defence’, ‘GenNext AI solutions’ and ‘AI in Defence – Industry Perspective’, with active participation from the Services, academia, students, research organisations and Industry.
A ‘GenNext AI’ Solutions Competition has been organised to get bright innovative ideas from students on futuristic AI solutions. The top three ideas curated by AI experts will also be felicitated. An exhibition of AI products has also been organised. The event is likely to be attended by dignitaries from friendly foreign countries, senior officials from Ministry of Defence and other Ministries of Government of India, representatives from research institutes, academia and the Industry.
It may be recalled that an AI task force on Defence was established in 2018 to provide a road map on promoting AI in defence. Acting on its recommendations, a Defence AI Council, headed by Raksha Mantri, is spearheading the effort.