MoD to hold exhibition, conference on Artificial Intelligence in defence

New Delhi: To foster the growth of Artificial Intelligence in the Defence sector, the first-ever 'Artificial Intelligence in Defence' exhibition and symposium is to be held in the capital city on July 11. The programme is being organised by the Department of Defence Production, of the Ministry of Defence (MoD). This will be inaugurated by the defence minister.

The minister had recently started the sixth edition of the Defence India Startup Challenge under the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) programme, aiming to fund startups that address AI, sophisticated imaging, sensor systems, big data analytics, autonomous unmanned systems, and secure communication systems, among other technologies for the defence forces.

The ministry officially stated on Friday, "The event will feature an exhibition to showcase the cutting-edge AI-enabled solutions developed by the Services, research organisations, Industry and start-ups and innovators and the launch of AI products for the market."

While addressing the media, Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar said during the event 75 newly-developed AI products or 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 indigenousness and self-reliance initiative in the defence sector.

"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 and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems and Operational Data Analytics," the senior official said. Besides, another 100 new technologies are also in various stages of development.

The event will also have 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.

Dignitaries from foreign countries-who share good relations or are friendly to India will also attend the event.