Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences S. Jaipal Reddy asked the research institutions and universities to forecast technological challenges and develop state of the art navigation and communication systems indigenously for the safety and security of the country.
Speaking at the valedictory session of an international conference on navigation and communication here on Friday, the Minister said that they should take up science and technology projects having relevance to national needs and future advancements.
India was an ideal country for harnessing engineering workforce for the myriad needs of defence and civilian industries and for value added services, he noted.
Development of effective communication systems and outsourcing had enabled faster development of businesses across the world, the Minister said and added that most of the US companies had saved 30 to 50 per cent of their costs by outsourcing their back-office, billing and customer services in the recent years.
The country should create its own technologies apart from understanding the ones borrowed. “We can’t leave our security to any other country, even if they are most friendly,” Mr. Reddy said.
Over 200 delegates from several research institutions in the country, public and private sector companies and scientists from US, France, Israel, Spain and Australia participated in the two-day meet organised jointly by the Research and Training Unit for Navigational Electronics (NERTU) of Osmania University and Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO).
