The Defence Ministry will look into the possibility of having a separate fast-track procurement process in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), said Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre on Thursday.
“The suggestion from the Signal Officer-in-Chief [SO-in-C] to create a separate category of fast track procurement for ICT equipment which are very severely and rapidly effected by technological obsolescence is a very good suggestion… I will follow it up with the staff in the ministry,” he said speaking at the Defcom India 2017 conference jointly organised by the Army’s Corps of Signals and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
Lt. Gen. A.R. Prasad, SO-in-C, earlier said that the present procurement process was so long that many critical ICT technologies go obsolete by the time they were inducted into service.
Emphasising this issue, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said that in addition to keeping pace with the fast changing technology, the same technology should be made flexible to be used in both conventional and sub-conventional conflicts.
“Technology is changing… Whether we like it or not social media is getting momentum and it is the adversary who is taking advantage of digitisation and technology,” he stated.
Rawat to visit Nepal
To continue India’s engagement with its neighbours, Gen. Rawat is scheduled to visit Nepal and Bangladesh in the last week of March.
“They are our important neighbours and it is essential to keep the engagement going,” a senior ministry official said. Gen. Rawat will be in Nepal from March 28 to 30 and then head to Dhaka on a two-day visit. The visit to Dhaka comes days ahead of the visit to India by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during which the two countries are expected to sign a defence cooperation agreement to diversify the military cooperation.
