The first Southern Star Army Synergia Conclave, 2024, which will bring together senior Indian Army Officers, leading academia, strategic experts, industry and start-ups is being held between May 7 and 9 in Bengaluru.
The conclave will serve as a platform for industry, start-ups, innovators, venture capitalists, defence PSUs to understand the future of conflict and align their technologies and find opportunities to use cases in the defence sector.
The organisers of the conclave are the Indian Army’s Southern Command, Dakshin Bharat Area and Synergia Foundation.
The National Security Advisory Board of the Government of India, the National Security Council will be participants in the conclave.
The objective of the conclave is to establish an institutional mechanism for the Indian defence forces, defence enterprises, start-up, MSMEs and the academia to interact and form linkages for long term partnerships, initiate research projects to find customised solutions for challenges with the focus being indigenisation.
According to the organisers the endeavour will be to get a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges while adopting advanced technologies like cyber security, quantum encryptions, artificial intelligence, aerospace and defence, satellites and space and advanced computing.
Lt. Gen K.S. Brar, GOC, Dakshin Bharat Area said, ”Self-reliance is key during any war and Make-in-India, which is still a work in progress, has had a good impact on reducing our dependence on imports. But when it comes to acquiring critical technologies, like AI/ML, space, and autonomous systems, it is important that we mentor start-ups and industries and provide clarity on the kind of requirements. Initiatives like this conclave are in this direction.”
“Government and industry and academia need to adapt to frequently ever-changing paradigms in geopolitics and security. Global risks (threats?) are mutating and that is why we collectively need to find solutions. Our aim is to give key stakeholders a 360 degree perspective of risk and turn these into opportunities,” said Synergia Foundation President Tobby Simon.
