Third Edition of INDUS-X Summit

Context:

The third edition of theINDUS-X Summit, held in California,marked significant progress in advancing a joint defence innovation ecosystem between India and theUSA.

Co-organised by the U.S.-IndiaStrategic Partnership Forum (USISPF)and Stanford University, the event focused on deepening defence collaboration through innovation, joint research, and investment.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between India’s Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) and the US Department of Defense’s Defence Innovation Unit (DIU) to enhance cooperation in defence innovation.

The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF)

It is a non-profit organization.

It’s primary objective is strengthening the India-US bilateral and strategic partnership through policy advocacy in the fields of economic growth, entrepreneurship, employment-creation, and innovation.

Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX)

• It was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister in April 2018.
• It will be funded and managed by a Defence Innovation Organization (DIO).
• It will function as the executive arm of DIO, carrying out all the required activities while DIO will provide high level policy guidance to iDEX.
• It aims at creation of an ecosystem to foster innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace.

The objectives of iDEX are:

• Facilitate rapid development of new, indigenized, and innovative technologies for the Indian defence and aerospace sector, to meet needs for these sectors in shorter timelines;
• Create a culture of engagement with innovative startups, to encourage co-creation for defence and aerospace sectors; and
• Empower a culture of technology co-creation and co-innovation within the defence and aerospace sectors