Success of DRDO's young scientists' labs essential for India: Top PMO official

In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's views, the DRDO has set up five laboratories under young scientists below the age of 35 who would be working in fields including artificial intelligence and smart materials, Principal Advisor to Prime Minister PK Sinha said on Wednesday.

"He (Prime Minister Modi) suggested that young scientists below the age of 35 years be given an opportunity to innovate and explore frontier areas. With this in view, DRDO has taken the momentous step of setting up five Young Scientists' Laboratories working in five niche technology areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, cognitive technologies, asymmetric technologies and smart materials," Sinha said.

He made the comments while addressing the 41st DRDO Directors' Conference.

Mishra said the five labs will offer a useful template of research and development in the field of emerging technologies in the country.

"Their success is essential for our country gaining pole position in this global race, where shelf-life of products as well as technologies is getting increasingly shorter. This is a bus we cannot afford to miss, if we want to achieve a decent quality of life for our citizens," he said.

Urging the young scientist labs to not work in silos, the top official in the PMO said that these labs "should be kept abreast with associated researchers in related fields and the requirements of the industry."

Mishra suggested the success mantra of three R's -- Requirement, Resources and Relevance -- to the young DRDO scientists as key factors in determining the country's quest for advancement in emerging technologies.

He said that a mechanism also needs to be evolved to monitor the progress against the stated objectives, and constantly update with international developments in related fields. "We do not wish to end up in a scenario where we are found to be reinventing the wheel," Mishra outlined.

"We must aspire to become global leaders and important stakeholders in new international protocols, which are bound to be formulated and reformulated as the world sees a constant transformation in technological and innovation landscape," he said.

"I look forward to seeing our share in patent applications from these focus areas rise manifolds in the years to come," Mishra added.

The top PMO official underlined that the innovative use of artificial intelligence in agriculture, manufacturing industry, and even use of smart materials could be of immense relevance to various sectors of the economy.

He expressed confidence that the young scientists will be capable of making desired advances in the next-generation technology and innovation, provided they are supported by an ecosystem which allows them the freedom to think and execute.

Mishra said that the labs should be linked to the indigenous development of 'supporting the hardware in chips, materials and so on, asserting that it will truly be in line with the Prime Minister's flagship 'Make in India' initiative.