A two-day Conclave was organised by the Institute of Defence Scientists & Technologists (IDST) with the objective of exposing the Indian industry and the Academia from across the country to :-
a)   Huge canvas of R&D work being carried out in DRDO   and
b)   Requirements of the Services and security related organizations.

This event served as a platform for close interaction between these three pillars of Indian strength in achieving self-dependence, and was a huge success in realizing this goal. These deliberations brought forth insights and experience of from people from science, technology and engineering, and the perspectives from practical experience of the users and the production people. Participants could learn about the latest research in various domains of the field of defence R&D technologies. in kinetic and non-kinetics domains.    A total of 190 delegates participated in the Conclave; 95 from DRDO/Armed Forces, 40 from IDST, 30 from industries involved with defence production and 25 from academic institutions working on DRDO projects.  The Conclave was planned, organised and managed by IDST and SSPL, and was sponsored by DRDO, IDST, BEL, Karuna Institutes, MGR institutes, IDSRF GUESC, Bharat Forge, Hacveda, Ambit Semiconductor, 3D Engineering, Oscar, Dynatech.

The Conclave was at an excellent venue, smoothly organised, comprised of 6 technical sessions and atmosphere conducive to discussions with an impressively diverse mix of scholars, experts, users and policymakers. Participants were encouraged to engage with the specialists on theme topics in spirit of the Conclave. The sessions sparked unique, positive conversations on both days on current and future challenges and likely pathways to solutions, amongst R&D experts, academics, practitioners and others engaged in defence technologies. 

Many sponsors/delegates displayed their credentials In the exhibition hall which also acted as informal venue for interactions during lunch and tea breaks. On the first evening of the Conclave, a conference dinner was held at DROMI to facilitate close informal interaction between delegates with DRDO HQ/Lab representatives.

The Conclave was spread over 6 technical sessions, apart from inaugural and summing-up session. Speakers from corporate clusters in DRDO HQ, and from the Armed forces, discussed present and future technology needs of the country, and outlined different funding schemes available to the academia, the industry and the start-ups to contribute to these developments. These schemes cover various research and technology levels – from basic research to prototyping, to actual product realization. Senior scientists from various DRDO labs, and from DRDO Centres of Excellence, presented detailed work being carried out on some of these cutting-edge R&D areas and the future directions. Speakers from academic institutes presented some of their research work done for DRDO labs and also their experience of running Defence Technology M Tech program- approved by AICTE under the IDST teaching scheme. Industry representatives spoke of their experience of working with DRDO, about problem solving during production, trials and hand-holding by DRDO during the user trials.

Informal sessions in between the six technical sessions, provided space to people from the three streams to interact closely and share in person their experiences about generating and handling innovations, translation of these cutting-edge research outputs into deployable technologies for requirements of DRDO, useful to the three Services, for national security. The Conclave also served as a live medium for sharing and discussing new research, ideas, and experiences related to enhancing synergy between DRDO and other stakeholders for strengthening the ecosystem for self-reliance.

During the two days, DIAC-2016 showcased technological advancements in DRDO labs, and future directions of R&D in important fields of defence R&D and to forge long-term partnerships among all stake-holders. Conclave facilitated creation of new channels of knowledge exchange, resource sharing, and an ambience of collective problem-solving. The event promises to be an important part of the broad ecosystem for strengthening India’s resolve for global leadership in defence science and technology. It was heartening to note that by organising the Conclave, IDST could once again leverage its two-decade long legacy and depth of expertise of its members, for acting as catalyst for creating breakthroughs in collaborative efforts and nudging policy innovations through discussions, Considering positive response and huge enthusiasm of the participants; and based on output from formal & informal discussions during the Conclave, it is recommended that this Conclave should be a bi-annual event in the activity calendar of IDST