Former DRDO Chief Padma Vibhushan Dr. V.K. Aatre speaks on Indian scenario in changing face of technology

Mysore/Mysuru:  India needs to allocate more funds for research and development (R&D) to ensure further growth, said former Director General of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Padma Vibhushan Dr. Vasudev K. Aatre this morning.

He was speaking on the topic ‘Changing Face of Technology and The Indian Scenario’ during a talk organised by the Mysore Open Forum at Kalpa Kshetra Auditorium, Vijayanagar.

Expressing his concerns over India allocating just 0.6% of its total GDP for research and development (R&D), Dr. Aatre pointed out that countries like China, the USA, and Germany allocate 4 percent, 2.5% and 3 percent of their GDP for R&D, respectively.

“The next two decades will be crucial for India in terms of development. There is a need to utilise the young population, which makes up 30-32 percent of the total population, to its fullest potential before they lose their innovative thinking ability,” he said.

Dr. Aatre also stressed the importance of having more brainstorming sessions to generate innovative ideas to advance in technology and increase manufacturing in the country. “It is difficult to predict future technologies, but it is essential to be ready to adapt to new ones. Today, robots have entered households, and a day might come when robots will take over the entire workforce, as micro and nano technologies are expected to dominate globally in the future,” he added.

Delving further into technological changes, Dr. Aatre said that compared to previous years, millions of transistors can now be fitted into a small chip. “Technological advancements have brought many changes in the medical, health, and entertainment industries. Supercomputers with gigabytes, the latest versions of cloud computing, advancements in search engines, and communication technologies have ensured the availability of information at our fingertips,” he said.

He added that technology has played a vital role over past decades, paving way for satellite communication, emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI), space tourism with supersonic speed, drone manufacturing, 3D printing and revolutionising the medical and health sectors with iMRI and latest scanning equipment.