Everything you need to know about Center for Research Excellence in National Security at Hyderabad campus
Tell us about when the centre was ideated and how it came into being.
Increasing technology dependence in National Security landscape and the subsequent need for indigenisation of these technologies led to the ideation of Centre of Research Excellence for National Security (CRENS).
The first step towards indigenisation of national security technologies is application centric Research and Development (R&D). Academic institutes across the country are also participating but in an isolated fashion by collaborating for specific projects.
There was a lack of integrated approach for academic involvement in related R&D. Leveraging BITS Pilani’s 50 plus years’ experience in implementing related projects from various organisations, the dedicated center for research excellence in national security was conceptualised.
Physically, how big is it and what does it house in terms of infra and equipment?
BITS Pilani has wide range of research infrastructure in various departments across all the campuses to support academics as well as collaborative research projects funded by various agencies and industry.
To start with, CRENS shall connect all the available research infrastructure in all the campuses for the collaborative research for national security domain.
As the center progresses over time, if any specific infrastructure is required for undertaking the research on specific cutting-edge technologies, the same will be built.
For designing and executing the certificate courses for national security professionals, the existing regular academic as well as WILP infrastructure will be leveraged.
Similarly, the existing technology incubation centre can extend the support to CRENS to handle the incubation of start-ups in national security technology domain.
Over period the CRENS shall develop into financially self-supporting centre in all its domain of activities.
Tell us about the role of indigenous technology development in building nation's security capabilities. Where are we now and where should we be?
Indigenous technology development is crucial for national security as it enhances self-reliance and sovereignty. By reducing dependency on foreign systems, it minimises vulnerabilities to geopolitical tensions and supply chain disruptions
