DRDO announces Dare to Dream 2 innovation contest, winners to get Rs 10 lakh

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) launched ‘Dare to Dream 2.0’ on the fifth anniversary of former president and missile man of India, APJ Abdul Kalam on July 28. The ‘Dare to Dream 2.0’ is an open challenge to promote the innovators and startups of the country. The winners will be decided after due evaluation by an expert committee. Award money, up to Rs 10 lakh for startup and Rs five lakh to the winner from the individual category, will be given.

The application process has not started this year yet. The entries received will be judged by a two-stage process, screened by domain expert committee and short-listing and ranking by an independent expert committee, as per the rules shared last year. For individual categories, the applicant should be a citizen of India above 18 years of age and for start-up entries, the company should be controlled by Indians and recognisd by DIPP.

The DRDO claims that the objective of the programme is to “unearth disruptive ideas and concepts in emerging technologies identified by DRDO for enhancing defence capabilities.”

Applicants will have to send ideas within the bracket of a list of areas – multi-legged mobility, plan execution and coordination in a multi-agent system, deep learning methods for cybersecurity, joints in composites structures, miniaturisation of unfolding mechanisms, for rocket lifting surface among others. If the areas will be changed this year would be known once the application process begins.