The DRDO TECHMA-2026 conference on technology management closed at the Institute of Technology Management (ITM), Mussoorie, on Friday, with a panel calling for defence technology to be managed at the national level and for silos to be removed.

The two-day meet ran on the theme Technology Management in the era of Defence Autonomous Ecosystems. Over the two days, 81 oral presentations and 27 poster presentations were made across 11 sessions.

Speakers came from DRDO, the defence public sector undertakings, the armed forces, academia and private industry.

That last group has been a steady part of DRDO's calendar this year. In September, the DRDO Industry Synergy Meet in New Delhi saw nine technology transfer agreements handed to 13 manufacturing partners, and in July a Hyderabad firm delivered the first indigenous 350 kg thrust class expendable turbojet engine built to a DRDO design.

General Upendra Dwivedi inaugurated the DRDO TECHMA-2026 conference

General Upendra Dwivedi, PVSM, AVSM (Retd), former Chief of the Army Staff, inaugurated the conference.

Senior DRDO leadership attended, among them Dr Mayank Dwivedi, Director General (Human Resources), and Dr Jaiteerth R Joshi, Director General (BrahMos), along with several DRDO directors.

The host institute is DRDO's training centre for technology management. It was set up at Landour on 26 February 1962 as the Institute of Work Study, became the Defence Institute of Work Study in 1964 and took its present name on 4 February 1994, according to the DRDO profile of ITM. It trains DRDO scientists and officers in technology management, project management, materials management and organisational behaviour. ITM was also the first institute to run an MBA with a specialisation in technology management, under an agreement signed in April 1996 with the Bharatidasan Institute of Management, Tiruchirappalli, as listed among the institute's achievements.

Autonomous systems took two sessions on day one

The first day had five sessions. One dealt with policy, strategy and governance for building a resilient and Aatmanirbhar defence sector, and others covered additive manufacturing and smart defence infrastructure, and cyber security with information warfare management.

The remaining two went to managing autonomous, unmanned and robotic systems.

Day two covered supply chains, space and the economics of war

Six sessions followed on the second day. They covered digital twins, R&D innovation through industry, managing risks in deep technology, and supply chain management under war, sanctions and other geopolitical constraints. Perception management and the economics of war got a session of its own, as did space-based warfare, future-ready technologies and capacity building.

Digital twin design was also on the agenda at the DRDO NETRA-2026 seminar in August.

Panel calls for national-level management of defence technology

A panel discussion was held on the RAKSHA document for defence diplomacy to initiate a programme in Defence Technology Management for Vision 2047. The DG (HR) chaired it, and the discussion covered the four pillars of the policy document.

ITM Director Shri SP Dobhal moderated.

The other panellists were Dr Ranjana Nalamalli, Director, DFTM; Dr Narendra Arya, Director, Extramural Research and Intellectual Property Rights; Dr Sumit Goswami, Director, Planning and Coordination; and Professor Vijaya Dixit of IIM Ranchi.

The panel concluded that technology now has to be managed at the national level, with silos removed and individual effort aligned with the objectives of national policy.

Shri Ravindra Singh was Chief Guest at the closing session

Shri Ravindra Singh, Director General (Resources and Management), was Chief Guest at the valedictory session. Addressing the delegates, he spoke of the need for conferences of this kind, which give participants a common platform to share ideas.

The convener of the DRDO TECHMA-2026 conference summarised the lessons learnt and the way ahead.

The previous edition, TECHMA-2024, was held at ITM on 24 and 25 October 2024, on the theme Technology Management in Defence Sector for Vision India at 2047.

The ITM Director reaffirmed the institute's commitment to capacity building for a resilient, self-reliant India.