Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will collaborate with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhubaneswar for artificial intelligence (AI) driven surveillance and other projects, officials said.

A meeting was held between DRDO and IIT Bhubaneswar officials here on Tuesday. Binay Das, director general (DG) of Electronics and Communication Systems (ECS) cluster, DRDO, and many senior scientists and officials of both institutions were present in the meeting.

During the meeting, nine sanctioned projects of the ECS Cluster of DRDO were handed over to IIT Bhubaneswar while another 7 projects are in process to be sanctioned with Rs 18 crore funding.

IIT Bhubaneswar will work on the sanctioned projects, which would be beneficial in electronics warfare, AI-driven surveillance, power systems, radar systems etc, officials said.

S R Samantaray, head of the School of Electrical sciences of IIT said the collaboration of IIT Bhubaneswar and DRDO will contribute to the emerging research and development need of defence applications, creating a platform for 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat'.

This form of collaboration will enhance the sustainability of defence research programmes and will be part of the eco-system for nation building, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Binay Das advised researchers and faculty members associated with various DRDO-sanctioned projects to work systematically with proper review and risk management systems to complete the projects in time and come up with unique solutions.

He said that DRDO is going through a transformation from technology chasers to become technology enablers and trendsetters.

"The goal is now to move beyond attaining self-reliance to setting standards for the Indian armed forces, for others across the globe, to emulate. In this context, this collaboration, and the further opportunity to set up a Centre of Excellence at IIT Bhubaneswar would prove crucial," he added.