iDEX — A Path2Procurement model for Government Operated Sectors
Startups and Indigenous [Indian] Innovations are disrupting & revolutionising almost every sector in the country be it e-Commerce, Enterprise Software, SaaS, Fin-Tech and many more. But the large government-operated sectors including Aerospace & Defence, Home Land Securities, Railways, are relatively untouched in terms of adoption of futuristic technologies and processes. Also, most of the available/used technologies/products are imported which creates a huge disadvantage on a macro-economic scale in the long term.
Why does traditional procurement methods followed by Government-Operated sectors are not startup/innovation friendly?
Lengthy sales cycle, opaque tendering process, onerous contracts, bureaucracy, etc means that it doesn’t make financial sense for the young but capable startups to go down the route of potentially selling to the public sector.
Adding on top of this, the current needs & wants of the public sector calls for unique/novel/innovative solutions which require deep engagement with the startups in terms of access to end-user who face the problem, data, etc. The public sector engine is not well oiled for seamless access for above which creates another deterrent for startups to engage with the public sector.
Though the government has launched a slew of startup initiatives in the recent past, the public sector still suffers from huge reputational issues from being considered as a potential client among the startup community.
The perceptions and attitudes have to be drastically improved at both ends in order to enjoy the benefits.
iDEX — A Path2Procurement Process for Indian Defence
Keeping in mind the above constraints, Forge in the role of Partner Incubator to Ministry of Defence is playing a pivotal role in design, execution and institutionalization of key program SOPs of a vertically integrated Path2Procurement process for innovative technologies and products from Startups, achieved through accelerated identification of capability needs, Innovator-User co-creation, downstream system integration and commercialisation partnerships, ultimately leading to procurement under the Innovation category introduced in the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020.
How iDEX bridge Startups and Indian Defence Services/DPSUs?
Through iDEX, the Ministry of Defence has implemented a startup engagement model which prioritises product outcomes over activities or financial indicators. The most important principles which make the iDEX model successful are,
- Co-Creation/Co-Development: A structured Co-creation process connecting the startups and the end-users from various defence services/DPSUs enabling the development of useful, usable and technically feasible products/solutions.
- Access to Defence Labs and Facilities: Open access to labs, test facilities and certification agencies under Defence/DPSUs for accelerated product development.
- Agile Product Management & Grant Management Process: iDEX has pioneered a unified ‘iDEX Product Management Approach [PMA]’ framework for managing government-funded innovation projects, placing product outcomes over technical activities. The iDEX PMA deftly manages risks associated with cost, capabilities, performance, timeline, obsolescence, and self-reliance involved in developing technologically advanced solutions to meet the escalating demands of the military.
The iDEX Open Innovation model is being widely accepted by the startup community in India and the process is now finding traction among other Ministries & Public Sectors.
The detailed drill down on ‘HOW’ & ‘WHAT’ of the iDEX SOPs will be featured in the upcoming blogs. Stay tuned!
