The Department of Heavy Industry (DHI) has been creating and promoting digital platforms and e-portals for technology development, information exchange, and innovation.
The government said in a press release that it is embarking on a mission to support innovation, research and development, and product advancement in India for various sectors.
A step towards this mission is the development of five portals for specific sectors by different organisations for power sector equipment, machine tools, manufacturing technology, and the automotive sector.
The objective of these portals is to create an ecosystem which will bring industry players, academia, research institutes, start-ups, professionals, and experts together. One of these portals is called ASPIRE.
ASPIRE e-portal
In line with recommendations from DHI, the International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) has developed a technology platform called the Automotive Solutions Portal for Industry, Research and Education (ASPIRE).
The key objective of the portal is to help the Indian automotive industry become self-reliant by assisting innovation and the adoption of global technological advancements.
Users will input industry and manufacturing problems, design and field issues, or report a lack of available technology. Through a combination of project creation, expert opinions, research and development, market research, and tendering, users will get back new technology and innovative solutions.
They could also get new products with improved quality and support for manufacturing and process technology development.
Through these activities, the portal brings together stakeholders from various associated avenues. It will also host challenges for technology development and conduct market research and technology surveys to identify trends in the Indian automotive industry.
The e-portal will act as a one-stop solution, facilitating collaboration between the automotive OEMs and tier one, tier two, and tier three companies. User and expert registration are free.
The portal was made live in its initial version earlier this week, as phase one.
The first phase includes connecting the users and experts on the portal for functionality assessment.
The second phase, scheduled for 15 August, will include the posting of domain-specific challenges, team formation, and finalising the milestones for the execution of projects for industry problems.
The portal is expected to be fully functional with an elaborate resource database, project monitoring, and execution by 15 September.
On the portal, users can collaborate by creating a team and posting their challenge as a project. The confidential information about any project execution will depend on the confidentiality requirement of the individual challenges. In case applicable, this will be covered by standard confidentiality agreements between the respective user and experts.
Users can also access a discussion forum and explore areas like design, electric vehicles, ergonomics, powertrain, simulation, styling and prototype, testing and validation, and vehicle dynamics.
The portal will also offer a digital resource library, which is a compendium of technical papers, journals, standards, articles, test facilities, and suppliers. The feature will be available soon.
Recently, the government launched the Aatamanirbhar Skilled Employee Employer Mapping (ASEEM) portal to help people find sustainable livelihood opportunities.
The initiative aims to improve information flow and bridge the demand-supply gap in the skilled workforce market, as OpenGov reported.
Apart from recruiting a skilled workforce that spurs business competitiveness and economic growth, the artificial intelligence-based platform will strengthen career pathways by helping users attain industry-relevant skills and explore emerging job opportunities, especially in the post-COVID-19 era.
