To reduce the security vulnerabilities and cost of innovation in the US defence sector, tap the innovation ecosystem in India says Venkatesh Shukla.
Our Bureau
San Francisco, CA
An eminent Indian-American venture capitalist has proposed to allow Indians to work on US defence projects, thereby giving a big boost to the bilateral ties between the US and India. He suggested that this will immensely reduce the cost of innovation in the US defence sector, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the US.
Prime Minister Modi, when he comes here, should ask for that, said Venkatesh Shukla, general partner, Monta Vista Capital, and former TiE Global chairperson.
Opening up the US defence sector for Indian software companies would help strengthen the US defence by reducing the security vulnerabilities and cost of innovation in the US defence sector. It would give a big boost to bilateral ties between both countries and the innovation ecosystem in India, he asserted.
This represents a huge opportunity, still untapped by India which is developing software for the Department of Defence and all its critical infrastructure,” Shukla said.
“Because they’re running on COBOL, running on 30-year-old Linux systems, they’re running on operating systems that have known problems. The US just does not have enough manpower,” he said citing the vulnerabilities of cyber-attacks to the critical infrastructure of the US.
“If an Indian sitting in India could work on that project, instead of spending USD 200,000 the Department of Defence can get this work done in USD 30-40,000 thereby increasing the capacity to improve the system several times,” Shukla said. He emphasized that it is the right solution standing in front of them to prevent any rogue countries or agencies from attacking and paralyzing the critical infrastructure here.
