Certification Ecosystem Development Program in India has been jointly introduced by LDRA, IESA and SIATI

LDRA, the leader in standards compliance, automated software verification, source code analysis and test tools, together with industry bodies, India Electronics & Semiconductor Association (IESA) and Society of Indian Aerospace Technologies & Industries (SIATI), have jointly announced the introduction of a Certification Ecosystem Development Program (CEDP) in India as a precursor to the upcoming event - Embedded Safety and Security Summit (ESSS 2015), on 17 June at the NIMHANS Convention Center, Bangalore.

The CEDP is a program to support and encourage Indian companies to be on a level playing field with their international counterparts.

Comprising several components, the CEDP will incorporate the LDRA Academic Alliance Program (LAAP) in which LDRA will work with leading Indian universities to build a curriculum aimed at educating engineering students and building a competitive and experienced workforce. In addition, LDRA’s Competency Centre (LCC) will serve as a world-class training center for safety and security practices.

The CEDP commits to mentoring Indian companies with a view to strengthening the design and manufacturing capabilities of industries such as aerospace, defense, automotive and embedded system security. LDRA will also set-up a knowledge portal and organize a forum with support from global technology industries. LDRA’s overall vision is to create a world-class consulting division that provides advisory services on engineering safety and security best practice.

Recent news suggests that the Government of India has opened up the defense sector for private investment by raising the cap on foreign direct investment to 49% and streamlining certain conditions.

Shinto Joseph, Operations and Sales Director, LDRA India, added, “This initiative by the Government is very significant as it will help to ensure that Indian companies are better equipped to enter international markets. In support of this, LDRA brings over forty years of experience in safety and security standards and practices and in the last five years of our engagement with Indian customers, we have been involved with most of the major programs, especially in the aerospace, defense and nuclear sectors. From this involvement, it has been clear to LDRA that an established ecosystem is needed. Therefore our prime objective through CEDP is to build local expertise in line with international safety and security standards and practices for: Regulatory, Research and Development and the Academic community. CEDP will also help Indian companies to strengthen their position within the value chain, supporting the ‘Make for India’ initiative. To this end, we have strong support from industry bodies such IESA and SIATI in the Certification Mentoring Program under CEDP.”

Adding to this, Mr. Krishnamoorthy, Vice-Chairman IESA & Managing Director, Rambus Chip Technologies (I) Pvt. Ltd, said, “In the last two decades India has emerged as power house in electronics and semiconductor design. Indian engineers have proved time and time again that they can design the most complex hardware and software products. However, the challenge is to develop new and innovative products and sell them globally. Some of the significant challenges for Indian companies relate to the lack of adherence to international standards and their ability to get safety and security certification which is mandatory for selling in global markets. IESA is keen to support LDRA’s initiatives to bring all the stakeholders, i.e. regulators, government bodies, armed forces, OEMs, technology vendors, designers and the certification community to a common platform under their Certification Ecosystem Development Program.”

Air Commodore (retired) Joseph Varkey, Honorary Secretary of SIATI, said,“Currently, global OEMs follow similar standards for defense and civil LRUs, looking at cost and volume advantage. If Indian aerospace companies aspire to tap international aerospace markets, it is especially important that companies meet global regulatory guidelines set by the FAA (USA) & EASA (Europe). Currently many SIATI members struggle with low volumes, longer business cycles, and higher product development costs. The western aerospace workforce is a big opportunity for India to promote aerospace manufacturing under “Make in India”. But we need a world-class aerospace design, development and audit capability within our country. SIATI is starting an Airworthiness Certification Working Group, where we feel LDRA could contribute towards building local industry capabilities.”

The embedded systems market in India has the potential to triple in size to about $14.4 billion in 2015 from $4.95 billion in 2009 but there are some areas of concern that have been restricting growth, such as the absence of mature electronic prototyping and an electronic manufacturing ecosystem, restrictive hardware import laws, inadequate infrastructure for testing and certifications and a shortage of industry specific professionals. CEDP will help industries to address the issues and opportunities to successfully reach the growing market.