C4IR India An Impact Journey 2025

Context The World Economic Forum is building a community and conducting dialogues to better understand the opportunities and challenges facing India’s space sector. India aims to represent 8% of the global market by 2033, with a space economy worth $44 billion.9 To enable a thriving space ecosystem, the Forum’s Space Economy India initiative seeks to enhance collaboration between agencies and industry while addressing key sectoral and societal challenges. It aims to cultivate a multipolar space community that uses the expertise of the space community and maximizes the use of existing resources. Additionally, Earth Observation (EO) data has the potential to tackle pressing challenges and drive innovation through joint efforts by government, industry and academia. Objectives The World Economic Forum’s Space Economy initiative seeks to develop a multistakeholder space community with diverse expertise. The project will help identify opportunities, shape policies and propose sustainable solutions in India’s space sector, while also contributing to global space sustainability and innovation. Strengthen space ecosystem and innovation hubs Boost international collaboration and investment Position India as a leader for emerging space nations Address space sustainability Optimize space launch efficiency and return on investment Develop a roadmap to enhance India’s space manufacturing capabilities and propose space parks and tech centres for R&D and global competitiveness. Create frameworks to promote global partnerships and technology sharing and to attract venture capital into India’s space sector.Promote India as a hub for aspiring space nations through capacity- building, partnerships and the sharing of technical expertise. Develop policy recommendations for space debris mitigation, cataloguing and sustainability in space activities.Establish methodologies to improve mission planning, execution and return on investment for space launches.The key objectives include: National space manufacturing roadmap Produce a comprehensive roadmap to enhance India’s space manufacturing ecosystem, identifying investment areas and technology upgrades.Space parks and innovation hubs Propose the establishment of space parks and tech centres throughout India to drive R&D, local manufacturing and innovation in space technology. Global leadership and partnerships Position India as a leader for aspiring space nations through technical assistance, capacity-building and strategic partnerships. Progress assessment and strategic adjustments Assess India’s progress towards its decadal space vision and provide policy recommendations to accelerate growth and address gaps.Investment and collaboration frameworks Create strategies to attract venture capital into the space sector and develop frameworks to enhance international collaboration, focusing on technology sharing, joint missions and sustainability efforts. 9. Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe). (2023). Decadal vision & strategy for the development of the Indian space economy. https://www.inspace.gov.in/inspace?id=inspace_decadal_vision_strategy.Strategy The anticipated outcomes of the Space Economy India initiative are as follows: Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) India – an Impact Journey 45