Virtual Marketplace to be Created
Britain and Estonia will host the European HQ of the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) – a NATO programme to establish a hub for cooperation in emerging and disruptive technologies.
Agreed to by the Alliance last summer, DIANA aims to gather NATO, private sector (particularly SMEs) and academia to work together on new technologies, including AI, big-data processing, quantum-enabled technologies, autonomy, biotechnology, hypersonics and space.
According to the UK MoD, the British and Estonian accelerators will share expertise, explore the use of virtual sites to trial vehicles, including autonomous ones, and test cyber innovations. As HQ hosts, the two countries will support start-up companies with funding, guidance and business expertise through twinned accelerator networks. They will also offer the use of ‘deep tech’ test centres to assess technological solutions to military problems, also thanks to the the Defence BattleLab, a British hub linked with the MoD for high tech and innovative industry – a sort of small DIANA. London and Tallin will also develop a virtual marketplace with NATO to connect start-ups with investors, and a “rapid acquisition service” to connect products to buyers.
“The UK and Estonia are two of the most innovative countries in NATO,” British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace commented. Hosting “DIANA will harness that innovation for the benefit of all Allies tackling future military threats,” he added.
The accelerator was conceived as a means to address the Alliance’s “critical defence challenge“: a sort of antidote to the West lagging behind the technological advancement of other countries, particularly China. Alongside DIANA, NATO is currently launching a €1 billion innovation fund.
In the meantime, speaking ahead of the NATO’s ministerial, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg revealed that the DIANA network will overall include 60 innovation sites in Europe and North America. He also added that the “initial footprint” will include 20 NATO nations, but is likely to grow in the future.
Further details about the work of the Accelerator will be included in the ‘Charter of DIANA,’ expected to be endorsed by NATO ministers between 6 and 7 April.
Caterina Tani reporting from Brussels for MON
