A NATO official said the military alliance expects the development of dual-use technologies backed by a new defense innovation accelerator to result in the creation of an “innovation engine” to keep ahead of potential adversaries’ technological advancements, Breaking Defense reported Friday.
In 2022, NATO established a $1 billion innovation fund, which seeks to support tech development efforts of startups, and the Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic, which will transition to a full operational phase in June.
“We’re aiming to support the best and brightest innovators to develop dual-use technologies to solve security and defense problems,” said Deeph Chana, managing director of NATO’s DIANA initiative.
DIANA will collaborate with 30 startups focused on three areas: sensing and surveillance; energy and resilience; and secure information sharing.
Chana said the alliance is “very explicitly encouraging startups to have applications in the more traditional tactical military domain, as well as…in a sort of civil space, such that they have a diverse opportunity for revenue which we think builds more resilient, more investable companies in this space.”