Technology companies and start-ups are invited to apply for the annual NATO Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) grant competition until August 9, 2024. This year, the program focuses on innovative technical solutions in promoting energy security and resilience, strengthening data and information security, developing surveillance technologies, developing human health and performance, as well as strengthening critical infrastructure and logistics.
The purpose of NATO DIANA is to promote the development of dual-use start-ups in NATO member states by promoting cooperation between innovators, researchers and end-users. Companies participating in the competition will have access to more than 200 accelerators and test centers in Europe and North America to develop their innovative ideas and products.
The first stage of the acceleration program will last six months, and during this period, the winners of the grant competition can get 100,000 euros in funding, as well as access to the accelerator network, to develop dual-use innovations for the solution of key challenges for the alliance. The second stage of the program will also last for half a year, and the amount of funding allocated in can reach 300 thousand euros.
To apply for the grant program, companies must be registered in one of the NATO member states and must operate in the field of dual-use science-intensive technologies, developing technologies starting from the 4th technology readiness level. Companies are invited to register on the website and submit their solutions in the areas defined by the competition by August 9.
There will be up to 10 programs per year
When the first application to the NATO DIANA program was announced last year, 44 participants were selected from 1,300 applications. NATO's DIANA will be fully operational, offering companies up to 10 acceleration programs per year, starting in 2025.
Latvia has been participating in the NATO DIANA accelerator initiative since June 2022, and its goal is to promote the development of dual applicability start-ups in NATO member states, promoting cooperation between innovators, researchers and end users. At the end of last year, the Cabinet of Ministers gave permission to the Ministry of Defense to continue assuming long-term commitments of the state budget in order to make contributions to the NATO DIANA program.
The first military test environment
One of DIANA's test centers will be located in the Ādaži base, where a 5G test environment has been created. This is the first 5G protection technology test environment in Europe. LMT in cooperation with the Latvian National Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defense opened this 5G network-based technology test environment at the Ādažu landfill in November, 2020. It aims to jointly develop, test and demonstrate 5G applications in the field of defence. It is possible to test different applications of the next generation protection solutions in the Adaži testing ground. It has already hosted exercises, tests and demonstrations by international forces. The testing of mission control platforms, unmanned ground vehicles and various other innovative defense solutions has taken place in the test environment.
LMT in cooperation with the National Armed Forces and the NATO Allied Transformation Command organized a demonstration of virtual and augmented reality solutions in a 5G military application test environment at the Ādaži training ground in 2022. It was NATO's first operational 5G experiment and it took place in Latvia.
Two new 5G networks, created by LMT in cooperation with technology suppliers Nokia and Ericsson are also operating at the Adaži landfill. This step will allow defense technology developers to test and compare the performance of new innovations on different 5G networks, ensure their compatibility and accelerate their entry into production.
"UniLab Defence" plans to start work in 2025
The Latvian University Technology Business Incubator "UniLab", established by Riga Technical University, University of Latvia, Riga Stradins University and Latvian University of Biosciences and Technologies joined the NATO DIANA transatlantic accelerator network and will form the acceleration center "UniLab Defence" this year. In the implementation of the acceleration program, "UniLab" will cooperate with a strategic partner - the Danish venture capital and acceleration fund "Accelerace".
UniLab Defense will support start-ups developing dual-use or defense technologies by providing them with world-class training as well as financial and business strategy support. "UniLab Defence" will enable start-ups to cooperate with the industry, the National Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defense, NATO, other industry participants and potential partners. It is expected that not only Latvian, but also international companies from other NATO countries will participate in the accelerator. "UniLab Defence" plans to start operations in 2025.
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