NATO DIANA

Why should we care about CD&E (Concept Development & Experimentation)? 👇 Our Chief Counsel - Rapid Adoption Service is in Vilnius with our friends across NATO, sharing how DIANA is supporting technology development throughout the Alliance.

Information processing at the speed of light—that’s what Ephos, a DIANA Phase 2 company, is all about. As part of DIANA’s inaugural cohort of 44 innovative companies solving defence, security and resilience challenges, they design and manufacture glass-based integrated photonic circuits that power the most advanced classical and quantum computing, communications and sensing devices.  You may have seen Ephos in the news recently when they announced the world’s first manufacturing facility dedicated to glass-based quantum photonic circuits. This exciting development enables them to build their chips entirely in-house from raw materials through to control software.   Being part of DIANA’s inaugural acceleration programme was a key step for Ephos as a seed-stage company, increasing their exposure and building connections to governments and industry partners, including in defence and security.  Read more: https://lnkd.in/gK-5nfNQ #innovation #dualusetech #photonics #quantum

It has been an honour to present NATO DIANA in front of OECD - OCDE experts during Resilience Day 2024 organised last week in Paris and to discuss with my honourable co-panellists Anja Clausin (Director General, National Agency for Public Procurement, Sweden) and Tanja Kessel (Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany) bolstering resilience through public procurement - how insights from defence procurement can benefit other public institutions? Special thanks to hon. Arianne Reza (Deputy Minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada) for leading our panel, to OECD’s team (Erika Bozzay, Matthieu Mahen, Dejan Makovšek, András Hlács, Anna Bilous) for their continuous efforts as well as to Edel Esparza (DIANA Procurement Officer) and our colleagues from NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) who shared their unmatchable expertise (Lindsay Hardy). NATO DIANA OECD - OCDE OECD Observatory of Public Sector InnovationOECD Public Governance

Introducing Phantom Photonics, a DIANA Phase 2 company that’s ‘shining a light’ on underwater exploration.  Phantom Photonics is using quantum coherence to extend the operational range for LiDAR, enabling its use underwater where traditional LiDAR falls short.  Currently, LiDAR light only travels approximately 44 metres underwater, making it a poor solution for underwater mapping. Phantom Photonics is working to uncover the marine environment through quantum-enhanced LiDAR, improving our understanding of this important and under-explored environment while also innovating for surveillance operations to protect our underwater infrastructure.  Phantom Photonics has built a strong network of partners and mentors, and explored new business models and perspectives throughout their involvement with DIANA. They highlight the opportunity to learn as a key value for companies entering DIANA’s acceleration programme.  Read more: https://lnkd.in/gYxKCjeT #DualUseTech #innovation #quantum #UnderwaterSensing #LiDAR

Quantum computing is opening up opportunities—and threats. How can we protect our data at the rapid pace of innovation? SECQAI (United Kingdom) is a semiconductor company focused on making our connected world safe and secure. Part of DIANA’s innovator portfolio, SECQAI is enabling the next generation of computing through ground-breaking technology. 70% of common vulnerabilities and exposures are linked to memory leakage bugs across devices, and quantum computing poses a serious threat to today’s encryption standards. By building hardware with memory safety embedded directly, as well as Post-Quantum Cryptography, SECQAI is directly mitigating the risk posed and reducing some of the most damaging cyber-attacks.  Through their participation in DIANA’s programming, SECQAI secured relationships with leading global defence contractors, while access to leading research labs to support their R&D efforts helped accelerate the development of their tech to fabrication.  Read more: https://lnkd.in/g6e_Dazi #quantumcomputing #semiconductors #datasecurity #dualusetech

📢 DIANA is seeking tech companies with expertise in specific IT elements to help us build our portfolio of digital tools. Creating an integrated digital operating system ('DIANA OS') will help us meet our ambitious mandate as we continue to grow. Please see our Request for Information, and consider supporting DIANA’s efforts to create a dual-use innovation ecosystem across 32 nations. Key areas of interest include: ➡️ Ultra-modern UI design ➡️ Backend development with data at scale ➡️ Seamless integration of SaaS solutions. We welcome applications from all specialist tech companies in the relevant areas, including small and boutique firms. Responses are due by 29 November, 2024 at 17:00 BST. https://lnkd.in/eC_xNjHC #DualUseTech #SaaS #ITsolutions #RFI #innovation

How well can you see underwater? DIANA innovator Lobster Robotics has developed underwater drones that can see the seafloor down to 1m underwater visibility. Lobster Robotics is contributing to DIANA’s Sensing and Surveillance challenge area, vastly improving seafloor mapping capabilities. From detecting suspicious objects near critical underwater infrastructure to counting oysters in reef restoration projects, Lobster Robotics creates clear and accurate LobsterMaps even in low-visibility conditions. Joining DIANA opened doors for Lobster Robotics in the defence sector, guiding the company and connecting them with leaders and end users in defence across the Alliance. With agile innovation, Lobster Robotics is improving our ability to understand, monitor and protect the ocean floor and its resources from environmental and adversarial threats alike. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gzUbfH5u

Thanks Future Forces for the opportunity to showcase our technology last week. At the MTC - Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry, UK, our CEO Stephan Rutten explained how we are working on future capabilities to empower littoral ISR operations by putting deployability and scalability first. It was good to catch up with the NATO DIANA team as well, and discuss our plans for the ‘Grow phase’. Follow us on LinkedIn and check out our website for more information: www.lobster-robotics.com #innovation #defence #deftech #dualuse #maritime #technology #robotics #surveillance #drone

While our Phase 2 companies are taking off, we're preparing to welcome the next round of deep tech innovators. Once selected, a new cohort of dual-use companies will begin Phase 1 of DIANA's acceleration programme early in 2025. To get ready, we brought accelerators from across the DIANA network to London this week to share lessons learned from our pilot year, anticipate an intensive six-month acceleration curriculum, and build connections for a strong community throughout the Alliance. Accelerators heard from Regional Director, Estonia Kadri Tammai and other members of the DIANA team on what it takes to prepare innovators for investment, growth and adoption in a dual-use context. Thank you to all the attendees and presenters who made this week's workshop a success. We look forward to working with you to accelerate a new cohort of companies!

Recently, DIANA’s Chief Operating Officer Jyoti Hirani-Driver spoke on the importance of investing in dual-use technology as part of the Resilience Conference in London, an event driving engagement in defence, security, and resilience by the start-up and investor community. The panel explored the definition of dual-use, how the relationship between industry partners, governments, investors and start-ups could be strengthened, and how DIANA is working to increase opportunities to bring these sectors together. Thank you to the organisers, fellow panellists and attendees for the fascinating discussions around defence, security and resilience.