“The NATO DIANA program offers new opportunities for Hungary in defense and security matters,” stated Brigadier General Dr. Imre Porkoláb, CEO of the Defence Innovation Research Institute, this morning on M1 News.
The NATO DIANA (Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic) innovation network launched its first challenge program on June 19, 2023, seeking solutions to critical defence and security problems.
The programme invites applications from developers with large-scale dual-use (military and civilian) technology ideas and solutions to address current defence and security challenges. Selected developers under DIANA will receive financial support and business advice, as well as access to the DIANA accelerator program and its network of test centres operating across Europe and North America. The purpose of the DIANA centres and test centres is to connect universities, industrial and governmental players, start-ups, and other developers with end-users, scientists, and system integrators. This aims to foster the development of dual-use deep technologies and provide solutions to the world’s most pressing security and defence challenges.
The DIANA 2023 challenges focus on three areas:
- Energy Resilience: Ensuring resilience in the face of disasters or conflicts.
- Secure Information Sharing: Providing reliable data security.
- Sensing and Surveillance: Gathering information and monitoring underground infrastructures.
DIANA aims to support innovators in developing dual-use technologies that simultaneously enhance defence capabilities and civil society, providing radical and progressive solutions to the dynamic and complex security and defence challenges of the present and future.
In alignment with DIANA’s ambitious goals, Hungary is also committed to the initiative. Brigadier General Dr. Imre Porkoláb, the Hungarian candidate and the Ministry of Defense’s commissioner for defence innovation, has been appointed as the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors. In Hungary, the Defence Innovation Research Institute Nonprofit Ltd. (VIKI) is responsible for coordinating the DIANA challenges.
The full interview can be accessed at the following link:
https://hirado.hu/kulfold/video/2023/06/20/meghirdette-a-nato-innovacios-kihivasait-a-nato-diana
