It is well established that emerging and groundbreaking technologies bring forth both advantageous prospects and potential obstacles. NATO is steadfast in its commitment to adapt and stay abreast of these developments. The organisation’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) strives to unite the most skilled and inventive individuals from across the Alliance, guaranteeing the safety of its members.
DIANA provides deep tech and dual-use innovators with the opportunity to leverage NATO resources, including grants, accelerator programs, and avenues to customize their solutions to meet defense and security demands.
With Finland’s recent membership in NATO, we now have access to technological test centers and potentially even an accelerator program. These tools will serve as valuable resources in advancing the major goals of DIANA.
Yesterday (1st June), BusinessOulu, including ICTOulu, along with our partners from the University of Oulu and the Council of Northern Ostrobothnia, had the privilege of visiting the NATO headquarters in Brussels. During our time there, we had the opportunity to meet with Mrs. Hanna Lepistö, the Deputy Head of Mission of Finland to NATO at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, and engage in a discussion with Mr. Ville Elo, a Senior Specialist at the Ministry of Defence of Finland. We are truly honored by this experience.
The highlight of our visit was meeting the management of DIANA, led by Professor Deeph Chana. The discussions were incredibly insightful and inspiring. It is evident that DIANA, with its challenge and accelerator programs, will generate significant opportunities for companies based in Oulu and across Finland that are involved in deep tech endeavors.
We were fortunate to have a brief opportunity to present our assets to the management team. In this photo on the right, Professor Jukka Riekki showcases our research on the themes of connectivity and 6G.
We were fortunate to have a brief opportunity to present our assets to the management team. In the below photo, Professor Jukka Riekki showcases our research on the themes of connectivity and 6G.
While Oulu has its own agenda and initiative for establishing a dedicated connectivity-themed test centre, it is important to note that DIANA has also launched the next round of its challenge program, which is open to our companies this month! This will include three subtopics, one of them being Secure Information Sharing. We will make an effort to provide more details on this opportunity as it becomes available promptly.