As the global alliance meets to discuss how to tackle emerging security threats, Euronews Next spoke to some of the start-ups working on NATO.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) held its 75th anniversary summit this week in Washington, DC. Ukraine occupied a prominent position. But the New technologies And startups adapt to their ambitions Address current threats For protection.
The I take it In its Washington Summit Declaration, it has accelerated its transformation to meet current and future threats and maintain its technological advantage, which it will do by testing and rapidly adopting emerging technologies.
Technologies like Artificial intelligence (IA), Day Biotechnology And this Quantum technology They are developing and innovating at an extraordinarily fast pace, and NATO says its goal is to harness this kind of innovation.
“We have been recognizing for a long time One of the foundations of our capabilities is the prevention and protection of our technological advantages„Bill Lockwood, NATO’s head of innovation, told 'EuronewsNext’ ahead of the Washington summit.
However, he said we could be inside An era of technological innovation that we have never been before in terms of speed„We’re at a point where those technological advantages we’ve relied on are being destroyed.”
„We must work hard to maintain this advantage„Because adversaries and competitors are actively seeking their own technological advantages,” he added.
One of the technologies NATO is investigating Sea surface map. The advocacy organization has invested in Dutch start-up Lobster Robotics.
„If they had probes, they might have discovered or seen the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions. I don’t know if they’ll want to do anything about it, but at least they know it’s going to happen,” explains Lobster Robotics co-founder and CEO Stephen Rutten to 'EuronewsNext’.
Lobster Robotics es One of the 44 companies selected Out of 1,300 people asked to participate NATO Start-up Funding ProgrammeKnown as Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlanticoh Diana.
Its mission is to identify dual-use innovations and provide developers with resources worth several hundred thousand euros and the network needed to address critical safety and security challenges.
Dual use is one of Diana’s criteria, viz An invention can be used for commercial and social purposes as well as for defense. NATO has a large fund called the NATO Innovation Fund to encourage start-ups.
The technology of Optical seafloor mapping by Lobster robotics You can zoom in on what’s at the bottom of the ocean, and even see footprints of crabs or starfish on the seabed.
This drastically reduces the cost of using diving equipment and is much safer. But it can also be used in defense, especially for mapping critical underwater infrastructure such as unprotected wind farms or oil platforms.
Difficulties with these types of 'start-ups’
But approaching governments or defense ministries is lucrative and difficult for a startup to crack. „Get to know people. Get to know people. You have to know how the system works,” says Rattan, adding that NATO’s „seal of approval” helps the agency work with governments.
„I urge governments to really think about the timescales of start-ups. They say they move too fast. Then I listen to it. The acquisition will take another 18 months… yo By then I could have created five new companies” he added.
AdvertisingAnother company is Greece-based Sorteria Technology Submarine intelligence chosen by NATO The acquisition period is particularly long.
It is a deep tech startup that develops AI detection technology in the security industry.
„There are long contract cycles and the procurement process is a convoluted process and differs from country to country.„, says Angelos Sereklas, CEO of Sorteria Technology.
„But we see many disruptions to that model Attempts like Diana or the NATO Innovation Fund. But more European union And this European Investment BankIt supports dual-use applications,” he explains to 'Euronews Next’.
Advertising„We look at this picture and we see an effort in the EU and NATO countries for a coordinated approach,” he added.
This month, NATO launched a call for the second round of the Diana programme areas such as energyThe Human healthThe Security of informationThe Logistics And this Critical infrastructure.
Information security, or cyber security, is a key concern for NATO, and many lessons can be learned from Ukraine, which has suffered from Russia’s sophisticated cyber attacks.
CYBER WARS AND CYBER ATTACKS
In its Washington Summit Declaration, the Global Security Alliance warned Cyber threats from Russia and ChinaAnd said the two countries could even cooperate in a strategic partnership.
AdvertisingNATO also announced at the summit that a A new cyber alliance of its ownit will be called so Integrated Cyber Security Center. The center will bring together civilian and military personnel, allied nations and industry experts across NATO.
A startup that caught the attention of NATO HashmeshIt creates a Safe and efficient internet He calls it „the new web.”
While it may take a decade or two to take off, the company’s CEO Manu Fontaine said, „The natural path is to start building services on an inherently secure, inherently validated infrastructure.”
Until then, the American company is evolving A courier service He hopes it will be used by NATO allies as part of a pilot program in 2025. „We can’t see what the infrastructure is doing,” Fontaine told 'EuronewsNext’.
Advertising„We don’t have access to the messages transmitted through it. The data is actually encrypted with keys that no human can access.”
The Washington Summit Declaration also stated that NATO wanted to follow closely Technological advances on the battlefield in UkraineIncluding experimentation and rapid adoption of emerging technologies.
For the Lobster Robotics CEO, while public procurement is a „dream,” things are changing a little bit.
„Many countries are now becoming more agile and opening their arms to innovation more quickly, basically See how well it works in Ukraine„Rutten says. „They’re doing new things every day, and they’re getting better and better. „But I think it will be a few more years.”
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