"Emerging and disruptive technologies (EDT) are 'new' only by name. The private sector has been working successfully with them for some time. Now they need to be discovered by those who care about our security, about the security of our civilisation. This is a priority for NATO, and logically it is also a goal of the Czech Ministry of Defence," underlines Tomáš Kopečný, Deputy Minister of Defence.
"As military budgets inevitably grow given the circumstances, we want to help ensure that these resources are used in a meaningful way. We are ready to share our knowledge and skills to help improve your and our security," said Chris Bailey, Director of AWS (Amazon Web Services).
Meetings at this level provide the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces with a unique opportunity to map the market and look for ideal partners. "Our meetings with the private sector will be intense in the coming weeks and months. We need to know 'what already exists', find ways to work together effectively and use the know-how of companies for our needs. Creating a new acquisition mindset is a must," says Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces General Miroslav Hlaváč.
The potential of Czech universities is far from exhausted. "We want to contribute to creating conditions for the conceptual and gradual introduction of innovative disruptive technologies into future military capabilities," says Vojtěch Petráček, Rector of CTU.
The topic of artificial intelligence is still a sore, hard-to-grasp point for many. "We are happy to help our military answer the question' 'how will the use of AI help me in my mission'. We all recognize that the technological advantage in open conflict will be gained by the first to identify and master exploitable applications. This brings us together and drives collaboration between us, the private sector and government institutions," adds the CTU Rector.
Maximizing cooperation between the state, academia and the private sector is the goal of the non-profit organization DefSec Innovation Hub, which organized the event at CTU grounds. DefSec is the only organisation in the Czech Republic that systematically deals with innovation in the defence and security sector. "Our significant added value is the existence of 16 hubs across the transatlantic space with which we work closely. We see civil-military cooperation and networking with European and American innovation hubs as a great opportunity for Czech companies and Czech universities," says Kristina Soukupová, President of DefSec.
