– Defence innovation has been deprioritised for a long time. Now that we are facing NATO accession, much of the innovation power lies among our member companies. The SME-D family looks forward to the opportunities to contribute in a larger context, says Jaime Rico, chairman of SME-D, the industry organisation for small and medium-sized enterprises in Sweden within the total defence area.
With accelerator sites and test centres spread across NATO member countries, DIANA (Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic) aims to promote partnerships between universities, industry, authorities, governments, and startups. The programme was launched during the NATO summit in Brussels in 2021.
According to DIANA, the network today consists of over 10 accelerator sites and nearly 90 test centres. These centres are part of government research programmes as well as university and private sector research departments.
Participants in DIANA will have the fees for using a test centre's facilities covered by the programme.
– A significant benefit is already created when it becomes clearer which accelerators and test centres are relevant and how to go about establishing contacts with them. If some form of funding can also be obtained, the likelihood increases that our member companies can utilise these facilities, says Jaime Rico.
A total of nearly 80 expressions of interest were received, which were reviewed by experts from the four authorities. The review was based on criteria such as the relevance of a centre for technology and product development with applications in defence and security, as well as how well the proposals complement each other and strengthen DIANA as a whole.
The authorities were then to propose suitable organisations as candidates to the Government Offices, and the proposals were submitted in a report on 30 October. The candidates can in turn be nominated by the Government Offices to NATO, which ultimately decides on their acceptance.
Thus, four Swedish research facilities have been selected by the Swedish Armed Forces and Vinnova as candidates; the MAX IV facility in Lund, Marine Technology Center of Sweden, RISE, and a joint application from the Swedish Space Corporation, the Institute of Space Physics, and Luleå University of Technology.
Lund University describes MAX IV as Sweden's largest and most ambitious investment in research infrastructure, and the world's brightest synchrotron light facility. The final report states that they offer unique opportunities for studies in, among other things, materials science as well as advanced analysis methods in, among other things, nanotechnology and quantum materials.
– MAX IV is a Swedish research infrastructure of international world-class, says Olof ‘Charlie’ Karlis, director at MAX IV to FSN. He continues:
“The technologies that MAX IV offers to DIANA provide opportunities to address the most challenging questions in, among other things, materials research and life sciences.”
Marine Technology Center of Sweden is a Karlskrona-based collaboration between defence actors, industry, and academia. The report highlights the area's long tradition of civil-military cooperation in marine technology. MTC offers, among other things, co-financing for projects and access to various opportunities to develop, test, and verify technical ideas. According to the report, their test centre has two main areas: defence-related technology development in the underwater domain and sea-based energy.
– For Karlskrona, it is of course an important signal value that Sweden and NATO point to us when it comes to technology development and expertise in the surface and underwater domains. It is in Karlskrona you should operate if you want access to world-leading expertise, mentorship, and testing opportunities related to the sea, says Oskar Frånberg, Research Leader at MTC in a press release.