“As the global geopolitical situation remains complex and the race for new technologies that are relevant for security and defence continues, the EU and its Member States must reinforce cooperation on technologies that are critical for Europe’s long-term security and defence and efforts to reduce related strategic dependencies”, it says in the conclusions of the Roadmap on Critical Technologies for Security and Defence published by the European Commission in February 2022.
Dual-use technologies offer new exploitation and market opportunities, also for companies that traditionally are not active in the defence sector. The space, defence and security sectors have the potential for synergies and cross-fertilisation between themselves and with other civil sectors to boost innovation, technology development, and their application. In a challenging international environment, the EU needs to maintain its technological edge, support its diverse industrial actors, and accelerate the green transition. In a communication from May 2022 on defence investment gaps, they affirm that the Commission will work on further measures (such as coordinated calls among existing EU instruments and EIB loans) to support critical technologies and industrial capacities by developing strategic projects, as well as consider possible amendments to the framework for dual-use research and innovation to improve synergies between civil and defence instruments.
In this context, the European Cluster Collaboration Platform, on behalf of the European Commission, DG GROW, organises the EU Clusters Talk “Civil, Defence & Space: Challenges and innovation in dual-use technologies” on 21 September 2022, 8:30 – 9:30 CEST, to discuss:
- the exploitation potential of dual-use technologies, opportunities for SMEs and start-ups across various (civilian) industrial ecosystems, and future trends;
- cross-fertilisation and synergies between civil, defence and space industries to boost innovation, reduce dependencies, and enhance European economic growth;
- support schemes and investments;
- international cooperation and partnerships to work on technology, trade, and standards;
- and the greening of the industry to respond to the energy and environmental challenges.
Speakers
Speakers at this EU Clusters Talk will include expert insights from:
- Michalis Ketselidis, Senior Expert, Coordination of Foreign, Security & Defence Policy Implementation, European Commission
- Matej Gajzer, Managing Director, Slovenian Energy and Environment Partnership in Defence (SiENE)
- Uwe Meinberg, CURPAS, European Drone Cooperation
- Stéphanie Renaud, Pole OPTITEC.
With further speakers to be announced.
Prior registration to this event is compulsory before 21 September, 7:30 CEST. This EU Clusters Talk is open to participants from the European Union and SMP/COSME countries. Approval for attending the session will be given individually. Please use your corporate email address to register (i.e. no gmail addresses or similar).
EU Clusters Talks: The bi-weekly meeting point for the cluster community
The European Cluster Collaboration Platform invites the cluster community to a regular online meeting to discuss up-to-date insights into the latest industrial policies and cluster activities, cluster knowledge, best practices, the latest ECCP news, and funding opportunities.
The EU Clusters Talks take place every two weeks. Information on the next Talks will be published on the website – stay tuned for more!