Innovators have been invited to submit proposals which could enhance energy security and promote the secure and trustworthy operation of critical infrastructure by Nato’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (Diana).
The accelerator challenge launch comes soon after a major Nato summit in Washington D.C. that celebrated the alliance’s 75th anniversary and described the prevailing security environment as “the most dangerous” since the Cold War.
Russian attacks on civilian energy networks and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, and state-linked attacks on UK cyber infrastructure, have raised the security of critical infrastructure up the agenda.
Diana is supported by the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MoD’s) Defence and Security Accelerator and its purpose is to bring “start-ups together with operational end users, scientists, and systems integrators to advance compelling deep tech dual-use solutions for [Nato]”.
In 2023, its first year, Diana received over 1,300 applications from innovators across the Nato alliance. Of these, 44 successful innovators from 19 countries were selected to form Diana’s inaugural cohort, joining a six-month accelerator boot-camp programme in January 2024 at five accelerator sites in Europe and North America.
This year, Nato’s Diana is asking innovators to address five challenge areas: energy and power, data and information security, sensing and surveillance, human health and performance, and critical infrastructure and logistics. The deadline is 9 August.
Diana requests that proposals in the energy and power space focus on “enhancing energy and power resilience in the context of generation, storage, distribution, recovery, harvesting and propulsion across various domains”.
For proposals covering critical infrastructure and logistics, Diana requests proposals focus on “the secure and trustworthy operation of critical national and international infrastructure, and global supply chains across various domains”.
Innovators are encouraged to consider the interconnections of applications and technologies across space, resilience and sustainability.
The MoD said: “Innovators will receive funding to enable participation in the Diana accelerator programme, which starts in January 2025, and they will embark upon a six-month intensive programme custom-designed for early-stage dual-use start-ups.
“They will have access to mentorship and testing facilities, as well as access to trusted investor and end-user networks to help them move from ideation to real-world adoption in defence and civilian markets.”
MoD innovation director John Ridge said: “The UK strongly supports Diana and its new challenge areas.
“These build on the successful first year of Diana’s operation, and we look forward to seeing the results of these programmes in the hands of warfighters.
“Through these programmes and the partnership between the Nato Innovation Fund and Diana we expect to see innovators scale to meet the challenges faced by all Allies.”
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