On Tuesday (25 October 2022), NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană emphasised how taking innovative, non-traditional approaches to problem solving is key to NATO’s approach to current and emerging security challenges. Addressing over 1,000 experts from industry, academia, government and not-for-profit organisations at the NATO Edge conference in Mons, Belgium, Mr Geoană said, “We want the disruptors from all areas of life: public, private and academic. The people who think and act differently. In NATO, we’re now in the business of uniting disruptors to shape a peaceful future. Because security is everyone’s job.”
The Deputy Secretary General explained how NATO initiatives like the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) or the one billion Euro NATO Innovation Fund – which will both go live in 2023 – are already gearing up to further technological innovation, in order to develop “real-world solutions for today’s real-world problems.”
Titled ‘Technology in Focus’, the NATO Edge conference centres on four major topics: digital transformation, innovative partnerships, technological resilience, and agile acquisition. Hosted by the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency), NATO Edge is the flagship event of 2022 for the most innovative technologies and ideas in support of the Alliance’s digital transformation.