Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic

Last updated
Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA)
FormationProposed: 14 June 2021
Operational: 19 June 2023
Location
  • London, UK
Managing Director
Professor Deeph Chana
Parent organization
NATO
Website https://www.diana.nato.int/

The Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) is an organisation within NATO with the aim of facilitating the development of emerging and disruptive dual-use technologies.

Through a network of accelerator sites and test centres, DIANA aims to be a conduit between universities, industry, governments, and technology companies from across the NATO alliance. The companies that are successfully selected from a call for proposals receive funding from the NATO Innovation Fund. [1]

The DIANA Board of Directors is responsible for governance of the organisation and has representatives from all NATO nations. [2]

DIANA's first managing director is Professor Deeph Chana. [2]

History

Members of the NATO alliance agreed to the creation of DIANA at the North Atlantic Council in Brussels on 14 June 2021. [3]

On 7 April 2022, NATO foreign ministers approved the Charter for DIANA. [4] In the same month the NATO Advisory Group on Emerging and Disruptive Technologies, chaired by Professor Deeph Chana, released its second annual report examining the development of DIANA. [5]

NATO Heads of State and Government at the North Atlantic Council in Madrid on 29 June 2022 officially endorsed the Charter and agreed to the initial locations of the test centres and accelerator sites for DIANA. [6]

On 30 March 2023, NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană and UK Minister for Defence Procurement Alex Chalk opened the first regional office of DIANA at the Imperial College London Innovation Hub, based in White City. [7]

On 19 June 2023, DIANA became operational and instigated its first call for proposals. The three pilot challenge programmes announced were centred on innovative dual-use technologies for energy resilience, undersea sensing and surveillance, and secure information sharing. [8]

On 30 November 2023, DIANA announced the first 44 companies selected out of 1,300 applicants from its call for proposals. The companies came from a range of fields such as robotics, ocean sensors, quantum technologies, and energy-generating textiles. Each company will receive a grant of €100,000 to be put towards expenses such as salaries, rent, and equipment. [9]

By 14 March 2024, DIANA had 23 accelerator sites and 182 test centres. The organisation stated that it aimed to reach full operational capacity by 2025. [10] [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NATO</span> Intergovernmental military alliance

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance of 32 member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermath of World War II, the organization implements the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949. NATO is a collective security system: its independent member states agree to defend each other against attacks by third parties. During the Cold War, NATO operated as a check on the threat posed by the Soviet Union. The alliance remained in place after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, and has been involved in military operations in the Balkans, the Middle East, South Asia and Africa. The organization's motto is animus in consulendo liber. The organization's strategic concepts include deterrence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Atlantic Treaty</span> 1949 treaty forming the basis of NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty is the treaty that forms the legal basis of, and is implemented by, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The treaty was signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western European Union</span> 1954–2011 international organisation and military alliance

The Western European Union was the international organisation and military alliance that succeeded the Western Union (WU) after the 1954 amendment of the 1948 Treaty of Brussels. The WEU implemented the Modified Brussels Treaty. During the Cold War, the Western Bloc included the WEU member-states, plus the United States and Canada, as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Partnership for Peace</span> Intergovernmental organization

The Partnership for Peace is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) program aimed at creating trust and cooperation between the member states of NATO and other states mostly in Europe, including post-Soviet states; 18 states are members. The program contains 6 areas of cooperation, which aims to build relationships with partners through military-to-military cooperation on training, exercises, disaster planning and response, science and environmental issues, professionalization, policy planning, and relations with civilian government. During policy negotiations in the 1990s, a primary controversy regarding PfP was its ability to be interpreted as a program that is a stepping stone for joining NATO with full Article 5 guarantees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of NATO</span> Flag of the intergovernmental military alliance NATO

The flag of NATO consists of a dark blue field charged with a white compass rose emblem, with four white lines radiating from the four cardinal directions. Adopted three years after the creation of NATO, it has been the flag of NATO since October 14, 1953. The blue color symbolizes the Atlantic Ocean, while the circle stands for unity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Standing NATO Maritime Group 2</span> Military unit

Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) standing maritime immediate reaction force. SNMG2 consists of four to six destroyers and frigates. Its role is to provide NATO with an immediate operational response capability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allied Command Transformation</span> NATO strategic-level military command

Allied Command Transformation (ACT) is a military command of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), formed in 2003 after restructuring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty of Brussels</span> 1948 Western European defence treaty

The Treaty of Brussels, also referred to as the Brussels Pact, was the founding treaty of the Western Union (WU) between 1948 and 1954, when it was amended as the Modified Brussels Treaty (MTB) and served as the founding treaty of the Western European Union (WEU) until its termination in 2010. The treaty provided for the organisation of military, economic, social and cultural cooperation among member states as well as a mutual defence clause.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enlargement of NATO</span> Collective geopolitical action by NATO states

NATO is a military alliance of thirty-two European and North American countries that constitutes a system of collective defense. The process of joining the alliance is governed by Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which allows for the invitation of "other European States" only and by subsequent agreements. Countries wishing to join must meet certain requirements and complete a multi-step process involving political dialog and military integration. The accession process is overseen by the North Atlantic Council, NATO's governing body. NATO was formed in 1949 with twelve founding members and has added new members ten times. The first additions were Greece and Turkey in 1952. In May 1955, West Germany joined NATO, which was one of the conditions agreed to as part of the end of the country's occupation by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, prompting the Soviet Union to form its own collective security alliance later that month. Following the end of the Franco regime, newly democratic Spain chose to join NATO in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Member states of NATO</span> Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NATO is an international military alliance consisting of 32 member states from Europe and North America. It was established at the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949. Article 5 of the treaty states that if an armed attack occurs against one of the member states, it shall be considered an attack against all members, and other members shall assist the attacked member, with armed forces if necessary. Article 6 of the treaty limits the scope of Article 5 to the islands north of the Tropic of Cancer, the North American and European mainlands, the entirety of Turkey, and French Algeria, the last of which has been moot since July 1962. Thus, an attack on Hawaii, Puerto Rico, French Guiana, the Falkland Islands, Ceuta or Melilla, among other places, would not trigger an Article 5 response.

The Structure of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is complex and multi-faceted. The decision-making body is the North Atlantic Council (NAC), and the member state representatives also sit on the Defence Policy and Planning Committee (DPPC) and the Nuclear Planning Group (NPG). Below that the Secretary General of NATO directs the civilian International Staff, that is divided into administrative divisions, offices and other organizations. Also responsible to the NAC, DPPC, and NPG are a host of committees that supervise the various NATO logistics and standardisation agencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Union (alliance)</span> 1948–1954 European military alliance

The Western Union (WU), also referred to as the Brussels Treaty Organisation (BTO), was the European military alliance established between France, the United Kingdom (UK) and the three Benelux countries in September 1948 in order to implement the Treaty of Brussels signed in March the same year. Under this treaty the signatories, referred to as the five powers, agreed to collaborate in the defence field as well as in the political, economic and cultural fields.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign relations of NATO</span> Overview of multilateral relations

NATO maintains foreign relations with many non-member countries across the globe. NATO runs a number of programs which provide a framework for the partnerships between itself and these non-member nations, typically based on that country's location. These include the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council and the Partnership for Peace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Common Security and Defence Policy</span> Aspect in of history

This article outlines the history of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) of the European Union (EU), a part of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of NATO</span> History of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

The history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) begins in the immediate aftermath of World War II when British diplomacy set the stage to contain the Soviet Union and to stop the expansion of Soviet power in Europe. The United Kingdom and France signed, in 1947, the Treaty of Dunkirk, a defensive pact, which was expanded in 1948 with the Treaty of Brussels to add the three Benelux countries and committed them to collective defense against an armed attack for fifty years. The British worked with Washington to expand the alliance into NATO in 1949, adding the United States and Canada as well as Italy, Portugal, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland. Greece and Turkey joined in 1952, West Germany joined in 1955, Spain joined in 1982, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland joined in 1999, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia joined in 2004, Albania and Croatia joined in 2009, Montenegro joined in 2017, North Macedonia joined in 2020, Finland joined in 2023, and Sweden joined in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata</span> Nigerian technology entrepreneur and TV presenter (born 1979)

Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata Jnr. also known as CFA is a Nigerian journalist and a former television presenter at Channels TV. He is into digital marketing and known as a technology entrepreneur with focus on business coaching and public speaking. He hosted the first virtual telehealth conference of Nigeria’s telemedicine company, CareClick with the theme ‘The Future Of Healthcare Today’ on 24 September 2020. He was involved in various ICT-related companies that contributed to the development of the Founder Institute. He is known as the founder of Pacer Venture and has links with Climate Action Africa. He is the MD/CEO of Anambra State ICT Agency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Withdrawal from NATO</span> Legal process of Article 13 of the North Atlantic Treaty

Withdrawal from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is the legal and political process whereby a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation withdraws from the North Atlantic Treaty, and thus the country in question ceases to be a member of NATO. The formal process is stated in article 13 of the Treaty. This says that any country that wants to leave must send the United States a "notice of denunciation", which the U.S. would then pass on to the other Allies. After a one-year waiting period, the country that wants to leave would be out.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Union–NATO relations</span> Bilateral relations

The European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) are two main treaty-based Western organisations for cooperation between member states, both headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Their natures are different and they operate in different spheres: NATO is a purely intergovernmental organisation functioning as a military alliance, which serves to implement article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty on collective territorial defence. The EU on the other hand is a partly supranational and partly intergovernmental sui generis entity akin to a confederation that entails wider economic and political integration. Unlike NATO, the EU pursues a foreign policy in its own right—based on consensus, and member states have equipped it with tools in the field of defence and crisis management; the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) structure.

Operation Sea Guardian was launched as a maritime security operation by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) during the Warsaw Summit in July 2016, aiming to expand NATO's role within the Mediterranean Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CIIE.CO</span> Indian startup accelerator

CIIE.CO is an Indian startup accelerator and incubator that supports early-stage startups located at IIM Ahmedabad in Ahmedabad, India. It was founded in 2002 to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in India. It is a Center of excellence set up at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad with support from the Government of India's Department of Science and Technology and the Government of Gujarat.

References

  1. 1 2 "NATO's DIANA innovation accelerator doubles size of its network". Science|Business. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  2. 1 2 "DIANA | About". www.diana.nato.int. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  3. "Brussels Summit Communiqué". North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 14 June 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  4. "NATO sharpens technological edge with innovation initiatives". North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 7 April 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  5. Albrycht, Izabela; Angelova, Galia; Bellier, Bruno; Bonefeld-Dahl, Cecilia; Chana, Deeph; Frincke, Deborah; Guerrero, Héctor; Khorasani, Kash; Mattingley-Scott, Mark; Noorma, Mart; Seres, Silvija; Volpi, Angelo (April 2022). "NATO Advisory Group on Emerging and Disruptive Technologies - Annual Report 2021" (PDF). North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
  6. "Madrid Summit Declaration". North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 29 June 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  7. "NATO Deputy Secretary General opens DIANA's European Regional Office, welcomes Managing Director". North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 30 March 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  8. "NATO's innovation accelerator becomes operational and launches first challenges". North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 19 June 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  9. "NATO DIANA announces first cohort of innovators, launches call for mentors". North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 30 November 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  10. "NATO DIANA Expansion". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2024-04-27.