The defense ministry said on Monday that NATO’s DIANA innovation program is expanding its network with new sites in Hungary.
In a statement, the ministry cited an announcement from the DIANA initiative that it will be linking accelerator and test centres in Hungary to the alliance’s innovation network. NATO DIANA was established with the purpose of using defense-based innovation to create value-added that can be useful in both the civilian and defense sectors, the ministry said. Hungary is joining NATO’s defense industry innovation network with an accelerator and several test centres with the aim of boosting both domestic and international R+D cooperation within the alliance, they said. The dual-use nature of the solutions being developed contributes to domestic industrial growth, the ministry said. It added that the acceleration of innovation would allow domestic businesses to establish themselves at a NATO level, leading to job and economic growth. The ministry said the first DIANA accelerator will operate under the name VIKI-NOKIA as part of the partnership between the Defense Innovation Research Institute (VIKI) and Nokia Solutions and Networks. Meanwhile, the accreditation of six DIANA test centres will further strengthen Hungary’s role within NATO, the ministry said, noting that the test centres have been established by the University of Pécs, Budapest’s Óbuda University, BHE Bonn Hungary Electronics, Alverad Technology Focus, ITSec Area and Nokia Bell Labs. The ministry noted that the ZalaZONE vehicle test track ZalaZONE Research and Technology Centre are also DIANA-accredited sites. Imre Porkoláb, ministerial commissioner for defense innovation, said Hungary’s increased presence in the DIANA initiative would advance knowledge transfers and contribute to the success of the applications of domestic innovators. The statement cited Deeph Chana, Managing Director of DIANA, as saying that the broad scale and diversity of DIANA network partners accelerated the development and introduction of innovative solutio