NOTE: We adhere to the corona rules prescribed by the government and the restrictions derived from them by Defence. If fewer guests are allowed on 13 April than registered, the excess will be cancelled. In doing so, we will work in order of registration. If cancellation applies to your registration, you will be informed as soon as possible.

Technology as clout
Spearheads for the armed forces of 2035

As part of the 175th anniversary of the engineers' association, the Kooy symposium looks further ahead than usual. After all, the Dutch Defence has the ambition to do their work as safely as possible at the highest technological level. The Defence Vision 2035 Fighting for a Secure Future explicitly states this as a policy objective.

This is only possible if we make a broad commitment to high-end technology and innovative capability over the long term. To remain technologically advanced, Defence often has to be at the forefront of research and development. Waiting for civilian developments makes little sense if new capabilities take 10 years to build and have to last 40 years. being 50 years behind is not an option to win a conflict.

Innovation for military purposes can be accompanied by spin-off opportunities for other sectors, for example in health and sustainability. If organised effectively, innovation for Defence contributes to the resilience of our society.

The Netherlands is a country of knowledge development, science and technological innovations. Several companies and universities are global leaders in data science, artificial intelligence, quantum technology and sustainability innovations. We should take advantage of this.

However, policy plans alone are not enough. It comes down to implementation. Development, acquisition and application of currently unknown technologies and innovations are difficult to plan and involve risks. During the symposium, we will show how you can still deal with the uncertainties of such innovations in a controlled way and achieve results.

Also, we can no longer focus only on the Netherlands. European cooperation is going to boom thanks to the now-started European Defence Fund (EDF). We will show how the Dutch defence sector can best respond and contribute to this.

The Kooy symposium aims to help Defence turn ambition into action. You can learn about the technologies we expect a lot from in the future. Several speakers will discuss the promises of these technologies for Defence and society. They will also discuss developments where Defence itself should take the lead and where the sector can benefit from civilian developments.

Documents