On 16 January 2025, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence organised a round table discussion on innovation in the defence industry. KIVI Defence and Security Chairman Jan Wind spoke there on behalf of KIVI based on a position paper compiled by the Politics and Technology working group.

Download the position paper here

The paper contains the following 10 recommendations:

1. Innovate together. The chain from universities, via TNO, to companies under the direction of Defence needs to be put in order to enable effective and intensive cooperation. This requires more effective agreements than are possible with public procurement on a project basis. Short-cycle (years), but also very short-cycle (months, weeks or even days) innovation and introduction must thus be made much more possible. Only then can we win in a future conflict.

2. Ensure good alignment in the innovation chain by strengthening Defence's knowledge networks, with the participation of universities and companies. These provide an opportunity for rapid knowledge exchange between specialists.
In addition, intensive substantive consultation on a business level is important. If the legal "innovation partnership" is insufficiently suitable for Defence, Defence should develop another methodology that allows intensive dialogue.

3. Reconsider the statement that the Netherlands is ahead in the defence sector in the areas of intelligent systems, quantum technology, smart materials and space systems. Establish that the Netherlands is actually not ahead in many areas and draw the conclusion that a very strong commitment to innovation is needed to rejoin Europe and NATO. Naval construction, unmanned and autonomous systems and advanced training and simulation are, in our opinion, the best candidates for this.
When innovating, focus as much as possible on a labour-extensive armed forces.

4. The innovative role of knowledge institutes should be brought back up to standard. The knowledge base available there is far too valuable to be used for market analysis and evaluation of technologies and products of others. In-depth knowledge at low TRL level is necessary to apply in innovations.

5. Innovation is not limited to knowledge institutes and startups. It is ultimately about production and introduction into the armed forces. To make the whole chain work more effectively, Defence could consider developing a campus à la High Tech Campus Eindhoven. There, Defence, universities, knowledge institutes, companies and investors could encourage each other and achieve more synergy than at present.

6. The buy-from-the-shelf adage should be abandoned to have the most advanced technology that is decisive in a conflict. Change the policy of: "buy-of-the-shelf unless" to: "develop or participate in advanced technology unless not possible".

7. When Defence invests in innovation, look not only at Dutch application, but if necessary, invest extra to enable use by foreign friendly nations . Possibly with a royalty obligation on foreign sales.

8. To make more innovation budget available from investors, the government could provide financial guarantees instead of direct funding.
If it is made possible to directly finance large low-risk projects privately, innovations can be included within such a project.

9. It is also necessary to create a culture where making mistakes is allowed. Experience shows that in other sectors of the economy, only 10-20% of innovation projects are successful. This should also be clear to the government and parliament.

10. Finally, visibility of Defence in society is important. Also when it comes to innovation. This promotes understanding and interaction with companies that want to make an active contribution to our defence. Associations around Defence can play a role in promoting that visibility.

Photo: Ministry of Defence 
Brand new and highly innovative Combat Support Ship Den Helder on trial run, Dec 2024