We are delighted to inform our readers of a new series of workshops aimed at influencing and hopefully solving some of the hottest issues facing NATO right now. This is a fascinating set of discussions because each topic will tackle a concrete challenge that NATO needs to solve through collaboration and knowledge sharing to help reach a practical solution through awareness building.
The workshops are organised by Czech Republic-based DefSec Innovation Hub, which connects a team of experts from across academia, innovation and enterprise who focus on solutions for defence and security issues to help create a better and safer future. It was founded by Kristina Soukupová, Ph.D. who has many years of experience in advising governments and the military, particularly in the UK, Switzerland, Czech Republic and the US, on defence and security-related issues, procurement, and corporate strategies and their implementation.
In the first of three workshops, DefSec, in conjunction with NATO ACT (Allied Command Transformation) Innovation Hub, is bringing together a panel of experts and interested parties to discuss the role of AI in military IoT. While this sounds like a broad topic, it is looking specifically at the current uses and needs of the military and how AI can be employed to fulfil them. In a way, the outcomes of the workshop will be used to bridge the gap between academic intelligence and real-life use cases.
To this end, the first workshop (in Prague on October 11) is inviting members of the armed forces, the police force and other expert or interested parties from the NATO community to attend, either personally or via videoconference, to get involved with, discuss, and share ideas and experiences of real applications of AI and IoT with the panellists, who include:
- Jan Flusser, of the Institute of Information Theory and Automation, whose field of research is in invariant-based pattern recognition and image fusion.
- Alžběta Krausová, of the Institute for State and Law, Czech Academy of Sciences, whose area of expertise lies in the legal aspects of AI, robotics, brain-computer interfaces and the merger of tech with organic life.
- Miroslav Bureš, of The Czech Technical University in Prague, who leads the Software Testing IntelLigent Lab (STILL) at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering.
The panel is moderated by
- Nik Page, who, among other accolades, is founder of Nik Page Experience Strategy & Design, promoting strategic, user-focused business and product design.
So undoubtedly a team of true experts who should instil a sense of innovation and will encourage debate on the use of open source AI techniques to analyse IoT data gathered from sources such as smart environments. Hopefully the result will bring new and valuable awareness for NATO from a military perspective, and you will be part of an effort to pinpoint the real-life uses of AI in defence now and for the greater good of the future. This discussion is for any NATO member body with an interest in AI in a defence environment, and has received significant backing from the Technology Transfer Office of the Czech Academy of Sciences, the Czech Technical University, the EU Structural and Investment Funds, the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic and Public Spend Forum’s GovShop.
The event takes the form of a half day on October 11, in Prague, from 09.30 to 12.00 CET, either by videoconference or in person – and is free to attend. Spaces are limited but interested parties can still apply to take part.
More information can be found here
Registration is here for in-person attendance, and here to join by videoconference.
And look out for the next two workshops: the use of quantum technology in military applications and blockchain – coming soon.