The Government of Spain has allocated 162 million euros in aid to boost dual-use technologies, those that can be applied in both civilian and military fields. The objective is to foster innovation in sectors such as security, defense, and civil protection, seeking synergies between technology companies and the public sector.
Innovation with dual use: from the agricultural drone to the surveillance drone 🚁
The call focuses on areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, unmanned aerial systems, and advanced materials. A company developing a night vision system to control pests in crop fields could, with these funds, adapt the same technology for border surveillance uses. The key lies in the transfer of knowledge between the civilian and military sectors.
The Swiss Army knife of innovation, now with public funds 💡
The idea is as versatile as a robotic vacuum cleaner that, after cleaning the house, turns into an intruder detector. With 162 million, any startup can argue that its app for finding parking is actually a target location system. In the end, it's all a matter of presentation: a photo editing software can be sold as a facial recognition tool, and vice versa.