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Dec 6 2024

NATO Edge 24 comes to a close

NATO Edge 24 concluded on 5 December 2024 after three days of engaging discussions, networking and innovation. The event brought together over 1800 participants, including NATO decision-makers, industry leaders, academia and innovators, providing a forum for dialogue, collaboration and the exchange of ideas essential to future-proof our Alliance.

The plenary sessions set the tone for the conference, offering high-level insights into critical topics such as technological edge in the digital age, NATO's operational needs and challenges, digital transformation, agile acquisition and rapid adoption, cyber security, and Al adoption. These discussions underscored the critical need for adaptation in the current environment, where rapid technological advancement and evolving security challenges make collaboration with industry and strategic partnerships essential to strengthening our collective security and enhancing resilience.

“We gather at a critical juncture for NATO-industry collaboration,” stated NCIA General Manager, Ludwig Decamps during his keynote address on day one. “We must build stronger bridges between defence and industry."

The different breakout sessions provided a space for specialized topics, including post-quantum security, NATO's cloud adoption journey, satellite communications, zero-trust architecture, or counter-drone innovation. A special breakout session was dedicated to the unveiling of NCIA's new Technology Strategy, which outlines NCIA's vision for harnessing technology to drive innovation, efficiency, and effectiveness across NATO. The Strategy combines technological work streams, non-technical success factors, and a new NATO Digital Foundry, which will provide a rapid integration, testing and experimentation, deployment and exercise environment where NCIA, industry, not-for-profit (NFP) partners, and NATO stakeholders can collaborate together.

On the last day of the conference, NCIA leadership presented 70 different business opportunities during five specialised breakout sessions. These business opportunities are valued at over 975M EUR in the areas of Mobile Services, Command and Control and Intelligence, Digital Transformation, Business Applications, Cloud and Cyber.

The event also allowed industry leaders, start-ups and SMEs to showcase their cutting-edge solutions through short pitches throughout every day of the conference in the Innovation Theatres. Beyond these structured sessions, the event fostered valuable connections through networking opportunities, with participants sharing ideas and building relationships for future collaboration.

This second edition of NATO’s largest technology and innovation conference featured over 140 exhibitors from across the Alliance. This gave participants an in-depth look at innovations driven by the private sector, serving as a hub for ideas exchange, collaborations and practical demonstrations of technology and solutions. Alongside NCIA, the Allied Command Transformation (ACT) and the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) formed the 'NATO innovators booth' providing insights into their work and priorities. In addition, the Ukrainian Centre of Innovations and Defence Technologies Development of the Digital Branch of their Ministry of Defence participated as an exhibitor displaying a range of technologies and innovative capabilities used in the battlefield, at their booth in the 'NATO Partner Corner.’

NCIA partnered with the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) to host this edition of NATO Edge. Holding this NATO Edge edition in the United States underscores the importance of transatlantic ties and reinforces the commitment of NATO to its foundational partnership between North America and Europe. This provides an opportunity to enhance collaboration and understanding between US-based companies, European-based companies and NATO, fostering a more integrated and cooperative approach to defence and security challenges. “Partnerships determine just how fast and far we go, and we can get there together”, said General Bryan P. Fenton, USSOCOM Commander.

The next edition of NATO Edge will be hosted in Türkiye in 2026, continuing the momentum and expanding on the technologies and partnerships required to future-proof our Alliance.

All NATO Edge 24 official images are available to download on the NCIA Flickr page.