Founded in 2008, Slush brings together tens of thousands of founders, investors, and other influential innovators from business and technology sectors. NCIA was represented by Harri Paananen, of the NCIA Command and Control (C2) Centre, and Esterin Kojitari of Industry Relations, who briefed companies and participants throughout the week.
Across multiple forums, including events hosted by Enter Espoo, VTT, the Estonian Embassy, and Nortal, the team highlighted NCIA’s role in delivering the technical infrastructure that enables NATO’s Commands, forces, Nations, and Partners, to operate in peacetime, while also preparing for crisis and conflict. With the help of a C2 case study, they demonstrated how NCIA applies advanced data management, modelling and analysis to provide mission-ready C2 services to the Alliance.
NCIA presenting at the ‘Knights of the Nordics’ side event, hosted by VTT and Enter Espoo. Photo credit: Vessi Hämäläinen
“While many of the start-ups and scale-ups at Slush are still on their growth journeys, the conference gives us a unique chance to connect with some of the most promising innovators, welcome them into the defence-technology ecosystem, and spark collaborations that could evolve into powerful partnerships for the Alliance in the future,” said Harri Paannanen
The NCIA team encouraged participants to continue their engagement at NATO Edge 26, in İzmir, Türkiye.
NCIA presented at the Nortal side event hosted by the Estonian Embassy. Photo credit: Nortal
NCIA is part of the wider NATO innovation ecosystem, alongside entities like the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA), the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF), the Science and Technology Office (STO) or Allied Transformation Command (ACT). Together they help accelerate dual-use technologies into novel defence solutions for the Alliance.