Home  /  Newsroom  /  News  /  New edition of Innovation Continuum kick-starts in Türkiye

Feb 28 2025

New edition of Innovation Continuum kick-starts in Türkiye

From 25 to 27 February 2025, Innovation Continuum 2025 took place at the Istanbul Technical University, Maritime Faculty, in Türkiye, providing a platform for the experimentation and demonstration of innovative technologies from deep-tech start-ups to government research organizations.

The Innovation Continuum is a strategic initiative led by Allied Command Transformation (ACT) and supported by the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) and the Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE), which develops military options through the experimentation and demonstration of cutting-edge science and technology solutions.

The 2025 Innovation Continuum will focus on Multi-Domain Operations and Digital Transformation, powered by Emerging and Disruptive Technologies (EDTs), with an emphasis on multi-domain autonomous systems and critical underwater infrastructure. This year’s iteration is organized around four sequenced phases of scoping, scenario development, integration, and demonstration and experimentation, corresponding to four events throughout the year: SPARK, IGNITE, GLOW, and SHINE.

At SPARK, fifteen NCIA experts from across the Agency including Air Command and Control (AirC2), Chief Technology Office (CTO), Command and Control (C2), Joint Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (JISR), NATO Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), and Operational Analysis (OA) engaged with NATO bodies, not-for-profit partners, Nations, and industry, to strengthen collaboration and accelerate digital innovation through smart sourcing. In particular, NCIA led the technology working group, focused on Communication and Information Systems (CIS) enablers for the event, which ensured an open and secure environment for operational experimentation.

For the first time, this working group planned and scoped experiments on Next Generation CIS on Command and Control (C2) Services Deployment Automation; Resilience by Design and Cognitive Impact of AI in C2 systems. Beyond CIS, NCIA contributed to defining and designing experiments on EDTs such as 5G, quantum computing, space technologies, autonomy, hypersonic.

The broader purpose of the ACT Innovation Continuum also addresses experimentation operational experiments contributing to Multi-Domain Operations. NCIA co-led and provided expertise during the SPARK 2025 towards scoping and defining experiments in the areas of Cross-Domain Command as well as NextGen ISR.

The Innovation Continuum provides NATO bodies and NATO Nations with an opportunity to collaborate, enhancing the value of science and technology in warfare development. The next event of the series, IGNITE Event (Scenario Development) will take place in Calgary, Canada, in May 2025.