The Council of Ministers today approved an expenditure of 32 million euros for NATO’s innovation fund, with the Minister of Defense considering that it creates an opportunity for companies and the Armed Forces.
According to the statement from the Council of Ministers, “expenditure was authorized, to be executed by the Directorate-General for National Defense Resources, relating to Portugal’s accession to the ‘NATO Innovation Fund’, following commitments made at the NATO Summits of 2022 and 2023”.
To Lusa, the Ministry of Defense indicated that the expenditure in question consists of 32 million euros for 15 years.
Speaking to journalists at the Alfeite Naval Base in Almada, Helena Carreiras said that this fund will bring together 20 allies of the Atlantic Alliance and aims to “promote investment in innovation, in new emerging and disruptive technologies, to provide the development of the Armed Forces, in conjunction with industries, promoting ‘start ups’ that bet on innovation, on technological development “.
“It is an original fund, it is the first time it exists, but it complements other NATO programs, namely DIANA, an innovation accelerator that we already host here in Portugal as well,” he said.
The Minister of National Defense said that the fund is a “construction of opportunities” for Portuguese companies and so that the Armed Forces can “collaborate for technological development and position themselves in relation to the future that must necessarily go through innovation and articulation with the scientific system”.
