“Northern Prospects”: Why Europe’s Dual-Use Challenge Is About Connections, Not Technology
On 7 May, the LINO Office, together with colleagues from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, and Latvia, hosted the conference “Northern Prospects: Bridging Industry and Academia for Dual-Use” in Brussels. Policymakers, researchers, innovation funders, and industry representatives gathered to discuss how Europe’s dual-use innovation ecosystem can be strengthened.
The conference delivered a clear message: Europe already possesses the necessary knowledge, expertise, and technological potential. The greatest challenge today is not a lack of technology, but rather the ability to foster trust-based collaboration among academia, industry, the public sector, and end users.
The Nordic-Baltic region was highlighted as a particularly favourable environment for testing new dual-use collaboration models. Small, well-connected systems, high levels of trust in public institutions, and long-standing traditions of cross-sector cooperation enable the region to move more quickly than larger, more fragmented ecosystems.
Dual-Use Technologies: Context Rather Than Category
Throughout several sessions, speakers challenged rigid definitions of “dual-use.” Technologies such as artificial intelligence, photonics, advanced materials, energy systems, and digital infrastructure are neither inherently civilian nor military; their significance depends on the specific application context, user needs, and operational circumstances. Attempts to categorise technologies too early—particularly at lower technology readiness levels—risk constraining research activities and discouraging collaboration.
From the European Commission’s perspective, flexibility has become an advantage rather than a weakness. Both the European Innovation Council (EIC) and the European Defence Fund (EDF) now rely on contextual, programme-specific approaches, prioritising market-entry potential and deployment pathways over legal classification. The objective is to maintain flexibility and responsiveness to emerging needs, rather than imposing rigid technological categories.
From Research to Deployment: Where Europe Faces Challenges
Although Europe produces strong scientific research and promising innovations, too many solutions remain stalled between the prototype and deployment stages. Panel discussions on practical collaboration highlighted familiar obstacles: fragmented funding, short project cycles, loss of expertise between grant periods, opaque public procurement procedures, and limited access to real-world operational environments.
One of the most frequently recurring themes was the tension between scientific rigour and operational urgency. In the defence and security sectors, users often require solutions within months rather than years. Nevertheless, speakers clearly emphasised that speed must not come at the expense of quality. On the contrary, rigorous methodologies should be integrated more closely into practical implementation processes, ensuring continuous feedback between researchers and end users. Long-term investment in people, doctoral education, and research infrastructure remains essential—without it, rapid response capabilities are impossible.
Testbeds as Europe’s Missing Infrastructure
One of the conference’s strongest messages concerned the role of testbeds. These were described as environments where technologies can be tested under real-world conditions, rapidly refined, and gain the trust of future users.
Discussions highlighted that the main barriers are often not technical. More significant challenges include regulatory uncertainty, access to data, public procurement procedures, and institutional risk aversion.
Connectivity as a Strategic Capability
The conference concluded with a clear takeaway: Europe does not lack ideas, talent, or even funding. The next step is to further strengthen mutual trust, increase interoperability among national systems, and create an environment conducive to dual-use innovation.
At its core, dual-use innovation is not primarily about defining boundaries, but about building connections—between academia and industry, between innovators and end users, and between long-term scientific knowledge and urgent security needs.
Last updated: 03-06-2026
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